The Perfection Continued: New Phyrexia Spoilers

[Lelouch32]

The Perfection Continued: New Phyrexia Spoilers

By: Corlando

So… um… yeah. New Phyrexia is going to be awesome, you should totally do something with… it…. …. …. Bye. Back to Portal 2.

*is hit over the head with a frying pan*

ALRIGHT FINE! I’ll do a proper article.

So this week we saw a few, brand new spoilers for New Phyrexia come into our crosshairs and I have to say that I am very psyched for most of them. I mean we got a new Praetor (which I will discuss once they are all revealed), we got a new clone, we got a new living weapon, a new white removal spell, and a Blue infector. Some pretty interesting stuff don’t you think? Why don’t we look a little closer?

First up this week is that wonderful new White removal spell called Dispatch. It costs all of :manaw: and taps a creature… wait what? Let me check my notes… one second… umm… no that’s an old sandwich… no… Hey, I wonder where that went… Oh yeah here it is. Yes, it taps the target unless you control three or more artifacts. Yes ladies and gentlemen it’s a Metalcraft card and for a Metalcraft card it’s not bad. I mean if you control three or more artifacts you can completely eliminate a threat from the board with no consequences. Sword of the Plowshares gives your opponent a boost to his life total, which would hamper your attempts to kill him or her. Path to Exile gives your opponent land acceleration, which might let your opponent summon a bigger threat than the one you just exiled. Dispatch definitely is a good card… if you can get three artifacts out and have them stay. That’s the real problem with Dispatch. Even though you get the awesome ability to complete rid the board of a threat, you have to have other cards on the board to actually make it work. Unless you fill your deck with Mox Opals, Ornithopters, and Memnites, you will definitely have difficultly getting Dispatch to do more than just tap their creature. I feel Dispatch might be good in Limited, but outside of that it’s going to probably be considered a junk uncommon.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117359&d=1303099887

Now how about a bit of flavor to wet our whistles hmm? Well this card definitely gives it to us. Take a look at Chained Throatseeker. This 5/5 Horror can be all yours for the price of :mana5::mana2u:, but just a little reminder he cannot attack unless your opponent has been poisoned. Okay so I will freely admit that this card has a drawback, but there is potential. Before we get into the mechanics of the card, I just want to point out that this is the first Blue creature we have seen with infect. Granted there was Corrupted Conscience which allowed us to steal a creature and then give it infect, but until now Blue has really only been a proliferator, or support to an infect strategy. Now Blue has finally grabbed the poisoned boxing gloves and stepping into the ring. The great thing about Chained Throatseeker is unlike its closest relative Phyrexian Vatmother, Chained Throat Seeker is a little bit bigger and does not give you a poison counter during your upkeep. He is a bit expensive at six-converted mana cost, but that is par for the course to keep everything nice and fair between colors. This card essentially gives Blue/Black Infect one or two more Phyrexian Vatmothers if your opponent Memoricides them. This leaves the only problem of how do we get Chained Throatseeker to attack? The simple way is to just play Ichor Rats and boom your opponent is poisoned and you can just sit back waiting to play your heavy hitter. There are a few other solutions to this problem like just being aggressive with your first few turns with Ichor Myr and Necropedes, but Ichor Rats is generally the best way to go, at least in my opinion.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117358&d=1303099876

Hoping over to Green we get a wonderful new card that I’m sure will make its way into many wonderful decks… even in decks that do not use Green at all. Let me explain. Mutagenic Growth is :mana2g: spell that gives target creature +2/+2. This is just awesome. I mean seriously, pay two life (or a Green) to save a creature, deal more damage to a problem creature, or to get those last few poison counters on an opponent. This is an amazing spell. Imagine it in a Blue/Black infect deck.
“Okay, I’ll swing with my Necropede for 1 poison.”
“No block.”
“Ha, take 3 total poison.”
I do not want to over praise such a simple card, but the fact is this card could see some competitive play in infect decks. It might not, but I would lean toward that possibility.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117352&d=1303099803

Now our last card of the article is the recently released Phyrexian Metamorph. This :mana3::mana2u: 0/0 takes the concept of Clone and adds a whole new dimension to it. The normal Clone costs 3B and allows you to gain another copy of a creature that is on the board. Pretty handy I would say. Well Phyrexian Metamorph looks at this concept and says, “Okay, is that all you do?” First off this guy has the Phyrexian mana symbol meaning you can either pay a blue and 3 of any color or 2 life and 3 of any color. Next this guy allows you to have Metamorph copy either a creature on the field or any artifact that is on the field. Talk about messing with Caw-Blade. They summon up a Sword of Feast and Famine, you get your own Sword of Feast and Famine. They get a Contagion Engine; you get your own Contagion Engine. They play a Frost Titan to try to slow you down, you pay 2 life and 3 of any color to tap down their own Frost Titan with yours. This card is amazingly versatile and I hope and pray it goes into more decks than I think it will go in. We will just have to wait and see exactly how awesome this card can be.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=117417&d=1303185738

Unfortunately ladies and gentlemen I do not have a deck of the week for you this week, a lot like last week, but I do have another addition of Speculation Alley.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_vCzMTBxT7Y/TaXMgNuWXzI/AAAAAAAAMA0/uLuCexaDjAQ/s1600/New%2BPhyrexia%2BArt%2B%252813%2529.jpg
Not gonna lie this guy definitely scares the heck out of me. What exactly does he do with that device on his arm?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Hv6XP2lu7k/TaXMrWjFRgI/AAAAAAAAMBE/fwax6OtUcLA/s1600/New%2BPhyrexia%2BArt%2B%252815%2529.jpg
SURPRISE, you're exploding today! I get the odd feeling that this is another Black removal spell. Might be target specifically at White creatures. Not sure, still looks funny.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tgN3E3KaQvY/TaRHtCuyhzI/AAAAAAAAL9c/TJNB80rKb2M/s1600/New%2BPhyrexia%2BBrad%2BRIgney.jpg
Cannot help but think this guy likes his job... or needles... probably both. "Don't worry Mister Smith, I'm a licensed Gynecologist.

Alright well how about we finish up this week with everyone’s favorite section, Closing Questions Section:

1. What do you think of the New Phyrexia spoilers so far?

2. What is your favorite spoiled card so far?

3. Do you think Phyrexian mana will be a serious game changer for Magic or is it just going be here one minute and gone the next?

Well everyone, hope you had fun reading my article and stay tuned for more next week. And speaking of the future, I will be heading to Anime Boston this weekend so if you happen to see someone in a black fedora, holding a wizard’s staff while trying (and probably failing) to look cool…. that’s probably me. Anyway readers, always remember, “Etherium is Limited. Innovation is not.” This is Corlando signing out.

[surewhynot]

1. New Phyrexia is unbelievable. I haven't been so excited for a new set in a long time...

2. Surgical Extraction, Torpor Orb, and Mutagenic Growth all made me speechless, but Surgical Extraction WILL be a game-changer in all formats. Torpor Orb will be the death of CAW-Blade, and Mutagenic Growth will undoubtedly improve Stompy decks around the world, but Surgical Extraction is just unreal.

3. As I said before, this new mechanic is insane. Some of the cards that have the mechanic are going to be lost in time, but a few, specifically Surgical Extraction, will change the way the competitive side of MTG plays...in all formats. Thoughtseize --> Surgical Extraction on turn one?! 4 life and one :manab: to potentially shut down an opponent's deck in one fell swoop is UNHEARD OF in tourney play.

[whitey_mcfly]

1. I love this set. So much anti-control deck stuff I LOVE it.

2. My personal favorites are Omen Machine and Immolating Souleater. Omen Machine locks down any ability to draw by the opponent (Yes, that means you, Jace), and prevents your opponent from drawing another counter to your spells. For only 2 mana of any color, you get a 1/1 that can end the game turn 3 with the help of an Assault Strobe (turn 2 if you get lucky with Chancellor of the Tangle). Just pay 18 life and pray that your opponent didn't draw a bolt.

3. Hell yeah. It will change EVERYTHING. It may not be revisited, but I swear that the spells we have now will last forever. You can basically extend your mana pool as far as your life total can go for these spells and abilities (Immolating Souleater, as said above).

[SpippyTheInsane]

1) New Phyrexia is everything I love about Magic. The combos are absolutely incredible, but there always seems to be another, just as powerful combo, to counteract them. This series will really test deckbuilders to think more than ever before in standard, and players to truly cope with the deck they're playing against in a way unheard of in Standard tournies.

2) Melira, Sylvok Outcast by FAAAAAAR. Just on his own, he's amazing. Then factor in Phyrexian Unlife and you are unkillable in a hilarious fashion. ALso, can anyone tell me if you have Melira out and play Etched Monstrosity, does it come in with the -1/-1 counters or not? Because if it doesn't... 5 mana 10/10 lolz.

3) Making life a resource for real now, since technically it already was but hardly used as one, is going to really change a lot. To be honest though, this could seriously overpower red because players could potentially sac life to get stuff out early and then fall prey to swarming Kuldotha with less life than they need to win. That being said, this set highly boosts infect, and as we all know, life is somewhat useless when facing infect, making your life actually useful now instead of just sitting there as you die of poison. I think it will be well accepted now, but only a few will survive the test of time sadly.

[DedWards]

I'm curious as to where you check your spoilers. If memory serves, most (if not all) of the cards where spoiled on the site I check on by the time you posted this article.

[WhiteAndBlueTheyKillYou]

Very nicely done article, great format, and a good use of your resources! I'm not an English teacher, but I'd totally give you a gold star.



On to the closing questions posed!

1: I hardly ever care much for standard, but this set is so amazing, and has so many cards that apply to legacy it astounds me! It truly is a New Phyrexia!

2: I find my favourite card spoiled so far is Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. The sheer brutal amount of card advantage made my Reanimator deck shudder in glee, as now it has an easy one card answer to combo!

3: And I do believe Phyrexian mana cards will indeed change the game, in legacy I already see so much use for the cards Mental Misstep, and Surgical Extraction. I expect them to be in almost every deck I see, to be quite honest.