Phenax, God of Deception.
Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum
Posted on Jan. 21, 2014, 12:06 a.m. by The Doctor
http://www.mythicspoiler.com/
ALSO
Some1TookMyName says... #3
I knew someone would already have this up. I wonder how many people want to try this, especially with defender stuff in the decklists in the official article/spoiler... Last Breath ?
January 21, 2014 12:20 a.m.
BUG defender mill anyone? Featuring the likes of Axebane Guardian , Wall of Frost , etc. into Him and Mind Grind
This was just my first thought
January 21, 2014 12:25 a.m.
I didn't think of the inspired factor. That improves his playability. I still find him underwhelming, but that at least dulls the pain.
January 21, 2014 12:33 a.m.
I am fiercely disappointed. What peeves me the most about him is that he's very blue, but not black at all. Color-wise, he just doesn't seem U/B.
January 21, 2014 12:35 a.m.
I want to pair it with Consuming Aberration , to double the mill each time. Chew through a deck in no time.... even a Commander deck.
...especially a Commander deck, since Consuming Aberration counts the cards in all opponents graveyards.
January 21, 2014 12:38 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #12
I hate that U/B always gets pigeonholed as a mill setup. Objectively speaking, mill sucks. It lacks the relevance and power that other color pairs' strategies have.
January 21, 2014 12:40 a.m.
Epochalyptik: I agree. In some instances, it's a cheap cop-out to give U/B mill cards; it almost feels like they're just not trying in some cases. Sure, Phenax works with some Inspiration, but in the end, he just feels like he was hastily thrown together. He's just uncreative to me.
January 21, 2014 12:45 a.m.
GAWD! This guy is worse than Consuming Aberration why do they keep trying to force mill/damage based win strategies involving creatures together, It's the most efficient waste of resource management in the game of magic. Spending time filling the board with big butt creatures that are slowly hacking away for a few points of damage each turn, then suddenly switch gears and get the mill win, and vice versa, work towards the mill win the first half of the game, then suddenly land a fatty and win via damage. It's like they know how insanely ass-backwards the concepts are yet they keep doing it, as if to say haha dimir players are frakking dumb and will play anything. I for one resent that and refuse to play and actively discourage the play of cards like Consuming Aberration and now this new sorry excuse for a demi-god.
January 21, 2014 12:47 a.m.
And why toughness? Flavorfully & mechanically speaking, I don't see why it's toughness-dependent.
January 21, 2014 12:47 a.m.
Rayenous: throw in a pumped up Nighthowler
, too 
Jp3ngu1nb0y: flavor-wise, why toughness? i don't know. all I can think of is they have to "meditate" in place to mill. lol
January 21, 2014 12:51 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #18
@Jp3ngu1nb0y: Mechanically, the ability probably checks toughness because mill gets screwed pretty hard on creature decency. Phenax lets you play tons of walls so you don't die so hard to real decks while you mill your opponent.
January 21, 2014 12:53 a.m.
The Doctor says... #19
Him with Consuming Aberration is pretty nuts, though.
January 21, 2014 12:55 a.m.
Why not mill for their devotion values? Makes him worse still, but makes sense.
January 21, 2014 1 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #23
@Jp3ngu1nb0y: I suppose thematically it would be better, but mill decks tend to not play too many creatures/permanents unless they're mill-related, and most mill-related creatures are pretty expensive to cast.
I think the dev team felt sorry for sticking mill on Phenax, so they tried to throw mill players a bone by letting them play Walls without suffering too much. I think the technical term for this is "fucking us gently."
January 21, 2014 1:08 a.m.
I'm just tired of mill. Every new player builds the mill deck with a set of Traumatize , realizes mill is bad, and never looks back.
There was so much cool design space with him. Something with Cipher, the exiling theme, hand disruption... Or mill.
January 21, 2014 1:12 a.m.
So bad... Why are they trying to make the new gods so unplayable?
January 21, 2014 1:22 a.m.
CastleSiege says... #26
Eh, it's pretty bonkers with either Consuming Aberration , Nighthowler , or Wight of Precinct Six . I would have rather seen him be similar to Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver or Nightveil Specter and do something with exiled cards but beggers can't be choosers. Phenax will make for a sweet general in an EDH mill deck.
January 21, 2014 1:36 a.m.
The Doctor says... #28
It's like thousands of Dimir players cried out in anguish.
January 21, 2014 2 a.m.
This would be fun:
Untap with Consuming Aberration and Phenax, God of Deception on the field; tap the Aberration to mill some cards; cast Hidden Strings (this mills more cards due to Aberration), untap Aberration and tap opponent's potential blocker; cipher Strings onto Aberration and attack if Aberration is able to get through unblocked (or tap again to mill even more cards, making Aberration exponentially larger).
If combat damage goes through, Hidden Strings' cipher triggers and Aberration can untap again along with something else getting Twiddle d. Now the Aberration can tap again to mill cards during opponent's end step or whenever.
Worst-case scenario: Aberration starts as a 1/1 and only mills 4 cards becoming a 5/5 for next turn with the expenditure of one 2cmc card that turn.
Ok, that's the second-worst case. First-worst is Aberration catching a Hero's Downfall during your draw step..
Best case would be if Consuming Aberration is enchanted with Aqueous Form and there's something else, like Wall of Frost to get the devotion up to seven, then being able to tap and untap two big-butt creatures to grind heavy each turn would be pretty brutal.
Other than being able to do the above, I am unimpressed with a 5cmc 4/7 creature (who is rarely going to be a creature in a U/B mill deck).
Still fun for casual play, and crosses over to the RtR Dimir guild for the current Standard.
January 21, 2014 2:14 a.m.
well, i am the only person in the world not upset with this guy lol, I am using Lazav as general for my EDH deck and milling to get him to turn into something awesome, also killing one person with damage and another with mill in multiplayer is a thing, I think he will fit nicely, not sure he will ever be an actual creature when he is in play though, probs just an enchantment lol, will be nice to get extra millage from laquatus and lazav though. Mill without tunnel vision and you have quite a nice EDH deck that is fun to play and different from the normal, ramp, play fatties with ETB abilities and win. But thats just me.
January 21, 2014 2:28 a.m.
maiden77: or Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker for extra mill power. less devotion on this card though
January 21, 2014 2:35 a.m.
This just made the mill half of my deck even more deadly. I saw and immediately thought of my aberrations. I welcome this god with open arms the only BNG god I like more probably being mogis but its close.
Side note lol this with Wall of Frost not that that is a realistic play in standard.
January 21, 2014 2:38 a.m.
My Dimir heart cries out. For once, I'd like UB control to be a thing. Devotion is already a terrible mechanic for control. Why Mill? I love it, but's just so bad.
January 21, 2014 3:35 a.m.
With this new god, one could replace all the old mill cards with creatures and still be effective. What I'm saying is this god is OP for mill decks.
January 21, 2014 3:43 a.m.
JogandoPelado says... #37
think on make a defender mill deck with he and Doorkeeper .
January 21, 2014 5:39 a.m.
JogandoPelado says... #38
I'm sad because he don't have function on my actually dimir control because it have only 3 creatures.
January 21, 2014 5:41 a.m.
Bobgalarneau says... #39
Will probably be a nuisance in casual mill EDH...
January 21, 2014 6:35 a.m.
lord_of_the_snakes says... #40
you should look at the U/B spoilers before you say he's a bad card, while being great with the graveyard checkers as well, he's also a bomb with Arbiter of the Ideal , Aerie Worshippers , and Pain Seer . I personally love him, and think he's wonderful, he's succeeded in making U/B mill playable.
January 21, 2014 7:37 a.m.
as a god of deception this isnt very deceptive, isnt mill ripping your opponents mind apart, i would have much preferred some sort of fateseal ability, like all your creatures Tap to fateseal 1 or something, it would fit a lot better. First cipher and now this, im convinced wizards never wants anyone to play U/B.
what ever happened to U/Bs rouges and funky little shenanigans, i played a lot during shadowmoor, and all U/B was to me was awesome unblockable cards like Inkfathom Infiltrator and Ghastlord of Fugue
January 21, 2014 7:50 a.m.
I think the "deception" is in people who have a bias against mill thinking this card is bad.
No, he won't fit in the "classic" UB or UB/x control mill, because those typically don't use many creatures.
It's likely to inspire many creature mill decks. Defender control (probably BUG for the ramp), Mill Horrors (ie. Consuming Aberration style), and MBD splash U or MUD splash B.
This may not see a lot of ProTour play, but it will likely have a place in a number of Standard decks, at least as sideboard alternate win-con and/or scry hate.
January 21, 2014 8:03 a.m.
filledelanuit says... #43
Am I the only one who thinks this could be any good?With one Triton Tactics and any creature with 7+t, eg, wall of frost, you can mill for 38 at instant speed.Tapp Phenax and the Wall then untap them with Triton Tactics then tap them both to mill for 38 total.I know it take three cards but it is still very strong. Also if you can get elite arcsiist with Triton Tactics and have 5+ mana then you can mil for 65 and win.
January 21, 2014 8:38 a.m.
Baycer: You've summed up everything I feel into words.
lordoftheshadows: Even with that, Phenax needs another 3 devoution or so to become a creature, so there's still some things to be accounted for.
Phenax is a gimmick. If you enjoy milling, then you'll enjoy Phenax. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just a bit tiring to see U/B always stuck with milling, when milling itself is more of a blue strategy. There's already tons of standard stuff for milling, like Mirko Vosk and Consuming Aberration . When they spoiled Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver back in Theros, I was hoping that U/B would finally get some control cards or theft cards... But I guess we'll just have to settle with the run of the mill stuff.....
January 21, 2014 9 a.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #45
I think Phenax can sum up my distaste for Standard and why I went to Modern. It's just... underwhelming. I mean, mill, again? Seriously?! You know what's a good Dimir card? Dimir Cutpurse . Sure, not the most reliable of cards, but at least it has the right flavour. Blue= Draw. Black= Discard. Simple and effective.
But no. Wizards insists that Dimir MUST be mill because it's the "library guild". Well that's just baffling. Mill isn't a mechanic that should be shunned (it's good fun some times) but it shouldn't be the go to either. Dimir colours run on disruption. I guess mill is a type of disruption, but it's a slow tedious one. Why can't Standard U/B get things like Countersquall again? I dunno, but Phenax just makes me sad.
January 21, 2014 9:26 a.m.
I don't like that 90% of UB cards are mill-related, but I think it would have been fine if the creature didn't gain the tap ability. Instead, Phenax should have been worded similar to Azami, Lady of Scrolls :
Tap an untapped creature you control: Target player puts a number of cards equal to that creature's toughness from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
This way you can gain immediate use out of any creature you play instead of your plan being shot down by board wipes and spot removal.
January 21, 2014 9:42 a.m.
Stygiandreams says... #47
I'll confess that I do play mill - I even have a mill deck for Standard - but I was not trying to see Phenax be a mill-based god. I thought he could do something a little more well... deceptive. I was think he could have some sort of effect like Dominus of Fealty .
They could have tweaked it to fit the flavor of black by saying, "At the beginning of your upkeep, you may gain control of target permanent until end of turn. Any opponent may pay 2 life to prevent this action. Permanents gained in this way untap and gain haste until end of turn.
January 21, 2014 10:48 a.m.
Stygiandreams says... #48
This would allow you to take advantage of both you and your opponents Inspired mechanics.
January 21, 2014 10:51 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #49
Phenax, God of... Something or other...
I made a deck around Phenax. Still need to test it, and it's pretty janky, but this is probably one of the few homes that he could see.
I don't think that he's the best card ever printed, but I don't think he's bad either. Mill can definitely be a legitimate strategy, especially with the meta slowing down as it has over the last few months. Maybe one day cards like this won't be immediately shut out before they're given a chance to be tested.
January 21, 2014 noon
Quadsimotto says... #50
I like it.. Haters are going to hate it. All the better for me. When will this be available here to add it to my decks and start constructs?
The Doctor says... #2
Goddamnit hoping he wasn't mill.
January 21, 2014 12:06 a.m.