MTG NEW PHYREXIA REGULAR MOL FACTORY SET

New Phyrexia contains 175 cards (60 Common, 60 Uncommon, 35 Rare, 10 Mythic, 10 Basic Lands). The set concludes the story that began in Scars of Mirrodin, with the Phyrexians defeating the Mirrans and taking control of the plane of Mirrodin. Like the cards in the two sets before it, the cards of New Phyrexia are watermarked with either faction's symbol, but the ratio of Phyrexian to Mirran cards significantly favors Phyrexia. This showcases the progress of the Phyrexian invasion and is a reversal from the ratio as it was seen in Scars of Mirrodin. In a similar fashion, the Phyrexian keyword mechanics of Infect and Proliferate spread into colors that did not get cards with these mechanics before. The expansion symbol was the Phyrexian symbol again, which was also heavily featured in the art. Several familiar creatures show up in a compleated version, and several favorites were redone. The set showcases Karn, as a planeswalker and Father of the Machines.

Mechanics

New Phyrexia introduces five new mana symbols, referred to as "Phyrexian mana". These symbols resemble a mark of Phyrexia on a colored background, one for each color of mana, and indicate a cost that can be paid with either 2 life or one mana of the respective color. This mechanic also heralds the return of colored artifacts, previously seen in Future Sight and the Esper shard from Alara block. Because these symbols were all identical except for color, there were multiple complaints from color blind players, although this was somewhat mitigated by the appearance of the standard symbols in the effect boxes.

The keyword mechanics Infect, Proliferate, Living weapon, Metalcraft and Imprint return. Karn gets a Planeswalker card, the first colorless planeswalker card that has, up to that point, the largest amount of loyalty counters added by a planeswalker's first ability with +4, and the most costly ultimate ability at -14 loyalty counters.

The set has a small subtheme of "splicers", 1/1 creatures that put a certain number of 3/3 Golem artifact creature tokens onto the battlefield and grant abilities to them. Another small subtheme was nicknamed the "blood tax", and referred to spells such as Vapor Snag which resembled other utility cards (in this case, Unsummon), but with an additional rider that caused a loss of 1 life.

The rules term "poisoned" introduced in Mirrodin Besieged returns. A player is poisoned if they have any poison counters.

Notable cards

• Phyrexian Obliterator is an updated version of the Suicide Black staple Phyrexian Negator, which could not be reprinted because it is on the Reserved List. Both have similar names and identical combat stats (5/5 trampler). However, the new card reverses Negator's drawback into a massive upside in exchange for a higher and more color-intensive mana cost.
• The chancellor cycle (such as Chancellor of the Forge) are some of the few cards in the game to have abilities in the opening hand, including some unique effects such as triggering on the first spell cast in the game with Chancellor of the Annex.
  • Chancellor of the Tangle was a key part of NeoBrand decks in Modern that used its extra mana to accelerate into an early win, while also exiling it to cards like Allosaurus Rider and Nourishing Shoal.
• Sword of War and Peace completes the set of enemy color swords, from Sword of Fire and Ice, Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Body and Mind and Sword of Feast and Famine.
• Etched Monstrosity continues the Etched creatures that began with Etched Oracle in Fifth Dawn and was continued with Etched Champion in Scars of Mirrodin.
• Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite was initially considered average for her high casting cost but quickly became a premiere choice for reanimator decks, where she completely disables opposing aggro decks and creates a fast clock with any other board presence.
• Karn Liberated was the first colorless planeswalker, and a powerful spell that saw significant play in Standard but is notorious for combining with the Tron lands in Modern to be cast on curve on turn 3, presenting an unbeatable start for most opponents.
• Dismember is one of the most versatile and powerful removal spells ever printed, accessible in any deck regardless of color and providing a strong effect for just a single mana. It was played in nearly every Standard deck while it was legal and has also remained popular in Modern, Legacy, and Vintage ever since being printed.
• Surgical Extraction combines graveyard hate and a "lobotomy" ability at instant speed and without any mana or color restriction, making it an unexpectedly versatile card against both graveyard and combo decks and a mainstay in Modern, Legacy, and Vintage sideboards.
• Phyrexian Metamorph is a cheap and effectively colorless clone that was played heavily in Standard decks and continues to remain relevant in older formats thanks to its ability to copy creatures in decks that otherwise do not have access to clone effects.
• Beast Within is a powerful and flexible answer to any type of permanent in green. Although considered a color pie break, it is nonetheless a staple in the casual Commander format and has seen meaningful play in Modern and Legacy green decks.
• Noxious Revival is another effectively free and colorless spell that, like Surgical Extraction, can provide instant speed graveyard hate in addition to allowing graveyard recursion and even combos.
• Dispatch is a cheap removal spell for artifact decks in Modern that can turn it into a Path to Exile or Swords to Plowshares with no downside.
• Spellskite provides free and powerful protection for creature-based decks, as it can redirect removal as itself and even prevent the opponent from casting beneficial spells on their creatures. Like other Phyrexian mana cards, it is often played in non-blue decks.
• Puresteel Paladin is an Equipment payoff that made a small splash in Standard but remained dormant until the rise of the Hammer Time deck in Modern, which could use the Paladin's ability to equip Colossus Hammer for free.
• Two powerful Infect creatures were printed: Blighted Agent, which naturally cannot be blocked, and Glistener Elf, which costs only a single mana.
• Batterskull is one of the best Equipment ever printed, and is frequently run alongside Stoneforge Mystic to fetch it and put it into play for cheap, creating a hard-to-deal-with creature.
• Gut Shot is yet another effectively free and colorless spell that can provide both removal and direct burn for colors that otherwise do not have access to it. It has seen play in decks like Delver and Kiln Fiend in Pauper and Murktide and Phoenix in Modern that can make use of it being a free spell to trigger various power abilities.
• Apostle's Blessing and Mutagenic Growth provide cheap ways to buff and protect creatures that work especially well in Infect decks in multiple formats.
• Melira, Sylvok Outcast is one of the few cards in the game to directly prevent poison counters from being placed on the player casting it, and notably hoses one of the main mechanics of the set flavorfully.
• Phyrexian Unlife notoriously combos with effects like Solemnity to create a lock that prevents its controller from ever losing the game.
• Deceiver Exarch would go on to play a major part in the Modern Splinter Twin deck, resulting in infinite hasty creatures when combined with the eponymous card.
• Vault Skirge is a strong aggressive artifact creature, especially when combined with cards to increase its power like Cranial Plating in Pauper.

Banned and restricted cards

• Birthing Pod is the backbone of several combo decks abusing self-recurring creatures and creatures with effects when they enter the battlefield to produce continuous card advantage. Eventually, it was banned in Modern, much like the previous set's Green Sun's Zenith; in addition to powerful versatility, it also was very consistent and tended to result in many turns of shuffling.
• Gitaxian Probe is a "free" card, costing no mana or cards and giving important information about the opponent's hand. It remained legal in all formats for many years but began getting banned in 2017 when it became more and more clear that it enabled degenerate combo decks by allowing perfect information about the opponent's ability to disrupt while also reducing the effective size of the deck. It was banned in Modern and restricted in Vintage in 2017, banned in Legacy in 2018, and banned in Pauper in 2019.
• Mental Misstep became a problem much faster than Gitaxian Probe and was banned preemptively when the Modern format was created just a few months after New Phyrexia was released. The free counterspell proved very strong in older formats like Extended and Legacy which had a preponderance of cheap spells, and the fact that it could counter other copies of itself and had no color restriction led to almost every deck playing a full four copies and chains of Mental Missteps deciding games. It was thus banned in Extended and Legacy in 2011, although it would not be restricted in Vintage until 2019.