Introduction
Hi guys!
Guess who’s back to give you some early insight about this new Limited set that will be played next week at the Pro Tour?
I will give you a quick reference guide to this set talking about the new mechanics, best colors, Top 5 cards, and best archetypes as well. I hope you enjoy the ride!
Mechanics
First things, first…let’s talk about the new exciting mechanics! In Phyrexia we have five mechanics:
Toxic/Poison Counters
Oil Counters
Corrupted
For Mirrodin!
Proliferate(Yes…that one from the old Phyrexia Block!)
Toxic/Poison Counters
It works like the Poison ability we had before, but the main difference is that a creature’s Toxic value and its power aren’t necessarily connected.
If a creature with Toxic 3 deals 1 combat damage to an opponent, they’re getting three Poison Counters. So doesn’t matter the amount of damage you give to the opponent what’s most most important is the number of Toxic you have in the card!
Oil Counters
This ability is pretty easy to understand. You have some artifacts or artifact creatures entering the battlefield with X Oil Counters and you can take some Oil Counters from the card to provide you some abilities like 《Axiom Engraver》 is a 1/3 that enters with 2 Oil Counters you remove one and “loot” a card.
Corrupted
If an opponent has three or more Poison Counters you can unlock this ability to give you extra value. So it works as a semi-synergy behind the Toxic archetype drafts or seal decks.
For Mirrodin!
Do you remember 《Batterskull》 and that kind of “Living Weapon” equipment? Well, it’s almost the same since we now have a lot of equipments that entered attached to a creature but in this set, they came always as a 2/2 creature.
Proliferate
Welcome to Value Town my friends! Let’s give a warm welcome to the old ability from the Scars of Mirrodin’s set! It works really well in this format since it’s a really synergetic mechanic that potentiates the quality of your cards as you can either put some Poison/Toxic Counters on your opponent or just get more Oil Counters in your artifacts to do more “Degnerated Stuff”.
Top 5 Commons
Now that we dissect the mechanics, let’s talk about the top 5 cards from each color.
White
1st: 《Flensing Raptor》
2nd: 《Planar Disruption》
3rd: 《Basilica Shepherd》
4th: 《Crawling Chorus》
5th: 《Indoctrination Attendant》
Honorable Mentions: 《Charge of the Mites》《Duelist of Deep Faith》
Well…we’ve started with the best color in the set (in my opinion). White is so deep in the commons that seems really unfair to be honest. I’ve mentioned seven cards but I could go on as you can see my top spot goes to 《Flensing Raptor》 a Toxic creature above the 2 mana 《Planar Disruption》!
My reasoning here is that I think this format is a lot about synergies and white is well served if you focused on Toxic be it White-Black or Green-White. As you can see 4 of the top 5 commons all make mites or have Toxic and that’s because giving 10 damage to your opponent is easier than 20 damage! Keep it simple.
Black
2nd: 《Blightbelly Rat》
3rd: 《Pestilent Syphoner》
5th: 《Annihilating Glare》
In black we have the best common in the format: 《Anoint with Affliction》. It’s super good even without the corrupt ability activated because it kills almost all “early games” and if you ever get Corrupt it’s just a cheaper 《Murder》 which is kinda nuts for a common!
The rest of the black cards are Toxic creatures and a 《Bone Splinters》 reprint that kills planeswalkers. Black and White are two very deep colors that can be your main color(core) easily and after you just need another support color.
Red
1st: 《Hexgold Slash》
2nd: 《Volt Charge》
3rd: 《Furnace Strider》
4th: 《Axiom Engraver》
5th: 《Barbed Batterfist》
At the first sight, we’ve got two premium removals…you might be sceptical at first but I pick 《Hexgold Slash》 above 《Volt Charge》. I think Toxic is one of the best archetypes in the format and one mana shock that can be a 4 damage impact card is too broken. So, at least for now, that card is my top dog but, of course I can see my future self changing opinion.
In number 3, we have a worse 《Charging Monstrosaur》 where you lose one power and trample but can also give haste to your next attacker plus some oil synergies. I’ve been super impressed with this card.
We close our top 5 with a 1/3 Oil that loots 2 cards for 2 mana and a equipment that put a 2/2 token and gives +1/-1. These three colors: White, Red, and Black is the top 3 colors in the set and can be paired with almost any support color.
Green
1st: 《Contagious Vorrac》
2nd: 《Ruthless Predation》
3rd: 《Oil-Gorger Troll》
5th: 《Tyrranax Atrocity》
Honorable Mentions: 《Rustvine Cultivator》
In the green section, our top spot we’ve got an improved 《Civic Wayfinder》 2G for a 3/3 that looks at the top 4 cards in your library and you can choose to put a land in your hand or if you fail just Proliferate some Poison or Oils…this ladies and gentleman is just incredible!
In the second place, we have the classic fight removal for green, nothing new here but always rock solid! Let’s take a quick look at number 3 which we have a common…a Baby 《Thragtusk》, this card is just super good! In the Oil archetype decks and it’s one of the payoffs of being in the Oil decks as a 3/4 that draws a card and wins 3 life at 5…I really like those stats!
To round up the last two spots, we’ve got a 4 mana 4/3 with 2 Oil Counters that when it attacks, you can untap and make it a 5/4 so it basically as Vigilance at least for two turns. I don’t know your taste but for me thats pretty nice for a creature! And last but not least our number 5…the 4/4 Toxic 3 Haste! When you are in a toxic deck a 4/4 haste Toxic 3 is quite a beating I can tell you that as much!
My honorable mention goes to one of those cards that I thought unplayable at first glance, but the synergies it provides to the RG Oil deck kinda impressed me so I’m just going to put it up there.
Let’s finish with the worse color in the set by far…Blue!
Blue
Well…as you can see after 《Gitaxian Raptor》, a solid but not impressive card we go for an artifact that kinda imitates a 《Repulse》, and after that we go to an abysmal deep cave of unexciting blue cards that don’t have any synergy and have the less depth of all colors plus don’t pair well with a lot of things.
I can only suggest going deep on blue if you open a bomb! In the draft, the only really good archetype I’ve found for it is White-Blue artifacts!
Favorite Archetypes
With all the top commons said I’ll jump into my favorite archetypes by order (in real time!) of this article:
1.
/
: Poison Counters
2.
: Oil Counters
3.
4.
5.
I hope you guys liked my initial thoughts on the format and may the mythic and rares be on your side…and mine too since I will play Pro Tour Phyrexia! Send some positive vibes, please…I’m tired of being the “Bubble Boy” all the time!
See you soon!
Marcio Carvalho (Twitter)
