I know I am odd man out, but I like Pharika a lot, at first she seems awful but there are plenty of cases where she is perfectly ok. For Dredge exiling Satyr Wayfinders for 1/1 Deathtouchers is fine IMHO, in addition with Eidolen of Blossoms gives the deck card draw, allows them to stay in the game. Furthermore she gives solid instant speed graveyard hate, such as exiling an opponents Gary. There is that issue of 1/1 Deathtouch, I think somthing important to keep in mind is B/G Utility Spell, Golgari Charm, can kill those 1/1 deathtouchers, lifebane zombies, and kill any pesky Satyrs that need to be in grave. Unlike drown in sorrow will not kill Deathrite, Eidolen, or Sylvan Caryatid. Golgari Charm also allows Regen against those Deathtouchers you just created incase the other option isn't appealing.
In addition in the monster match it also helps because that Polukranos doesn't really want to smash into that thing. With Domri Rade its a 5 mana kill a Stormbreath Dragon. In RDW we can also exile Chandra Pheonix or attempt to anyways. Atleast that is my thoughts.
People are underestimating the power of her card advantage potential. An enchantment deck will emerge, if even one or two more constellation enablers are printed it will easily be a powerful deck. The synergy she will have will be amazing.
Oh it's a good card, just the weakest god. I like how you can zap one of your own creatures to make a death touch snake to block and kill your opponents creature. I'm impressed that it seems heroic and enchantment decks will possibly be a thing, both of which I'd play if they were truely viable.
My biggest problem is the flavor miss that we'd certainly been hyped for.
Many BG fans thought she would bring something fresh that was outside of the regular Golgari-style grave interaction.
They did such a good job of setting her up with so many interesting themes. Potions, aging/anti-aging, poison/cure.
We were all wondering how these might be represented on her card. The knee-jerk result is 'Huh!? Oh, ok.'
I don't think she's a bad card power-wise. She's interesting and all, but she's pretty disappointing for flavor.
If they wanted to insist on the snake summoning thing, which is cool, I don't see why they couldn't have done something along the lines of:
Pharika, ?BG
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
Indestructible, devotion clause
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay BG. If you do, put a 1/1 black and green Snake enchantment creature onto the battlefield with deathtouch,
then you lose life equal to the number of black creatures you control and gain life equal to the number of green creatures you control.
?/?
You don't call "dying to removal" if the removal is more expensive in resources than the creature. If you have to spend BG (Abrupt Decay), or W + basic land (PtE) to remove a 1G, that is not "dying to removal". Strictly speaking Goyf dies to removal, but actually your removal is dying to Goyf.
I think the issue is literally just that she doesn't really fit into the existing b/g dredge archetype. She can be good, but ultimately she's going to need a new deck built around her.
Whilst I still actually enjoy her greatly, I was actually hoping she would have an ability similar to Consume Strength. Personally, I thought it would be a perfect way to represent a God who could just as easily heal as well as harm. In addition, if they went down that route it would of been a BG legendary that plays very differently than all others available on the market.
Oh yeah, if anyone here is curious I would've made her card similar to this. Sorry about the wording I wasn't sure how to it.
Pharika, God of Afflictions1BG Creature-God
Indestructible, devotion clause
During your combat phase after blockers have been declared, target creature you don't control gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Another target creature you don't control gets +1/+1 until end of turn. 5/5
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This card's flavour sucking Minotaur balls is it's biggest problem of all. They could atleast give her some interesting static ability not a *****ty manasink that gives your opponent snakes with deathtouch if you try to gravehate him. Just play Relic of Progenitus seriously or Tormod's Crypt I don't even want her for EDH cuz she's so garbagey...
It's ability might not be the best but it costs 3 for a 5/5 in the colors which can play Jarad the next turn (also the colors to play a 1st turn mana elf which would let u attack with it 3rd turn). Add the advantage the token making can provide and it's pretty respectable.
This card is amazing flavorwise. It really captures the ancient Greece view on poison/medicine. Pharika godess of ancient Greece pharmakon-concept as discussed by Plato &co. This will be lost on all B/G players, but still, nice!
I think she is pretty strong in terms of constructed potential. Like Thassa I see her getting played in decks that really look to swing with her, not just use the passive abilities like some of the other gods. And in those aggressive BG decks her ability does give you a persistent source of threats. Combine her with Jarad and it seems like you get starts that can be extremely aggro AND and present significant late game power (kinda like Athreos + Obzedat). With that in mind I could see her spawning a new, more aggressive, BG deck. At least while RTR is legal.
I agree, she is that little extra bit of graveyard hate that some decks in those colors need. But all in all probably the weakest of the 15 gods.
Heliod, Karametra, Mogis, and Phenax all see zero competitive tournament play. Ephara, Purphoros, and Nylea have all seen some play here and there, but still quite minimal. Erebos sees play strictly as a sideboard card for an oppressive mirror match, but he doesn't make or break the archetype by any means.
That really only leaves Xenegod and Thassa as significant players of the Gods we've had access to thus far. How you call him the weakest of the bunch, I don't really know, considering how bad the majority of them are. For me, they're all varying degrees of meh. While certainly not a 1-1 comparison, Pharika initially comes off to me as a worse Moorland Haunt effect.
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Currently playing:
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
I think she is pretty strong in terms of constructed potential. Like Thassa I see her getting played in decks that really look to swing with her, not just use the passive abilities like some of the other gods. And in those aggressive BG decks her ability does give you a persistent source of threats. Combine her with Jarad and it seems like you get starts that can be extremely aggro AND and present significant late game power (kinda like Athreos + Obzedat). With that in mind I could see her spawning a new, more aggressive, BG deck. At least while RTR is legal.
Having played a ton of mono blue devotion and now a ton of U/w devotion, I promise you that the difference in 5 devotion and 7 is much more drastic than it seems. Additionally, the beauty of Thassa is her unblockable clause, which allows you to get damage through otherwise difficult spots. While I see why you'd compare the two, I don't think they realy match up that well at all. Thassa is a 4-of that you want to see everytime. I'm not sure that will quite be the case with Pharika.
I'm not writing her off, because any 3 drop indestructible has potential, and the ability to generate tokens is a real thing. That said, the graveyard interaction is likely competing with Scavenging Ooze for targets in decks where she would see play. I'll reserve judgment until players smarter than me give her a test drive.
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Currently playing:
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
If the snakes had an ability that made them count towards devotion, it might be interesting. As is she either needs a few constellations with sick effects to make her worth it, or she's just a really bad ooze.
For Dredge exiling Satyr Wayfinders for 1/1 Deathtouchers is fine IMHO,
dredge does not want this card. the last thing you want to do is exile creatures from your graveyard. it just makes your nemesis of mortals, jarads, and nighthowlers a lot weaker.
I don't think I'm willing to write her off just yet. The ability to make 1/1 tokens isn't very exciting. However, within the framework of an environment that has both scavenge and bestow it can certainly be relevant to be able to ensure that you have a target for those kinds of abilities whenever you would want one. A 1/1 snake bestowed with Herald of Torment becomes a 4/4 flying deathtouching doom adder. Likewise, being able to make a token to scavenge a Dreg Mangler onto after a Supreme Verdict could be handy thing to have. Even in an aggro on aggro match-up, if you keep trading creatures and keep putting tokens in play that also force the opponent to trade, eventually, you win the battle of attrition by default.
Maybe I'm just trying to look on the sunny side of the snake, but I think Pharika is definitely worth testing in a B/G aggro shell.
This card is amazing flavorwise. It really captures the ancient Greece view on poison/medicine. Pharika godess of ancient Greece pharmakon-concept as discussed by Plato &co. This will be lost on all B/G players, but still, nice!
Dont understand this too much.
All this god does is make little poisonous snakes. Is she supposed to be Pharika, God of Little Poisonous Snakes? No. She's pretty much the innovator behind much of the worlds medicines, as well as toxins. If my understanding is correct. Not only is little snake making all she does, but, unlike Heliod, you cant even make then from nothing. U need to Ooze yourself to do it. So...friggin...terrible.
The cmc is the ONLY thing that even remotely tries to save this and it still doesn't. If you want a cheap minor god that can help with what the rest of your deck is doing then run Athreos (sp? the BW one) - run it in BW Necromancer humans.
This is going to sound worse than I mean it to, but not every dredge deck needs to be Jarad or Flesh//Blood combo, I have been running dredge deck back sense Theros which has been trying to make use of Underworld Cereberus, I.e lategame killing it off to return my Polukranos, and Nemsis of Mortals to my hand. I've had some success, and have recently started using Tyrmaret Recursion ability as a sac outlet.
All this god does is make little poisonous snakes. Is she supposed to be Pharika, God of Little Poisonous Snakes? No. She's pretty much the innovator behind much of the worlds medicines, as well as toxins.
It's top-down design right. The Snake was a symbol for medicine/drugs and medicine was an ambivalent concept containing things that could heal, hurt and to some extent correspond to recreational use with religious or oracle-like overtones. I think that Pharika nicely captures the more central aspect of medicine in ancient Greece. The snake symbolism, and the ambivalence in heal and hurt (snaketokens for you, or the enemy).
If you need to attack your opponents graveyard, bring in Illness in the Ranks. You won't be able to make your own snakes, but this can really hurt an opponent's dredge plans. Who knows, I'm interested enough in trying her out though.
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I know I am odd man out, but I like Pharika a lot, at first she seems awful but there are plenty of cases where she is perfectly ok. For Dredge exiling Satyr Wayfinders for 1/1 Deathtouchers is fine IMHO, in addition with Eidolen of Blossoms gives the deck card draw, allows them to stay in the game. Furthermore she gives solid instant speed graveyard hate, such as exiling an opponents Gary. There is that issue of 1/1 Deathtouch, I think somthing important to keep in mind is B/G Utility Spell, Golgari Charm, can kill those 1/1 deathtouchers, lifebane zombies, and kill any pesky Satyrs that need to be in grave. Unlike drown in sorrow will not kill Deathrite, Eidolen, or Sylvan Caryatid. Golgari Charm also allows Regen against those Deathtouchers you just created incase the other option isn't appealing.
In addition in the monster match it also helps because that Polukranos doesn't really want to smash into that thing. With Domri Rade its a 5 mana kill a Stormbreath Dragon. In RDW we can also exile Chandra Pheonix or attempt to anyways. Atleast that is my thoughts.
CerberusJund (Modern)GRB
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Morphentress (Commander) GUB
I also play YGO (DragunFusion) and Hearthstone (Dragon Control Warrior)
Many BG fans thought she would bring something fresh that was outside of the regular Golgari-style grave interaction.
They did such a good job of setting her up with so many interesting themes. Potions, aging/anti-aging, poison/cure.
We were all wondering how these might be represented on her card. The knee-jerk result is 'Huh!? Oh, ok.'
I don't think she's a bad card power-wise. She's interesting and all, but she's pretty disappointing for flavor.
If they wanted to insist on the snake summoning thing, which is cool, I don't see why they couldn't have done something along the lines of:
Pharika, ?BG
Legendary Enchantment Creature - God
Indestructible, devotion clause
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay BG. If you do, put a 1/1 black and green Snake enchantment creature onto the battlefield with deathtouch,
then you lose life equal to the number of black creatures you control and gain life equal to the number of green creatures you control.
?/?
"OH GOD MY BRAIN IS EXPLOADING AT HOW BAD THE ART IS ON MY OWN CARD"
-A friend's first impression of Ancestral Recall
10/10, I tapped.
No doubt she is the weakest minor god... a wasted mythic slot.
Oh yeah, if anyone here is curious I would've made her card similar to this. Sorry about the wording I wasn't sure how to it.
Pharika, God of Afflictions 1BG
Creature-God
Indestructible, devotion clause
During your combat phase after blockers have been declared, target creature you don't control gets -1/-1 until end of turn. Another target creature you don't control gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
5/5
-Modern-
WMartyrProcB
BBurnR
-Commander-
Machius proudly supports R_E's right to Rumour!
Heliod, Karametra, Mogis, and Phenax all see zero competitive tournament play. Ephara, Purphoros, and Nylea have all seen some play here and there, but still quite minimal. Erebos sees play strictly as a sideboard card for an oppressive mirror match, but he doesn't make or break the archetype by any means.
That really only leaves Xenegod and Thassa as significant players of the Gods we've had access to thus far. How you call him the weakest of the bunch, I don't really know, considering how bad the majority of them are. For me, they're all varying degrees of meh. While certainly not a 1-1 comparison, Pharika initially comes off to me as a worse Moorland Haunt effect.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Having played a ton of mono blue devotion and now a ton of U/w devotion, I promise you that the difference in 5 devotion and 7 is much more drastic than it seems. Additionally, the beauty of Thassa is her unblockable clause, which allows you to get damage through otherwise difficult spots. While I see why you'd compare the two, I don't think they realy match up that well at all. Thassa is a 4-of that you want to see everytime. I'm not sure that will quite be the case with Pharika.
I'm not writing her off, because any 3 drop indestructible has potential, and the ability to generate tokens is a real thing. That said, the graveyard interaction is likely competing with Scavenging Ooze for targets in decks where she would see play. I'll reserve judgment until players smarter than me give her a test drive.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
dredge does not want this card. the last thing you want to do is exile creatures from your graveyard. it just makes your nemesis of mortals, jarads, and nighthowlers a lot weaker.
Maybe I'm just trying to look on the sunny side of the snake, but I think Pharika is definitely worth testing in a B/G aggro shell.
Dont understand this too much.
All this god does is make little poisonous snakes. Is she supposed to be Pharika, God of Little Poisonous Snakes? No. She's pretty much the innovator behind much of the worlds medicines, as well as toxins. If my understanding is correct. Not only is little snake making all she does, but, unlike Heliod, you cant even make then from nothing. U need to Ooze yourself to do it. So...friggin...terrible.
The cmc is the ONLY thing that even remotely tries to save this and it still doesn't. If you want a cheap minor god that can help with what the rest of your deck is doing then run Athreos (sp? the BW one) - run it in BW Necromancer humans.
necrogenesis was an uncommon, and this is barely a step up from it...
CerberusJund (Modern)GRB
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Morphentress (Commander) GUB
I also play YGO (DragunFusion) and Hearthstone (Dragon Control Warrior)
It's top-down design right. The Snake was a symbol for medicine/drugs and medicine was an ambivalent concept containing things that could heal, hurt and to some extent correspond to recreational use with religious or oracle-like overtones. I think that Pharika nicely captures the more central aspect of medicine in ancient Greece. The snake symbolism, and the ambivalence in heal and hurt (snaketokens for you, or the enemy).