Undercity Wretch-
Creature-Human Shaman
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
"Do you want to know what makes the Undercity so irresistible, my liege?"
2/1
---TDFC---
Stench of Rot
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets -2/-1.
"The smell."


Adorable Porcupine-
Creature-Beast
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Menace
Young goblins always learn the hard way the dangers of playing porcupineball.
1/1
---TDFC---
So Many Needles
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
At the beginning of enchanted creature's controller's upkeep, So Many Needles deals 1 damage to it and 1 damage to its controller.
Old goblins eventually learn to just stop playing.


High Court Judge-
Creature-Giant Advisor
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Vigilance
His verdicts are swift and final.
4/4
---TDFC---
Guilty On All Counts
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack or block and its activated abilities can't be activated.
"The law has no need for repeat offenses."


Prize Egret-
Creature-Bird
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Flying
The empress places great value on the sanctity of her meditation aides.
3/2
---TDFC---
Diminish In Status
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature's base power is 2/2 and it loses all abilities.
"You are no longer welcome in this court."


Oldbark Caretaker-
Creature-Treefolk Shaman
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
When Oldbark Caretaker arrives, create a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token.
"These woods are mine, though they do not belong to me."
2/2
---TDFC---
Vengeful Watchers
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature attacks, defending player creates a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token.
The woods remember your crime.

was thinking about Mown's entry to the last YMtCotW, what I liked about it, what I didn't, and what I wish it had been instead, and this popped out. I like it more than Haunt because the mechanics tie better to the narrative if you're haunting the thing that actually killed you. I wanted to start with a common cycle to test if it had legs, but here's a rare cycle with some more interesting cards, to see if it can work on fancy stuff too.

Umi, Hand of the All-Wise-
Legendary Creature-Angel
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Flying, vigilance, lifelink, protection from spells
She speaks and the heavens listen.
5/5
---TDFC---
The Gates Open Wide
Legendary Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
When The Gates Open Wide arrives, create two 4/4 white Angel creature tokens with flying and vigilance.
Angels have protection from enchanted creature.
She dies and the heavens go to war.


Silthek, the Twisted Tongue-
Legendary Creature-Lizard Rogue
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Silthek can't be blocked.
Every gang in the city has a price on his head.
3/2
---TDFC---
Bought and Paid For
Legendary Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature.
He says it's only fair to return the favor.


Tormura, Nexus of Anguish-
Legendary Creature-Demon Avatar
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Flying
Whenever Tormura attacks, defending player loses 3 life unless they sacrifice a nonland permanent or discard a card.
"They say the screams you hear are echoes of its past victims."~Ekeroc, demonologist
2/2
---TDFC---
Reverberating Agony
Legendary Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has "At the beginning of your upkeep, lose 3 life unless you sacrifice another nonland permanent or discard a card."
"Maybe one day, someone will hear yours."


The Firebird of Imrik Peak-
Legendary Creature-Phoenix
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
Flying, haste
Locals say a new bird is born every hundred years to watch over the mountains.
3/3
---TDFC---
The Fire Inside
Legendary Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
The Fire Inside arrives with three ember counters.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove an ember counter from The Fire Inside. Then, if there are no ember counters on it, transform it.
In truth, the same soul has kept watch for millennia, and will continue for millennia more.


Leather-Eyes, the Last Elephant-
Legendary Creature-Elephant
Torment (When this creature dies in combat, return it transformed and attach it to a creature that dealt combat damage to it this turn.)
"Once, these mighty beasts roamed the earth with impunity. Now only he remains, sad and alone but living none the less."
3/3
---TDFC---
Despicable Trophy
Legendary Enchantment-Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2.
No words can capture the guilt in his deep, empty eyes.

(EDIT: this one was posted with a cost of which was obviously a mistake.)

surprisingly few negative auras at rare to use as inspiration but I like these. front sides are still mostly pretty simple, which could change I guess but none of the designs really felt like they were calling for more and I try to be a minimalist these days.

also features an unrelated wording thing I've been musing: I like the recent move away from the clunky "enters the battlefield", but "enters" is still awkward. "arrives" is a better singular verb for that action.

I feel like this would be a better mechanic without the "creature that dealt damage to it this turn" clause. As it stands, it basically encourages chump attacking/blocking to kill off your own creature for no return, which isn't a very interesting play pattern.

Could word it as "When this dies, return it to the battlefield transformed and attached to a legal target" to allow potential for Torment Curse Auras.

Technically don't even need the attach clause as, if the interaction between Faith's Fetters, Emrakul the Aeons Torn, and Show and Tell is any precedent. That said it isn't exactly an intuitive interaction so might be worth the extra text.

Apologies if I sound short; third time logging in and typing this out. Annoyed with Wifi coverage here

Leather-Eyes has lovely flavour, but I'm not sure I would want to play a 6-mana 3/3 with a drawback

my favs are Oldbark Caretaker, Silthek, and adorbs porcupine

I considered that but I think it's more interesting both flavorfully and play-wise if your options are limited. in fact, I'd argue an unbounded version encourages more useless swings because you can force the aura wherever you want: if you have, say, a 2/2, a 3/3, and a 2/5, then your version means I can freely swing with Undercity Wretch and get value no matter what, whereas mine encourages me to consider how to get that 2/2 out of the way so I can get my aura onto a more valuable target. hitting everything also gives you a lot of room for 2-for-1s, which then forces the power level of the auras down significantly, especially at common.

...whoops. the cost was from a previous design that I scrapped and turned into this, it was supposed to cost . I'll fix it.

Yeah, I like the ideas here but I think the restrictions make these too unlikely to be viable. Removal is just plentiful now, but you could at least target these at Limited and have less removal in the set. The problem is you then need the creature to be eaten rather than trade off. Outside of leaning into chump blocking, Adorable Porcupine is probably the one that is most likely to work.

This jumps to mind instead:

Undercity Wretch
Creature — Human Shaman
When this creature dies, you may return it to the battlefield attached to target creature that dealt damage to it this turn.
Disturb
2/1

Stench of Rot
Enchantment — Aura
Enchanted creature gets -2/-1.

So then it's almost like disturb + Traps.

Face of Lost Chances
Creature — Illusion
At the beginning of your upkeep, return this creature to its owner's hand.
When this creature dies, you may return it to the battlefield attached to target creature that dealt damage to it this turn.
Disturb
1/1

Overwhelming Regret
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
You control enchanted creature.

You could then set up different conditions?

Grove Guardian
Creature — Dryad
When this creature dies during your turn, you may return it to the battlefield attached to target player that cast a spell this turn.
Disturb
3/3

Curse of the Bloodsap
Enchantment — Aura Curse
Enchant opponent
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, each of their opponents creates a 2/2 green Wolf creature token.

yeah, I largely agree, although I tried to balance the front sides so that if they ate removal or traded cleanly, you weren't too disappointed in your investment. the commons are all meant to be playable, if not wildly exciting, vanilla bodies in limited, so that if they trade or get removed outside of combat, you're not losing too much value. like, pikers aren't very scary these days, but Undercity Wretch can still trade with basically any 2-drop in the game, and quite a few 3/4-drops as well. is it enough to create interesting play patterns, or will these all just die in normal ways anyway? not sure, but given the options of lining up advantageous blocks (I'm hesitant to call it chumping when you absolutely do get significant value out of it) or using it as a sort of evasion to manipulate their blocking options, I think there's potential.