If it added three instead of two this might have been awesome.
makochman
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
...WE have Lake of the Dead and Cabal Coffers .
rubber
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I don't see myself using this, but it's not terrible. Use it's colorless for an Arcbound Worker, then sac it later for more mana. It should add 3 colorless instead of 2 black though.
DoctorKenneth
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
I could see how Dark Ritual-ing with every sacrifice might get a little absurd in the combo department, but compared to things like Cabal Coffers and kin, it probably wouldn't have been much of an issue. Maybe if it was uncommon and not rare? Seems like a reasonable compromise. I can't imagine wanting to see this in my rare slot.
nammertime
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Actually, if you didn't have to also tap it to get two black mana for a sacrifice, it'd be ok too.
Etregan
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Use it with Gravepact and other things that triger when something dies.
themlsna
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
White gets a land that taps for each enchantment, green gets a land that taps for each creature, blue for each artifacts, and red and black got the shaft. Even though Cabal Coffers does the job, you still have to pay to do it. Not fair.
izzet_guild_mage
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This card plays pretty well. Any more would be abusive, I think :P Though the legendary thing is questionable.
majinara
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I like this card a lot, and have it in quite some Commander/EDH decks. Someone wants to steal or exile or pacify a creature of mine? I rather sac it instead. Or just to produce additional mana, sac some tokens or creatures I stole for a turn. Or to sac stuff I want in my graveyard anyway, like brawn. And it also comes into play untapped. :)
Kirbster
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(6 votes)
...why is it legendary? You can clearly see (at least) two Phyrexian Towers right in the picture!
Gramcrackers
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Wow, lord of the rings:the two tower.
Luke_BPC
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Any more and it would be abusive? Have you seen the other lands from this cycle?
It's a free sacrifice outlet with a benefit that empowers many strategies.
gasimakos1
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
how come blue gets tolarian shit and all we get is this *** ***?
lake of the dead was awesome... ahhh memories.
sarroth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Maybe "{T}: Add {B} to your mana pool for each creature in your graveyard" would have been too powerful, but then it'd be on par with Tolarian Academy, Serra's Sanctum, and Gaea's Cradle. Yes, there is Cabal Coffers, but players would be less likely to miss that this is from a cycle of lands in Urza's Saga if it read similarly (as of right now the only similarities are their rarity and Legendary supertype).
Max_Glycine
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
What if it was "Add B to your mana pool equal to the sacrificed creatures power"? Still broken by today's standards but considering the cycle it was part of...
jtwhat87
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
To bring up to the serra's sanctum/gaeas cradle/tolarian academy levels of absurdity should have been for three mana...
Ah well, still playable
Kitty_the_Kat
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In EDH you can combo this with Corpse Dance to get a reoccurring reanimation at instant speed. Use it to drop a Terastodon every turn until they have no mana. You also wanna keep Stifle or Voidslime handy in case you start seeing some graveyard hate.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
you guys are crazy this card is super good
Paolino
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This land doesn't deserve the legendary status. Besides the fact that I can't believe there is only ONE TOWER in Phyrexia, also from a power level perspective this card is not broken at the point it needs to be "restricted": the tap and sacrifice effect is very expensive to get , just use Sacrifice or Burnt Offering for MORE mana!
dingophone
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Best designed card of the cycle. It's neither weak nor broken, which can't be said about its siblings. I could see using this in many decks. 5/5
NoIHavent
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Great synergy with Volrath's Stronghold. If someone tries to do something nasty to your creature (exile, control, whatever), you just tap 2 lands to put it on top of your library. It's so perfect, it's like they were made for each other. Coincidentally, they're both part of my go-to mono-black aggro land set, along with Lake of the Dead. And swamps.
Kos4evr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
To put this on the same level as Tolarian Academy, Serra's Sactum and Gaea's Cradle it should have been {T} sacrifice a creature and add {B}{B} to your mana pool for each black creature in your graveyard. Likewise the red equivilent should have been "{T} Choose an opponent. Add {R} to your mana pool for each nonland permanent chosen opponent controls. This way the Phyrexian Tower would both feed on black's love of the graveyard, but also the Phyrexian methodology of using destruction as a means to create something new and red's unpredictable and irrational emphasis on reckless aggression and unrelenting rivalry.
bolttotheface
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I don't know.
Blue is smart. It gets the technology, i.e. Artifacts. Green is creatureish. That's pretty obvious. White is into enchantments, which is reasonable. Lands is out of the question, seeing as everybody needs them. About the only color that could ramp for lands is green (green seems to like lands) then give creatures to white, and enchantments to i don't know who. But I guess I won't mess around with those.
So we can't do any more for anything in play. Thus black needs to do something for everything in the graveyard, or it needs to have a drawback. I suppose you could hook onto lands in "{T}: Add {B} to your mana pool for each land in your GY." That way its not as broken creatures in most situations, but still damn good. And red is the dumb color so it could be strictly worse than green (well, almost) and ramp 1 for every attack made in the turn.
Comparing unbroken cards to broken is a fruitless task. It's like you're letting one team win because they're cheating, and calling it a fair game.
Every card has a use. The above three wouldn't be useful if you didn't have artifacts, creatures, or enchantments in your deck. Not only that, but it's sometimes better to have a creature dead rather than alive. It's all based on what you're building.
Also, do you know what's red's counterpart to the cycle?
4/5 - I love this card but agree with many people: it should really have given you a Ritual
Razeil
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@Paolino & all others who think this land is not great (and I agree it's the best balanced from the set). I use it in my reanimation deck. Phyrexian Tower + Kokusho. Enough said imho. 5/5.
SAUS3
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@everyone who thinks it should give you 3 black mana. That would just make it overpowered.
Sacrifice a token from bitterblossom or your kor sanctifier who is wearing a fashionable skullclamp. Use it with bloodghast for free ramp and sacrifice triggers. Use it to save stuff that is going to get stolen by treachery (countering the spell and stopping the lands from untapping too!).
A cheap sac-outlet that gives you mana?? If it didn't add and added then it still would be awesome!
sweetgab
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This would be a fairly reasonable (and strong) card today.
TheWrathofShane
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Three_Toe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
you kind of have to consider the sacrifice to be a benefit while evaluating this card. You would clearly play it in a deck that uses it as such.
So how can you benefit from sacrificing your own creatures? There are many many answers to that in black, let alone throughout legacy. lots of great triggered abilities out there when things die, lots of creatures that want to be in the graveyard, it makes your creatures harder to steal, cards like lifeline just make it a tap for BB, playing BR? act of treason cards allow you to steal then attack then sacrifice before giving them back (talk about value), etc.
I mean sure, one day everyone at Wizards smoked a ton of crack and designed cradle academy, then as they were passing out they pulled sanctum out of their asses using the amount of effort someone about to pass out from a drug binge would use, then they were hungover and ***ed off so we got shivan gorge, BUT eventually they sobered up and designed this excellent card.
One of the best lands in the game, no question, however, he is overshadowed by his Blue and Green cousins to the point where most overlook him.
4/5 Stars
TheMentalProdigy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I combo this fantastic card with a phyrexian walker and a dark ritual to get a Phyrexian Obliterator out turn one, other than that, it's just a great sac outlet like everyone's been saying.
Petertracy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'll be honest here, the reason Tower is good isn't because it produces multiple mana, it's because Tower is a free sac outlet. This card is in demand for the same reason High Market is in demand, regardless of life gain or extra mana.
Comments (39)
lake of the dead was awesome... ahhh memories.
Ah well, still playable
Blue is smart. It gets the technology, i.e. Artifacts.
Green is creatureish. That's pretty obvious.
White is into enchantments, which is reasonable.
Lands is out of the question, seeing as everybody needs them. About the only color that could ramp for lands is green (green seems to like lands) then give creatures to white, and enchantments to i don't know who. But I guess I won't mess around with those.
So we can't do any more for anything in play. Thus black needs to do something for everything in the graveyard, or it needs to have a drawback. I suppose you could hook onto lands in "{T}: Add {B} to your mana pool for each land in your GY." That way its not as broken creatures in most situations, but still damn good. And red is the dumb color so it could be strictly worse than green (well, almost) and ramp 1 for every attack made in the turn.
All I see are complaints that this isn't as good as its Blue, Green and White counterparts (Tolarian Academy, Gaea's Cradle, Serra Sanctum).
Ok, so would you complaint about Lotus Petal and Lotus Bloom because they aren't up to the "standards" of Black Lotus?
Would you say Time Warp is awful because Time Walk exists?
Comparing unbroken cards to broken is a fruitless task. It's like you're letting one team win because they're cheating, and calling it a fair game.
Every card has a use. The above three wouldn't be useful if you didn't have artifacts, creatures, or enchantments in your deck. Not only that, but it's sometimes better to have a creature dead rather than alive.
It's all based on what you're building.
Also, do you know what's red's counterpart to the cycle?
Shivan Gorge.
So... direct your complaints there.
Sacrifice a token from bitterblossom or your kor sanctifier who is wearing a fashionable skullclamp. Use it with bloodghast for free ramp and sacrifice triggers. Use it to save stuff that is going to get stolen by treachery (countering the spell and stopping the lands from untapping too!).
5/5 for one of the strongest lands in the game.
That is all...
So how can you benefit from sacrificing your own creatures? There are many many answers to that in black, let alone throughout legacy. lots of great triggered abilities out there when things die, lots of creatures that want to be in the graveyard, it makes your creatures harder to steal, cards like lifeline just make it a tap for BB, playing BR? act of treason cards allow you to steal then attack then sacrifice before giving them back (talk about value), etc.
I mean sure, one day everyone at Wizards smoked a ton of crack and designed cradle academy, then as they were passing out they pulled sanctum out of their asses using the amount of effort someone about to pass out from a drug binge would use, then they were hungover and ***ed off so we got shivan gorge, BUT eventually they sobered up and designed this excellent card.
4/5 Stars