Announcing Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. The Coalition [Archive]

YourBane

10-14-2009, 11:32 AM

Announcing Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. The Coalition

Ok im new to the game adn know nothing about either of these groups just thaught I might as well post this since no one else has

heres the link

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/298
please enjoy

Mage Master

10-14-2009, 12:26 PM

I'll just get this out of the way quickly:

Phyrexian Dreadnought

Dunjohn

10-14-2009, 01:32 PM

Looks cool.

We've known about it for a couple of weeks thanks to the U.S. Patent Office but this is the first concrete thing. The Phyrexian art looks like Phyrexian Negator, one of my all-time favourite cards in the game and my auto-Turn-1-Dark-Ritual card in Mental Magic even though I know that's suicide (it gets Shocked immediately, every time, costing me my land too). The Urza art could be almost anything.

@YourBane: The Phyrexian War was the storyline behind pretty much every set from the first one up to Apocalypse, and was revisited in Time Spiral. Basically, the demon lord Yawgmoth was trying to invade Dominaria, and the mad planeswalker Urza was trying to repel him. Urza's main weapon was the Legacy, commanded by the super-soldier Gerrard. He also meddled with the genes of most Dominarian races to prepare them for war. When the Invasion began, Gerrard led the Dominarian forces against Phyrexia while Urza fought Yawgmoth directly. The storyline is a lot more complicated (and interesting) than I'm making it sound, though.

Mage Master

10-14-2009, 01:35 PM

Ah so that is Urza, I thought it was.

Dunjohn

10-14-2009, 03:42 PM

I've just realized, this will be the third Duel Deck in a row that contains a mono-black deck. Wonder what this'll do to be different from Demonic and Liliana.

Can't imagine what Coalition will contain. Five-colour versus mono-colour is a mismatch worthy of Akroma vs Lord of the Pit. Either Phyrexia will be incredibly slow - and with Negator in there, that's not likely - or Coalition will have some epic fixing under the hood.

The release date is March, and with a set having just been released in February, we probably won't get a Duress-style preview.

Eternity

10-15-2009, 07:44 AM

Either Phyrexia will be incredibly slow - and with Negator in there, that's not likely - or Coalition will have some epic fixing under the hood.

It could be a semi-plausible Suicide Black deck. You never know.

Personally, I'd love to see Suicide Black and some ridiculously stupid combo based around Mind Over Matter. Just for laughs.

YourBane

10-15-2009, 11:25 AM

Dunjohn thanks for the info.

just wondering is therea Phyrexia that was a planeswalker by any chance? cause i know they havent done it b4 but they could not saying will but COULD make 2 new planeswalkers possibly or the next block could be revisiting this as a preview just a thaught

a-slice-of-cake

10-15-2009, 12:08 PM

Phyrexia has no known Planeswalkers. Even Yawgmoth wasn't technically a PW.

Dunjohn

10-15-2009, 05:18 PM

They have patented something called "New Phyrexia," alongside "Scars of Mirrodin." People have been expecting those to be new expansions. There's no direct link between Phyrexia and Mirrodin that we know of, but it's always been heavily suspected that there is (at the start of Mirrodin, Memnarch was corrupted by a strange black goo that was never mentioned again). So, maybe they will include some sort of teaser.

SuiBlack is great fun, but it's not especially interractive, and these Duel Decks specialize in long games with plenty of back & forth. Demonic was pretty sneaky; Liliana will probably be about control. Phyrexia's likely gonna be a straightforward beatdown deck, then.

Catastrophe_2

10-20-2009, 12:09 PM

Phyrexian Negator. Come on, you know you want it.

That and a Mythic Coalition Victory. I will be pissed if the Coalition Mythic ends up being Gerrard.

I'd like the Waetherlight and the Predator as the two Mythics though. A perfect match.

a-slice-of-cake

10-20-2009, 01:26 PM

Coalition Mythic I think will be Legacy Weapon.

Dunjohn

10-20-2009, 03:18 PM

I'd love alt-art foils of Weatherlight and Predator, though I'd prefer them not to be Mythic. I think they're both just crap enough to qualify.

I kinda feel Legacy Weapon has a better chance of being the Mythic than Victory. Victory likely won't even be in the deck, since its ability to cough up a win no matter the game state goes against the ethos of the Duel Decks.

However, so far, for every Duel Deck released, the alt-art banner used in the announcement has been for the Mythics. That likely means that the Urza art is the Mythic, and that doesn't fit Weapon.

Flicking through my Invasion binder, the only Mythic candidates of that art would be Urza's Guilt, Pernicious Deed or Vindicate, and I can't see them making the Coalition Mythic black (unless it's five-colour). It's not red enough for Urza's Rage, and Urza's Filter surely isn't Mythic-worthy. The Urza's Saga binder suggests Stroke of Genius (unlikely, since Mind Spring is rare), Opposition, and nothing else. It might be a card that isn't connected to Urze right now.

I wonder if they'll restrict this to cards that match the events, or if they'll include stuff like Bant Sureblade. I am expecting Reborn Hope; there's nothing specific to Alara on it.

Catastrophe_2

10-20-2009, 03:44 PM

Well the Urza's art could also be Urza's Rage...

Dunjohn

10-20-2009, 03:46 PM

I didn't think the new art looked angry enough.

LowFr3eq

10-28-2009, 12:41 AM

It might be Blind Seer for the new Urza card.

Apparently that's the only 'Urza' Card.

Dunjohn

11-08-2009, 03:07 PM

It is the only card representing Urza himself, and if they bump it up to Mythic I'll scream. Seriously, what is it with WotC and rare colour-change spells? They're the junk rare EVERY TIME and they KEEP MAKING THEM. I can't imagine any reason for Blind Seer to be in here, even at regular rare. The Phyrexian deck is fairly predictably mono-black so bringing colour-change effects in would be needlessly complicating things.

Additional Comment:

Um, I just discovered that Phyrexian Negator is on the Reserved List, and since they don't break that for Duel Decks, that can't be Negator.

Stupid list.

a-slice-of-cake

11-08-2009, 06:18 PM

Err... Demonic Tutor says sup? Or is he not on the list?

Dunjohn

11-09-2009, 01:19 PM

Nope, Tutor's out to stud. Thez only break the Reserved list for promo cards, so far just Judge promos.

Dunjohn

01-12-2010, 03:55 PM

Courtesy of ManaNation, through Salvation:

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100033&d=1263330374

Okay, now it's red enough for Urza's Rage. And the other card looks even more like it's trying to be Negator, despite the List.

Yomako

01-12-2010, 04:02 PM

It's hard to say about the second, but it certainly shares a similarity

gargroyal

01-14-2010, 07:32 PM

i hope they make the 5 color deck decent, could someone explain the phyrexian style of play?

marhawkman

01-15-2010, 12:19 PM

I wonder... What cards from the newer sets do you see as worthy of Phyrexia?

Hidden Horror perhaps?

Dunjohn

01-15-2010, 04:51 PM

Phyrexia has never really had a style, and the creatures range from zombies and horrors up to demons. I suppose the general perception might be that it's quite suicidal. Lots of evil black nonmana costs for pumped effects: Arena, Negator, Yawgmoth's Bargain etc. This would be a different approach to the finesse of Vampires, I guess.

New stuff for Phyrexia, hmm, that depends on how closely they decide to stick to Phyrexia. Probably Sign in Blood. I doubt many vampires will be used, their identity doesn't fit Phyrexian flavour and they likely wouldn't "hire" themselves out. Ditto the Lorwyn tribes, none of the black ones match, though some of the noncreature spells could work if given new art. Grixis, on the other hand, fits very nicely, I'd expect a high proportion of cards from there.

LegacyDan

01-16-2010, 03:47 PM

I wonder... What cards from the newer sets do you see as worthy of Phyrexia?

Hidden Horror perhaps?

Phyrexia has always loved making you give up something for a gain, sacking stuff, discarding, paying life and whatnot.

BTW- if it is Negator, I would LOVE that!! Or even if they broke the rules and did a PX card for Urza like he deserves.

marhawkman

01-17-2010, 06:53 PM

Hmm.... thinking about that reminds me of how many cards like that were in the Liliana deck. Do you think they might duplicate some of it? Promise of Power is exactly the sort of thing I could visualize Pyrexia using.

undercoverlucky

01-17-2010, 08:59 PM

From Maro254:

"Tonight is the start of Worldwake previews. I talk about the challenges of designing a 2nd set. I also preview a card."

Yay, let the spoiling begin!

Dunjohn

02-04-2010, 09:20 AM

Well, there it is. The cards are confirmed to be Phyrexian Negator and Urza's Rage, which means that the Reserved List has been broken.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=218662

I'm delighted that it's Negator, because that's one of my favourite cards of all time. I'm also looking forward to the official announcement, to see what this means for the List.

Mage Master

02-04-2010, 09:24 AM

So yeah, prepare for the incoming storm of butthurt collectors who are pissed that their P9 now stands a chance of being reprinted.

Dunjohn

02-04-2010, 09:28 AM

Well, the chances of that happening have indeed increased from 0.0004% to 0.0007%, that's true.... Promos were always exempt from the list, so it they haven't done it by now, they never will.

Yomako

02-04-2010, 09:34 AM

So yeah, prepare for the incoming storm of butthurt collectors who are pissed that their P9 now stands a chance of being reprinted.

Speculators and investors are different to collectors!

I'm a collector and I like this

Mage Master

02-04-2010, 09:39 AM

I really hope that this is a sign that they're finally doing away with the Reserved List. If not at least take all of the $5 Urza, etc Rares off of it and just leave the big stuff like P9 and Library.

marhawkman

02-04-2010, 12:34 PM

yeah, the stuff that got on there because it was UBER....

Yomako

02-04-2010, 12:56 PM

yeah, the stuff that got on there because it was UBER....

Not all the cards are ''uber'' on there

LegacyDan

02-04-2010, 03:24 PM

Two of my more FAVORITE rares being reprinted with updated wording (which I like for some dumb reason) and GREAT art? Heres my paycheck WOTC.

marhawkman

02-04-2010, 08:25 PM

Not all the cards are ''uber'' on thereNo I meant the stuff that got on the list because it was UBER shouldn't come off.

Gatsby

02-19-2010, 06:26 AM

I updated my modo for the wwk prerelease and I found some interesting pics. Hopefully it relates to this product but it kind of looks like phyrexia/coalition -ish.

http://i.imgur.com/dXRVp.jpg
http://imgur.com/2ckcl.jpg
http://imgur.com/UBuBk.jpg
http://imgur.com/yIcHK.jpg
http://imgur.com/E9kWx.jpg

Mage Master

02-19-2010, 05:26 PM

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b295/Mage-Master/20260_499636275306_201120755306_109.jpg

BAM!

Eternity

02-19-2010, 05:31 PM

Looks like I got ninja'd on the Facebook post. Damn.

Yeah, just revealed on the Facebook page. I like Armadillo Cloak's art.

Gatsby

02-19-2010, 05:46 PM

Hmm...those pictures I posted excluding the 4th one were between Urza's Rage and Phyrexian Negator. You guys wanna take a whack at what the other pictures might be?

Edit: The 5th looks like Blanchwood Armor. The 1st looks like Phyrexian Processor or something Phyrexian.

Mage Master

02-19-2010, 06:21 PM

Phyrexian Rager is my call for number 4.

Eternity

02-19-2010, 06:31 PM

1 - iuno.
2 - Coldsteel Heart
3 - obviously Armadillo Cloak
4 - Phyrexian Rager
5 - no idea, but Blanchwood Armour seems reasonable.

That's my speculation.

Gatsby

02-19-2010, 06:33 PM

Well its filename is 128000_typ_tokntb_sty_012 and its image is larger than the others so I am going to conclude that it is an image for a token. The "tok" part is in the filename of token picture I found that I know are tokens. My guess is the minion token produced by Phyrexian Processor.

http://imgur.com/yD2Hv
http://imgur.com/vEvmb
http://imgur.com/Y42wW

These were new too but I didn't included in my earlier post because I didn't feel it fit with it but who knows (not me :<). These have "tok" in their filenames so I assume they're token arts.

Mage Master

02-19-2010, 06:35 PM

So wait, a Pegasus token? Does that mean Sacred Mesa is getting printed in this?

Eternity

02-19-2010, 06:37 PM

New art+border Sacred Mesa would make me a super-happy mod.

marhawkman

02-19-2010, 07:18 PM

Mmm.... MESA!

What's up with Cloak? Does it differ from lifelink in gaining when doing effect damage?

Gatsby

02-19-2010, 07:24 PM

Well...If your creature have lifelink and Armadillo Cloak on it..you will gain 2x the life.

Eternity

02-19-2010, 07:27 PM

I thought M10 changed it so that Lifelink doesn't stack anymore.

Gatsby

02-19-2010, 07:29 PM

The oracle text did not keyword it as lifelink so it isn't lifelink, lol.

Eternity

02-19-2010, 07:31 PM

That's weird. Disregard my post then. =\

LegacyDan

02-19-2010, 11:22 PM

So wait, a Pegasus token? Does that mean Sacred Mesa is getting printed in this?

IDK, it could be Storm Herd (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=96968).

Gatsby

02-20-2010, 04:19 AM

Storm Herd is in the Ravnica block, which has nothing to do with the Dominaria block. Sacred Mesa was in the Mirage block and it is related to Dominaria.

Dunjohn

02-20-2010, 05:46 AM

Hmm. If it's from PvtC, I'll bet Pegasus Refuge. I doubt it's Storm Herd for two reasons: It's not Dominarian, and Herd would probably produce more tokens at once than WotC would likely supply. I don't think the Dominarian argument is absolute, because I fully expect this set to take bits n' bobs from recent sets regardless of flavour.

The first picture could easily be Phyrexian Processor. It's a card that a lot of people expect to see in the set and the art looks right. The token is black, which the original art didn't really convey.

The dude with the sticks looks like Ian McKellan. Heheh. I doubt it's Blanchwood Armor, that card makes no sense in a five-colour deck. Ley Druid? He'll untap your multilands.

I like Living Death. This'll be my third copy, and it's an awesome card to include in the set. In terms of good cards, this set looks like being the best non-Planeswalker DD yet.

LegacyDan

02-20-2010, 09:01 AM

Storm Herd is in the Ravnica block, which has nothing to do with the Dominaria block. Sacred Mesa was in the Mirage block and it is related to Dominaria.

Storm Herd has no part of its moniker that puts it specifically in one plane, like "Myojin", "Izzet", or "Grixis". Sacred Mesa, sadly, is a more likely choice. I am just hoping its the Herd, I loved using it as a wincon way back when.

Gatsby

02-20-2010, 03:40 PM

The decklist is out there. No Storm Herd or Sacred Mesa..so, sad mod. :[

http://i.imgur.com/dXRVp.jpg Phyrexian Processor
http://imgur.com/2ckcl.jpg Voltiac Key
http://imgur.com/UBuBk.jpg Armadillo Cloak
http://imgur.com/yIcHK.jpg Minion Token
http://imgur.com/E9kWx.jpg Yavimaya Elder

Eternity

02-20-2010, 03:42 PM

Dunjohn

02-20-2010, 04:05 PM

Hmm. From Mananation, rares in red, non-rares that caught my eye in blue:

2 Thornscape Apprentice
2 Nomadic Elf
1 Quirion Elves
1 Sunscape Battlemage
1 Thunderscape Battlemage
2 Thornscape Battlemage
1 Verduran Emissary
2 Yavimaya Elder
1 Charging Troll
1 Gerrard Capashen
1 Darigaaz, the Igniter
1 Rith, the Awakener
1 Treva, the Renewer
1 Evasive Action
1 Tribal Flames
2 Fertile Ground
1 Gerrard’s Command
1 Coalition Relic
1 Narrow Escape
1 Exotic Curse
1 Urza’s Rage
2 Harrow
2 Armadillo Cloak
1 Darigaaz's Charm
1 Rith's Charm
1 Treva's Charm
1 Power Armor
1 Allied Strategies
1 Elfhame Palace
1 Shivan Oasis
3 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Plains
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Mountain
10 Forest

1 Carrion Feeder
1 Phyrexian Battleflies
1 Phyrexian Denouncer
1 Bone Shredder
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
1 Phyrexian Negator
2 Priest of Gix
1 Phyrexian Broodlings
1 Sanguine Guard
1 Phyrexian Debaser
1 Order of Yawgmoth
1 Phyrexian Defiler
1 Phyrexian Hulk
1 Phyrexian Gargantua
1 Phyrexian Colossus
1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
1 Voltaic Key
2 Dark Ritual
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Phyrexian Totem
1 Phyrexian Vault
2 Puppet Strings
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Slay
1 Hideous End
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Hornet Cannon
1 Phyrexian Processor
1 Living Death
2 Tendrils of Corruption
25 Swamp

Wow. Three dragons, Arena, and the stuff we already knew about. Almost everything is drawn from Weatherlight Saga and other Dominarian sets, though a Hideous End did sneak in there. A Gerrard Capashen card with a printed creature type. All very spiffy.

Eternity

02-20-2010, 04:09 PM

Hmm. That's... interesting. Not a lot of 'great' stuff, from the looks of it. Phyrexian Arena and Negator are very nice.

The Coalition's take on 5-Color Midrange is... wow.

LegacyDan

02-20-2010, 05:52 PM

The lists look alright, and I LOVE it when they reprint Legends (even moreso when the Legends are EDH worthy).

Yomako

02-21-2010, 11:56 AM

I like those lists alot :)

NoirLamia

02-21-2010, 02:22 PM

This a must buy for me, seeing 3 of the 5 Dragon Legends with new card frames made me the happiest man alive. I will be making a Jund EDH using Darigaaz as my general =D

Dunjohn

02-21-2010, 03:36 PM

Well, we do already have two of them in the new frames: PT Promo Treva, and FtV Rith. Crosis is my favourite, and Dromar's my number 3, but no sign of those yet :(

l0k13

02-21-2010, 04:11 PM

How foolish of me to hold up hope for dreadnought in there...

NoirLamia

02-21-2010, 09:11 PM

Well, we do already have two of them in the new frames: PT Promo Treva, and FtV Rith. Crosis is my favourite, and Dromar's my number 3, but no sign of those yet :(

Yea, I probably won't ever have a chance to get those promo versions though, or at least anytime soon. I hope they do reprint the last two eventually. They were always my favorite legends.

Rai Kerensky

02-21-2010, 09:46 PM

Looks very interesting. I doubt I will buy one, but they are differently not bad.

Dunjohn

02-22-2010, 12:09 PM

How foolish of me to hold up hope for dreadnought in there...

I think Negator and Rage are the only two foils, and the new Reserved List only lets them print cards in foil. It would have been seriously awesome, though. Still, Dreadnought feels like a Judge Promo-able or FTV-able card, so we may get it eventually.

Toshiro Umezete

02-22-2010, 03:04 PM

This a must buy for me, seeing 3 of the 5 Dragon Legends with new card frames made me the happiest man alive. I will be making a Jund EDH using Darigaaz as my general =D

Well said, I pretty much have to buy this since I collect dragons.

Getting 3 invasion dragons, a foil negator, an area, two neat cloaks, processor, and living death is probaly about $20. Certainly the best valuewise duel deck that didn't simply go OMG Planeswalkers! as its selling point.