Phyrexian Arena

Enchantment

At the beginning of your upkeep, you draw a card and you lose 1 life.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Alchemy	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Big Apple Highlander	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
PreDH	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Standard	Legal
Standard Brawl	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (51)

DreadKhan on Mono Black Control

3 weeks ago

I've been using Hive of the Eye Tyrant in a Legacy deck, it's a nice option as the game goes longer, and if you draw it early you can play it untapped.

I think Thoughtseize is a very good card if you're not trying to sneak in stuff like Phyrexian Arena, Sign in Blood, and/or Castle Locthwain, if you're only paying life for Smallpox I think you're okay to run Thoughtseize. The versatility edge over Duress is considerable IMHO.

RiotRunner789 on Modular Marchesa

2 months ago

Part of the goal is for the deck not to be too strong. However, goldfishing, I've noticed there isn't enough card draw.

Phyrexian Scriptures is purposefully slow.

Lim-Dul's Vault will prolly be cut for Plumb the Forbidden. Every goldfish game it's come up has been to dig for card draw.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker will probably be cut. It's an essential piece in my other Marchesa deck as combo piece. Here, it was just good with modular or creating something to sac.

Leyline of the Void is a meta choice. Not enough grave hate at the tables nor enough enchantment removal.

Phyrexian Arena is a pet card. It's consistent and not overpowered.

Chromatic Lantern could probably cut this but fine atm.

Solemn Simulacrum works well for ramp and draw. Isn't oppressive.

Teval's Judgment haven't played it but the options are nice. Going to give it a try.

Last_Laugh on Modular Marchesa

2 months ago

I've been playing Marchesa for just over a decade. Hopefully it's not too presumptuous, but if I were to point out potential cuts...

Phyrexian Scriptures is definitely a potential cut. Not sure if you're prioritizing Marchesa becoming an artifact for modular or the boardwipe but it's slow.

Lim-Dul's Vault is a good card here but it's been outclassed over the years and can be obnoxiously slow to resolve. I personally avoided it as a courtesy even when it was really good here back in the day.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker feels out of place. I think I get what you're going for with modular but I still think he's on the chopping block.

Leyline of the Void is meta dependent. If you consistently see reanimate decks or other gy shenanigans keep it but otherwise you may eyeball this as a cut down the road.

Phyrexian Arena is severely outclassed in Marchesa by any of my suggestions in my not-so-humble opinion.

Chromatic Lantern. Your manabase looks like it should work fine and a 3 drop mana rock doesn't ramp out an early Marchesa.

Solemn Simulacrum. I've never went the modular route with Marchesa so him being an artifact may be more relevant than I'm giving credit for, but I've never been impressed.

Teval's Judgment is a card I've admittedly never played. It has definite potential here but I'm on the fence if the payoff is worth it.

Feel free to check out my list for more ideas. Upvotes on any of my decks are appreciated. Every Masochist Needs a Marchesa to Love Them

Worrad75 on Pia-tiful Impulse Control

2 months ago

Seething Song for Ruby Medallion: While Medallion has a theoretical long-term upside that can't be matched, the deck is too heavily white spells at this point for the ramp to be consistently meaningful, especially early on. SS allows us to impulse draw with greater confidence knowing we can absoluteely cast whatever pops out.

Etali's Favor for Impact Tremors: This one is a test. Fully aware that tremors is a better card, but Favor is such a vibe. it enables some of our more aggresively slanted non-token creatures to crash through (it works incredibly with Laelia!) while keeping the tokens flowing. It feels similar to Unstable Amulet in that it 'replaces itself' and gets you a Pia trigger for your troubles, plus some small utility

The Flux for Runaway Steam-Kin: This deck has enough midgame mana engines. What it needs is consistent impulse draw. The normal issue with 4-CMC impulse draw engines (looking at you, Outpost Siege) is that they do nothing the turn they come in, making them a somehow-even-slower Phyrexian Arena that doesnt even actually draw the card. The Flux solves that by picking off a creature, then giving you 4 turns of advantage. If you're still around, it then gives 6 red to cast whatever you got left (you'll probably have more cards in hand, as you've been casting an extra card from exile every turn). Its basically a version of Count on Luck thats easier to cast and gives you a late-game burst that could be the exta push you need to seal a win

Inti, Seneschal of the Sun for Charismatic Conqueror: This one is also a test slot, although I'm less confident. Inti is in theory card-nuetral that helps us dig deeper for Pia triggers. Its best case scenario is when it teams up with the likes of Delney, Streetwise Lookout, Party Thrasher or Harnfel, Horn of Bounty  ^Flip to provide extra advantage. Conqueror's tokens are rarely the reason we win the game without the help of other cards, and while that may be harsh to say about a 2-drop, the fact of the matter is that we can only play so many off-plan cards before we dilute the deck.

NV_1980 on Kaalia of the Waifu

3 months ago

Honestly I don't think I've ever seen a Kaalia deck quite like this one.

Some general notes: The deck could really do with some additional mana-sources aside from your lands to make it a bit quicker. I tried to play-test it ten times or so and each time, I couldn't do anything meaningful until turn 3 or 4 at the earliest. Stuff like the signets (Arcane Signet, Boros Signet, Orzhov Signet, Rakdos Signet and/or maybe the talismans (Talisman of Conviction, Talisman of Hierarchy, Talisman of Indulgence could all be of tremendous value in this regard.

Then there's draw. Right now the deck contains maybe 1 or 2 actual draw resources. You also have 5 or 6 tutors; most of which I presume are meant to find you your combo pieces. I see you have blink options in here too, which allows you to reuse some of your tutors, which is nice. However, most EDH decks contain at least 10 or so card-advantage options to keep things moving along steadily during games. For this deck, I'd recommend CA-options like Bloodgift Demon, Dark Confidant, Harvester of Souls, Phyrexian Arena and/or Rakdos, Patron of Chaos. I can think of more, but these are quite expensive (money-wise) and considering the deck's current budget, those might not be suitable.

Hope this brew works for you, good luck!

SufferFromEDHD on Ob Nixilis 43 Lands.dec

3 months ago

Dark Confidant/Dark Tutelage is the draw tech for this strategy. I will be adding Phyrexian Arena and Vampiric TutorGC upon your observation.

nawj on Braids, Unbanned

3 months ago

Forgot to mention, Black Market Connections is also a great include alongside or replacing Phyrexian Arena. It's more costly lifewise but having the option to get tokens as sac fodder seems like a great

NV_1980 on Arachnophobia, Webs of Fear (Shelob)

5 months ago

Hi there,

This looks fun but there's almost no additional mana sources in here, other than some of your artifacts. I would consider adding spells like Farseek, Nature's Lore and/or Three Visits to accelerate yourself a bit. Please also consider Sol Ring; it's more or less a staple in all EDH decks. Your ability to draw additional cards per turn is a bit limited too; maybe cards like Deathreap Ritual, Idol of Oblivion, Moldervine Reclamation and Phyrexian Arena can help you out there. These are all just the budget options; obviously there are more expensive choices one can make too.

Curse of Clinging Webs could be useful, automatic exile of any opposing creature that dies is useful against a number of opposing strategies, and the generation of spiders adds extra flavor to this deck. Maybe also consider Swarmyard; being able to regenerate your spiders is quite strong. Condering this is a golgari deck and you probably expect your spiders to die a lot, perhaps a card like Meren of Clan Nel Toth could be useful.

Hope the deck works for you.