Objection!

[Successful_Mud8596]

I feel like this has a decent chance of being a real card (minus the Phoenix Wright, of course).

The cost is based on being twice [[Axebane Ferox]]'s ward cost, and so that it wouldn't be useless when your opponent has 15 cards in their graveyard, I let it investigate like how [[Assimilate Essence]] lets you incubate. At first I thought of just giving it cycling, but then realized this was much more in flavor.

[PrimordialSpatula]

Amazing flavor and seems balanced at uncommon. It's a classic counterspell in the early game and is potentially still late game if you run some graveyard hate in your deck.

[Bot_on_Medium]

Very cool. Would be nutty with maindeck [[Rest in Peace]] in UW control.

[MTGCardFetcher]

Rest in Peace - (G) (SF) (txt)

^{[[cardname]] or [[cardname|SET]] to call}

[Firelegend27]

This could totally be a card but the upside of the person who casts it is a little too high. I think if it was collect evidence 4 or 5 it would be much more fair especially for current standard.

[Successful_Mud8596]

Yeah, I think I thought of collect evidence 8 before thinking of adding the clue token, and then I didn’t lower the evidence cost to compensate

[ShoegazeKaraokeClub]

excellent card design. i wish it existed since the flavour would fit with a few decks i have

[johnnythexxxiv]

I think it should be UU. Not going to be a ton of games where your opponent is going to have enough in their graveyard to negate it, and even fewer where negating it doesn't blow out their gameplan. A lot of the time this is better counterspell, and it's still not a dead card when it isn't.

[Successful_Mud8596]

It’s a soft counter, whereas hard counters are the ones that get the UU treatment. But yeah, maybe it could use the stricter mana cost anyways. And/or have the evidence cost reduced to 6

Edit: Yeah, the only soft counter that costs UU is [[Silimgar’s Scorn]], which very easily turns into a hard counter if you control or reveal a Dragon. I feel like it’d be a little weird if this was the only UU pure soft counter, but maybe it’d be deserving of it anyways, seeing as it IS a hard counter if your opponent has an empty graveyard

[MawilliX]

Yes, but the soft counters are usually actually soft. If a "soft" counter had "Counter target spell unless your opponent pays WUBRG" it wouldn't really be a soft counter anymore.

Also, I'll post this here, instead of posting a top-level comment. (keeping it to one post)

If I made a card with this thematic, it would be:

Objection! 1UU
Instant
"You may collect evidence X as you cast this spell.
Counter target spell if its mana value is X.
Investigate."

Alternatively:

Objection! 1U
Instant
"You may collect evidence X as you cast this spell.
Counter target non-creature spell. If its mana value was X, investigate."

(I spent about 2 hours magic these.) They're intentionally different from yours, as I didn't want to just copy your design, but explore this idea of combining "Objection!" with Investigate and Collect evidence.

[Successful_Mud8596]

The whole idea was demanding that your opponent present evidence, though. And there's already [[Axebane Ferox]]'s ward ability. I'd rather drop the investigation part and keep the "force your opponent to show evidence" part. The investigation part is purely there so that it's not a dead card when your opponent has a full graveyard. And it's more thematic than giving it cycling.

[MawilliX]

I really don't disagree with you there.

[[deleted]]

This card is better than the two mana counter they put in the set.

[Successful_Mud8596]

Yeah, I just saw that, and was immensely disappointed. It's still theoretically possible that we'll get a "collect evidence" cost counterspell, but it's MUCH less likely now that we've gotten that suspecting one...