I would say it was known that the angel Selenia was captured and corrupted by Phyrexia, and I suppose that arguably makes her "Phyrexian" - but it still feels weird to see on her text line now. I was not aware she was actually compleated in any way and I don't think any of her appearances or descriptions have included that - more that she was corrupted or tainted by Phyrexia/Yawgmoth's magic. At least that's how I remember it or have always envisioned it.
I was kind of thinking of Phyrexian as meaning something that originated in Phyrexia, but this update goes beyond that. I wouldn't necessarily have classified Volrath or Greven as Phyrexian even though they have had Phyrexian enhancements and other drastic changes to their bodies. I'm not totally against it but a little surprised by it. Xantcha/Sleeper Agent and K'rrik make total sense, though.
For what it's worth, these changes don't show up on Gatherer as the Oracle wording yet.
What world is this? Looks like Zendikar's Hedrons floating about, but those are also clearly Bolas's horns in the background.
Probably the Meditation Realm. The scaled-down Cruel Ultimatum Titan-esque trigger and the horns help clue it in.
I'm not convinced. Has it ever been implied that there was anyone in the meditation realm other than Bolas? (And Ugin in that one backstory when he went there.) Why would Bolas have this guy spreading malice in his meditation realm? Unless possibly it was a staging ground for his future assaults on other planes, but that has never been suggested to my knowledge.
My guess is that it's a Bolas-conquered plane we haven't seen much of yet. There should be several of those, right?
As for the card - pretty sweet. Agree with @wallycaine that given the non-legendary clauses on the new reanimator toys we are getting, this card may be a good target. And while there are tons of viable targets in EDH, this at least seems like one of the better ones.
I mean, they didn't need to make this strictly better than Helm of the Gods - it's fine as-is. Counting artifacts too opens it up to a wide variety of decks.
This just feels like one of those weird plug and play mechanic cards that was designed by committee and iterated on until everyone lost sight of what it was supposed to be in the first place. I don't think it's bad or anything, I just don't get the flavor and none of it seems intuitive to me.
Also - do people really think it is worth playing off-color shocks/triomes just to make this bigger sooner? Turn 1 Temur triome turn 2 godless shrine just seems a bit magical christmas land and like a really awful mana base if you are playing aggro and don't need all the colors for other things. I do kind of like the Scion of Draco deck/combo though.
Can I squeeze it into my Queen Marchesa EDH deck that has a treasure subtheme (Revel in Riches, Smothering Tithe, Extortionist)? It wouldn't get me to a 10-treasure win any faster really, but the extra artifacts/cards/life could come in handy.
The card isn't bad either. Definitely lacking compared to Massacre Wurm on the front side, but having unearth is quite nice. If you discard/mill this it can act as a mini board wipe plus 4 to the dome for 5 which is nice. This seems very strong for limited, but the set's power level should be higher overall too.
A 3/1 that doesn't die to the three best removal spells in modern (path, push, bolt) is kinda nice already. Could be interesting in a more multicolor-focused humans brew, or the red/green "storm" cards mentioned by @crispen_smith above.
Kaldheim may have already got it.
I would say it was known that the angel Selenia was captured and corrupted by Phyrexia, and I suppose that arguably makes her "Phyrexian" - but it still feels weird to see on her text line now. I was not aware she was actually compleated in any way and I don't think any of her appearances or descriptions have included that - more that she was corrupted or tainted by Phyrexia/Yawgmoth's magic. At least that's how I remember it or have always envisioned it.
I was kind of thinking of Phyrexian as meaning something that originated in Phyrexia, but this update goes beyond that. I wouldn't necessarily have classified Volrath or Greven as Phyrexian even though they have had Phyrexian enhancements and other drastic changes to their bodies. I'm not totally against it but a little surprised by it. Xantcha/Sleeper Agent and K'rrik make total sense, though.
For what it's worth, these changes don't show up on Gatherer as the Oracle wording yet.
I'm not convinced. Has it ever been implied that there was anyone in the meditation realm other than Bolas? (And Ugin in that one backstory when he went there.) Why would Bolas have this guy spreading malice in his meditation realm? Unless possibly it was a staging ground for his future assaults on other planes, but that has never been suggested to my knowledge.
My guess is that it's a Bolas-conquered plane we haven't seen much of yet. There should be several of those, right?
As for the card - pretty sweet. Agree with @wallycaine that given the non-legendary clauses on the new reanimator toys we are getting, this card may be a good target. And while there are tons of viable targets in EDH, this at least seems like one of the better ones.
I was thinking maybe you meant to make this comment on the Imperial Recruiter thread, but yeah Graceful Restoration works! Love that art on it too.
Also - do people really think it is worth playing off-color shocks/triomes just to make this bigger sooner? Turn 1 Temur triome turn 2 godless shrine just seems a bit magical christmas land and like a really awful mana base if you are playing aggro and don't need all the colors for other things. I do kind of like the Scion of Draco deck/combo though.
Can I squeeze it into my Queen Marchesa EDH deck that has a treasure subtheme (Revel in Riches, Smothering Tithe, Extortionist)? It wouldn't get me to a 10-treasure win any faster really, but the extra artifacts/cards/life could come in handy.
Came here to post that! Now monogreen or green/x can get in on the "mike and trike" style fun in EDH.
The card isn't bad either. Definitely lacking compared to Massacre Wurm on the front side, but having unearth is quite nice. If you discard/mill this it can act as a mini board wipe plus 4 to the dome for 5 which is nice. This seems very strong for limited, but the set's power level should be higher overall too.
Cast multicolored spells?
A 3/1 that doesn't die to the three best removal spells in modern (path, push, bolt) is kinda nice already. Could be interesting in a more multicolor-focused humans brew, or the red/green "storm" cards mentioned by @crispen_smith above.
I'm old enough to remember this!