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
I was sure this was going to be a fun no card for me to play with, but nope. i was thinking something along the lines of making a player discard, or lose life, or make me draw cards based on what the opp does or doesn't do.. something that makes the opponent re-think what they are doing... but no... mill. and slow mill at that.
January 21, 2014 12:43 p.m.
Wight of Precinct Six , Nighthowler , Consuming Aberration played within a BUG with light ramp could be a turn 5 mill vs a creature heavy deck.
January 21, 2014 12:45 p.m.
Quadsimotto says... #4
@maxon i don.t see it as slow mill.. Turn 6 you can possibly mill your opponent for a massive amount. T1 Land drop Tome Scour T2 land drop and Omenspeaker T3 land drop Nightveil Specter T4 land drop Desecration Demon T5 land drop Consuming Aberration T6 (no land needed) THE GOD depending on what you mill out from the aberrations trigger. 12 to the 5 already in the yard from T1 + his triggered mill and the aberration mills for a sickening 17 by himself so 39+ cards in the yard on T6 but i have no doubt someone will come up with a faster way. Probably in BUG deck with ramp.
January 21, 2014 1:18 p.m.
IMO, the better option would be to not force devotion. In something like this, Wall of Frost or Hover Barrier would be better than Nightveil Specter .
Mnemonic Wall could be used to recur mill or control cards (it was printed in Theros).
The biggest issue would be Supreme Verdict because U/B (currently) has nothing to fight it, except maybe Rescue from the Underworld .
January 21, 2014 1:33 p.m.
stagemadness says... #6
Use Triton Tactics and Elite Arcanist to end the game.
January 21, 2014 1:55 p.m.
Prophet of Kruphix will work well with this in a BUG setup.
There's also Elite Arcanist with Triton Tactics under it, to mill for an increasing amount of cards... that is... if you have a 5 mana available (not unreasonable since you played the God), and a 1/1 creature, you mill for 1, then 4, then 7, then 10, then13, then 16,... for a total of 51 cards! - Should be dead, as I'm sure they're down to less than 51 cards before T5-6. - Plus the Elite Arcanist has also grown with this setup... so it can then mill for an additional 16.
...or another fun setup... Elite Arcanist with Burst of Strength under it, and a Blistercoil Weird . - Mill one with the weird... Use Arcanist to untap itself... mill 2 with the weird... use Arcanist to untap itself... mill 3 with the weird... etc. And at the end of it, tap the Arcanist to mill for whatever it's toughness now is, with all the +1/+1 counters.
January 21, 2014 2:10 p.m.
meecht they probably didn't use that language because they probably figured removing a god from the game is hard enough as is for most decks save for chained to the rocks or other exile effects. this way it still allows the opponent to act on the ability phenax grants. I already have a strategy involved with my current mill that could see my aberration growing exponentially from phenax, example T5 Consuming Aberration , T6 phenax, they mill to a land, and then I tap the aberration either at their end step or if he gets targeted and they mill his toughness and he doubles in size. seems solid enough for me but I play mill.
January 21, 2014 2:31 p.m.
CastleSiege says... #9
Has anyone considered splashing green for Voyaging Satyr to ramp into Phenax and Consuming Aberration faster?
January 21, 2014 2:34 p.m.
BUG mill would be a good option. Instead of Voyaging Satyr , you'd probably want to use Sylvan Caryatid . Satyr is better in Mono-G or G/x that can use Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx for shenanigans.
January 21, 2014 2:59 p.m.
Quadsimotto says... #11
@CastleSiege and meechtI would say use Axebane Guardian In a BUG wall/defender deck for even faster mana production.
January 21, 2014 3:06 p.m.
Caryatid adds mana by itself and adds to Axebane Guardian 's ability. So you could feasibly play both.
January 21, 2014 3:22 p.m.
Everyone seems to be overlooking the fact that consuming abberation is bad .-.
January 21, 2014 3:39 p.m.
i woulda much preferred if his ability was some crap like "at the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card unless an opponent sacrifices a creature." would have made me happier. it would steal from the u/w and r/b gods ablities and would have actually been deceitful in that regard. or something like how Dire Undercurrents functions woulda been cool. anything but mill really would have probably made me interested.
January 21, 2014 3:49 p.m.
ducttapedeckbox says... #17
Even as a player who enjoys building decks around the milling strategy, I'm kind of disappointed with this card. The card itself is decent in comparison with other mill cards, but part of the thrill of building a playable mill deck (to me at least) is that your card base is easily one of the worst to choose from. The fact that they made this creature one of the minor gods takes away from the flavor, as it is, in a way, compared with some of the better cards recently printed.
January 21, 2014 3:56 p.m.
Quadsimotto says... #18
With so many disappointed in this card i hope it stays nice and low in price. I like mill as strategy and look forward to losing games with this in my deck until that golden game when it crushes the other players library in a few short turns.
January 21, 2014 4:03 p.m.
This is my take on the card. - God of Milling
Lots to work out... a little all-over-the-place, as far as strategy, but I like the concepts in it.
January 21, 2014 4:04 p.m.
Well, at least he's a limited bomb, creatures are the b&b of limited & milling someone in limited is much easier.. not so much with const rusted.. hey, I'm a glass half full kind ofguy
January 21, 2014 4:09 p.m.
Works as an alternate win con for my Esper devotion to black deck. Desecration demon will find his place EVERYWHERE! MWHAHAHA
January 21, 2014 6:51 p.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #23
Im surprised no one wants to use Colossus of Akros . Even as a one or two of. especially with Axebane for ramp, even if he gives no devotion.
January 21, 2014 8:44 p.m.
I've already done a Colossus of Akros deck. Held it's own at FNM. 7th place.
I don't see him in this deck, as when he hits the battlefield, the game is over anyway.
January 21, 2014 8:48 p.m.
Quadsimotto says... #25
I had a hard time getting AWAY from colossus of akros. he kept getting thrown in my decks but he may be real good being a 10t with defender and ramp.
January 21, 2014 9:24 p.m.
Turn 5: Tap your Wall of Frost , your Hover Barrier and your Murmuring Phantasm for a 18 cards mill.
Turn 6: Repeat Turn 5 and tap your Phenax, then cast Tritons' Tactics on your Wall of Frost and your Phenax (they get both +3 thoughness), and tap them again; another 38 cards mill.
Most Likely GG ;PNow base your deck around that and add some Mutavault which are going to get you an additionnal 2 cards on each of your turn.
January 21, 2014 9:44 p.m.
Desecration Demon is great in a deck that can use the bonus from your enemy sac-ing / is having tritons tactics.
And with the guildmage your walls are dealing their thoughness as damage to your opponents...
I'm not disapointed in a god "they couldnt make really good since blue and black were already dominating ".
January 21, 2014 9:57 p.m.
amishrambo says... #28
godammit Wotc this was a perfect chance to create a new unique thing for B/U color combos cause they only thing they have is mill and creature theft but NOPE! just throw some poor excuse for "new" kind of milling. BORING!!!!!!!!!!
marsh9799 says... #1
Wight of Precinct Six , Nighthowler , and Consuming Aberration in BUG with minor ramp and you could possible turn 5 mill living the dream.
January 21, 2014 12:43 p.m.