Psionic Entity

Self-damaging pingers are a small but recurring design lineage, and this is the earliest creature-shaped version: a tap ability that splits its damage between target and source, with the source taking the larger share. The math is the entire identity. Two damage out, three damage in, on a two-toughness body, means the activation is a one-shot under its own steam: tap once, deal two somewhere, and the creature dies to its own ability. The drawback only inverts when the toughness clears four, so that three points of self-damage leaves a survivor. A Giant Growth effect during the activation, a stack of +1/+1 counters, a regeneration shield, or a damage-prevention wall converts the liability into a repeatable Prodigal Sorcerer with a better rate. That conditional structure (a body that is a liability alone and an engine in a deck built to keep it alive) is a design idiom Wizards has returned to many times since, usually with cleaner numbers and a tighter mana cost. The Legends printing shows the idea in its rawest form: a creature whose printed text is half the card and whose supporting cast is the other half, priced at a rate that reflects the design's experimental moment rather than any considered curve.