Welcome to “Phyrexia: All Will Be One.”
At the helm is the loathsome leader, the “Mother of Machines”: Elesh Norn.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One (ONE) is a large set, bringing271 new cardsinto rotation.
Here’s where to start.
Welcome to metal hell.
When a player gets 10 or more poison counters, they lose the game.
Poison damage, in other words, effectively halves your life total.
Toxic is similar to the old mechanic “infect,” but not exactly the same.
In ONE, toxic is most heavily supported in white, black, and green.
Be on the lookout for toxic creatures with evasive abilities, such a flying or trample.
Corrupted
Closely related to toxic is “corrupted.”
But with corrupted online, it can exileanycreature instead.
High toxic numbers matter less here than efficiency and evasion.
The sooner you could get up to three poison counters and turn on your corrupted cards, the better.
Oil counters
“Oil counters” are a new pop in of counter introduced in ONE.
Rather, their value and function are dictated by how your specific cards make use of them.
The types of effects that oil counters have vary wildly in the set.
Some cards look at howmanyoil counters are on a permanent, and offer some reward the higher you go.
In other cases, like with Forgehammer Centurion, cards have abilities that requireremovingoil counters.
Doing so can benefit you in combat, or in any number of other ways.
For the most part, proliferate is tacked onto already-decent cards as an small bonus throughout the set.
But with proliferate added, it becomes just a bit more enticing in a wider range of strategies.
Take proliferate cards highly, put them in your deck, and they’ll likely be good.
For Mirrodin!
“For Mirrodin!”
(yes, exclamation point included) stands on its own against the four other main mechanics in ONE.
Corrupted works with toxic, which works with proliferate, with works with oil counters, etc.
has nothing to do with counters of any kind.
is a keyword ability found of many (but not all) equipment cards in the set.
When an equipment with For Mirrodin!
Therefore, the best way to think about cards with For Mirrodin!
is as creatures with some extra utility/flexibility.
It can be difficult to gauge all this before seeing how the cards actually play out in practice.
These cards are often a good indicator of what that color pair’s primary game plan is all about.
Blue-white: Artifacts
Cephalopod Sentry is just about as clear-cut a signpost uncommon as they come.
The strategy appears to simply be, “Play lots of artifacts.”
Luckily, the color pair seems well-prepared to do just that.
(Not to mention the 25 total colorless artifacts in the set, as well).
As a two-mana flying creature with toxic, Voiding Hybrid makes turning on corrupted trivial.
However, going down the sacrifice path may not even be necessary for this archetype.
Green-red: Oil
Unlike the previous two gold uncommons, Cinderslash Ravager requires a bit more work.
That said, with enough oil spread (smeared?)
amongst your permanents on the battlefield, this card can be a huge payoff.
However, cost reduction mechanics are traditionally among the most broken in Magic, and this qualifies.
Spending two or three mana on a 5/5 with upside is a potentially game-winning play.
However, poison may not need to be a central part of the archetype for it to be good.
Tainted Observer works great with blue’s many oil counter-centric cards, as well.
Be on the lookout for non-creature spells with incidental proliferate for this archetype, too.
However, it’s possible that the For Mirrodin!
mechanic changes the equation here.
It’s much less risky when your equipment come with power and toughness attached from the start.
All five of the mythic rare planeswalkers in ONE are “Compleated.”
If you chose to pay the life, the planeswalker enters with two fewer loyalty counters.
The flexibility that it grants to the five compleated planeswalkers in the set is huge.
However, the five rare planeswalkers in the set are certainly no slouches, either.
The Eternal Wanderer looks to be a particularly unbeatable bomb, especially in limited.
With Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, you get a giant power and toughness doubler.
To get the indestructible counter, you must pay two green Phyrexian mana and sacrifice two other creatures.
In the case of Solphim, Mayhem Dominus, your noncombat damage is doubled.
Don’t let the high price of these creatures' activated abilities scare you away!
They’re all well-statted monsters with relevant, sometimes even game-ending static abilities.
The flexibility to give them indestructible when you really need to is all upside.
Twilights
Next up is a cycle of rare instants and sorceries, one in each color.
These cards may prove to be too inefficient to be big players in high-level constructed formats.
These cards may look innocuous at first glance.
None of the effects that they provide are particularly exciting, after all.
Also, don’t underestimate cheap cards that draw you a card in return.
They’re essentially “free,” and probably better than you think!
They may not be the most exciting card to see in your rare slot at the prerelease.
That said, they are certainly good at what they do!
Sphere lands
The other land cycle in ONE is the “Spheres.”
For the same reason, her second static ability will almost assuredly be good in any game of Magic.
Elesh Norn is a true bomb, and a fitting signpost card for everything going on in the format.
Phyrexian Obliterator/Vindicator
A notable reprint in ONE is the ever-terrifying Phyrexian Obliterator.
This is ahugethreat when on the battlefield.
However, with such a demanding mana cost, casting it is no small feat.
You basically only want to include it in a mono-black deck.
But in such a shell, it can have a devastating effect on a game.
Alongside it is a new card, Phyrexian Vindicator.
Again, save this for your mono-white decks.
Phyrexian Arena
Another noteworthy reprint is the enchantment, Phyrexian Arena.
Any effect that draws you an extra card a turn is worth paying attention to.
As a four-color card, you gotta do some work to make your mana base support casting Atraxa.
But if you do, it can pay you off handsomely.
Sword of Forge and Frontier
Last on the list is the newest mythic rare Mirran sword.
It is the fourth allied-color protection sword, which were first introduced in Modern Horizons in 2019.
How it fits into the landscape of constructed remains to be seen.
How to play
That’s it for the breakdown of Phyrexia: All Will Be One!
The set officially releases on Arena on February 7, and for tabletop on February 10.
To find an LGS hosting prerelease events near you, check out Wizards of the Coasts’event locator.
Good luck, and have fun!
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