There are a lot of powerful cards in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, but we’re going to focus on this guy — Venerated Rotpriest: This little druid has been making waves as some figured out it may be the linchpin for making several varieties of Toxic decks across multiple formats work. I fully plan on experimenting around several Proliferate builds …
The Danger of Phyrexian Mana
Phyrexia: All Will Be One has shown us that New Phyrexia’s armies are filled with endless ranks of destructive, living weapons — but its most dangerous power remains its most simple: Phyrexian mana costs. Introduced in 2011’s New Phyrexia, at the culmination of the Phyrexian invasion of Mirrodin, Phyrexian mana allowed players to pay for spells with chunks of life …
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Updated Decks for Standard
Phyrexia: All Will Be One looms just around the corner, and with it will come a brand-new Standard environment, full of new and updated decks. This set looks to shake things up mightily, with lots of powerful cards and a Toxic new mechanic joining the fray. We’re going to check out what Standard might look like after Compleation in two …
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Standard Highlights
While the full extent of Elesh Norn’s plans have yet to be previewed, Phyrexia: All Will Be One looks primed to give Standard a huge shot in the arm (don’t ask what kind). As always when Phyrexia is involved, most of the new cards are pushing the absolute limits of game balance while also breaking new mechanical ground in various …
Skullbombs and the Evolution of Magic Design
In Phyrexia: All Will Be One, we have a cycle of one-mana artifacts with activated abilities that can draw you a card called Skullbombs. This builds on a similar cycle from Scars of Mirrodin called Spellbombs, which were themselves a sequel to the original Spellbombs from Mirrodin block. It’s not often we see cycles full reiterated this many times, but …
How to be Toxic, in a Good Way, in Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Up until now, the word “toxic” in Magic referred to behavior that made people not want to play with you anymore. With Phyrexia: All Will Be One, we now have the Toxic mechanic, meaning I can title this article “How to Be Toxic” and mean it without suddenly becoming a terrible person of one sort or another. But as we’ve …
Flavor Check: Phyrexia: All Will Be One
As Magic players, most of us primarily care about how the game actually plays. However, so much more goes into a set than the cards themselves — from worldbuilding, to characters and the places they intersect. Often, these qualities outside of gameplay are called flavor, and they help sets taste different even if they are similar in some ways to …
How Will Magic Change in 2023?
There’s a lot on the horizon for Magic in 2023, and Tom is here to take a look at what all the different moving parts may mean! It’s a new year for Magic just as it is for you and me – and 2023 in particular stands as a tense cliffhanger moment in the game’s proud history. The narrative stands …
Tips for Grinding Competitive Magic
The start of the new year just so happens to coincide with the start of the new Regional Championship Qualifier season, so I thought we could also start off 2023 with a new mindset. These are tips I’ve put together after my time spent grinding the competitive Magic circuit, and I hope you can use them to find success yourself. …
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Predictions
Phyrexia: All Will Be One is looming on the horizon, and before we get too far along into the story coming out and preview season starting in earnest, I need to make some predictions! We have our two mainstay categories: mechanical predictions and storyline predictions, as usual. But let’s kick off with something concrete that’s a little unique to this …