Syphon Essence

Counterspells that hand you something back are usually taxed for the privilege: they cost more, they refund only cantrip depth, or they narrow their target to noncreature spells to pay for the value. This one takes the opposite trade. It gives up universal coverage, catching only creature or planeswalker spells rather than anything on the stack, and in exchange it leaves you a Blood token on resolution. That token is the interesting part of the bargain, because it does not draw a card outright: it is a rummage engine wearing an artifact's clothes, asking you to discard before you draw. So the value attached here is not raw card advantage but selection and graveyard-feeding, which points the card toward decks that want fuel in the yard rather than decks that want to bury an opponent under two-for-ones. The narrowing of the counter is what makes the second clause affordable, and the Blood token's payment cost is what keeps that clause from being pure profit. For decks built around discard synergies, flashback, or delirium, that friction is a feature: the token turns a reactive spell into a proactive setup piece. For a straight control shell that just wants a hard answer, the creature-and-planeswalker restriction is a real cost, since the noncreature threats it cannot touch are often the ones that matter most.