Category: New Phyrexia - Life... Successfully

Triumph of the Hordes - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

7/21/2019

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner ofIntent-sive Nature & theBrand Shamans network

Magic the Gathering's New Phyrexia booster set has a few valuable uncommon cards. But, Triumph of the Hordes became an $8 card based on the fact that it literally can make a deck triumph. Thanks to the controversial infect mechanic, it’s easily one of the most dangerous pump spells in Magic.

Triumph of the Hordes is a perfect example of an "oops, I win" card. It decimates blocking creatures with -1/-1 counters and tramples over to give opponents the required 10 or more poison counters to take them out of the game. That's not even to mention the +1/+1 boost it gives your creatures.

What's most impressive about Triumph of the Hordes is that its demand is almost entirely based on EDH play. It sees play in a wide variety of EDH decks, most of which are not remotely built around the Infect Mechanic. Titania, Protector of Argoth is the Commander who uses Triumph of the Horde most in the competitive EDH (cEDH) environment. But, many other Commanders can find a way to work it into a “go wide” gameplan.

The top ten Commanders that use Triumph of the Hordes in EDH, according to EDHREC, are:

Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons
Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
Melira, Sylvok Outcast
Jolrael, Empress of Beasts
Seshiro the Anointed
Baru, Fist of Krosa
Sekki, Seasons’ Guide
Ezuri, Renegade Leader

Note that a few of these Commanders lead creature-based decks, and Ezuri and Edric often lead Elves decks. With how much mana Elf decks can create early in the game, Triumph of the Hordes can end a game fairly early. It's always been a bit of a headscratcher that Wizards of the Coast allows a player in EDH to be eliminated with just 10 poison counters even when life total start at 40. You would think it would be closer to 15 or 20 just to make infect cards like these more fair in the format, yet they have never bothered to tweak that rule.

At just four mana, it's a bit surprising that we haven't seen this card in more go-wide strategies in Modern. Occasionally, someone will slip it in. It's actually quite a mean card. Triumph of the Hordes is actually a miserable way for an opponent to lose a game.

What do you think of Triumph of the Hordes?

Praetor's Grasp - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

2/4/2018

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Praetor's Grasp New Phyrexia MTG

Praetor’s Grasp is one of a few niche rares from the powerful New Phyrexia set that have found some permanent homes in EDH decks. During its Standard days, Praetor's Grasp was pretty much a sideboard card in mono-Black decks. For 3 mana (1BB), it allows you to steal one of your opponent’s cards right out of their deck. Not only do you exile it and keep them from playing it, but if you have the right mana, you can even play it yourself. Also, no one but you can even look at it or even know what that card is until it’s played. Praetor's Grasp can even deprive your opponent of a land!

With this sorcery, you also get a ton of information about that player’s deck, too. Praetor’s Grasp even for a time was tried out by Legacy and Vintage players. It never stuck around in those formats, though. After it rotated from Standard, EDH players became the card’s only audience.

Praetor’s Grasp offers a great deal of utility in EDH, especially in stealing someone’s key combo card from their deck. The best part about this effect is that it can be any card: artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, sorcery, or even land. If played correctly, this effect can both hurt your opponent and help you simultaneously.

The typical card you would target in EDH with Praetor's Grasp would be an artifact, since the vast majority of artifacts are colorless. You don’t even have to know what you’re looking for when you target an opponent; you just choose based on who you think the biggest threat at the table might be.

Commanders that gave Praetor's Grasp a regular home include Gonti, Lord of Luxury, Mishra, Articifer Prodigy, Sen Triplets, and many others. You don’t even have to be a mono-Black deck to take full advantage of this card’s effect. Still, mono-Black tends to be happiest when it’s stealing key cards from opponents.

Praetor’s Grasp was one of those rares you could find for $1 or less for a long time, but more recently it's passed $3. This is a great card to pick up as it has no reprints and should be a valuable card long-term. It’s a great tool to have for any EDH player dabbling in Black Magic.

Blade Splicer - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

6/25/2017

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Once a 6 dollar card, Blade Splicer saw a dramatic drop in price when she was reprinted in Modern Masters 2017 (MM3). At one point, Blade Splicer's MM3 printing dropped below a dollar and her original New Phyrexia printing steadily dropped towards $1.50. But in mid-2017, the two printings started to converge in price and the MM3 version began a slow rise.

It's hardly surprising to see Blade Splicer recovering from reprints. She saw lots of play during her time in Standard, especially in Birthing Pod decks. Blade Splicer would slide into Birthing Pod Modern decks, as well.

Does Blade Splicer Still See Play in Modern?

Even with the banning of Birthing Pod in Modern, Blade Splicer still sees top table Modern deck play in Eldrazi and Taxes and Hatebear decks. These decks really like Blade Splicer because of all of the "blink" effects in the deck. Eldrazi Displacer, Flickerwisp, and Restoration Angel can allow to reuse Blade Splicer's enter the battlefield ability again and again. She also does fairly well in EDH.

A card with the competitive pedigree of Blade Splicer couldn't stay around $1 forever. Even the New Phyrexia foils held at $3 and MM2017 foils at around $2. The low Blade Splicer foil price is due to being a foil promo in an intro pack deck. But, even that extra supply won't last forever.

Why is Blade Splicer Good?

Since Blade Splicer gives any Golems you control first strike, it's possible a golem creature might be printed at some point that will work well alongside her. We have seen her and Solemn Simulacrum work well together before. First strike is a very relevant ability. Four power for 3 mana is also just always going to be good.

While it's not likely that Blade Splicer will skyrocket in price, she will not remain cheap forever. It's always good to catch these long-term MTG card stocks to hold early. This is a card that can only get better with time. Players aren't really going to let her go at this point. Of course, Blade Splicer foils are the better investment, as they will be considerably more valuable sooner.

Chancellor of the Dross - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

5/2/2017

by R.A. Rowell; Co-Owner of Intent-sive Nature & the Brand Shamans network

Chancellor of the Dross is one of a cycle of five Chancellor creatures from New Phyrexia. In Limited, he was a fun one to have for a couple of reasons. A 6/6 with flying and lifelink for 7 mana isn't too bad, and definitely qualifies as a bomb. But the primary reason he was good is if you had him in your opening hand, he had an ability that you could use right at the beginning of the game.

While some of the Chancellors had a better ability than he, being able to immediately make your opponent lose 3 life and gain 3 life is a really useful ability. Starting the game at 23 while your opponent starts at 17 is a useful weapon to have. Yes, Chancellor of the Dross does have triple-black in his mana cost, but in Limited, you'd be playing bunch of Black cards anyway if he's one of your first picks anyway.

In a 40-card Limited deck, the chances of having him in your opening hand are pretty good. So it's pretty much worth running him in the off-chance you have him in your opening grip, because even if you don't, you'll have access to a powerful beater in the late game. But in regular 60-card Constructed, the chances aren't so good. It's not worth running 4 copies in the rare chance that you'll be able to gain 12 life and make your opponent start at 8.

In EDH, he can be a fun guy, though. This is because his ability targets each opponent, and not just one opponent. He's also a Vampire, which is a very popular archetype. There are quite a few Olivia Voldaren Commander decks that feature a copy of the Chancellor, mostly because his ability scales so well in multiplayer. He's also just a powerful beater who gets better in a Vampire Tribal deck. But he's hardly a must-include.

However, there is one thing that Chancellor of the Dross can do that probably no other card can. If you happen to be paying at the kitchen table or anywhere that regular deck construction rules don't apply (a format technically known as Freeform), you can actually build a deck of 60 Chancellor of the Dross. You ask, isn't that a bit absurd? It is, because you should only ever have 4 copies of any given card in your deck besides basic lands.

However, in the case that you can actually run 60 Chancellors, you will always start the game with 7 copies of Chancellor of the Dross in your opening hand,. This means you'll drain your opponent for 21 life. Since you start with 20 life in ordinary Magic, that means you automatically win! This concept was popularized by the Magic: the Gathering YouTuber VedalkenGurl, as seen in this video:

In "real" Magic, Chancellor of the Dross is a cool card that played the role of a bomb in New Phyrexia Limited. He still sees some casual play in Vampire Commander decks, too. But it's just too awesome to see a deck that runs 60 of a card that really just can't lose. Although, there are ways to beat 60 Chancellors, as it turns out, but not many.

It's just always awesome to see people break a card in ridiculous ways. Such is the magic of Magic!

Slag Fiend from New Phyrexia - A Magic the Gathering (MTG) Card Review

12/1/2016

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Slag Fiend has a really cool concept. For one mana, he can be quite a large creature. The trouble is, he’s really only good later in the game. For a one mana creature, this is a bit bizarre. Admittedly, he’s not a bad card. When New Phyrexia was being drafted, this was a pretty strong pick. Notice that his power and toughness consider all graveyards. He could be a big body in a format full of cheap artifacts that were played in every deck. It seems that his original design was to counter all of the artifact-heavy decks of the day.

Unfortunately, outside of draft and Scars of Mirrodin block Limited formats, Slag Fiend really never found a permanent home. There were some decks in the New Phyrexia era that used him as part of a bigger strategy built around the sorcery Scrapyard Salvo. Today, he's just a bulk rare that doesn't really fit into any larger strategies. But because of his raw power, you never know if he'll pop up again some day!

Magic the Gathering (MTG) - A Planeswalker's Reflections on Chancellor of the Annex from New Phyrexia

10/17/2016

by Phoenix Desertsong, Gaming Successfully

Funny thing in Magic about Angel cards. A lot of them end up being pretty good.

Chancellor of the Annex was pretty underwhelming to Standard players back in 2011. Of course it was. The ability to prevent your opponent's one drop was cute, but when were you going to get 7 mana to drop her onto the board? Then, making your opponent's spells essentially cost one more mana was more annoying than anything else.

Here's the thing. Legacy found a home for her... in Reanimator decks! Having her in your opening hand is pretty good in that format, as shutting down a turn one spell is a lot more important. Then, with all the ways you can discard the Chancellor into your graveyard, you'll easily be able to bring her back later. A 5/6 flyer is really tough to deal with, and since the spells in Legacy are so much more powerful than in Standard, keeping your opponent one mana off from potentially "going off" can win you the game while you bash in with this Angel.

The Chancellor cycle was pretty cool to play with in draft with New Phyrexia. Chancellor of the Tangle was the best for Standard play, but Annex is probably the best of them in the long-run. She was bulk forever, but now people realize, she's pretty good. And in Commander, since she affects each opponent, she is really, really annoying. Great card, and you should own at least one if you play any kind of Reanimator strategy.

Chancellor of the Forge - New Phyrexia Rare Card Review (Magic the Gathering)

8/29/2016

by ElspethFTW, Gaming Successfully Staff

Back on June 16, 2011, I reviewed Chancellor of the Forge, a rare Red Giant from New Phyrexia. It was one of my first ever card reviews. This is what I had to say about him at the time.

I must say that the Forge Chancellor’s artwork is pretty superb. He’s a cool card… until you realize he’s just a 5/5 for 7 mana. His effect sounds fun. If you have him in your opening hand, you get a free 1/1 red Goblin creature with haste, which is good for you if you’re on the play, and just sort of nifty if you’re on the draw. When you actually do get around to play him, you get as many 1/1 red Goblin tokens with haste as you have creatures on the board at that point. Problem is, many mono-red decks don’t keep a lot of creatures on the field, so you may only get 2 or 3 tokens out of his ability. Enough said, he’s not worth the 7 mana, and certainly not worth the triple red in any competitive red deck.

Let’s keep in mind that back in 2011 I knew nothing about EDH or casual formats. I really only knew what was good in Standard and Extended at that point. This card wasn’t even particularly good in draft or sealed deck from what I recall, either. At the time, of the five Chancellors from that set, it makes sense that I’d be unimpressed with this one.

However, now, Chancellor of the Forge is actually extremely good in Commander, especially in “go-wide” strategies. Recall that Krenko, Mob Boss and many other popular Goblin commanders didn’t exist yet. The commander that utilizes the Chancellor the most, Purphoros, God of the Forge, definitely didn’t exist yet. Also, the three Red mana symbols are extremely important for Devotion purposes, for cards like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. The fact that this doubles the amount of creatures you have on board is especially important to Purphoros (who deals 2 damage to each opponent for each creature that enters), Krenko (who doubles your Goblins), and Impact Tremors (an Enchantment that is essentially half of Purphoros).

While this Chancellor is still a bulk rare, it’s a heck of a lot better now and actually fits into some powerful strategies in Commander. It’s not really good anywhere else, but if you play Mono-Red or some other deck that wants to make a lot of Goblin tokens, this guy is definitely worth a look.

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Urabrask the Hidden - My First Ever Magic the Gathering Card Review!

1/27/2016

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Back in May 2011, I began a review blog called Elspeth for the Win. At the time, I was just getting back into Magic after a horrible, very expensive experience with Yu-Gi-Oh. I saw the card Elspeth Tirel and fell in love with her, remembering Elspeth, Knight-Errant from my Magic Workstation days during the Shards of Alara block.

But oddly enough, I didn’t review Elspeth Tirel as my first card. That would come later. Instead, I pulled what at the time was one of my more exciting early pulls from a Magic: the Gathering pack.

Around my birthday, I went to the local New Phyrexia pre-release and pulled this guy, Urabrask the Hidden, in my second pack from the prize pool! (My first had Puresteel Paladin, which would turn out to be a pretty awesome card in Standard and later in Commander.) Here’s what I had to say about him.

The First Review

Without a doubt, Urabrask was the best card I opened at the sealed deck this past Saturday, Urabrask the Hidden is a great card. Unfortunately, it was not pulled during the tournament, but in one of two packs acquired afterward in the prize pool. If I’d had this for my deck, it would’ve wreaked some serious havoc.

The praetors in this set (New Phyrexia) are all pretty good, but this is probably my favorite. What makes this card in particular very good is that its converted mana cost is only 5 for a 4/4 with two amazing permanent abilities. The idea that you could have this on turn 5, and possibly even earlier (especially in a red/green deck) is unbelievable. There are so many decks that a copy or two of this guy is capable of being splashed in! It’s not hard at all to produce 2 red mana, not with all the dual lands around.

This is easily one of the better cards in the set. I’m looking forward to reviewing the black praetor next, a card that I know everyone has seen already, and one that I actually think I may try to build a deck around in the near future. Let me know what you all think of this card, and stay tuned for more card reviews!

Of course, I went on to take a look at Sheoldred, Whispering One, who was the pre-release promo for New Phyrexia, and a lot of the other extremely good cards in that set. Yeah, this wasn’t a very in-depth review, but this was never meant to be a serious thing. But as I wrote a few more reviews, people started commenting positively and the reviews were getting a lot of views for a brand new blog. Not long afterward, I decided to change the name of the blog to Win Target Game - with the intention of writing much more in-depth reviews and not just snap judgments - and the rest is history.

What Made Urabrask So Cool?

All I did back then was gush praise for Urabrask. But as we look at his abilities, we see that praise was definitely well deserved. I wasn’t incredibly well-versed in the ins and outs of Magic’s competitive metagame at the time. I didn’t realize that at 5 mana, Urabrask didn’t do quite enough to become any sort of staple. But his abilities were really solid.

First of all, a 4/4 for 3RR with Haste is plenty good. On top of that, his first ability giving all of your creatures haste, himself included, is a nice start. But it’s his second ability that stood out to me: forcing all of your opponent’s creatures to come into play tapped. Back during Shards of Alara, my first decks were red/green or red/green/white (Naya). Drawing on that experience, I obviously saw this being a super strong card in Constructed.

Of course, it didn’t fit well in the Standard meta of the time. The infamous Splinter Twin combo and Caw-Blade decks ruled the day at the time. While Urabrask, interestingly enough, actually stopped the Splinter Twin combo by making all of the “infinite” tokens come into play tapped, he really didn’t see any play. The mono-Red decks that were good at the time didn’t bother to include him since they wanted to win by the time he would even be cast. In Modern, it’s simply outclassed in the 5-drop slot by Xenagos, God of Revels and Thundermaw Hellkite. It’s a great card that just never got a chance to really shine in Constructed.

So What Became of Mr. Urabrask?

So while Sheoldred later became a Standard playable and Commander all-star, a lot of people forgot about Urabrask the Hidden. My good friend Urabrask didn’t go on to see much Standard play. However, he has been a very strong Commander card ever since his release.

He’s mostly played in Animar, Soul of Elements, Aurelia, the Warleader and Rakdos, Lord of Riots decks. Urabrask has also become a key contributor in fringe Commander decks such as Adamaro, First to Desire and Fumiko the Lowblood. Other popular Commanders that have included him more than 25 percent of the time include Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer. He’s serviceable as a Commander himself, but with only about 25 decks listed on Tappedout and Deckstats, it’s clear he’s a pretty fringy choice for field general.

I don’t recall if Urabrask saw any Block Constructed play, as I didn’t know much at all about that format back in 2011, but it was still an actually supported format at the time. I’m just glad that New Phyrexia was my re-introduction to Magic. Without pulling this red Praetor, I may never have been excited enough to want to post a blog about my new Magic card adventures. I’ve had a lot of fun writing hundreds of reviews over the years, and I look forward to writing many, many more.

Jor Kadeen the Prevailer from New Phyrexia - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

1/13/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

To this day, I’m a big believer in good old Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer. Even at the New Phyrexia pre-release, Jor Kadeen was identified as a fine choice for a Commander - back before the format even became popular. All you would need to build is an artifact-heavy deck built around Metalcraft, a mechanic which activates when you have 3 or more artifacts in play. Jor Kadeen's Metalcraft ability gives all of your creatures a +3 power boost, including himself, which is pretty ridiculous.

With Metalcraft, Jor Kadeen alone is an 8/4 with first strike for 3RW (3 colorless, Red, White). If you can build an army of small creatures around him, you can end up with an unstoppable force never afraid to make an Alpha Strike.

There was a deck floating around in Standard not long after New Phyrexia's release that featured this guy. It revolved mostly around Kemba, Kha Kegent, Goblin Gaveleer, and a janky enchantment called Bludgeon Brawl.

Goblin Gaveleer is a little Goblin with Trample that got much, much bigger the more enchantments that you stuck on it, and Kemba, Kha Regent (a very popular Commander in her own right) puts out a Cat token for each Equipment attached to it during each of your upkeeps. Jor Kadeen is essentially the finisher, making all of your Cats into 5/2 beaters and increasing Kemba’s and the Goblin Gaveleer’s power. Immolating Souleater, which can get very big if you pump enough mana (or life) into it, was another big beater in that deck that could combo with Bludgeon Brawl.

As cool as that kind of deck was, however, it was pretty inconsistent. On the other hand, with so many amazing artifacts in Commander, that sort of deck certainly be fun and have a load of win conditions if Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer is leading it. If you love playing artifacts, but like to also play aggressively, Jor Kadeen a great Commander to consider. He’s also very good in decks like Mayael the Anima, who can take advantage of his 5 power.

Basically, any Commander deck with Boros colors that’s aggressive can use him, due to the fact that having three artifacts under your control is pretty easy to do; Sol Ring, Darksteel Ingot, and Boros Signet are all you need in play. Any Equipment that you can play also helps. Artifact lands such as Ancient Den, Darksteel Citadel, and Great Furnace are another cheap way to get Metalcraft online. The fact that Jor Kadeen pumps your whole team makes him a game-changer. He’s definitely a super solid card for Commander, even if he never had his potential realized in Constructed.

Psychic Surgery - A Magic the Gathering Card Review

1/13/2015

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

Psychic Surgery did not appear to be very good at its release in New Phyrexia. However, new cards expanding the mill archetype are appearing all the time now: Jace, Memory Adept from Magic 2012 and 2013, the Dimir cards from Gatecrash, Auriok, Nightmare Weaver from Theros, and Phenax, God of Deception from Born of the Gods, to name a few. With the growing likelihood that mill could once again blossom into a major archetype, this card could end up becoming quite handy.

It’s a decent little Enchantment that’s 1U (one colorless and one blue) to cast. Whenever an opponent shuffles his or her library, you can look at the top two cards of their deck. You may exile one of those cards and put the other (or both) back on top of the deck. The best part about this effect is that you get a choice of what to remove or put back. It is a sort of “fate sealer,” as well. If you’re milling your opponent, then chances are they are running out of their key cards that they can beat you with. This gives you an opportunity, albeit only when your opponent shuffles, to remove a key card from the game. It also allows you to know what card or cards they may draw next.

Ordinarily, this card would not be that great, and a bit under-powered for a rare. At the time, it was argued that this card was more deserving of an uncommon slot. But that ability to choose what cards get exiled or go back on top is what makes this good. Obviously, if you have two or three of these in play you can repeat the process for as many triggers as you get to truly muck up your opponent’s game. It does need a deck that is primarily focused on being a blue-black control deck that relies on mill as a win condition; otherwise, it’s just taking up space.

Still, Wizards seems to be doing all that they can to make mill a serious Modern contender for competitive game-play. With all of the shuffling from fetch-lands that goes on in that format, Psychic Surgery could prove to be a part of that strategy, even if only as a sideboard option.

Magic the Gathering Card Review - Geth’s Verdict from New Phyrexia

1/2/2015

by Richard Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Geth’s Verdict is an excellent common card from New Phyrexia. It’s a double-black removal card that saw plenty of play when it was legal in Standard and is still very playable in Eternal formats such as Modern and Legacy. It’s a very simple card that can be played at instant speed, forcing target player to sacrifice a creature and lose 1 life. It’s especially very useful early game, and most effective in a mono-black deck, although it could be played in multi-color decks heavy in black. It’s one of the best commons from New Phyrexia and good to keep a play-set of around. If you’re a Commander player, there is better removal, but this card is extremely cost-effective and certainly worth a look.