Magic: The Gathering – New Phyrexia
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Publisher Overview
An overview of New Phyrexia
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Phyrexian mana
An overview of Phyrexian mana
2:13
Chancellors
An overview of chancellor cards
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A World Reborn
It came not in the form of a noble struggle, a fair contest of warriors clashing will against will, but as a wave of unstoppable slaughter. Mirran partisans resisted bravely, using their wits and magic to fend off the onslaught that originated from inside their own world.
But their efforts were for naught. Phyrexia is victorious. Mirrodin now goes by a different name: New Phyrexia.
Collector's Highlights- New Phyrexia is the third set in the Scars of Mirrodin block.
- The set features 175 black-bordered cards, including randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set.
- It will be available in intro packs, booster packs, and fat packs.
- The set introduces new mechanics including phyrexian mana.
- A new Planeswalker card is included.
images © Wizards of the Coast
User Reviews (2)
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New Phyrexia concludes the story that began in Scars of Mirrodin, with the Phyrexians defeating the Mirrans and taking control of the plane of Mirrodin. Like the cards in the two sets before it, the cards of New Phyrexia are watermarked with either faction’s symbol, but the ratio of Phyrexian to Mirran cards significantly favors Phyrexia. This showcases the progress of the Phyrexian invasion and is a reversal from the ratio as it was seen in Scars of Mirrodin. In a similar fashion, the Phyrexian keyword mechanics of Infect and Proliferate spread into colors that did not get cards with these mechanics before.
Just like Mirrodin Besieged before it, New Phyrexia features a cycle of basic lands, used to showcase through the artwork the transformation of Mirrodin’s landscape during the Phyrexian take-over.
Originally, Wizards of the Coast announced that the set would be called either Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia, as they did not wish to reveal which of the factions would win. On March 29, 2011, it was announced that the new set would in fact be called New Phyrexia.
The promotional card given to participants at the Prerelease tournaments was Sheoldred, Whispering One, one of the five powerful Phyrexian praetors. The launch party promotional card was Phyrexian Metamorph, and the Magic Game Day promotional card was Priest of Urabrask.
New Phyrexia introduces five new mana symbols, referred to as “Phyrexian mana.” These symbols resemble a mark of Phyrexia on a colored background, one for each color of mana, and indicate a cost that can be paid with either 2 life or one mana of the respective color. This mechanic also heralds the return of colored artifacts, previously seen in Future Sight and the Esper shard from Alara block.
The keyword mechanics Infect, Proliferate, Living weapon, Metalcraft and Imprint return. Karn gets a Planeswalker card, the first colorless planeswalker card that has, up to that point, the largest amount of loyalty counters added by a planeswalker’s first ability with +4, and the most costly ultimate ability at -14 loyalty counters.
The set has a small subtheme of “splicers”, 1/1 creatures that put a certain number of 3/3 Golem artifact creature tokens onto the battlefield and grant abilities to them. Another small subtheme was nicknamed the “blood tax,” and referred to spells such as Vapor Snag which resembled other utility cards (in this case, Unsummon), but with an additional rider that caused a loss of 1 life.
The rules term “poisoned” introduced in Mirrodin Besieged returns. A player is poisoned if they have any poison counters.
I have to say I regret not buying more of the New Phyrexia set; most of my exposure has been purchasing singles from the secondary market. But I must say that this is a great capstone to the Scars of Mirrodin block. I am particularly fond of both the Mirrodin- and Phyrexian-themed cards, and draw deeply from those when deckbuilding.
The new mechanic for this set were Phyrexian Mana and Living Weapon. This is a good example of mechanics matching theme. To represent the “desperate last days” of Mirrodin and the “sacrifice for power” theme of the Phyrexians, some cards cost Phyrexian Mana, which can be paid with the appropriate color, or with 2 life each. It’s sort of a “Faustian bargain” or an act of desperation. This really meshes well with the storyline, and I appreciate seeing theme motivate mechanics. The Living Weapon keyword for equipment is also pretty spiffy. These are equipment that are automatically attached to a 0/0 Black Germ creature token upon entering the battlefield.
Wizards of the Coast kind of put it out there that this set might have been called Mirrodin Pure, indicating that the Mirrans had won the war. There was a bit of hype on that, but I am glad that they went with New Phyrexia. The mechanics are great, and I am really liking having some of these cards in my latest deck.