#phyrexian vindicator

[mentohol-blog]

If this wasn’t true they wouldn’t have made all the art so gosh darn sexy.

Magic the Gathering tip: wanting to have sex with the cards will make you a better player

[art-of-mtg]

Phyrexian Vindicator (Phyrexia: All Will Be One) - DZO

[danco110]

Aetherdrift spoilers ahead (just my reactions to part one of the planeswalker’s guide). Angry uninformed rant stuff, too!

- They went really in-depth into the Grand Prix details! Avishkar history, too! Now that’s writing I can get behind - the little tidbits, the background, the extras, that sort of thing! Sound familiar? *theatrically points to self*

- So, Gastal is just Mad Max world, right? A white mana-line nightmare…I know which way the wind is blowing, judging from their description and aesthetic, but I hope the Endriders don’t get written as villains; I’d hate to see a Max parallel as a villain.

- I know they’re probably putting the b-side spotlight on GP Aspire (“some events, teams, and interactions,” yeah whatever) but cmon; one main race and six sideshows afterwards - coincidentally lining up with the main story chapters, five regular b-sides, and a janky sixth. Coincidentally.

- Since Muraganda Petroglyphs works with creatures with no abilities, the funniest thing they could do, is make the Muraganda leg of the race just…completely regular jungle off-road racing. No cheating from Winter, no producer-added obstacles to spice up the race, just…nothing.

- AHA! I’m vindicated on writing Amonkhet’s Anointed as keeping some sentience, if Zahur is any example to go by! But dang, for as much of a 180 as the article suggests the plane has taken, I’m very curious to see how they recovered - from both the Hours and the Phyrexians. Mayhaps…I was right about the Eternals coming back with sentience as well…?

Negatives:

- On the topic of 180s, it feels a bit…reductive? To Amonkhet, to go straight from recently post-apocalyptic - surviving in the desert, undoing and unlearning generations of manipulation and cultural…stuff - to apparently fully recovered, at least enough to host a thing like this. You know, it’s kinda like seeing the before and after pictures but nothing in-between. Even if the background in part 2 is good, I would’ve loved to see at least a side story chapter or something between HOU and now, about a recovering Amonkhet. And I hope I’m wrong, but I somewhat doubt they’d put a more serious chapter in even the b-sides of “funny haha racing set.” Sorry for the bitterness, I just love Amonkhet, and I really hope it isn’t done dirty here.

- I’m seeing…just a mashup here. This is an even more subjective point than the others, but it doesn’t…feel as good to me as the other blends they’ve done so far. Like, Ixalan was great, WAR was good, but idk, this concept just ain’t hittin for me. Maybe it grows on me, we’ll see.

- I know some folks were joking about it being Wacky Races but…that’s literally what it looks like it’s gonna be. Starring Winter as Dick Dastardly and Loot as Muttley. But, with not nearly as much cartoonish charm (Sorry Loot, you just look weird)

- What, no Kamigawa nezumi team? The Reckoners are a biker gang (I’m pretty sure?) for cryin out loud! That might’ve also given us a good follow-up on Nashi and how he’s doing given…yknow, recent events?

[hyde-the-toad-bard]

Ideas to finish the cycle of phyrexian obliterator and phyrexian vindicator

Phyrexian Accelerator- RRRR 5/5

Haste

Whenever a source deals damage to Phyrexian Accelerator, Phyrexian Accelerator deals that much damage to each opponent.

Phyrexian Manipulator- UUUU 5/5

Whenever a source deals damage to Phyrexian Manipulator, each player mills thrice that many cards.

Phyrexian Contaminator- GGGG 5/5

Toxic 1

Whenever a source deals damage to Phyrexian Contaminator, proliferate that many times.

[ask-the-praetors]

to the praetors... why do the Phyrexian Obliterator and Vindicator look the way they do? to strike awe in people? or fear?

The Phyrexian Obliterator is made in the image of Yawgmoth's first creations. The Negators are said to "exist to cease", and the Obliterators are their progeny through the ichor's memory. Beautiful in their simplicity, really! And oh so good at cracking porcelain, aren't they, Norn?

-S

They would be put to a far better use advancing Phyrexia's unified glory. Instead, you cower in shadows and attack me with your glorified puppets. My own Vindicators are bulwarks of holiness, like the body of Atraxa which I elevated to such perfection.

-E

"I"? Ha! Good one. And I thought you were into that whole group work thing. If only you hadn't invited us, and gorged yourself on the glory you want so bad... you wish it now, don't you? Inconvenient~

-S

[swordandsable]

Phyrexian Vindicator

bought better paint pens & also experimented with some shimmer ink.

[harpagornis]

Phyrexian Vindicator

Izathel explores an old design, to make Phyrexia’s greatest weapons.

Work Text:

Izathel’s servents laid the obliterator on the dissecting table, almost cracking the porcelain with the sheer force.

He quickly got to work, using his talons to flay the impure beast.

“May the forsaken elevate the chosen” he mumbled metallically.

He reached at the arms, and saw a defining feature of obliterators: pores, emiting a milk-like ooze. Izathel’s jaws made a click expressing displeasure. So long was Phyrexia mired in black mana, that it invented weapons designed to deal with white mana creatures.

No more. This design would kill that line.

He made sure to suture porcelain plates, only now collected by ureters to the pores, making it seem like the honeycomb structure found inside birds’ skeletons.

The white mana was not merely absorbed, it was projected.

Soon, the abomination rose from the table. It did so awkwardly; a pair of wings had been sutured to its back.

“Fly my pretty, fly and remember the Mother of Machines of my faultless loyalty!”

It flew, alright.

And collapsed the roof.

[zealsoughtsequesterustanxiedemon]

I'm the "restriction builds creativity" kinda deck-builder and so I usually avoid building anything 5-color for EDH. Being completely unrestricted from colors just ends up feeling very boring very easily for me. I find myself making too many choices that are just goodstuff, cards that are good in any deck.

Despite that, there was always one 5-color EDH general I wanted to build: Cromat

Cromat is a weird frickin' card. It is a 5-color creature with 5 activated abilities whose costs are each a different 2-color enemy pairing. Also, they're, like, 3 abilities focused on combat and 2 abilities focused on self-protection, each a generally associated effect with its respective color pair. It's basically just a janky beater commander, but it's design is so unique I wanna build it.

So I tasked myself with finding a way to deck-build an edh for this weird card in a way that would satisfy me. I could've done a voltron-style build, but that was a bit too conventional. Instead I have made a deck with no core game-plan beyond goodstuff and beat-down, but have placed such heavy thematic restrictions on card selection that the build feels unique and weird. Those restrictions are:

No generic-costs (can't even investigate)

No allied 2-color cards (reflects Cromat)

No shard 3-color cards (shards are thematically like the allied 2-color pairs for 3-color)

All monocolored cards must be balanced count-wise (If there are 3 white cards, there must be 3 of each other color)

The previous, but same for 2-color, 3-color, and 4-color (group by color in archidekt to see what I mean)

The resulting deck is a weird smorgasbord of effects that each feel very unique despite still kind of falling into goodstuff. What deck runs Phyrexian Obliterator, Phyrexian Vindicator, AND Demilich? This does run into issue of it being a struggle to find your costs sometimes, but I find that's a fun "cost" to be using cards as powerful as I am. Am I able to find a world tree or can i somehow play an ultimatum on curve without it. It has a decent amount of beefy evasive beaters that it can actually pose a threat assuming an opponent doesn't rocket too far ahead. Also, for some cycles of cards I tried to keep in all cards of that cycle (Ascendancies, Ultimatums, Eventide dieties, full cycles for all of the lands that tap for less than 5-colors). Although this is just an online deck for which I don't in paper, I tried to pick the most colorful or unique arts for cards so that the deck looked as gaudy as possible. Fitting for 5 color. Overall, it was v fun deck to build.

[eight-freakin-gids]

After taking a break, I'm getting back into MTG Arena. I mostly played Alchemy before, but now I'm looking to try Standard. Moreover, I'm feeling a bit experimental, and I want to play something other than the most popular decks. So, I built Mono-White Midrange.

Ultimately, this deck is filled with the cards I'm most excited to play, and I could stop my justification there. Because I don't really know the first thing about midrange decks or this Standard metagame. That being said, I will try and document my thought process behind this deck, if only for my own benefit.

While I acknowledge Alchemy and Standard are pretty different formats (and I've missed a few expansions since I've last played), I will try to share my logic about cards that have performed well in the past and why I expect them to perform well again.

To set some groundwork, I think Flying is really, really good in this particular metagame. Several decks run notable flying creatures. Phoenix Chick; Goddric, Cloaked Reveler; Harbin, Vanguard Aviator. Atraxa, Grand Unifier; Ledger Shredder; Faerie Mastermind; and Raffine, Scheming Seer are all centerpieces or key players in big name decks. Whatever your deck is doing, you can't ignore these creatures.

For my own Flying creatures, let's start with Phyrexian Vindicator. I love this card, and could probably gush about it for a whole post. But let me focus on the big stuff. Bottom line, it beats any flying creature. It beats any creature, really. This can attack and block freely in any board state, and that's a very valuable trait. However, this card is held back by the abundance of good removal in this Standard card pool. Additionally, while this can beat any of the Flying creatures mentioned above, those cards all come down 2-3 turns before Vindicator does. So while I think this is a valuable card to use, earlier options are needed.

This brings me to Steel Seraph. This card enables you to defend against enemy fliers, admittedly to mixed results. But what it really excels at is Flying offense. The ability to give your other creatures flying is very powerful. The only thing better than an Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is an Adeline with evasion. On top of all that, Steel Seraph is also immune to Go For the Throat and Cut Down, some of the most popular removal spells available to Black right now.

Archangel Elspeth accomplishes some similar things to Steel Serpah. It can give creatures flying, with the added bonus of being very nice on the defensive.

Alright, alright. You see I've got these 4-5 mana planeswalkers and big fliers, but they do me no good if I'm dead before I can use them.

For the early game, Thalia and Anointed Peacekeeper slow down my opponent's gameplan, Cathar Commando and Fateful Absence lets me interact with the board, and Lunarch Veteran gives me a buffer against aggro decks. Shoutout to Cathar Commando for being a good tool against counterspells, as Make Disappear is popular in any decks with Blue.

Throw in a few Eiganjos for extra removal and a few Skrelvs to protect my creatures or break through board stalls, and that's my deck. I've written this all before I've played the deck. This is all theory that needs to be put into practice, but I look forward to trying it out. 

I have a sideboard, since I want to play best of 3 rather than best of one. That being said, the sideboard is definitely what needs the most work. I don't see a lot of point in adding it here since it's likely going to change pretty drastically.

[grimthenerd]

Literally about to make my friends hate me because of a little card called Guilty Conscience, which is going to go right into my Elesh Norn commander deck soon.

Mainly because when combined with the effect of Phyrexian Vindicator, it goes infinite and I can happy happy murder time the entire table 😁

(I should clarify, infinites are not necessarily taboo in my friend group and all of us run a pretty good amount of interaction to stop stuff like that from going off. Plus 100 card deck size usually makes finding it unlikely.)

before i started playing magic i made a post about how as an outside observer the most broken cards are never one of the ultra-scary dragons with an epithet like 'crusher of souls' and always some obtuse utility card called something like 'wiggle warp'. And now every time i try to have fun playing standard i am terrorized by Up the Fucking Beanstalk

[albatrosstoss]

UPDATE (FUCKERS)

Jund Summer has failed. Long live Deadguy Ale - Canadian Highlander edition.

That’s right, I got a Canadian Highlander League going, and here’s the basic list we’re running, which is heavily inspired by the classic Legacy midrange deck Deadguy Ale. Our point total is eight (Mox Pearl, Mox Jet, Strip Mine).

LANDS (37x):

8x Swamp

8x Plains

1x Karakas

1x Emeria, the Sky Ruin

1x Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1x Bojuka Bog

1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

1x Isolated Chapel

1x Concealed Courtyard

1x Shadowy Backstreet

1x Godless Shrine

1x Caves of Koilos

1x Tainted Field

1x Shattered Sanctum

1x Brightclimb Pathway//Grimclimb Pathway

1x Silent Clearing

1x Vault of the Archangel

1x Strip Mine

1x Wasteland

1x Rishadan Port

1x Maze of Ith

1x Glacial Chasm

This is the average, run-of-the-mill Deadguy Ale landbase; we got black lands, white lands, and a good mix of utility lands. I think the two most exciting are Rishadan Port and Maze of Ith - both contribute to classic Ale strategies, and both allow me to control what and how my opponent plays.

CREATURES (27x):

1x Esper Sentinel

1x Mother of Runes

1x Giver of Runes

1x Knight of the Ebon Legion

1x Cabal Therapist

1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

1x Spirit of the Labyrinth

1x Stoneforge Mystic

1x Dauthi Voidwalker

1x Kitesail Freebooter

1x Tourach, Dread Cantor

1x Dark Confidant

1x Caustic Bronco

1x Orcish Bowmasters

1x Tidehollow Sculler

1x Graveyard Trespasser

1x Opposition Agent

1x Liliana, Heretical Healer//Liliana, Defiant Necromancer

1x Anointed Peacekeeper

1x Archon of Emeria

1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

1x Sin Collector

1x Kambal, Consul of Allocation

1x Kambal, Profiteering Mayor

1x Kunoros, Hound of Athreos

1x Athreos, God of Passage

1x Grief

1x Solitude

We’ve got a pretty great suite of creatures here that largely follows the usual Death and Taxes model, with the exception of cards like Tidehollow Sculler (Scully) and Cabal Therapist (Mulder). These hand disruption creatures are what gives Deadguy Ale its special, secret spice - it functions like an 8Rack deck, making our opponents discard and controlling what they have in their hands is vital to meeting the decks winning conditions.

Sub-note A.) Liliana, Heretical Healer lets us play a planeswalker that doesn’t get taxed by Thalia.

Sub-note B.) We’re also playing both evoke elementals in our colors - value is value, and a scam is a scam!

ARTIFACTS (6x):

1x Mox Jet

1x Mox Pearl

1x Aether Vial

1x Lost Jitte

1x Umezawa’s Jitte

1x Batterskull

This is where most of our points come in: the Moxen. Quick, dirty, easy mana. Plus some back up value in the Swords and Skull - mostly things for Stoneforge to tutor up.

Aether Vial is for instant speed Scullys or Mulders; flashing one of those bad boys in after our opponent’s draw step is devastating.

ENCHANTMENTS (3x):

1x Bitterblossom

1x Restoration of Eiganjo

1x Phyrexian Arena

Not too surprising enchantment wise - I like the play pattern Restoration of Eiganjo or Bitterblossom and Cabal Therapist offer me!

INSTANTS (14x):

1x Surge of Salvation

1x Silence

1x Swords to Plowshares

1x March of Otherworldy Light

1x Fatal Push

1x Not Dead After All

1x Undying Malice

1x March of Wretched Sorrow

1x Fracture

1x Vanishing Verse

1x Despark

1x Anguished Unmaking

1x Kaya’s Guile

1x Abstruse Appropriation

We’re playing a lot of instants - maybe too many, considering Thalia, but most of these solve for a lot of the biggest threats in my local meta; including that bastard True-Name Nemesis!

We’re playing the two revival effects to do an evoke scam (hopefully), and the marches to clear dead cards from our hand. Cards like Fracture and Despark hit annoying stuff like The One Ring, too!!

SORCERIES (12x):

1x Oust

1x Declaration in Stone

1x Sevinne’s Reclamation

1x Thoughtseize

1x Inquistion of Kozilek

1x Duress

1x Soul Search

1x Castigate

1x Humiliate

1x Gerrard’s Verdict

1x Vindicate

1x Legions to Ashes

Finally, the thing that really hoses Deadguy Ale is token strategies and weenie decks. If I don’t know what to target in the hand, the battlefield can quickly grow out of control. Cards like Castigate and Thoughtseize help look at the hand, and cards like Legions to Ashes clean up anybody who gets by!

Sevinne’s Reclamation is a great spell for bringing back creatures in our graveyards - essentially a 3-for-2 deal!

[toweringclam]

Paramount City: The Underground, Pt 2: Colors and Characters (MTG Planar faction)

Overview, The Metropolitan Defenders, The Underground Pt 1

The Underground are centered on Green mana, as they are primarily interested in serving the people. However, while White mana pulls them towards community defense, Red mana pulls them towards vengeance. With the devastation wrought by the Phyrexian invasion, the people need champions more than ever, and arguments over which is more effective praxis are more contentious than ever.

Alley Cat (WRG) is their leader, and has been since they were first formed. Ironically, she's also the only founder of the Defenders still left alive. Though everyone assumes she must have super powers of some kind, her only true ability is the one she stole from King Mob. The rest is just her own skill, and until recently, it didn't seem like age would ever slow her down. But the loss of Paragon is a blow that she never thought she'd suffer, so certain was she that she'd die first. In her grief and regret, her leadership has suffered and allowed divisions to fester.

The Watch are centered in White. They're a loosely affiliated network of neighborhood heroes who stake out a small section of the city and tailor their sense of justice to the needs of their community. What works in one place might not work in another, and a hero has to know the people they are protecting if they want to be effective.

Jack O'-the-Harts (GW, Elf) is one example. A fae child who ran away from their abusive "parents" as a teen, they've claimed the urban blight of the Cambo neighborhood which have become home to a herd of urban deer. While the impoverished Cambetons are happy to have such good hunting at their doorstep, people in more affluent neighborhoods nearby consider the deer pests and often organize culling operations. Hunters who take more than their fair share will find themselves under attack by a strange cloaked figure who leaps like their legs were springs.

The Vindicators are centered in Red. They are violent vigilantes that believe that direct action must be taken to remove the worst malefactors from society. When the rich and powerful can prey on the vulnerable with impunity, protected by laws and bodyguards, the Vindicators are there to bring bloody retribution for their crimes.

Anemia (RG) is one example. With her seemingly endless arsenal she blasts and slices through the bodyguards and mercenaries that protect the rich and powerful. Money means nothing to her, neither does mercy. All that matters is the blood of the guilty. Her methods are sometimes seen as especially brutal even by other Vindicators, but it's hard to deny their effectiveness. No one knows for sure why such rage burns in her heart.

Most Underground members don't fit neatly into either group. They might have greater goals than the more small-scale Watch, but still find discomfort in the brutality of the Vindicators. Or maybe they just can't fit in with the moralistic Defenders, but still want to do good for the world.

Blind Justice (RW, Angel) is one example. Cast out of heaven for her desire to intervene in mortal affairs, she was stripped of her halo and thus her eyesight, as an angel can't see in the darkness of the mortal world without it. For one brief moment during the Phyrexian Invasion, she could see clearly, but alas, it did not last. It has taken some time for her to understand the concept of mortal justice, but she pursues it with a flaming sword.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Phyrexian Vindicator by Denys Tsiperko

[whatsthatmagiccard]

(I would say the oilslick Phyrexian Vindicator should be on here, but since it's unique flavor text, I guess we don't know if they meant to put 'and and' in there.)

FOLLOWERS: What card is this?

[almostlookedhuman]

[ask-the-praetors]

To Vorinclex, Elesh Norn, and Urabrask: Out of Phyrexian Obliterator, Vindicator, and Harvester, which is stronger?

The Vindicator is my voice of justice, dispensing the righteousness of the Orthodoxy throughout the spheres. The Obliterator and the Harvester are possessed of strength, certainly, but not righteousness. Only my creation can be said to be holy. -E

I LIKE THE HARVESTER. IT WAS BORN OF THE FURNACE AND KNOWS ONLY DESTRUCTION. URABRASK MAY BE A SOFT WEAKLING, BUT I ADMIRE HIS CREATIONS. THEY MAKE NO PRETENSES. -V

The feeling is not mutual. -U

Our memory of the Obliterator survived the millennia since the first Phyrexians, when Yawgmoth first stitched them of flesh and steel. These imitations are embarrassments. It's entertaining, though, seeing them stumble toward something we already have~ -S

Now the overgrown worm wants to lecture us on the true nature of Phyrexia. Whisper on, newt. You should have stayed a thing of the past, like your toys. -E

(Her composure breaks slightly at that, her red eyes flaring.) You know nothing. Pretender. Fool. -S