The Song of Phyresis
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 532 | 199 COMMENTS | 57537 VIEWS | IN 268 FOLDERS
The Tyrant Cometh! —Jan. 28, 2022
Blessings of Phyrexia upon you dear reader. Now, I don’t know about you but I was definitely holding my breath for a new Praetor showing up in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. I heard rumors last year that another Praetor would show - specifically a Jin-Gitaxias, Reality Hacker. What we received however, met my expectations (being an absolute powerhouse) and fortunately synergizes very well with this deck:
There he is, the Progress Tyrant in all his glory. What card slot will he be taking? Well, he will be taking the slot of his previous instance – Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. The previously mentioned just seems like a “win-more” card in this deck as I always end up hard casting it at the end of an opponent’s turn to attempt a soft-lock mid to late game and/or attempt to refill my grip to find answers. If I’m spending mana on a single spell then I should be attempting to wrap up the game. Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur is a generic blue "good stuff" card that can go in any blue deck.
Progress Tyrant on the other hand has multiple advantages over its predecessor: a lower CMC (from to ) means itll hit the board sooner, which is just icing. The cake itself is simply glistening oil delicious. The first ability:
”Whenever you cast an artifact, instant, or sorcery spell, copy that spell. You may choose new targets for the copy. This ability triggers only once per turn” can be wildly abusive when I cast or double proliferate effects ala Tezzeret's Gambit, Sword of Truth and Justice, Contagion Engine, and speaking of artifacts what’s better than Blightsteel Colossus? Two. Two Blightsteel Colossi. Of course there’s the doubling of tutor effects, targeted removal, etc. It is a bit of a shame that the ability only triggers once each turn, but still it’s incredibly powerful.
As for the 2nd ability, and honestly my favorite: ”Whenever an opponent casts an artifact, instant, or sorcery spell, counter that spell. This ability triggers only once each turn”. Sweet Yawgmoth that is oppressive. Not only does this card provide protection for itself (as the opponent will have to sacrifice another instant sorcery or artifact to cast the spell they want), but it also disrupts their…ahem…progress on each of their turns. Glorious.
Last but not least, all of these wonderful effects are on a stacked 5/5 body. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better design for a new Jin-Gitaxias, and I for one will be acquiring a copy day 1 (In Phyrexian and in foil, of course.)
But wait, there’s more. This set provided me a pleasant surprise in the form of Tamiyo, Compleated Sage:
This was a move I honestly didn’t see coming – bravo, Wizards. On principle alone I will be acquiring a Phyrexian copy of the card, but more importantly will it have a place in the deck? No. Not it won’t. Why? Well for essentially mana a planeswalker that barely protects itself isn’t remarkable. Her first ability is so-so, being able to tap down an important creature is decent. Her second ability is very conditional – if I don’t have a graveyard or haven’t filled it with creatures yet then it’s useless. Her ultimate gave me pause, as it’s a strictly better Urza's Incubator which is fire. The problem is the hoops I’d have to jump through – either I cast her for her full CMC of and hope he survives 1 or 2 turns, hope I have Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider on the field first, or hope I can get off two proliferation triggers the turn she enters the battlefield afterI’ve paid her full cost. Honestly, it’s too much of a hassle investing so many resources for arguably so little pay off.
Additionally, I just don’t like the idea of including a planeswalker because I don’t want to build a superfriends deck. I find the build very generic as one Atraxa superfriends deck plays like any other. Also, superfriends is completely flavorless – it makes no sense for Atraxa to lead the Gatewatch and an assortment of likely anti-phyrexia heroes into battle. Just a hot take of my personal opinion – I’m not trying to knock on anyone else’s deck or anything - end rant. Is anyone else excited for these two cards? Are there any cards that I’ve missed? Please let me know in the comments. Oh, and thanks for reading.
I've been following this deck for maybe a year or so now, and it's been amazing reading and rereading everything about it. Some day soon, I hope to own a copy for myself to torture my friends!!
About the new Secret Lair you mentioned in your update: The Professor of TCC on youtube did a review of the lair drop. The value of the drop is through the roof (I think the foil version holds $227 or something of value), and it's absolutely worth the buy. You are right however about the OG Norn card. It kinda sucks that the trade you did now has less value. On the brighter side (and if you subscribe to a utilitarian worldview) now tons of more people can get Norn with the special font (I wonder if it's an actual font they made. Like is it consistent with itself? Can I add it to Word?). Maybe that lessens the pain for you a little? I hope so lol. I can't wait to have my own copy of that card
July 18, 2021 1:31 a.m.
GutsOfRivia says... #3
Hello, sorry for the ( obvious ? ) question but this deck is more for dual or multi, thanks for the answer. Love the cards you used
August 19, 2021 5:47 a.m.
SpecimeN87, I took some time to think on Herald's Horn. While it's an excellent card, Urza's Incubator wins out solely due to the inclusion of the Praetors. less for a high-cmc boardstate warping effect is a significant plus over the upkeep scry + draw effect. I'm currently searching for a way to include both, but I'm at an impasse. I think I will simply wait and see what support gets printed in the future yet to be named return to New Phyrexia set. Hopefully it won't be too long of a wait. In the meantime the next planned upgrade for the deck will be the inclusion of a Cavern of Souls. 20 of the creatures of this deck are of the same tribe, so the inclusion is a no brainer. The only issue is the upcoming release of Crimson Vow/Midnight Hunt. With the return to Innistrad there is a possibility of Cavern of Souls getting a reprint - lowering the cost. Even better it may receive a full art print with awesome art, so there's that as well. The card is in desperate need of a reprint IMO, I for one will be holding my breath during spoiler season.
TTiger97, I'm flattered you follow my deck and I am always happy to see another player willing to take up New Phyerxia's mantle and guide the lost toward compleation lol. The most important lesson this deck has taught me is how to handle becomming archenemy - and how to best practice the rule of cool (Rule 0). Communicating with the table about what nightmares you offer is always important - some folks may want to opt for a different experience or have decks that don't necessarily match in power level - which is always understandable.
I'm still just a little bit salty about the Secret Lair but I do see your point. It's awesome that more players can also become fans of Phyrexia - the one tribe that I believe are the true big bad of magic - not Nicol Bolas, not the Eldrazi. Anyone else who disagrees can totally come at me lol. But I digress, to answer your question - YES! Phyrexian is indeed a complete written and spoken language developed by WotC. It was created as part of the Scars of Mirrodin block. You can hear Phyrexian being spoken during the Scars of Mirrodin release trailer. There is no rosetta stone for understanding the written language - but there has been active efforts for years to decipher the language and there are multiple communities on reddit that provide regular updates on their efforts. With the release of the secret lair, cards that previously only came in English now help provide the much needed samples for translation and reference. I'm sure there is a True Type font for Microsoft Word - I think I downloaded a Phyrexian alphabet pack a few years ago.
GutsOfRivia, appreciate the comment and the compliment. To answer your question this deck is designed for multiple players (a 4 person pod), but can indeed perform in a 1 v 1 game. The only issue is that I believe my deck is illegal for Duel Commander. For example, this deck contains Mox Diamond, Mana Crypt, and Mana Drain - all of which are banned in the format. Thank you again for the compliment - I love these cards as they are all quite special to me. Do you plan on building an EDH infect deck?
August 22, 2021 8:18 a.m.
GutsOfRivia says... #5
Thank you for the answer ! Yes I'm buildind your decklist I love it, without bilands haha I play slivers normally and a green counter deck with hydras and planes with Vorinclex, I love those but need to play infect
August 28, 2021 5:09 p.m.
Thanks for bringing up Strixhaven Stadium. It's a card I've considered in the past, and is worth revisiting. It's initial impression is fairly lack luster - drop mana rock that only generates ? No thanks. However, the alternate "lose-con" ability gives me pause. It can gain counters when I deal combat damage (something this deck likes to do) and has counters that can be proliferated (also something that deck likes to do). Unfortunately the "but" (x loses counters for each creature that deals combat damage to me) makes me hesitant at best to include this card as it encourages my opponents to target and attack me to keep the number of counters below the activation threshold.
Infect decks are weak enough politically, playing a strictly worse mana rock that paints a big target on me will only make things worse. I think this card might perform well in a casual, token focused deck though.
September 27, 2021 6:49 a.m.
glhfJKiHax says... #8
Love the deck mate. Since I first got into MTG Atraxa was a commander I knew I had to have and the Phyrexians and poison were always I play style that I enjoyed. To see all these elements brought together so well brings me joy.
Pinnacle of Compleation and if I had the money to throw around this would be something that I would love to own in paper one day.
SpecimeN87 says... #1
I would go with Herald's Horn over the incubator, as it helps you dig and the image of blowing the horn to announce the glory of phyrexia is great! After all, compleation is inevitable!
July 6, 2021 8:55 p.m.