Welcome back to Building with Flavor! My original article covers the basics of getting started with a flavor build of your own. Since then, I've covered Sisay and Tahngarth, heroes of the Weatherlight, as well as Greven and a smattering of classic Phyrexian cards. With a gorgeous new borderless Atraxa on the way in Double Masters by iconic Magic artist Kev Walker, I thought it high time to explore New Phyrexia and Atraxa.

Atraxa, Flavor's Voice

Atraxa, Praetors' Voice by Victor Adame Minguez

Atraxa is a toughie. She's almost guaranteed to be a target the instant she is revealed to be your Commander. I've been letting a flavor build with her at the forefront percolate for a while, one which should significantly reduce the hate she receives while still delivering a fun and powerful experience. The goal is to not have any cards with Infect (save two) show up in the deck, and instead whittle down through other means.

As the symbol of New Phyrexia's ascendancy, Atraxa represents all of (non-Red) Phyrexia, new and old. Which works out pretty well, as there are very few non-Red Phyrexians, and those that are tend to be those that chafe under Phyrexia (Xantcha, Sleeper Agent for instance).

Atraxa plays well in the mechanical spaces of Phyrexian cards past and present so it's pretty easy to just pick all of your favorite (non-Red) Phyrexian cards and mash them up into a giant buffet of flavor. Thematically, I'm looking at Atraxa's proliferate ability as core to the deck. Let's start with which Legends belong in an Atraxa deck.

Phyrexian Legends, Old and New

Volrath, the Shapestealer by Heonhwa Choe

The most obvious four Legends for the Praetor's Voice are the praetors themselves: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Sheoldred, Whispering One, Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, and Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. These are four strong cards that need no introduction or explanation. They hit the board and your opponents weep in dismay before you flay the flesh from their bodies.

The next two Legends are those that synergize best mechanically with Atraxa. The founder of Phyrexia, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, and the Evincar of Rath, Volrath, the Shapestealer. Both put -1/-1 counters on the board (a strong theme for Atraxa) and have other utility once those counters are out (additional proliferate and copying, respectively).

Ertai, the Corrupted is an interesting inclusion for Atraxa. A counterspell on a stick, it'll be useful with the weak creatures of the deck. Rona, Disciple of Gix is a modern day 'Phyrexian' on Dominaria. As an adherent to the Brotherhood of Gix, she practices forbidden cybernetic artifice based on Phyrexian technology. It's not clear if Rona desires completion, but Phyrexia has always had their uses for people like her. Regardless, she'll be handy recursion in this deck. Geth, Lord of the Vault is one of the Steel Thanes of New Phyrexia, and a former reluctant ally of Glissa, the Traitor. Both cards are useful recursion alongside Rona.

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon doesn't really appear in any stories, but as a compleated Mirran Dragon (as Atraxa is a compleated Mirran Angel) he fits right in this deck. Infect is always welcome, but be warned: the more infect you include the bigger target you paint on your back. Ezuri, Claw of Progress, another compleated Mirran, plays with Experience Counters and +1/+1 counters, both things that Atraxa can help ramp.

Lands and Mana

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth by John Avon

Keeping in Flavor for Phyrexia, we need to go back through a number of sets to find a great non-basic land base. A number of these lands or ramp artifacts use counters, which make them very handy in a deck with lots of proliferate.

• Hinterland Harbor depicts a crashed Phyrexian ship.
• Seachrome Coast is set on Mirrodin.
• Razorverge Thicket is set on Mirrodin.
• Darkslick Shores is set on Mirrodin.
• Caves of Koilos is where the main gate to Phyrexia used to be.
• Urborg Volcano is where the Rathi Stronghold landed during the overlay.
• Glimmervoid is set on Mirrodin.
• Subterranean Hangar is the secret Phyrexian hanger on Mercadia.
• Grow from the Ashes depicts a derelict Phyrexian Colossus.
• Black Market is set on Mercadia, which the Phyrexians secretly controlled.
• Mirrodin's Core is set on Mirrodin.
• Pentad Prism is set on Mirrodin.
• Chromatic Orrery depicts Mirrodin/New Phyrexia.
• Thran Quarry is from the Thran, the precursors of the Phyrexians.
• Phyrexian Lens is... Phyrexian.
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth depicts Yawgmoth's grave.
• Viridian Emissary is a compleated elf.
• Mycosynth Wellspring is a fungus corrupted by Phyrexian Oil.
• Gemstone Array is a Mirran mana producing artifact. Once you get the first one on, Proliferate to not have to do it again.

Proliferate Synergy

It turns out there's a lot of Proliferate synergy among Phyrexian cards past and present, or cards that fit neatly into a Phyrexian deck (such as the disease of Blowfly Infestation). I've dug back through time to look at everything from Tempest through Apocalypse, as well as things set on Mirrodin and New Phyrexia, for great Atraxa Synergies.

+1/+1 Counters and -1/-1 Counters

These are all pretty self-explanator. I'm deliberately avoiding infect in this deck, outside of Blightsteel Colossus.

• Sadistic Obsession
• Blightsteel Colossus
• Phyrexian Scuta
• Phyrexian Broodlings
• Souldrinker
• Serrated Biskelion
• Necroskitter
• Incremental Blight
• Blowfly Infestation
• Fume Spitter
• Glistening Oil

Fading

Proliferate is a great way to keep these Rathi enchantments in play.

• Parallax Tide
• Parallax Wave
• Parallax Nexus

Sagas

Sagas are fun with Proliferate! In each case here, the ability to get to the second lore counter the first turn it is out adds a lot of value.

• Fall of the Thran
• The Antiquities War
• Phyrexian Scriptures

Other Counters

• Darksteel Reactor is an alternate wincon in this deck. While not much more fair than Infect, there will be less complaining when you win with it.
• Vile Requiem just gets gross with Proliferate. It can very quickly go from targeted removal to a boardwipe.

Phyrexian Flavor and the Decklist

Blightsteel Colossus by Chris Rahn

I'm not talking about every fun Phyrexian card in the deck, but you can see for yourself that this deck bends over backwards to use primarily Phyrexian flavor. This deck is going to be subject to a lot of tweaks as time goes on - it's only meant to be a baseline for refining a Phyrexian flavor deck. With that in mind, here's the list. The goal here is to have enough mana to get Atraxa in play while whittling away at your opponent's creatures with -1/-1 counters.

Flavorful Atraxa | Commander | Jay Annelli

• Commander (1)
• 1 Atraxa, Praetors' Voice

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Blightsteel Colossus
• 1 Fume Spitter
• 1 Massacre Wurm
• 1 Necroskitter
• 1 Phyrexian Broodlings
• 1 Phyrexian Colossus
• 1 Phyrexian Delver
• 1 Phyrexian Gargantua
• 1 Phyrexian Metamorph
• 1 Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1 Phyrexian Rager
• 1 Phyrexian Scuta
• 1 Plague Engineer
• 1 Serrated Biskelion
• 1 Souldrinker
• 1 Viridian Emissary
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1 Ertai, the Corrupted
• 1 Ezuri, Claw of Progress
• 1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1 Glissa, the Traitor
• 1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
• 1 Rona, Disciple of Gix
• 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1 Volrath, the Shapestealer
• 1 Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
• 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

• Instants (3)
• 1 Fuel for the Cause
• 1 Harrow
• 1 Psychic Barrier

• Sorceries (7)
• 1 Black Sun's Zenith
• 1 Grow from the Ashes
• 1 Incremental Blight
• 1 Praetor's Counsel
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1 Yawgmoth's Vile Offering

• Enchantments (13)
• 1 Black Market
• 1 Blowfly Infestation
• 1 Fall of the Thran
• 1 Glistening Oil
• 1 Inexorable Tide
• 1 Parallax Nexus
• 1 Parallax Tide
• 1 Parallax Wave
• 1 Phyrexian Arena
• 1 Phyrexian Scriptures
• 1 Sadistic Obsession
• 1 The Antiquities War
• 1 Vile Requiem

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Chromatic Orrery
• 1 Contagion Clasp
• 1 Contagion Engine
• 1 Darksteel Reactor
• 1 Gemstone Array
• 1 Mycosynth Wellspring
• 1 Pentad Prism
• 1 Phyrexian Lens

• Lands (40)
• 10 Swamp
• 4 Forest
• 4 Plains
• 8 Island
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 Darkslick Shores
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Glimmervoid
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Mirrodin's Core
• 1 Razorverge Thicket
• 1 Seachrome Coast
• 1 Subterranean Hangar
• 1 Tainted Wood
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Thran Quarry
• 1 Urborg Volcano
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

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Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week.