Hey everyone! I am here to usher you to your destiny of becoming part of the Phyrexian collective. Join us, as we will all be one soon enough. Oh wait, sorry… I’ve been told that I am to hold off on helping you be compleat and review all of the cards for limited purposes in its place. I guess we can do that instead, but you’re really missing out because Phyrexians know how to party.
Seriously though, I love this time of each set. Everything is new and exciting; we get to make all kinds of wild speculations about what the format is going to turn out to be. They may not let me sleep (or go outside, I miss grass) until I finish these reviews, but it’s still a great time. So, without further ado, I present to you Phyrexia: All Will Be One the limited review.
This is a very controversial card with a potentially very high delta in effectiveness. There are going to be times it outright wins a game for you and there will be times it will be really clunky. I heard some arguments about who cares if you pitch land every turn, but then you are playing a 5/5 first strike for five with a steep drawback. At least there are some tokens you can pick off if that is the case.
You really want card draw to keep up with this because otherwise you can end up backing yourself into a corner where you either lose this or the ability to play anything else. You also want to hold back a couple cards if this is in your deck in case you top deck it.
Enchantment removal isn’t a huge worry because its ability hits any nonland permanents. Just keep moving everything out of the way while smashing in with this and it will probably work itself out.
I bumped this up a bit because it can fill a role in almost any deck. Need to fly over some poison counters? Skits has you on that. Need to lifelink to pull ahead in a race? Better call Skits. Really solid card that you’re never going to be unhappy about playing.
The floor on the skullbombs is never too low because you can always just cycle them away. The ceiling on this one isn’t too spectacular, but it still replaces itself while sending a creature air borne with a little pump thrown in for good measure. That can sometimes steal a game out of nowhere.
I’m a little lower on this one than I am on Basilica Skullbomb because I think the format will be fast enough that playing Recover won’t matter nearly as much. There are definitely going to be some slower matches that you will want to bring this in for though.
Apparently, Campus Guide has been let go from Strixhaven and been forced to find work on New Phyrexia. They picked up some toxic workplace habits on the way out, but who are we to judge the little golem who could.
It might say that it moves dunes, but it also moves mountains (to the top of your deck). Solid one of to fix your mana without giving up much to do so.
A straight upgrade to Ratchet Bomb that can randomly hit the opponent for ten damage instead. Unlike Blast Zone this can blow up for zero allowing you to kill every token on the board the turn you play it.
If you drop this early, it requires your opponent to make decisions with it in mind, possibly not playing some creatures to avoid the two or three for one possibility. All while you gleefully keep doing your own thing knowing that you are the one in charge of when the sylex blows.
My wife told me that I will be spending some time on the couch if I refer to myself as the unstoppable juggernaut one more time.
This is really, really expensive and plays rather poorly with other expensive creatures. “My 5/5 is now a 5/3 that has to attack, but that wall can’t stop me now.” Spoiler alert: There are no walls in the set.
If your go wide deck is for some unknown reason looking for an eight-drop finisher, then by all means become unstoppable.
It’s a lord that can actually pump itself if you find a way to get an oil counter on it. It’ll be just fine as long as you have 4-5 things that synergize with it.
Is this the card that makes Churning Reservoir playable? Build an anthem isn’t the worst idea in the world, but it’s also fragile.
While the sorcery speed is a really big drawback, this is a lot of stats and trample thrown in on a cantrip. Mostly for use in green toxic decks because you only need one damage to trample over to get the full toxic effect of your creature.
We might need to sit down and talk about the definition of perfection because this isn’t it. It is an improved Journeyer's Kite, but we just saw how poorly that plays out in modern limited.
It is technically possible to trigger this if you have all five basics and four different spheres so I may smell a bounty coming to the podcast. It’s about as likely to happen as winning the Powerball, so maybe do that instead.
While the mana can be pretty painful, it’s a nice option for when you really need it. Outside of that, it’s a colorless toxic two drop. Another card that happily goes in any deck.
I guess Gathering Throng was too good so we had to make it cost four. With only two other Myrs in the set, it doesn’t even have the possibility to have a toolbox package. The only Myr you actively want in your deck is the two drop so it’s too late to grab it with this. No thank you.
At least this Manalith doesn’t require any setup. Yeah, I’m talking about you Mirran Safehouse… Why do you even exist? The only deck I could see this in is the green toxic decks that need a way to get to all that beef.
Playing this instead of a two drop creature is a real cost, but it does provide fixing while replacing itself. I mostly want it if I am splashing one of the signpost uncommons or playing one of the four pip mythics (Phyrexian Vindicator or Phyrexian Obliterator).
I’m not a fan of vehicles unless they do something absurd, but drawing a card on ETB really lowers what else you need out of this. The crew cost is high, but you might have some mites or other creatures currently being blanked that can captain this into the red zone.
Do you specifically need a turn two blocker and your opponent is playing multiple Vat Emergence? Then do I have the card for you. In reality, it should probably still be in your sideboard.
A solid comparison is Tolarian Geyser without the life gain. It might not be as effective here as Geyser was in DMU because there are more aggressive decks and bouncing a two drop just isn’t the same.
I’m already prepared for all the times I’m Gruul and my opponent shamelessly destroys all of my hopes and dreams with this. Even if your opponent isn’t either of those colors, getting to draw two cards when it connects is a very real problem.
I get that they were 100% not going to put a mana rock for two colorless mana into standard without some serious drawbacks. This gets around that by tapping the turn it comes in and then again the next turn to be active on turn four. The problem is if you draw it later it does literal nothing for a few turns.
The card draw is a lot more likely to happen if you have some proliferate around, but still a lot to ask of it.
Well it’s a 3/1 for two that might possibly draw you a card or at least make them change their game plan to prevent it. Just don’t play this if you have your own multicolor cards because it is symmetrical.
As long as you are playing both colors, then you want these in your deck. In the early game it’s just like dropping a Tundra which, as a certified boomer, I can assure you is not bad. If you draw them later, it’s similar to the normal common comes into play tapped duals which can be a pretty big drawback if you really needed your fourth land that turn.
While getting something out of your land without taking up a spell slot is nice, coming into play tapped is a real cost in a format that seems to be about early efficiency. I still want these, but I want one or two of them instead of stacking them up.
This does fix your mana the turn you play it so it doesn’t have the usual drawback from playing a colorless land in your deck. The little buggers it pumps out can’t block so you really only want this in a dedicated toxic deck.
These days a colorless land has to do something pretty relevant to make its way into the mana base. While not quite a total nothing, this does very, very little.
While Unknown Shores has always been pretty bad, this lets you copy an artifact later in the game. This is a fine addition as long as you have a few artifacts floating around that are worth having another copy of.
Almost every creature in this set is Phyrexian so even if you have no plan to ever be corrupted this is a rainbow land for casting them. It also helps your mites grow up a bit.
They finally got tired of putting Evolving Wilds in and figured they’d mix it up a bit with some Terramorphic Expanse action. A little lower than normal because you are competing with sphere lands for coming into play tapped.
This is going to be very hard to cast, but when you pull it off it will probably win the game for you. They either deal with it immediately or it completely takes over all forms of combat. Even if they do have the removal spell, you still probably drew four cards off of it.
Man, this is pricy to reequip, but you already got an on rate 2/2 double striker out of it. The cheaper equip cost for other equipment might actually matter with some of the jankier For Mirrodin! ones running around.
While the mana would be a nightmare, I want to slap this on Tyrranax Rex so bad. What can I say, some people just want to watch the world burn.
The lack of artifact lands prevents this from doing its best Broodstar impression, but it’s still usually going to be around a 3/5 flyer without being too dedicated to artifacts. If you have enough mites running around you might even be able to one shot them through the air.
Starting out with 3/4 worth of stats across two bodies sets the bar pretty low for what else this has to do. While not a certainty, it’s not overly difficult to end up getting an extra card or two off of this. Make sure to give this good boi some pats on the head for a job well done.
This feels like one of those cards that your opponents never consider until the moment it ravages them in the middle of nowhere. There are also a ton of cards that this can kill without setting them up first and even if you only get one or two, it is well worth it.
Even without a dedicated oil deck, you should be able to get a mana or two discount on this.
Turning every proliferate into an additional card can snowball pretty fast since it usually draws into even more proliferate cards. It can even draw two on ETB if you kick it (What up Mulldrifter) so it doesn’t necessarily need to have too many other proliferators to want to play it.
Deathtouch and first strike make this functionally unblockable. That works out pretty well since you get to draw a card whenever it hits the face. The remove counters option is also nice because it lets you pseudo attack a planeswalker at the same time you connect with the face.
You can actually trigger the card draw on turn three by leading this into Barbed Batterfistand moving the equipment over. Instant four power trampler with a card thrown in. Pretty key card for providing some extra card advantage to make sure you actually get across the finish line in Boros beats.
Another planeswalker that protects itself and provides card advantage. It also lets you take advantage of any ETB effects by letting you bounce them for free when they get in for damage. Personally, I’m dreaming of doing it with Vivisection Evangelist.
A hexproof planeswalker?!? I’m sure the discussion was “What design space have we missed that would really make someone want to punch their opponent in the face”.
It is very difficult to cast, but will dominate the board when it’s down. Even if you are just trying to finish them through draining, it essentially comes down at a whopping eight loyalty. Very frustrating card to play against.
It’s just a 4/4 for four that lets you trade in something that had enchantment removal used on it for a new creature. I’m sure there are other very niche cases where you want to use it, but it is random and you’re always trading down.
Considering how much everyone hates him, Lukka was bound to ruin everything whether he’s Phyrexianized or not. Seriously, I think the other planeswalkers were very sarcastically saying, “Oh no, not Lukka, whatever will we do”.
It’s a planeswalker that makes creatures to protect your value train or even outright removes multiple creatures depending on what you do with it. Obviously very good, but still beatable.
Triggering the second clause is going to be very difficult unless you are getting some mites. Even looking at it as just the initial trigger is still a really solid card.
I remember people freaking out about how good Watchwolf was going to be as a 3/3 for GW. We’ve come a long way since then, but that remains a good stat line. Both of its other abilities are situational, but reasonably useful.
This thing is fresh out of Valvoline with all that oil on one creature. An extremely versatile beat stick with a huge threat of activation that can even handle troublesome artifacts or enchantments. Migloz crush!
Coming soon to theatres, Nahiri Stabbyhands. She is about as useful as her new hands are for using utensils. Kind of a sad way for her to go out really, but we’ll always have the memories. Seriously though, she’s not bad. Just not the insanity you expect from a mythic walker.
The best use for her is when you are empty handed. As you may notice, due to the ordering, if you don’t have any card to discard, it’s just draw a card every turn. The other plus can protect her by redirecting their creature’s ire towards your face instead. The reanimation effect is pretty meh due to the exile at end step thing.
This certainly makes your opponent reevaluate every combat. They’re much more tempted to block when the counters are flowing this hard, but that just lets you use the deathtouch to kill whatever gets in your way.
Seven mana sure is a lot, but it’s probably game over if you get to untap. Besides the massive protected flyer, you can make a ton of hasty tokens to drag your opponent down, down to goblin town.
The random battle cry is pretty disgusting if you are going wide with mites. How are those mites showing up? Well, this generous knight decided to help you with that. Its ability doesn’t require it to attack so you can just play this and target an evasive creature to start the mite farm right away.
While three counters seem like a lot, you have to remember that cards like Experimental Augury give you two counters at once. If you want to get cray cray, then Free from Flesh actually gives you all three in one shot.
Once you’re there, you can turn an unwanted nonland card into a lightning bolt after drawing a card. Not bad for a decently statted flyer.
This card really sings to me. A bear with toxic two that anthems the rest of your toxic attackers is going to put an insane amount of early pressure on your opponent. Good luck if you’re on the draw.
I’ve already said plenty about how high I am on evasive toxic creatures. This one helps you act like a combo deck by letting you turn every creature into an extra proliferate. Outside of the obvious poison and oil synergies that can make your Planerswalkers blow up with a swiftness.
Hey we finally have a bad planeswalker! There are some niche things this can do, but mostly it’s going to reanimate a two drop. Maybe you get to do it a couple times and it’s decent. I can’t imagine ever taking this before the Arena rare drafters grab it.
Apparently, the token that Venser’s corpse makes is a hollow version of Karn. A million Vorthos just cried out at once.
This is obviously taking into account that you have a decent number of ways to proliferate, otherwise you need to bump it down quite a bit. A good comparison is Tatsunari, Toad Rider as a creature that gives you a 3/3 for doing what your deck wanted to be doing anyway.
It shouldn’t be too hard for Orzhov to hit corrupted by turn five so this is almost always going to pop off their best creature or planeswalker while being a solid body.
Two mana, two power flyer is pretty good. Adding in toxic and a way to continually bring it back is pretty…pretty…pretty good.
Wrap Up
The artifacts are a pretty mixed bag with some real standouts like Sword of Forge and Frontier to go along with some truly unplayable jank. The lands are mostly “just fine” with nothing really standing out. The multicolor cards are filled with a lot of power that is going to tempt you to splash them into other color combinations.
I’ll be back tomorrow with my Phyrexia: All Will Be One Limited Mechanics Guide. Until then, stay classy Magic people!
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below.
Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.
