So NPH has been out for a while now. I've got to draft triple NPH a bit and did my first full block draft last night (went 2-1 but had to leave before the last round, by the way). I figured it was time to go back to my set preview and see how accurate i was when evaluating the black cards of New Phyrexia. This time i'm going to concentrate solely on limited.
Blind Zealot: As i originally thought, this card is mostly just okay. I've never had it do anything except trade so far. I can see the upside of getting in for two, then sacrificing it to kill a Tyranax or something, but that has yet to happen for me. Definitely playable but mostly it's just a grey ogre in this artifact block.
Caress of Phyrexia: This appears to be one of the many mega uncommons. I've only played with it once (and quickly sided it out) and only got one in my booster box. It's fine against non-infect decks, but mostly i think the cost is too high to be casting it on yourself. I still think this card is best as a burn spell in poison decks.
Chancellor of the Dross: I faced this down and won twice last night (thanks, Blinding Souleater!). Still, the leyline effect gives you a nice headstart and without the souleater i would've lost horribly i think. Yup, a 6/6 flying lifelinker is good - who knew?
Dementia Bat: I've yet to play with or against this card. I think that tells you all you need to know. A 2/2 flier for five is barely even filler and the ability is absolutely awful for its cost. This is a 23rd card if you're reeeeeeeeeally stretching.
Despise: Yeah, as i suspect, this is fine in limited. Not amazing, but viewed as removal for a black mana, it's pretty solid. The later the game goes, the worse this card probably gets, but limited is all about creatures and the chances of this card whiffing early on are low. And just think how good you'll feel when you hit a Karn with it! (pro tip: don't play this card for Planeswalker in limited for hopefully obvious reasons).
Dismember: Boy, do i feel stupid right now? This card has quickly become my favourite in the set. I still go to the back of the pack first, like anyone, but there are few rares i'd take over this card. It kills almost everything in the format and i've never been unhappy to pay four life. Nice Moltensteel Dragon, dude. Easily the best uncommon in the set and maybe in the format.
Enslave: It's Mind Control in black, costing one more but having a mildly significant bonus. Play it, maybe even first pick it. 2nd best black uncommon in the set, or close to it.
Entomber Exarch: Gravedigger with an upside is solid. Not much else to say really.
Evil Presence: Bad - moving on.
Geth's Verdict: As swingy as I expected. I'd probably always maindeck this unless i somehow had four Dismembers but feel free to side it out against a swamy myr token deck. You all know how edict cards work.
Glistening Oil: I still don't really get this card. Is it removal or an alternate win condition? It's pretty bad at either of them. I haven't played with it yet either, so maybe i'm missing something, but, having spoken to other people who have played with it, it still seems pointlessly bad.
Grim Affliction: Great removal that gets exponentially better in an infect deck. Run it, kill stuff, maybe even proliferate yourself to a victory. It will happen and you or your opponent will sigh. Or swear, in Eric's case.
Ichor Explosion: I've seen this in draft packs but never seen it played. I still think it could be fine in a slow deck, but you're probably going to have to sacrifice your biggest guy for this card to do anything. Ironically, despite being the most expensive wrath, it's probably the closest to the original that we've seen in this block. There is no cool upside like a horror token and it's symmetrical. At seven mana, that means that giving your opponent the first chance to rebuild could be very costly. Against the decks where it's likely to be good (aggro infect) you're probably dead before you cast it anyway if this is your big spell.
Life Finale: I have three of these now but still haven't played with it. I stand by what I said originally: it's a good upside on a wrath effect but again, six mana wraths don't really help you that much unless you manage to remove their last three creatures with the other half of the card. Phyrexian Rebirth was great because it left you with a mid-to-huge sized guy. This leaves you with nothing, and your opponent gets to rebuild first. Overall playable but be wary.
Mortis Dogs: This is a lot better than i first thought. With +power equipment on this guy can get insane pretty quickly and i'm happy to run him in any non-infect black deck. Word of warning though; against infect he's, well... a dog. Trading your 2/2 for a 4/4 is obviously great but you won't get the up-side because he goes to the graveyard as a 0/-2. He's not great on defence either. Solid enough card, but don't value it too highly.
Parasitic Implant: This feels so much like black's version of Quisilver Bonds. It's decent enough removal. Slow but with a relevant bonus of making a 1/1. If you're in a black metalcraft deck, which isn't completely unheard of, this card gets better. Take it around the middle of pack one and be pretty happy about it.
Phyrexian Obliterator: Mythics are pretty irrelevant in limited so i don't have much to say here. It probably is playable but don't expect to cast it on turn four very often.
Pith Driller: I'm a bit higher on this guy than i was to begin with. He's a good blocker and throwing killing an infect creature is never bad. Yeah, I do wish he had infect, but in the 50/50 decks that are becoming more popular he's still very good. I originally overlooked the fact that he's an artifact, which means he has an up-side for almost every deck.
Postmortem Lunge: I've had this in my sideboard a few times and never brought it in. Maybe that's wrong, or maybe it's just because i haven't played any control mirrors yet, but i haven't found a place for it yet. Reading the card makes me think it's probably fine but i just value removal so much higher than an expensive Unearth effect. I would probably play this card if i had to.
Praetor's Grasp: Yep, still think this card is pretty poor. It's sideboard tech against bad decks, but you shouldn't need that anyway. It gets a little better in the mirror i guess, but there's no way i'm first-picking this card.
Reaper of Sheoldred: This is everything i thought it was. Excellent card for the infect decks and is still fine in a 50/50 deck. Decent in non-infect decks too i would say, though i'd rather have a Driller in the five slot. Somehow that sounds kinda dirty...
Sheoldred, the Whispering one: Won me three matches at the pre-release, i lost the ones where i didn't cast her. Yeah, she's pretty fucking incredible in limited. Still, as a mythic she's fairly irrelevant to this article so lets move on.
Surgical Extraction: Ignoring the constructed debate about this card, if you play this in limited you're probably the kind of guy who plays Squadron Hawk in EDH. It's essentially the same card as Praetor's Grasp 90% of the time. While triple-NPH is still around this might be sideboard-able since people will have multiples but after that it gets way, way worse.
Toxic Nim: Well, if you untap with this guy still around he's going to cause some pain. But still, that one toughness for six mana is brutal. If for some reason i'm dedicated to forcing infect i could see myself picking this guy up in the middle of the pack, but the rest of the time i'd be happy to see him 10th or later. That probably won't happen, however.
Vault Skirge: After playing with this card a fair bit it's definitely gone up in my estimation. It's not amazing, but a 1/1 flier on turn one is definitely fine. With a bit of luck you'll have regained that life by turn three anyway. Against infect he's pretty much just there to block Plague Stinger, though.
Whisper Specter: The Best Case Scenario for this guy is pretty awesome (Swing on turn four, putting your land-scewed opponent to four counters, make him discard six cards, win the game!). That's pretty damn unlikely, though. The average scenario is that this is an expensive Plague Stinger with a mediocre bonus. The later the game goes the worse this guy gets, just like any discard effect. How about this for a worst case, which actually happened last night? Guy swings at me, i don't block, go to five poison with two cards in hand. He sacs the Specter, i bolt him down to two life with lethal on-board and i discard a mountain, going to six poison. Swingy.
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