Riddlemaster Sphinx
Body and tempo fold into a single transaction: a 5/5 flier lands and the opponent's most inconvenient blocker or threat goes back to their hand. Because the bounce resolves on entry and reaches only across the table, this is a one-time swing rather than a recurring engine; six mana buys an evasive body that clears the sky in front of it and then starts attacking. The optional wording is a convenience, not a defense. On an empty board the trigger finds no legal target and falls off the stack whether or not it reads "may," so the choice matters only when there is a creature you would rather leave alone. Point it at a token or a nonlegendary copy and the shape inverts: the bounced object ceases to exist as it leaves play, quietly turning displacement into removal. This fixed bounce-on-entry template is the workhorse of blue midrange: a generous flier packaged with a built-in stumble for the opponent, meant to stabilize the board and start the clock in one motion. Two blue sources and the patience to reach six mana are all it demands, and it repays that with the cleanest tempo a fat flier can carry: a turn bought the instant it arrives.


