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Six years ago, if you were to ask me whether or not there would be a white Phyrexian card at some point in the future I would have told you to check yourself into a mental facility. But today I would have been eating crow. Phyrexian Rebirth is totally Phyrexian AND totally white. Yawgmoth, you’re just going to have to learn to deal.
It wasn’t so long ago that a card costing six or more mana was almost automatically ruled out of most competitive decks. With Jund blazing past just about any form of control deck, players could hardly justify a playset of 6CMC+ bombs in response to a turn three Blightning. But with control making a major comeback this cycle players are able to drop Titans, Mind Slavers and expensive planeswalkers with impunity. But six mana is still a hefty cost in any setting so we’ll need to know what this bomb does before final judgment.
If it weren’t for the yellow glow in the background I doubt this card would look appropriate with its white border and casting cost. We’re looking at… well I’m not entirely sure what we’re looking at here. Obviously a 6(?)-armed scourager is looking for something in that pile of dead bio-mass but beyond that I don’t think Scott Chou really gives us a feel for the card’s flavor. Great art, great artist but I think once you see the game text of this card you’ll agree that we could have seen more.
Ahh, so it’s a giant sorcery! Why didn’t you tell us earlier Reinhart? We would have gone back to stalking our ex-girlfriends on Facebook because we don’t have time for 6CMC sorceries, dude! We’ve got games to win here!
Hold it right there, Deputy Dog. We don’t even know what it does yet! Sure, there have been some real stinkers out there in the past but this one is different, I promise! It’s a rare so you know it’s going to be something big. Okay, okay I’ll show you the game text. Anything to silence this incessant whining!
You see? An XL price tag for an XL ability! Like any self-respecting Magic player you surely understand the value of ‘timing’ your sweeps. I’ll usually wait for a decent creature in-hand before I wipe the board because you want to be able to recoup after the devastation of a Day of Judgment. But with Phyrexian Rebirth you’ll be good to go either way! The cards that come to mind after reading this are Austere Command and Martial Coup Both are a bit different than Phyrexian Rebirth but both are expensive sweeps with a twist. Of the three, I think I like Phyrexian Rebirth the most with the 6CMC (as opposed to Martial Coup’s 7CMC) and you’re almost guaranteed a big advantage after the sweep. Hopefully you’re playing this late game and your opponent doesn’t have too many cards in hand to either deal with your X/X Horror or to answer with a creature of their own. Chances are you’ll be in control of the battlefield even though they’ll probably get first crack at an answer.
With the recent slow-down of the game I honestly think we could see Phyrexian Rebirth used in a competitive setting. The amount of control it gives you makes the modern blue/white/black lockdown wizards tingle with glee.
Where this card will really shine is in casual multiplayer and EDH games. Sure, you’ll end up with a 4/4 or a 6/6 after sweeping in a competitive 1 v 1 match. But in a multiplayer game you’re sure to be in luck with a 10/10+! I, for one cannot wait to spring this on my EDH group. Let’s just hope we get an appropriate Phyrexian Horror token to make it official.
This is without a doubt one of the better 6CMC sweeps we’ve seen, maybe ever. I like having choices when it comes to something as utility as a sweep so we’re happy to be the ones to introduce this card to the Magic the Gathering community!
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I hope you’re all enjoying spoiler season as much as we are. With only 20 or so spoilers revealed thus far and merely 2 short weeks until the latest set hits card shops all across the country, a flood Mirrodin Besieged spoilers are to hit the web any day now. Keep it locked on GatheringMagic.com, ManaNation.com and the Mirrodin Besieged Spoiler page for all the latest.
