Phyrexian Obliterator is just one of those cards that people love.
Four Black mana symbols, huge body, outlandish ability, and of course that mighty Phyrexian flavor that Black mages love so much.
However, despite being a fan favorite, Phyrexian Obliterator never really cut it in serious Constructed play. While amazing against decks that were reliant on the combat step or damage-based removal, specifically Red and Green decks, it was quite poor against decks that didn't care about combat, could directly bounce or kill it, or just straight up ignore it. If the ability ended up not mattering, you've spent a lot of difficult mana on a glorified Colossapede.
But what if we force our opponent to interact?
Time Stamps:
00:05:36 - Match 1
00:22;25 - Match 2
00:38:47 - Match 3
00:54:15 - Match 4
01:14:27 - Match 5
Phyrexian Fight Club | Historic | Jim Davis
- Creatures (26)
- 1 Brain Maggot
- 1 Scavenging Ooze
- 1 Scrapheap Scrounger
- 1 Thragtusk
- 2 Elder Gargaroth
- 2 Murderous Rider
- 2 Skyclave Shade
- 4 Fauna Shaman
- 4 Knight of the Ebon Legion
- 4 Paradise Druid
- 4 Phyrexian Obliterator
- Sorceries (9)
- 1 Prey Upon
- 4 Primal Might
- 4 Thoughtseize
- Lands (25)
- 6 Swamp
- 3 Castle Locthwain
- 4 Blooming Marsh
- 4 Overgrown Tomb
- 4 Woodland Cemetery
- 4 Zagoth Triome
Based off a list I saw Andrea Mengucci play, this deck looks to force your opponent into a fight with your Phyrexian Obliterator, while playing a solid Rock-style aggro midrange plan.
The ideal draw sees us playing Phyrexian Obliterator on turn three or four and then using Primal Might to make it fight one of our opponent's creatures. We're likely to win the fight anyway and they will have to sacrifice as many permanents as that creature had power. Phyrexian Obliterator is already insane against decks like Gruul Aggro or Goblins, but being able to force fights makes it do work in many other matchups too. Backing that up is a solid midrange plan with Thoughtseize and a nice little Fauna Shaman package.
We had a few rough matches in the video, but if your opponent's got creatures make 'em fight and pay the price!