Hello folks and welcome to The Grindstone. New Phyrexia is officially spoiled and it is AWESOME! Limited, Standard, EDH, and Legacy, whatever, this set has got something for everyone.

So, let's get to it starting with the classical Phyrexian color; Black.




Limited
I can't believe this card is a Common. You must be blind not to see this card's potential. A 2/2 creature with decent evasion would normally cost three and without the very useful secondary ability that this has. The Zealot swings a few times, then sacrifices itself to destroy a much bigger creature (or bomb?). It has the power and an ability I have come to expect at Uncommon.

Constructed
Good with Mimic Vat, but isn't too likely to make Constructed lists due to being more or less outclassed by Gatekeeper of Malakir -- which also doesn't see much play as of late.





Limited
An out-of-the-box way to get those last couple poison counters in. I still wouldn't pick it due to the high mana cost, lack of board impact, and life/poison cost.

Constructed
Much worse than Sign in Blood, won't see play even if it had been a Mirran's caress.



Limited
Definitely, a bomb in 40-card formats and even first pickable. I hear Flying and Lifelink are a good combination.

Constructed
While this Chancellor has zero Standard potential, it does seem nifty in Multiplayer formats.



Limited
Wow, a 2/2 flyer for five mana and can pay a total of ten to gain one card in card advantage? Sarcasm aside, I honestly have no idea how a card this bad gets printed in a modern set. At 2B for each cost, this card would have been more than playable.

Constructed
You must be demented to try and play this in any Constructed format -- consider it Chimney Imp 2.0.




Limited
A rock solid card. I wouldn't fault anyone for first picking this, especially considering its market value.

Constructed
As a strictly better Ostracize, it may see some play in Legacy. In Standard, however, the applications are astronomical. It deals with Stoneforge Mystic, Squadron Hawk, Lotus Cobra, Primeval Titan, Jace, The Mind Sculptor, Gideon Jura, and pretty much every other creature or Planeswalker-based threat in the game outside of Vengevine and Bloodghast. Despise will become the 1-mana discard of choice, with Inquisition of Kozilek supplementing it to deal with Counterspells and removal. Despise is the reason to play Black.



Limited
If removal is king, then this is a god. This is capable of killing any creature/bomb with five or less toughness and can fit into any non-Black deck -- as long as you are willing to pay the price of dismembering your life total. Easily another first pick.

Constructed
Though, it cannot directly deal with Titans, Dismember can deal with pretty much anything else. The fact that it can be cast for only a single colorless should allow for many a blowout. I could see Dismember as a two or 3-of in a lot of mono and dual colored Black-based decks.



Limited
Two for one's are good, especially in Limited. Not a high priority in draft, but will be a strong role-player in a lot of decks due to its flexibility.

Constructed
Duress that can hit lands or Disentomb on a 2/2 body for four, is solid. Use it for Mimic Vat or Momentary Blink tricks or entomb the Exarch in the unplayable bin.



Limited
Black is paying one more mana for Limited's strongest Blue effect and Black is more than happy with the arrangement. Mind Control effects like this have a tendency to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Constructed
Too expensive and situational to be more than a sideboard option in Standard. Still, I can't think of any answers to Wurmcoil Engines or Titans that have slipped through your hand disruption.



Limited
Solid removal option, though in a format where players fill the board with creatures this is not first-pickable, but should be a significant role-player in any Black deck.

Constructed
The perfect removal option against decks that run few, but potent threats. Deals with Thrun, The Last Troll, various Eldrazi, Non-Black Titans, lonely Manlands, and can hit anything with a Sword of Feast and Famine on it. It's a bit trickier to use than targeted removal, yet there is always a niche for Edict effects.



Limited
Its evil presence will always remain as the last card in the pack.

Constructed
Card disadvantage with very little payoff. Instead, run Contaminated Ground or, better yet, Spreading Seas.



Limited
A very useful card, Glistening oil can be used to repeatedly kill weak creatures, blank damage against non-infect decks, and allow you to run fatties with an infect secondary win condition. It's a bit of a build-around-me card, but I could see myself playing this.

Constructed
Well, I guess it kills Hawks without losing card advantage. It could see play on the right kind of list like putting Glistening Oil on a Phyrexian Obliterator which has the potential of ending games fast.



Limited
Grim removal in a set with tons of great removal, even then, it is still very playable in Infect strategies.

Constructed
I'm still waiting for that sick proliferate deck to surface. Unless you've broken that strategy wide open, you've got better and less grim options.



Limited
This card represents a huge deviation from standard set design; an Uncommon mass board wipe. It is expensive, hard to use, and hard to time, however the effect is undeniably powerful. If you want to draft a Black-based Control deck, consider this a viable option.

Constructed
I wouldn't be caught dead playing this explosive piece of ichor. There are simply too many better options -- like the next card.



Limited
Bombtastic card. Remember when I suggested Ichor Explosion for a Control deck in Limited? This is better and you will first pick this if there isn't a foil Mythic in your pack.

Constructed
Cost efficient sweepers will usually see play -- it is essentially a Damnation + Sadistic Sacrament for one mana and one card less. This may not be as cheap as Damnation, regardless, expect to see Black Control decks without access to Day of Judgement running this as, at least, a two-of.



Limited
Swings out as a 4/2 and costs your opponent four life even if he blocks. A very strong beater for your Aggro draft deck.

Constructed
It is a dog-eat-dog world, thus it costs too much compared to what other decks are doing with the same four mana (you know, like playing Jace), and it can't compete with Titans, Baneslayer Angels, and even the long forgotten Skinrenders.



Limited
More "bad" removal. Parasitic Implant lets your opponent get one more attack before we get two advantages: a 1/1 Myr and targeted sacrifice. I'd play it, but I wouldn't pick it until halfway through the pack.

Constructed
Unless you're hard pressed to find ways to make artifact creatures (perhaps for Shape Anew decks like the one Adam Spain suggested) I'd avoid this as if it were a parasite.



Limited
You draft this. You draw this. You obliterate the game.

Constructed
I've already covered this in my last article. In short, it's a strong card. Even though it hates Jace, it will see play.



Limited
It is an overcosted 2/4 with and underwhelming ability -- this card does not pass my efficiency drill test. Still, it is an artifact that can fit in any deck, kill small creatures, then hold the line as a blocker for a few turns. A low priority pick that you can side in against aggressive decks or act as an extra artifact for you Metalcraft deck.

Constructed
There's no pith to drill in Constructed, don't bother.



Limited
With the number of Splicers and Exarchs in the format, this could be a decent sideboard card, other than that not many creatures are crazy about lunging around after death. Thus, I wouldn't be picking this too highly.


Constructed
I'd rather play Rise From the Grave; at best, Rise lets you keep the creature; at worst, it is just as bad as Postmortem Lunge.


Limited
Rare Drafting, here I come! Run it in your sideboard and bring it in to grasp their artifacts or same-color bombs.

Constructed
EDH for Great Justice. Doesn't seem playable in Standard or Legacy, but possibly find a spot in Vintage stealing player's Black Lotuses.



Limited
A card that has great design written all over it, Reaper represents one of three ways to get into the Black Infect archetype in New Phyrexia. Reaper is certainly powerful: its got a big enough back end to survive most engagements, presents a five-turn clock, and even keeps killing them when they start to chump. Pick this and reap the rewards.


Constructed
Reaper of Sheoldred blight be good, but it's not Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon good.



Limited
It's a draft Mythic bomb, first pick it and don't look back.

Constructed
He/She is card advantage on a very vulnerable and very expensive stick. If some sort of Reanimator deck becomes possible in Standard, expect Sheoldred to whisper herself into becoming a major player.



Limited
It is a money rare right off the bat which is incentive enough to pick it, but do not, under any circumstance, play it.

Constructed
Expect to see it in many sideboards for battling Vengevines with possible utility against Bloodghast.



Limited
Another way to get into Black Infect and it isn't terrible. While it dies pretty easily to other Infect creatures and all the other -1/-1 effects, regeneration and its significant power will keep opponents on a short clock. I wouldn't rate Toxic Nim high as far as pick orders go, however I'd play it if I was in the archetype.

Constructed
Do you like toxic cockroach-looking monsters? Neither does Constructed.



Limited
There are a lot of reasons to like Vault Skirge: it's cheap, it's an artifact, it flies, and it regains the two life you paid for it. In spite of the pros, the fact that it is just a 1/1 and needs power-enhancing equipments for it to be truly formidable, makes it rather mediocre.

Constructed
Seems pretty solid in Tempered Steel if that somehow becomes a deck.



Limited
I LIKE this card. Not sarcasm this time, I really do like it. It's basically a Plague Stinger that you'll cash in to kill your opponent's hand at some point. I like cards that offer choices and reward tight game-play with powerful payoffs. High priority pick if you're in the archetype, even more so if you can get some power-enhancing equipment.

Constructed
Whispering Specter could prove to be powerful in an Aggro-Control Infect deck... if only he could whisper through a bunch of 3/3 Protection from Black Hawks flying around.




Well folks, that concludes our review of New Phyrexia's dark side. Tune in next week for more Phyrexian domination.

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