Pharika's Potential
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on April 14, 2014, 12:41 a.m. by CastleSiege
So Pharika, God of Affliction has finally been spoiled. At first glance she's a pretty meh card, but let's put some more thought into it. Here's just two uses I can think of off the top of my head:
She gives you deathtouch blockers, making aggro players think twice before they swing at you.
Her ability triggers the new keyword, Constellation, since the snake tokens are also enchantments.
What do you guys think? Could Pharika be a force to be reckoned with? Or overall is she just bad? What other uses might she have in formats other than standard?
Elvish Mystic > Pharika > Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord , swing with a 5/5 indestructible on T3 seems good to me in it's own right. And that's not even her specialty...
April 14, 2014 12:47 a.m.
It would be much better of a card if you always got the snake instead of the owner of the exiled creature.
April 14, 2014 12:48 a.m.
I expected something different (-1/-1 counters). I don't like how she only hits creatures and the "its owner puts" with Scavenging Ooze and Deathrite Shaman already using the effect (Or similar to) for less mana at least in Standard.
April 14, 2014 12:50 a.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #6
I don't see her being played in Modern at all, there simply isn't enough punch. Maybe she'll see play in Standard, but I think that ability is pretty meh. Because look at it, if you want to have some hate on your opponent you just gave that opponent a 1/1 deathtouch. The ability is super limiting.
April 14, 2014 12:51 a.m.
She's pretty terrible. She competes with almost every other Golgari strategy. And it feels so lazy from a development perspective. They really couldn't have come up something new instead of the tired old "exile a card from your graveyard for a small benefit"?
April 14, 2014 12:58 a.m.
also, the deathtouch on the snakes is less relevant in standard since decks running Iroas, God of Victory or Archetype of Courage get around the damage.
April 14, 2014 12:59 a.m.
CastleSiege says... #9
That's true jchudz, I didn't think of that.
However, I think these three might combo pretty nicely. I'm always a fan of giving my opponent an ultimatum that could hinder them either way.
April 14, 2014 1:02 a.m.
To elaborate what I was saying, since she "helps" the opponent, the least they could have done was give her the ability to hit any card in the grave. At/ before the 3 drop slot, Scooze's ability is much better or if you are that worried about creatures in the grave Crypt Incursion .
Or been much better without the "its owner" portion. Allowing for more versatility in removing threats while still maintaining only the ability to hit creatures.
April 14, 2014 1:03 a.m.
CastleSiege says... #11
I see what you're saying. I think her main benefit will be to trigger Constellation cards.
April 14, 2014 1:05 a.m.
Constellation cards, just like Heroic cards and Inspired cards, are all great ways to get 2-for-1'd by pumping resources into a mediocre card for a small benefit, only to have that card and any resources you put into it removed.
April 14, 2014 1:10 a.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #14
@kmcree That depends on the card. I think by far and away the best option right now for Constellation, which Pharika might do OK with, is Eidolon of Blossoms . Otherwise they both seem to be somewhat disappointing.
April 14, 2014 1:18 a.m.
Pharika works very well and very sneakily with a few cards. I can see her making a very good Junk list, as I said in the other thread. A few cards that work extra well with her are:
Kruphix's Insight - 2G
Sorcery
Reveal the top six cards of your library. Put up to three enchantment cards from among them into your hand and the rest of the revealed cards into your graveyard.
Eidolon of Blossoms - 2GG
Enchantment Creature - Spirit
Constellation - Whenever Eidolon of Blossoms or another enchantment enters the battfield under your control, draw a card.
2/2
Setessan Tactics - 1G
Instant
Strive - Setessian Tactics costs G more to cast for each target beyond the first. Any number of target creatures each get +1/+1 and gain Tap: Fight another target creature.
April 14, 2014 1:18 a.m.
@CrazyLittleGuy: Eidolon of Blossoms isn't terrible, but its still a 2/2 for 4 mana, that requires you play additional enchantment creatures to gain the benefit. And most of the enchantment creatures are mediocre.
April 14, 2014 1:21 a.m.
CrazyLittleGuy says... #17
@kmcree Yeah, I agree. Although, it doesn't necessarily have to be an enchantment creature. Although once again there aren't many good enchantments anyway. Detention Sphere is an interesting concept, but isn't enough on its own, and seems kind of meh still. Underworld Connections would just be silly, and not in a good way.
There are a small handful of good enchantment creatures regardless though. They're mostly in green. Boon Satyr , Courser of Kruphix , Herald of Torment , any of the gods. Inconvenient that they mostly fit the 3 drop slot.
I don't think it's even approaching competitive, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a jank Jund (or G/x) enchantment list in casual at some point. Hell, I might even throw one together for giggles if there are any redeeming enchantments/constellation cards in JOU. I mean, I guess there's Eidolon of the Great Revel , and maybe Master of the Feast.
So far the idea falls short based solely on the fact that Eidolon of Blossoms is really the only incentive so far to deliberately play excess enchantments.
April 14, 2014 1:42 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #18
she's okay, but shocked and pleased to see the low CMC.
token can be useful. will add a foil single to my deck just for flavor.
April 14, 2014 1:49 a.m.
chrishuffman95 says... #19
To opponents playing Standard Dradge: I exile all the cards in graveyards that benefit your board. Yes, you have the tokens.
Oh, did I mention I have Bile Blight in hand? Goodbye, snake tokens
April 14, 2014 1:52 a.m.
Hootiequack says... #20
I like her, I think she fits the dredge build. I don't thinks she "competes" with the golgari theme as much as takes advantage of it. 2 mana for a deathtouch blocker is basically unlimited kill spells for non-flyers. I of course see the limitations of that, but with that deck, there will often be the cards in graveyard to make it a possibility, and the threats in those decks give enough devotion to mean she can likely activate as a creature too.
April 14, 2014 2:07 a.m.
So you're going to spend mana to exile their threats and give them death touch blockers, and then spend more mana to get rid of those death touch blockers? Why not just use something like Crypt Incursion or Bojuka Bog (in modern) and save yourself like 6 mana?
April 14, 2014 2:11 a.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #22
If DRS, ScOoze, and Goyf can share a graveyard, she definitely does not compete.
April 14, 2014 2:14 a.m.
I can't see her being played in modern or standard. For standard she's not necessarily slow but shes minimal impact offensively - only strong on the defensive. I see her as effectively making you die slower, instead of necessarily making you win faster.
In modern she's competing with Scooze and goyf and others, which makes her seem sub par.
April 14, 2014 2:37 a.m.
God this card is a disappointment.
I wanted a good BG commander. Her uses in commander are as follows: provide instant speed deathtouch blockers at the cost of a creature in your graveyard, give your opponent a creature for the sake of protecting him/her in a multiplayer game, and act as graveyard control for opponents with reanimation strategies.
That would be cool, but so many people are playing either token decks or deck with huge fliers that it doesn't really matter. At least where I play.
Politics are nice and fun, but they don't win you the game. She doesn't provide a path to a win condition.
Graveyard hate is okay, I'll give it that. It isn't relevant where I play though.
God dammit Wizards. Why you gotta drag out the ass spoilers?
April 14, 2014 2:52 a.m.
This is the cheapest and one of the easiest ways we have so far of creating Enchantment tokens. Populate exists...
April 14, 2014 4:07 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #26
Ability is utterly useless, but a 5/5 indestructible you can turn on possibly turn 4. Seems fairly good in the right deck.
April 14, 2014 4:22 a.m.
RussischerZar says... #27
Schuesseled: make that turn 3.
T1 Forest
, Elvish Mystic
T2 Swamp
, Pharika, God of Affliction
T3 Swamp
, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
-> attack with an indestructible 5/5
April 14, 2014 6:13 a.m.
Let me put away all my Scavenging Ooze so i can stop winning games, and toss in a god that helps MY OPPONENT? I'm sad that they made her conflict with almost every Golgari strategy ever, while feeding this dumb enchantment creature trend WotC is riding high on.
Worst. God. Ever. Thanks for nothing.
Golgari gets shafted ...AGAIN! I should just pack up my cards and call it an era, and go sit on the bench with Simic (pre-Kiora).
April 14, 2014 7:07 a.m.
Not that I have any reason to complain, don't play B/G and probly never will but this card is very dissapointing... it just misses the mark especially when compared to the other gods. Her only saving grace is the 3cmc but there are still better options
April 14, 2014 7:24 a.m.
Schuesseled says... #30
New 5/5 flyer in particular looks good for a 3-drop.
April 14, 2014 8:08 a.m.
We havent seen the rest of the cards for the set. Enchantment creatures might be really important. Also, don't sneer at 1/1 deathtouchers. Theyre very effective defensively. Also, it's not against golgari beliefs to exile graveyard creatures for tokens. That's like creating new life from the dead which is very BG in nature. Whilst it's not in line with dredge and other mechanics it does make sense thematically.
April 14, 2014 8:09 a.m.
Schuesseled,RussischerZar:T1: Forest , Elvish Mystic T2: Swamp , Burning-Tree Emissary , Burning-Tree Emissary , Parika, God of Affliction
T2.5, 5/5 Indestructable blocker. On a nut draw, of course.
So this is, what, a more expensive Scavenging Ooze . It has a purpose, but I definitely would have preferred it be different. Only seems particularly effective against a mirror match/mono-black graveyard graveyard deck. Can only target creature cards though, so less effective against Goyf.
April 14, 2014 8:35 a.m.
Hallowed_Titan says... #33
She was the one god i was waiting for out of the 2 color ones. What. A. Huge. Letdown.
: (
April 14, 2014 8:39 a.m.
I'm a HUGE Golgarian, been playing G/B since I started back up over a year ago, and a G/B god was the ONE thing I was truly looking forward to... and was finally going to preorder a box for the new set in hopes of landing the god and scry land for G/B... and now I'm considering changing my mind (except to get epic tradebaits).
R.I.P. Whip of Erebos , Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and all things that make significant offensive use of graveyard creatures.
I will not play Pharika over Varolz, the Scar-Striped and Scavenging Ooze , so I highly doubt I'll even be happy to see her come out of a pack.
le sigh. /endrant
April 14, 2014 9:10 a.m.
I really don't like the comparison to Scavenging Ooze ... It's an "Apple and Oranges" type of comparison.
- How many Scavenging Ooze
s are indestructible?
- How many Deathtouch tokens can your Scavenging Ooze
create?
- How much life can you get from Pharika?
- How often will Scavenging Ooze
trigger the new Constellation abilities?
I will admit, she does not seem to be as good as the other Gods, and probably won't see a lot of Standard play... she will, however, be going into my Prossh, Skyraider of Kher EDH deck.
She is still an option for Graveyard Hate (creature only, which is a real issue), and a source of 1/1 Deathtouch tokens, which can be relevant in some decks... She may not be overpowered, but I like the fact that Wizards did something new, rather than using the same mechanics that exist, and make it cheaper... how could they? 2 CMC for Scavenging Ooze wasn't going to be beat.
April 14, 2014 9:30 a.m.
I haven't seen this much dissapointement since Phenax, God of Deception was spoiled.
April 14, 2014 9:44 a.m.
They should have given her another passive ability to bring her on par with thassa. Something like whenever you cast a creature spell you get a snake.
April 14, 2014 9:45 a.m.
- None, but that's not what Scooze is there for. You can still respond to any removal by exiling away for HALF the mana.
- None that will be on your opponent's side.
- 0
- 0, but neither will Pharika because Constellation mechanic is pretty bad. In G/B, you won't get a Constellation trigger until turn 5 IF IF IF there is a creature in YOUR graveyard. Meanwhile, Gruul is bashing your face in with Stormbreath Dragon , but you can't wait to get those snakes out! T1: Mystic. T2: Pharika T3: self mill T4: Eidolon of Blossoms T5: Exile YOUR OWN creature so your Nighthowler s and Nemesis of Mortals are wasted spots in your deck. Pharika is a self-nerf in a golgari deck.
It's not an apple and oranges comparison. Both cards are GY hate and you have to consider which one you want to run, if not both. Would you rather exile creatures from your opponent's GY to gain life or to give them the Deathtouch snakes to block your creatures. Everything about Pharika is a downside other than her mana cost. I was really looking forward to her, but now I'm pretty disappointed.
April 14, 2014 9:52 a.m.
i don't see her fitting into any existing standard strategy.
if more cards come along that support the constellation strategy (like Eidolon of Blossoms ) then there is definitely the possibility for a new archetype to come out of it. a controlling, golgari, enchantment-based deck would be something fun and new, i think. they'd probably need to reprint Pernicious Deed to make it work.
April 14, 2014 9:59 a.m.
@kmcree - " Eidolon of Blossoms isn't terrible, but its still a 2/2 for 4 mana, that requires you play additional enchantment creatures to gain the benefit."
Someone already pointed out that the enchantments don't have to be creatures, but i also wanted to note that the card cantrips as well, so you get a minor benefit just for resolving it.
with that said, i think your analysis of "isn't terrible" is the still the best that can be said for it, unless that archetype really gets more enchants worth playing.
April 14, 2014 10:04 a.m.
Well, that's not what I was expecting.
I honestly can't tell what I'm supposed to do with this card. Reanimator and Gravepact are both complete nonbos and she's not great in Control either.
April 14, 2014 10:51 a.m.
Underwhelming, as I feared, but I remain hopeful that she'll get some goodies in the next block. Until then it's up to us to figure out what to do with her. Challenge accepted.
April 14, 2014 11:19 a.m.
Biggest spoiler disappointment I've seen in a while. Sure, Wizards might be pushing some new B/G tactics, and some of the cards yet to be revealed might have some impact on her, but by herself I think she's pretty lousy. Sure, if you have the devotion she's a Phylactery Lich with an added ability, but said ability goes against most good B/G tactics. It does nothing but make Nemesis of Mortals and Nighthowler , 2 staples for Theros-block Golgari, significantly weaker. If it gave you the tokens, then I'd actually be okay with it, but as it is, it just feels like poor design. I'll hold out until JOU and the next block are revealed, but as it is, I'm immensely disappointed with her abilities. The creature part isn't as bad, but still.
April 14, 2014 12:02 p.m.
Sloanan, ikr? I've been playing Golgari for half a year in Standard, but have not yet made an aggro deck yet, but this god literally undermines just about everything that deck operates on. I used to run my own graveyard deck, Jarad's Yard, and used to LOVE dropping Nemesis of Mortals for a couple mana, and I really thought with that and Reaper of the Wilds they were really going to make Golgari strong again...
Perhaps I should've seen it coming... Everything from Pharika's Mender to Commune with the Gods might gain some steam, just screamed "Golgari is going to enchantments". It would've been nice if they had helped Nighthowler somehow.
So, we use our dead creatures to get a 1/1 deathtoucher, which then potentially creates more dead for them... I just don't see how this helps us win games at all? I don't see this build winning against any current meta. It's not like Iroas, God of Victory where it is literally a win-con.
April 14, 2014 3:16 p.m.
APPLE01DOJ says... #45
best possible use I can think of this is a SB vs Aggro.
April 14, 2014 3:30 p.m.
Schuesseled says... #46
Except it won't be a creature and therefore useful (because all yours guys will have been burned or traded away into the graveyard), so all it does is make tokens which madcap skills and iroas laugh at, not to mention legions loyalist.
April 14, 2014 3:43 p.m.
Lordslyver66 says... #47
She will probably go in my Ghave EDH, along with Athreos. But I dont see her being a big player in Standard. I had high hopes for Pharika, but she seems a bit underpowered to me. But, hey, I could be wrong.
April 14, 2014 4:06 p.m.
lord_of_the_snakes says... #48
I think that everyone is forgetting that there are cards that get benefits from putting creatures in the graveyard, from Lotleth Troll to Altar's Reap , and a lot of these cards are in pharika's colors too, so, I think a new B/G sac deck may arise.
April 14, 2014 7:31 p.m.
Altar's Reap isn't really playable. Lotleth Troll is, but not commonly. Also, including Pharika in a deck that throws creatures away (thus not having much devotion) is a waste.
April 14, 2014 7:35 p.m.
lord_of_the_snakes says... #50
well there's Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord , who is another 4 devotion toward pharika, sacs creatures, and deals damage to you opponent indirectly, the only downside is that you don't get the +1/+1 for creatures in yard.
Drathen says... #2
Seems like an underdog.
April 14, 2014 12:44 a.m.