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Commander Decks and More Revealed in Phyrexia: All Will Be One Set Debut

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The perfection of Elesh Norn must be shared. By all. And all will be one.

That was the message in the latest reveal done by Wizards of the Coast, as they released more key details of Phyrexia: All Will Be One along with a bevy of new previews. The newest Magic: The Gathering set releases on Feb. 10, and Phyrexia: All Will Be One takes place in the homeworld of New Phyrexia, where the gatewatch planeswalkers make one final desperate assault on the Phyrexian stronghold to try and prevent a multiversal calamity. We covered the initial livestream reveal last week.

Anyway, the stakes are high - and so is the hype around what Wizards of the Coast revealed in their Twitch livestream.

The biggest reveal was the official presentation of the full cycle of fastlands that we originally saw in Scars of Mirrodin. Key cards in Modern, this increases availability to include Pioneer and will surely find a home in Standard as well. The allied colors we have here are among the best duals available to power two-color aggressive decks.

In this round of previews, we got a glimpse into the internal push and pull among the Phyrexian praetors, including Sheoldred, the Apocalpyse and Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant, plus the newly revealed Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines.

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant

We also found out that there will be a new round of variant arts throughout the set. As part of the "Booster fun" experience Wizards has gone all-out on Phyrexia: All Will Be One, providing up to a half-dozen variant arts for different cards. And these variants come in very unique styles, from artists across the world. And what would a Phyrexian set be without Phyrexian-text cards across the board?

We were also introduced to the "oil slick Raised foil," which was described on the stream by Wizards as one of the coolest products they've ever printed. Suffice it to say, if you want an Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, there's a variant art out there for you.

From there, principal editor Matt Tabak took over to explain the mechanics of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, starting with the return of Poison Counters and the Toxic mechanic. It takes 10 poison counters to lose the game, and the Corrupted mechanic will increase the power of Phyrexian cards if an opponent has at least three or more poison counters.

Even in Commander, it only takes 10 poison counters to kill a player. It's been a popular topic of conversation ever since Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon was printed, and with the return of poison counters it's sure to be popular in the coming months at Commander tables.

The Proliferate mechanic also returns in this set. We first saw this back in, well, New Phyrexia and cards like Tezzeret's Gambit and the ever-popular Atraxa, Praetors' Voice. You can learn more about the mechanics present in Phyrexia: All Will Be One via the official article from Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards of the Coast also revealed details on the upcoming Commander preconstructed decks associated with Phyrexia: All Will Be One. As you might expect, this functions as a duel of sorts, with the Corrupting Influence Abzan deck led by Ixhel, Scion of Atraxa facing off against the Rebellion Rising deck that represents the final resistance of native MIrrans against the Phyrexians. Rebellion Rising is led by Neyali, Suns' Vanguard out of the box, and focusing on going wide with token producers.

Corrupting Influence

Rebellion Rising

We also finally received closure on another question: which planeswalkers would be compleated?

Well, the news is in, and it's bad for a number of Magic's most iconic planeswalkers, including one mind sculptor himself. With so much packed into the set, it's going to have a major impact on the upcoming Pro Tour in Philadelphia - not to mention the Magic story - in the months to come.

Phyrexia: All Will Be One releases on Feb. 10.

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