Welcome to the Limited set review for Phyrexia: All Will Be One. For this set, Luis and I decided to divide things 50-50 in an effort to get the review out to you as quickly and effectively as possible. That means you’ll still get a bunch of that normal LSV content which you’ve come to love, but you’re stuck with me for the colors white, black and green. Who knows, maybe it will be fun to compare how Luis and I grade the cards!
White / Blue / Black / Red / Green / Multicolor, Artifact and Land
Retired and inducted into the Limited Hall of Fame: Pack Rat, Umezawa’s Jitte, The Scarab God.
- 5.0: Titania’s Command. Siege Veteran. Skystrike Officer.
- 4.5: Mishra, Claimed by Gix. Phyrexian Fleshgorger. Saheeli, Filigree Master.
- 4.0: Thopter Mechanic. Obliterating Bolt. The Mightstone and Weakstone.
- 3.5: Scrapwork Cohort. Scrapwork Mutt. Excavation Explosion.
- 3.0: Aeronaut Cavalry. Argivian Opportunist. Combat Courier.
- 2.5: Stern Lesson. Gix’s Caress. Disenchant.
- 2.0: Whirling Strike. Ravenous Gigamole. Roc Hunter.
- 1.5: Supply Drop. Tocasia’s Onulet. Su-Chi Cave Guard.
- 1.0: Shoot Down. Defabricate. Disciples of Gix.
- 0.0: Mox Amber. One with Nothing
Let’s take a look at the recurring mechanics of the set, with an eye for how Reid thinks they’re likely to play in Limited.
For Mirrodin!
For Mirrodin! only appears on Equipment. It’s functionally the same as living weapon, except rather than a 0/0 Germ token, you get a 2/2 Rebel. Living weapon was already strong, and more stats makes For Mirrodin! even more appealing. You even have flexibility to move the Equipment around while leaving your Rebel tokens to keep fighting the good fight.
When evaluating these cards, first ask how strong the creature would be as a standalone (for instance, Vulshok Splitter gives you a 4/2 up front for the price of four mana). Then add a modest premium because the Equipment has value in itself, and because there are some equipment synergies to boot. I predict that most of the reasonably-priced For Mirrodin! Equipment will be good Limited cards. In fact, the first one or two you have in your deck will be particularly nice for those long games where you have enough time and mana to move the Equipment around.
You have Vraan listed as a 1.5, but your explanation seems to be describing him as more in the 3.0-3.5 range. I presume the numeric rating is incorrect?
You are correct! Vraan should be 3.0 and we’ll get that corrected right away.
Testament Bearer is only one mana more expensive than Corpse Appraiser without requiring to exile a creature from the yard. Maybe it should be a little better than just 2?
Corpse Appraiser gave you your value up front, and Testament Bearer only triggers when it dies, which is a bit weaker. Still, your point is taken. It’s a totally fine card that I’ll be happy to play with.
Your top 5 black commons presumably mean Fleshless (not Corrupted) Gladiator and Pestilent (not Persistent) Syphoner.