Writing a set review is a dangerous thing. Evaluating new cards based on their expected values is a good way to make a fool out of yourself if they’re not closely examined. It’s no secret that cards often slip through the cracks and even the ones that are acknowledged, don’t even have their true potential realized until awhile later. How many people out there can honestly say that they gave [card]Tarmogoyf[/card] a second look shortly after his release (me :D)?
The spoiler for New Phyrexia has now been out for a little while thanks to two of the nicest people to play the game. I’m talking of course about the two Guillaumes, Wafo-Tapa and Matignon. I met Wafo a couple years ago during my first few Pro Tours and Matignon a couple months ago at GP Atlanta, both are very nice guys and it’s really unfortunate that Wizards cracked down on them so hard. But something had to happen, and when you violate a NDA the consequences are usually quite severe.
Nevertheless, today I’m going to point out the cards that I would consider to be the best, top ten for constructed and limited. There are a lot of pretty sweet things on the horizon, and I’m pretty excited to get into why it is that I think they will all make an impact.
Top 10 Limited
I am by no means a limited expert, in fact it’s the one area my game needs improvement the most. But I know a few things about sweet cards so we’ll see where my opinions get me. I don’t want to get into Mythic rares since obviously they are all insane and should be evaluated differently.
Before I get into my top 10 cards of the set, honourable mentions go to…
[card]Volt Charge[/card]
[card]Beast Within[/card]
[card]Artillerize[/card]
[card]Phyrexian Ingester[/card]
[card]Deceiver Exarch[/card]
[card]Blade Splicer[/card]
[card]Brutalizer Exarch[/card]
While I’m sure one or all of them made other peoples lists, I don’t consider them as good or impactful as the following, so they have been sidelined. I certainly believe that I may be wrong about any of the following but these ones stand out the most to me so here we go…
10. Pith Driller
Pith Driller is one of the many cards on this list, and in this set that can be played in any color. He’s got a reasonable body and neutralizes one of your opponent’s creatures permanently if not just killing them outright. This guy is the perfect example of a two-for-one and straight up card advantage. If you see this guy, pick him up because he is making your deck.
9. Phyrexian Metamorph
This guy seems awesome. I overlooked him at first thinking he was worded just like [card]Clone[/card] only with Phyrexian mana, but upon further examination, it seems he is also a [card]Sculpting Steel[/card]. I’m a fan of options and this guy certainly presents us with many. Whether you’re using him to copy one of your own permanents to get ahead or using him to copy something of your opponents’, he will always be great. Lastly, this is yet another card that can go into any deck, something [card]Clone[/card] could never do.
8. Tormentor Exarch
Cards that grant +2/+0 for a turn never get my vote to be good, but it’s the second ability that gets me excited on this one. -0/-2 is rarely (if ever) seen on a red card, but that’s what he does, and I’m not complaining. I don’t want to be the one to compare this card to [card]Flametongue Kavu[/card], but this guy is very good and if anyone needed an excuse to draft something other than black in this set, this is one of the few you can get away with.
7. Entomber Exarch
Ah yes, more options. A [card]Gravedigger[/card] that can [card]Duress[/card] you if he wishes. This guy is great and will be played in any black deck. Black is running away with these card evaluations, which is something to be noted, considering that New Phyrexia will be the first pack to be drafted. It’s not going to be a secret for much longer (if it even it at all) that black is the best color in this set, so be aware that a lot of people are going to be looking to take advantage of it and steer clear if you must.
6. Act of Aggression
Did you know this thing is an instant? Go ahead and look, yep, it’s an instant. Did you also realize that this only costs three mana and can be played in any deck. This thing will cause problems and very unfair combat situations. Attacking is not safe in New Phyrexia; it’s a very hostile environment. I wonder how many times I’ll be blown away by this card.
5. Enslave
Oh look, another control magic. So, at last count this makes three – you can now draft a control magic effect at the uncommon level in each of the three packs of this block. Your creatures are no longer safe, keep them inside. One note about this card, I’m not sure how relevant the life loss that this card inflicts is going to be considering that most black decks you draft should be infect based, but if nothing else, it should keep the amount of Phyrexian mana spells cast by the opponent low.
4. Moltensteel Dragon
A four mana [card]Air Elemental[/card] that can be played in any and every deck? …seems fair. Oh wait; you can increase its power for one red mana or two life? … Right … Well, all things considered, at least he is an artifact, removal for which is plenty in this block. I guess all is well then, because creatures never get out of hand, and they all just die so easily….
3. Dismember
Get used to seeing this card because guess what…anyone can play this. Not only do I expect to see this a fair amount in constructed games, but this thing will come out of nowhere to complicate combat situations for as long as you can draft this set. Against an infect deck, this is actually just better than [card]Swords to Plowshares[/card] which is something to be noted coming from an expansion released in 2011.
2. Life’s Finale
Oh look, a [card]Wrath of God[/card] effect made it on my list, big surprise. While it’s a no brainer that this made it on the list, it’s worth noting that this card can actually prevent your opponent from ever winning once its cast. Not only do you get to wipe his board and look through his entire deck upon resolution but you actually get to take anything he might use to crawl back into the game and dispose of them. Aside from future reanimation effects that recur something unfriendly, I find it hard to believe someone will ever come back from this which speaks to its power level.
1. Mutagenic Growth
I couldn’t get away with leaving this one out. I am personally not a fan of [card]Giant Growth[/card] effects but this one stands out as one that will define this draft format. Any [card]Giant Growth[/card] that you can cast for free in any deck is scary. And something that is sure to be the root cause of some bad beats stories. Pay attention to your opponents and don’t let them catch you off guard with this thing. This should actually be a little further down the list, but its flexibility really speaks to its true power level. Infect decks will gets the most out of its effect but it should see play in basically every deck.
Top 10 Constructed
Constructed is another animal altogether. It’s very tough to predict prior to a set’s release because so much of the evaluation depends on the metagame. Considering the dominance of CawBlade recently, it’s reasonable to assume that the first few weeks after the set is released, not a whole lot will change. Though I can say with confidence that given a month or so, CawBlade will no longer be the ‘only’ deck in the format and fans of the standard format will have a whole new enemy to complain about.
With that said, I’ll start the list with the honourable mentions and move on to the top ten list as done above for limited.
[card]Blade Splicer[/card]
[card]Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite[/card]
[card]Porcelain Legionnaire[/card]
[card]Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur[/card]
[card]Phyrexian Metamorph[/card]
[card]Phyrexian Obliterator[/card]
[card]Act of Aggression[/card]
[card]Moltensteel Dragon[/card]
[card]Birthing Pod[/card]
[card]Hex Parasite[/card]
[card]Spellskite[/card]
[card]Myr Superion[/card]
10. Karn Liberated
If [card]Mana Leak[/card] and [card]Spell Pierce[/card] were not in the format, this guy would be an all-star, and would be a lot further up the list. Sadly enough, they are, so Karn may have to take a seat until the fall. I wouldn’t write him off completely however, there are a couple decks out there who could make good use out of him. Both Valakut, and Eldrazi Green make good use of their mana and don’t have much of an issue casting their large spells. The question then is do they need him? And I think the answer right now is no. Time will tell however, and Karn will see play that much can be guaranteed. Because he has no immediate applications, Karn will have to settle for the number 10 spot, for now, until his popularity and applications grow.
9. Despise
Despise actually isn’t far off from the word I would like to use to describe this card. I am not a fan of what it does from a design perspective. I think there are better ways to word cards targeted at dealing with planeswalkers, without actually referencing them. But that’s a design issue and I’m here to talk about the card. As far as lasting effect on the format goes, I think [card]Inquisition of Kozilek[/card] is actually just better. That’s not to say that this card is bad by any margin, as I think this will initially start seeing more play than the latter. The advantage of this card over the other two is that it allows you to take whichever threat you want, and tips you off to which counterspells, if any, they have hiding in their hand. Most of the time, taking the [card]Mana Leak[/card] with your [card]Duress[/card] or Inquisition was not relevant. As far as the current state of the format is concerned, Despise seems to grant you the ability to do so much more.
8. Deceiver Exarch
This card is obviously only included on this list because [card]Splinter Twin[/card] is in Standard. And for the very few of you who do not already know, standard has a combo deck again (no Valakut does not count). With [card]Splinter Twin[/card] on a Deceiver Exarch you have the ability to create infinity 1/4’s to beat on your opponent with. If this doesn’t sound like overkill to you then this deck is perfect for you. There is no denying that having this combo in the environment is going to change standard, and I for one am not a fan. For those of you who disliked having CawBlade in the format, if this deck is as good as I think it is then you might be slightly more annoyed with this format in the future.
7. Urabrask the Hidden
I’m curious as to why this guy has received such little amount of talk. There is nothing scarier your opponent can untap with from this set. I’m not sure how many people actually played back when [card]Anger[/card] was around, but that guy made a tremendous impact on the format. Not only do you grant yourself an [card]Anger[/card] effect, but you get a 4/4 out of it as opposed to a 2/2 and your opponents have all of their creatures enter tapped. Short of a very quick removal spell, there is no coming back from this guy. Expect to be on the receiving end of some very swift attacks, this guy is actually very good.
6. Dismember
Dismember is the first card on the list that is going to see wide use across formats. It won’t ever become a staple, but decks that either don’t have access to black mana or need cheap way to deal with a threat are going to look at this card for support. The first example that springs to mind is adopting this into the sideboard of Merfolk decks in Legacy to deal with [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s, or, more importantly, [card]Llawan, Cephalid Empress[/card]. Blue has never had access to this kind of removal outside of [card]Psionic Blast[/card], and this one comes at the very cheap cost of one mana. One other thing to note is that even though it costs one mana, it cannot be countered by Mental Misstep which is going to see a lot of play in Legacy.
5. Beast Within
When I first read this card, I guess I just assumed it said non-creature permanent, and dismissed it as only a reasonable way to deal with Planeswalkers in green. After being woken up and having it pointed out to me that it actually kills everything, I have come to realize that they gave mono green decks access to an instant speed vindicate (with a small drawback). Decks like Valakut and Eldrazi Green greatly benefit from this effect and will be the first to adopt this card into their 75. Where it goes from there, who knows, but this card is certainly good enough for widespread use. Sorry it had to come to this Jace, my heart goes out to you.
4. Batterskull
So you thought [card]Stoneforge Mystic[/card] was annoying before. Well, along came Batterskull and all of a sudden things look rough for decks that aim to kill you with damage (this means every deck). Not only does Batterskull bring a friend with it that is already wearing the helmet, but it allows you to return it to your hand and start the fun all over again. This is not so much an equipment as it is an artifact creature with Banding:5. This card does nothing to combat the [card]Splinter Twin[/card] combo, but it complicates things for virtually every other deck in the format which makes it good enough to take the number four slot.
3. Sword of War and Peace
I’ve been talking about this sword for a long time. Not about the effects it grants to the wielder, but about the protection it grants. I said long before the set was released that it didn’t matter what the sword did, it would change the way that the CawBalde mirror would perform. Well the sword is out now and while some would argue that I was right, it actually does nothing, I beg to differ. The abilities granted by this sword couldn’t be stronger: not only do you have the ability to take out a Planeswalker and deal your combat damage now, but you can also just fly in for five to ten damage and gain six or seven life in the process. How many times have you played with or against CawBlade and they didn’t have at least five or more cards in hand? Between drawing some cards with Jace or casting a [card]Squadron Hawk[/card], they are rarely starving for cards. This thing is fully capable of winning the mirror match on its own, which is another reason why the deck has to adapt (the other being [card]Splinter Twin[/card]) or die. (PS: for the record, this deck won’t die).
2. Gitaxian Probe
Ok, so it’s literally a free card that does, well, almost nothing. So, why is it at the top of this list? Well, there are a ton of decks that can really benefit from the information that this grants, and a lot of decks that get a lot better when there are less than sixty cards in their decks. When [card]Street Wraith[/card] came out, he was hyped for allowing you to essentially run fifty six cards in your deck. What ended up being his downfall was that you had no other option but to pay two life to use his effect and no one wanted a 3/4 swampwalk creature anyways. With Gitaxian Probe, not only can you cast it for a blue mana if you don’t wish to pay the life, but you also get a real effect out of the card and see your opponent’s entire hand. If it weren’t for the next card on the list, this card would certainly be the best card in the set.
1. Mental Misstep
I considered just making a list of ten cards without this on it and just including it in a side note. But I’ve been doing a lot of playing with this card lately and have come to the opinion that this will eventually (not immediately) see good use in other formats outside of Legacy. Believe all the hype about this card, it’s very good. It’s been a very long time since we’ve been given a ‘free’ counterspell, and this one is one of the best. Being able to counter things before your first turn even begins and not having to spend two cards doing so (I’m looking at you [card]Force of Will[/card]) is an absolutely huge effect. This card will change the way Legacy is played and it’s something that deck builders are going to need to consider when putting together new decks. It’s not going to make any decks obsolete and it’s not going to be in every single deck in the format like some people claim, but it will be a very solid role player and that’s why it’s number one on the list.
So there you have it, my top ten cards for constructed and limited, I hope all of you are planning on playing in the pre-releases. The set was spoiled early but that doesn’t mean that New Phyrexia doesn’t have any more surprises for us. I am sure this list doesn’t cover everything that will come out of the set as there are more interactions and decks that will come out of the block constructed format, but I hope this gives everyone a little bit of insight into the way I think things will unfold. I look forward to the new changes it brings to each format, and hope you do too.
Dan
Dan Lanthier was the Canadian National Champion for 2008. Once a level 4 Pro Players Club member for 2 years, he’s attended many high level events including top 50 performances on the Pro Tour a top 32 and a top 16 finish on the Grand Prix level.