Karametra is pretty much an all upside EDH Commander. You load up on basic lands and creatures and after T5 you'll have all the mana you need real quick. It can get pretty ghastly. Kruphix is also an all upside in EDH, since it makes for blowout drawing pretty easy.
My issue with Pharika is that she isn't very... on point with what she does. It doesn't really mesh with the elixirs and poisons theme she has. Phenax is somewhat flavor fail too, but given becoming a return costs you your mind (mind loss = mill) he's somewhat on point? Pharika just seems off.
I was suspecting people to say as much. I personally think she's not so bad - at the very least, I'd say she's more fitting in the decks she's meant to be in than say... Kruphix.
I was suspecting people to say as much. I personally think she's not so bad - at the very least, I'd say she's more fitting in the decks she's meant to be in than say... Kruphix.
How so?
Kruphix + Prophet of Kruphix is a mana engine that will end games if not answered.
Pharika is just a speed bump, and not even a great one at that.
She's not a good fit in the BG "dredge" deck that's making the rounds.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Just to make a point here in most games if you resolve and keep Prophet of Kruphix alive you are already in a HUGE advantage on board. I mean Needing Kruphix+Prophet may be necessary in some wacky EDH games but in competitive magic Prophet is a beatstick as long as you have a hand full of tasty big annoying creatures.
People are vastly underrating Pharika, prepare to get beat down by GB decks with the card that only use the ability in certain board states.
I think it's probably Pharika. I guess you shouldn't underestimate her low cost and body stacked on top of synergy with on color cards like Lotleth Troll. And the threat of spawning deathtouch blockers at instant speed will deter people with creature heavy decks from swinging with their big threats. But I think she was just a little disappointing flavor-wise and I think her ability is underwhelming compared to Atheros, Keranos, and Iroas.
Being realistic with myself, I just don't WANT it to be Kruphix, God of Horizons . Never have I wanted to build around a card like I have with Prophet of Kruphix, but her body just doesn't make her a strong enough threat. I was hoping JOU would bring out some synergistic cards with her and Kruphix appears to be one that could make the game get out of hand rather quickly. I wouldn't mind building a deck with them and trying it out at FNM, especially if Kruphix will be as cheap as people believe. The mana ramping ability is there for blue green and I really like cards like Urban Evolution.
But it's definitely between Kruphix and Pharika. The other three are on another tier IMO
Just to make a point here in most games if you resolve and keep Prophet of Kruphix alive you are already in a HUGE advantage on board. I mean Needing Kruphix+Prophet may be necessary in some wacky EDH games but in competitive magic Prophet is a beatstick as long as you have a hand full of tasty big annoying creatures.
People are vastly underrating Pharika, prepare to get beat down by GB decks with the card that only use the ability in certain board states.
Pharika runs counter to the two greatest tricks in BG's arsenal: Graveyard retrieval. It has it's uses but mostly you're looking to hit devotion for the body Pharika is carrying. And you need a good unblockable to swing past defenders YOU make if you're forced to exile from their graveyard to stop their plays. Which makes it a bit weaker.
Kruphix and Prophet are both things that help UG separately, and work well together. Polukranos, Mistcutter, Nimbus Swimmer on a stretch, Biomass Mutation as a bigger stretch, Vastwood. Splash Red you get Clan Defiance (passable mana sink) and Savageborn (only passable with Psuedo-haste from Flash). All cards that even a few turns of fed Mana will get stupid fast. Now I don't see this hitting play unless UG can defend against Monsters or Mono-U, but if it can. Scary happens.
I understand the cards work well together but its classic win-more, it's like saying having 20/20 creatures isn't good enough you need 100/100 to win the game obviously.
I understand the cards work well together but its classic win-more, it's like saying having 20/20 creatures isn't good enough you need 100/100 to win the game obviously.
While the Synergy is great, Kruphix can generate crazy mana without the Prophet.
While I'll admit it might be a bit win-more to have both out,
that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of circumstances where Kruphix would be better than Prophet
(against removal-heavy decks, for example).
Also, Kruphix is waaaaay better in EDH than Pharika is in *any* format,
so that tie is broken as far as I'm concerned.
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Kruphix is very similar to Karametra. He just gives you big mana for EDN games just like karametra and I'm sure there are a lot of other combos you could do with it.
Kruphix for sure. Tried to build a UG modern deck using him and it's slow. I think I dislike him because he doesn't fit my play style. Karametra basically has the same issue, too little too late. Phenax, Karametra and Kruphix add value to stuff you're already doing, but only Phenax gives value in the form of 'damage/disruption' to your opponent, which is more explicitly helping you win the game.
Karametra and Kruphix are just 'why bother' cards to me. I built their decks just for cycle completion.
Pharika isn't a flavor fail. Her thing is poison which is how snakes get deathtouch. Her ability can also be a boon and a curse. It's like people scream poor design/flavor because a card isn't at the power level they want it to be. Karametra is way more of a flavor fail. A god of harvests should be more life gain than land ramping. They both kind of suck in normal constructed, but Pharika is on flavor. Now, as for Phenax, I think his flavor is more physically burying you than a mind shattering thing. Rav 2 and Theros both use milling some for burying things (Destroy the Evidence, Forsaken Drifters) rather than Nemesis of Reason or Glimpse the Unthinkable where the flavor is scare the ***** out of you.
No they call it flavor-fail as she doesn't have much to do with healing/mending, medicine - except if you consider snake venom a medical ingredient, which in modern medicine it is. However she doesn't work well with her other disciple and worshipers. Pharika's Mender actively works against what is perceptively Pharika's point -> turn your dead dudes into (why does dead dudes result in...?) snakes. Pharika's Chosen is merely what Pharika basically does.
I think people are basically just dissatisfied that Pharika's Cure is not used as template for what Pharika can do. Aka something that embodies both the healing and poisonous aspect of what you'd expect from a god of medicine.
That she's basically the only god to have an effect that actively works against you (exiling enemy graveyard causes them to get deadly chump-blockers) whilst all other gods only works FOR you.
A good example could be Erebos, God of the Dead. He could very easily have read: "Players cannot gain life" - and then had his Whip changed from lifelink - but it only reads opponents as he always works for you.
Pharika's ability does not, by any means, "actively work against you." You don't HAVE to use Pharika's ability on the enemy graveyard. It's like saying Lightning Bolt is bad because you can target yourself with it.
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Also known as Blitzer or Romanoff Blitzer. WIXOSS wiki admin.
Pharika's ability does not, by any means, "actively work against you." You don't HAVE to use Pharika's ability on the enemy graveyard. It's like saying Lightning Bolt is bad because you can target yourself with it.
Exactly. And if you're using Pharika's ability on a creature in an opponent's GY, generally speaking whatever they were about to do was going to be worse than giving them a 1/1 deathtouch token.
Pharika's ability does not, by any means, "actively work against you." You don't HAVE to use Pharika's ability on the enemy graveyard. It's like saying Lightning Bolt is bad because you can target yourself with it.
That's why I said actively - meaning it'd have to be chosen to be done - since you do all the choices of her it's YOUR active choice that she works against you. (For reference Mana Crypt works against you - however its upside is valued a lot higher than its downside).
Also I didn't say she was bad, but I do believe she is.
Picking the perceptive lesser of two evils is partially the point I tried to make: Unlike her brothers and sisters in the god pantheon, Pharika can actually work against you whilst all the others is all upside.
Granted Heliod can also work against you if you wish to run Inspired - but that doesn't have anything to do with your opponent and thus it's entirely in your hands to have come to that point.
Every single thing about pharika's flavor is poison and often snakes. Her ability is also a double edged sword just like her flavor says. Regardless of whether she sucks, they hit the flavor spot on. Of course, as far as why you get snakes, flavorfully, the creature doesn't become a snake. The creature is bitten by the snake and dies. The whole Pharika's cure thing is actually a little strange because it's more associated with vampires. The card is good for limited, though, so we can take a bit of a flavor hit to get a card that will fit well at common.
My personal opinion is God of Snakes is going to actually be good. There are a bunch of cards in the set that work with her. She just is not what GB decks normally think is good. A little out of the box thinking with her is going to shock a lot of players.
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All your base are belong to us!
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
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Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, Faith & Wrath (Control)
Jarad, Life & Death (Reanimator)
Merieke, Seduction & Obedience (Control/Steals)
Intet, Dreamworld (Aggro/Control)
Rith, Predators (Aggro)
My issue with Pharika is that she isn't very... on point with what she does. It doesn't really mesh with the elixirs and poisons theme she has. Phenax is somewhat flavor fail too, but given becoming a return costs you your mind (mind loss = mill) he's somewhat on point? Pharika just seems off.
LOL
I was suspecting people to say as much. I personally think she's not so bad - at the very least, I'd say she's more fitting in the decks she's meant to be in than say... Kruphix.
How so?
Kruphix + Prophet of Kruphix is a mana engine that will end games if not answered.
Pharika is just a speed bump, and not even a great one at that.
She's not a good fit in the BG "dredge" deck that's making the rounds.
Pharika *wishes* she were Karametra
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
People are vastly underrating Pharika, prepare to get beat down by GB decks with the card that only use the ability in certain board states.
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
The BG one is weak but *might* see some use.
Being realistic with myself, I just don't WANT it to be Kruphix, God of Horizons . Never have I wanted to build around a card like I have with Prophet of Kruphix, but her body just doesn't make her a strong enough threat. I was hoping JOU would bring out some synergistic cards with her and Kruphix appears to be one that could make the game get out of hand rather quickly. I wouldn't mind building a deck with them and trying it out at FNM, especially if Kruphix will be as cheap as people believe. The mana ramping ability is there for blue green and I really like cards like Urban Evolution.
But it's definitely between Kruphix and Pharika. The other three are on another tier IMO
Pharika runs counter to the two greatest tricks in BG's arsenal: Graveyard retrieval. It has it's uses but mostly you're looking to hit devotion for the body Pharika is carrying. And you need a good unblockable to swing past defenders YOU make if you're forced to exile from their graveyard to stop their plays. Which makes it a bit weaker.
Kruphix and Prophet are both things that help UG separately, and work well together. Polukranos, Mistcutter, Nimbus Swimmer on a stretch, Biomass Mutation as a bigger stretch, Vastwood. Splash Red you get Clan Defiance (passable mana sink) and Savageborn (only passable with Psuedo-haste from Flash). All cards that even a few turns of fed Mana will get stupid fast. Now I don't see this hitting play unless UG can defend against Monsters or Mono-U, but if it can. Scary happens.
Pharika's Mender grabs creatures and enchantments out of the graveyard so Pharika...can....wait....
Feel free to bid on my cards here!
While the Synergy is great, Kruphix can generate crazy mana without the Prophet.
While I'll admit it might be a bit win-more to have both out,
that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of circumstances where Kruphix would be better than Prophet
(against removal-heavy decks, for example).
Also, Kruphix is waaaaay better in EDH than Pharika is in *any* format,
so that tie is broken as far as I'm concerned.
Reprint Stasis!
Control needs more love.
EDH:
Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Oona, Queen of the Fae
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Rhys the Redeemed
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Sen Triplets
The Mimeoplasm
WUBRGSliver OverlordGRBUW
WUBRGSliver Hivelord(Superfriends)GRBUW
Decks:
Standard:
Gruul aggro
Modern:
MonoG infect
Edh:
Nekusar, Too bad you have to discard your deck at the end step.
Casual:
I'm trying to make tibalt work guys!
Dimir mill
I'll have you know when I saw Phenax spoiled,
I cried for only 20 minutes.
Karametra and Kruphix are just 'why bother' cards to me. I built their decks just for cycle completion.
I think people are basically just dissatisfied that Pharika's Cure is not used as template for what Pharika can do. Aka something that embodies both the healing and poisonous aspect of what you'd expect from a god of medicine.
That she's basically the only god to have an effect that actively works against you (exiling enemy graveyard causes them to get deadly chump-blockers) whilst all other gods only works FOR you.
A good example could be Erebos, God of the Dead. He could very easily have read: "Players cannot gain life" - and then had his Whip changed from lifelink - but it only reads opponents as he always works for you.
Cōnservātum album delenda est.
Exactly. And if you're using Pharika's ability on a creature in an opponent's GY, generally speaking whatever they were about to do was going to be worse than giving them a 1/1 deathtouch token.
Also I didn't say she was bad, but I do believe she is.
Picking the perceptive lesser of two evils is partially the point I tried to make: Unlike her brothers and sisters in the god pantheon, Pharika can actually work against you whilst all the others is all upside.
Granted Heliod can also work against you if you wish to run Inspired - but that doesn't have anything to do with your opponent and thus it's entirely in your hands to have come to that point.
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.