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Another Top Ten for Phyrexia: All Will be One

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Hello awesome folks, I hope that your day is going incredibly well today! Phyrexia: All Will be One is here and it has loads of awesome cards for kitchen table play like Commander, multiplayer, Five Color, Type Four, and loads more. Ready for the awesomeness of it? I hope so!

Today I want to look at another Top Ten cards from the set after last week's Top Ten with three Honorable Mention's. It has three planeswalkers, four Commanders, a colorless artifact hitting first, and a land. But what where? Check it out! Ready?

Honorable Mention #1 (#26 Overall) - Nahiri, the Unforgiving

Nahiri, the Unforgiving

Hitting our 26th spot is this Boros colored four drop planeswalker (maybe) with 5 (or three) loyalty. Then she has three abilities. Her first +1 will force something to attack on their next turn. This could potentially open up a defense in multiplayer by making their only defender attack someone. Then her second +1 ability discards one to draw one, key card flow. I also like it in discard matters, reanimate deck, with flashback or jumpstart or threshold or madness. Then her final ability is 0 exile a dork or equipment with mana value less then her loyalty from your graveyard and copy it with a token that has haste and then exiles at the end step. It synergizes with her second +1. Did you see it? She has no negative abilities, so she's all pluses and zeroes. She's also pretty strong as a three drop that +1s to discard on the third turn with a four loyalty. She's on my second list because while she costs little and great loyalty, her abilities aren't exacting world smashing in kitchen table formats.

Honorable Mention #2 (#25 Overall) - The Eternal Wanderer

The Eternal Wanderer

This six-drop 5 loyalty planeswalker has a few new additions. First, only one dork can attack her each combat. Nice! Secondly, her +1 blinks out a target artifact or creature until their end step. If you use it on your turn on your stuff, they'll come back your turn later. I love that with mass removal like Day of Judgment that will avoid wiping your key dork or with blinking things like Loran of the Third Path or Virus Beetle.

Then you can use it to blink a foe's defender, swing, and then it cannot swing back since it heads back in their end step. Thirdly, you can 0 her to make a 2/2 Samurai with double strike. That can block the only attack on her. Fourthly, you can -4 her to sacrifice everything but one dork each player controls. Nasty mass creature removal. You can do that with her initial loyalty, making her quite the force of nature. She's on my second list in my Honorable Mention section due to that casting cost.

Honorable Mention #3 (#24 Overall) - The Mycosynth Gardens

The Mycosynth Gardens

This arrives untapped so you don't lose any tempo and taps for colorless. Then it counts as a Sphere for things that care. And you can tap it with one to make the right color of mana, key the more colors you have. Then you can X tap it and it copies a nontoken artifact you control with that cost. So, as an example, you could spend one to get a Skullclamp, get a powerful card flow like Mind's Eye or Staff of Nin, and so forth. It's quite strong in many artifact brews a spare land that doesn't cost much to run, gain more life with Venser's Journal or Ivory Tower. You got it!

#10.(#23 Overall) - Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres AND Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus

Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres
Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus

Let's look at a two-set of Blue legendary things to build your Commanders around. Ezuri adds Green, a popular combo, and is a 3/3 body on a 4 mana cost, and then you can pay 3 mana when he enters the battlefield proliferate twice. Nasty! That's very good with his triggered ability to draw when you prolfierate making him a "proliferate matters" leader. Then Tekuthal removes green, still costs four, has a bigger body at 3/5 with flying. Then when you proliferate? Do it again! He is also a proliferate Commander. Then you can spend three mana, or some life and less mana, to pull three counters and give him an indestrucible counter forever, not just that turn. Nasty! He'll go into Ezuri brews.

#9. (#22 Overall) - Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus

Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus

Check out this fun thang. It's a seven-mana 4/6 with reach. When each combat begins double the power and toughness of your stuff. In the Command Zone? That means this will always swing or block as an 8/12. Note that this is each combat, not just yours. Also note that this very strong in Gruul in the 99 of decks that have Relentless Assault effects since you'll double size once more. You can also copy this triggered ability with things like Strionic Resonator and Lithoform Engine to really win quickly. This also can be given an indestructible counter at instant speed with some Phyrexian green mana, this time with two sacrifices. This is also strong in Type Four with infinite mana but just one spell per turn where this is a first turn play.

#8. (#21 Overall) - Tyvar's Stand

Tyvar's Stand

Back to back Green cards baby! If you are a green fan, love it! This uncommon X spell does a few things! First, the target you control gains hexproof and indestructible. That's really strong at making sure that they cannot be answered with removal mass and targeted like Cyclonic Rift and Wrath of God. Then you can pump your dork by +X/+X for the turn, so it can be used as a combat trick to kill someone with combat damage out of nowhere. Do you know what it reminds me of? Stonewood Invocation. Heavily played when it was printed. Ditto Vines of Vastwood. I love this on a Commander to net that kill out of nowhere. Great trick!

#7. (#20 Overall) - Karumonix, the Rat King

Karumonix, the Rat King

Hitting halfway here on my list, at the even 20 spot is my only mono-Black spell by itself, the three mana 3/3 on curve legendary Rat King himself, Karumonix! It has toxic 1 so it's a faster kill if it punches. It gives all of your Rats toxic 1 as well, so it really wants that. Decks built around the not-limited-to-one Rat Colony are going to be bonkers with this as a leader with the toxicing. Nasty. When your Rat King arrives to your battlefield, dig 5, and then put your Rats revealed into your hand, so this is also card flow for Rats in your Command Zone. Nasty stuff. The only issue here is that Rat Colony costs a lot on the secondary market, like $5 a lot. Ah well. You can also run support like Burglar Rat, Ashcoat of the Shadow Swarm, Crypt Rats, Wave of Rats, Typhoid Rats, Marrow-Gnawer, and loads more. Nice stuff!

#6. (#19 Overall) - Soulless Jailer

Soulless Jailer

Check out this two-drop 0/4 colorless artifact dork. This has two abilities that affect everyone, you too. The first? Permanents in graveyards cannot enter the battlefield. First this shuts off things like Karmic Guide in reanimation brews as well as things that self-recur like Reassembling Skeleton or Bloodghast. Nice. Then no one can cast non-dorks from graveyards or exile. That shuts down from the graveyard casts like flashback of Deep Analysis or jump-start of Chemister's Insight. Then no exile either and many cards are cast from exile like suspend and foretell among others. All shut down. You still have graveyard to your hand effects like Regrowth and Eternal Witness to play. You can cast from your Command Zone. But it's a powerful "nope" in your deck to have to build around. Nasty stuff here, love its power loads since it can be in any color of deck at the kitchen table. I also just like this as a two drop in toughness matters like Doran, the Siege Tower where you can drop this turn 2, him turn 3 and swing with a 4/4 while also impacting the battlefield.

Top Five Time!! Making it is one cycle, a colorless artifact, another legendary Phyrexian Horror that doubles something, another two-color legendary leader, and a nasty game winning enchantment. But what hits in what slot, and which cards? Let's find out now!

#5. (#18 Overall) - Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

Solphim, Mayhem Dominus

Let's knock out the Phyrexian Horror now. This is a cheap 4 mana for a very powerful 5/4 - good to run right there! What does this double? Noncombat damage you deal to an opponent or their permanent, but not you or your stuff. The obvious place to pair this with as a burn Commander. Lightning Bolt now deals 6. Doubling is arguably better than Torbran, Thane of Red Fell, although there are corner cases like Rolling Thunder or Arc Lightning.

Where I really super secretly like this is with mass damage sweepers that won't be doubled to you and thus save your thing. Consider the case of Earthquake. This deals X damage to non-flyers and each player. If you put 5 into the X and control Solphim you and your non-flyers take 5, your foes and theirs will take 10. You can easily scale that to where you'll keep most of your stuff but your foes won't. Magmaquake? Starstorm? You have a bunch of ways to sweep but keep you alive. That's my key way of building around this. And just give it indestructible so it'll stay alive permanently. Three mana, two of it Phyrexian Red, and then discard two for this counter. Since you are getting such great value from your sweepers, a double discard doesn't seem that bad. You could also add in pro red equipment like Sword of Fire and Ice to save it and then reequip each time after it dies. Nice addition to the Commander Canon!

#4. (#17 Overall) - All Will Be One

All Will Be One

Let's knock out the other mono-Red card not in a cycle now. This five-drop enchantment wins the game. Whenever counters are placed on any permanent or any player, this deals the counters added in damage to any dork, their creatures, or their planeswalker. Nasty! Note a couple of things here. First of all, this works on your things like planeswalkers with loyalty counters for that brew or +1/+1 counters for that. It also works when you put counters on your foe's thing, like poison counters on them or -1/-1 counters with spells like Incremental Blight. Good stuff. It also works when they place counters on things too, like poison on you or their own +1/+1 counters or loyalty counters. There are also a number of lands that ETB with counters like the Vivid cycle, or the nasty game winning 10 damage for a Dark Depths. It's very strong, see why it's on my list? I think so too!

#3 (#16 Overall) - Glissa Sunslayer

Glissa Sunslayer

The fallen reprint of Glissa was one of the most popular Golgari leaders in Commander bar none. Today she still has 1885 decks over at EDHREC.com. With a three-mana 3/3 body with both first strike and deathtouch, the Sunslayer is very strong on the battlefield. No one will attack into her dying with first strike and deathtouch before hitting back, ditto on blocking. That makes her combat trigger very rough to deal with. Lose a dork? Or let you smash? Nasty decision.

Those combat damage options are to draw a card at the cost of life, destroy a target enchantment, or remove three counters from a permanent like your foe's planeswalker or your Saga. It's always a card, making this card draw over time. But don't sleep on that deathtouch either and she's cheap enough to play a few times with Command Tax, so why not give her some trample and Lure effects from equipment to clean your foes' stuff without losing since you have first streak and trample only needs to deal one per target to kill with deathtouch.

#2. (#15 Overall) - The Filigree Sylex

The Filigree Sylex

Hitting at 15th overall is this powerhouse legendary artifact. It just costs two. You can tap it to put an oil on it. Then you can sacrifice it and tap it to destroy all nonlands with that oil number on it. Mass removal from your colorless mana two-drop. Note that tokens that are not copies won't have a cost so you can destroy them all on the turn this arrives to the battlefield, like Treasures, Clues, Foods, Soldiers, Goblins, Spirits, Zombies and loads more, so this is very strong against those here. You can also tap it and pull 10 oils from things to shoot one target for 10 later in the game. That third ability is very strong in oil, proliferate, and other decks.

#1. (#14 Overall) - The Twilight Cycle

Green Sun's Twilight
Blue Sun's Twilight
White Sun's Twilight

This is our top card(s)! Each of these are enchanced if you put at least 5 into X, like previous spells like Martial Coup or Banefire. The White is amazing at making game winners in X with toxic 1 as well as sweeping the board. They cannot block so there are decks that prefer the Coup, but most would rather have this. Then we have the Blue one which will steal an opposing dork with X cost or less and copy it if 5 was spent, nasty good for control brews. Black Sun's Twilight will wither a dork -X/-X for the X you send and if 5 was spend recur an X from your graveyard, which is great with Cabal Coffers. Red Sun's Twilight will destroy artifacts equal to the X spent which dials up in multiplayer formats. Then 5 will make copies with haste that die this turn. The Green Sun will dig X and draw a dork or land into your hand unless you spent 5, then place it onto the battlefield - nice cycle for the empowering!

And there we go...so what did you think of my list? Let's do this again next week, alright?

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