Someone at Wizards of the Coast must be a Sleepytime Gorilla Museum fan.
Treima
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(2 votes)
This thing can be a countdown of death if you get it out on suspend and it is without doubt a game-ending deathblow against Timmy if cast normally.
RATING: 3.5/5
BrutalJim
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(3 votes)
Even though it can be devastating, it seems just too cost ineffective. I prefer cards like Backlash over this, but I can see it's uses. 3/5.
Lege
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
This card can pretty easily bring you a surprise victory during lategame. It's not uncommon to have 5/5 creatures or greater when you can bring this baby out, and instantly losing 10 life or more really hurts. The life loss is difficult to negate as well since it cannot be prevented as it's not straight damage (I think?).
Wasn't Phthisis the name of the disease that Yawgmoth was trying to cure when he was still uh... human-ish?
EvilCheesecake
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
apparently phhtisis is the old name for tuberculosis, or decomposition of the lungs.
also awesome card. twincast anybody?
Toverkol
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
legerdemain / donate anybody?
Annorak
★☆☆☆☆ (1.1/5.0)(6 votes)
Hey, can anyone verify using Vampire Hexmage to destroy the suspend counters on Phthisis?
(Zendicar Sacrifice: Remove all counters from target permenent)
Is it a legal action?
Gezus82
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(5 votes)
does the life loss occur if the creature isn't destroyed. Indestructibility, regenerate. as in could I use this against a darksteel collosus to deal 22 damage even though it's indestructible
AWESOME THAT SOMEBODY OTHER THAN ME PICKED THAT UP
Phthisis, in the magic book about the Thran, was a degenerative state caused by powerstones. Guess what the rebuilding was called...
Phyrexis. Haha yes, yawgmoth was actually a surgeon at first, but then became greedy with power and killed a couple unsuspectiong planeswalkers, toook over an abandoned plane, and dubbed it Phyrexia, where he began to construct new thran in the form of phyrexians. haha i love this card so much
HappyKitty
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
@Gezus82: As long as the indestructible creature you are targetting can legally be targetted, the loss of life should still occur. The loss of life is not dependant on the creature's being destroyed, but is a separate effect of Phthisis. The loss of life would also occur if the creature is regenerated.
@Annorak: Vampire Hexmage's ability targets a permanent. A suspended card is not a permanent. QED.
Tommy9898
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Remember, it is pronounced Tie-sis. This has a lot of old history concerning a very young yawgmoth.
izzet_guild_mage
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Oooh, neat. I like the little story that goes with this...as a side note, having this thing in suspend with your opponents knowing you have ways to manipulate the counters can keep the table quite clear of beefy dudes :P Also, the hard cast is expensive, but often hits like a bus.
strigen
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
It seems people vastly underrate this card. When you suspend this, opponents think twice before ramping up to a big creature. If they have no answers, they'll just wait out the five turns before laying anything big on the table. This is HUGE control versus creature decks, and for two mana? Hell yes!
5/5
SleetFox
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(4 votes)
Tie-sis or thigh-sis. The "ph" is silent. Thank God.
If you suspend this card, one of two things will happen. It goes off, and your opponent gets hurt, or it doesn't go off because your opponent(s) played no creatures. Either way, you win. Just don't play it until you know you're not playing against a non-creature deck. And have at least one little guy on hand just in case you need to take the blast.
zqft
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Hmmm, you paid 12 for that eldrazi?
WHOOPS IT'S GONE.
OOO! And so are you!
Kelrath
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@zulp I was thinking the same thing before i noticed your post.. the sad part is that if somebody has Doomgape out, and sustaining it, they probably have far too much health for this to be a killing blow.
Or they'd just notice that you have that card suspended and sac it before the last counter drops.
Polkovnik_Skyfox
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Not true sleetfox, if your opponent controls no creatures when this is cast but you do, then your creature is destroyed and you lose the life.
CharnelhoardWurm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
nom nom nom
VoidedNote
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Excellent late game removal and even a player killer. You can kill anybody who plays fatties with this. Even a Darksteel Colossus will kill your opponent since the life loss is unconditional.
4.5/5
majinara
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I like the effect. But seven mana, and four of them black? And sorcery speed? That is harsh. And half of the time, when I see someone suspend this card, the opponents get rid of anything of theirs that can be targeted, so that the controller of phtisis has to kill his own stuff with it.
I think someone mentioned something like this before. It's way easier to break out a Bazaar Trader, use this thing on your own fatty but Donate it before this thing resolves. Fun stuff.
It's like handing someone a grenade and pulling the pin as you give it over.
Purple_Shrimp
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
i always thought the art was that giant dinosaur dude eating someone
Combos well with Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon in my 'sputter and lisp disgustingly over my opponent's unsleeved cards' deck.
LordRandomness
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
"It's turn 9, shouldn't you just let your Sheltering Ancient die already?" "...oh."
Sericule
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Play this on an opponent's Doomgape... Opponent: O_____o You: :D
kumokurin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Run with Righteousness at the expense of your creature, they lose a minimum of 15 life in your second main phase.
Salient
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hit a Lord of Extinction with this in Commander, and you win at everything forever.
bansheemane
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
My friend used it on my 8/8. I almost cried.
DarthParallax
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(11 votes)
I would never call Yawgmoth a surgeon. A ....biologist, perhaps, but not truly a surgeon. He is totally MTG's Sauron, up to and including the part where he tricks this fantasy universe's equivalent of Atlantis into thinking he's a good guy.
He may have 'cured' Phthisis with Phyresis, but....yeah, turns out he ALSO probably INVENTED Phthisis in the first place. Or at least mastered it so he could use it as method of controlling the populations:
Step 1: Find a disease Step 2: Invent a cure Step 3: Claim it's contagious Step 4: Infect the people that might stand up to you, so you have an excuse to quarantine them.... (I bet you don't need me to tell you where the rest of this is going.) Step 5: Present the cure that you 'only' just discovered. Step 6: Be hailed as a God that can heal anyone. Step 7: Kindly refuse the people's attempts to vote you in as Ruler of the World (remember, you are just trying to help people. You're a magnanimous God.) Step 8: Oh, well, if you insist....ok. Step 9: Insist that everyone needs the cure, because the disease was more contagious than you thought. Step 10: When the other nations of the world decide you look suspiciously like a Dark Lord trying to Take over the World, point out to them that you've already done it, then curb-stop them with your Phyrexian Army.
kiseki
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
I've had this used against my Ajani Goldmane avatar token. Ouch.
ScepterofEternities
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This thing can be used as an amazing tittle deterrent for control decks plying against decks that involve big creatures. Suspend it on turn two, and they can either choose to play a fatty and have it die five turns later and cost them quite a bit of life, or let you build your position up to where you want to get it.
DoragonShinzui
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Makes for a very effective deterrent. In one game, against a Jund deck, my opponent literally said "I guess I won't be playing anything big for a bit." Bought me a LOT of time.
rogelio
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I suspended this in an EDH match and I thought, "Hey, this'll buy me some time and even thin down the field a little bit."
Comments (47)
RATING: 3.5/5
also awesome card. twincast anybody?
(Zendicar Sacrifice: Remove all counters from target permenent)
Is it a legal action?
as in could I use this against a darksteel collosus to deal 22 damage even though it's indestructible
Phthisis, in the magic book about the Thran, was a degenerative state caused by powerstones. Guess what the rebuilding was called...
Phyrexis. Haha yes, yawgmoth was actually a surgeon at first, but then became greedy with power and killed a couple unsuspectiong planeswalkers, toook over an abandoned plane, and dubbed it Phyrexia, where he began to construct new thran in the form of phyrexians. haha i love this card so much
@Annorak: Vampire Hexmage's ability targets a permanent. A suspended card is not a permanent. QED.
5/5
If you suspend this card, one of two things will happen. It goes off, and your opponent gets hurt, or it doesn't go off because your opponent(s) played no creatures. Either way, you win. Just don't play it until you know you're not playing against a non-creature deck. And have at least one little guy on hand just in case you need to take the blast.
WHOOPS IT'S GONE.
OOO! And so are you!
Or they'd just notice that you have that card suspended and sac it before the last counter drops.
4.5/5
Hey, he's still there.
But you aren't.
It's like handing someone a grenade and pulling the pin as you give it over.
Oh bye Tree of Redemption!
"...oh."
Opponent: O_____o
You: :D
He may have 'cured' Phthisis with Phyresis, but....yeah, turns out he ALSO probably INVENTED Phthisis in the first place. Or at least mastered it so he could use it as method of controlling the populations:
Step 1: Find a disease
Step 2: Invent a cure
Step 3: Claim it's contagious
Step 4: Infect the people that might stand up to you, so you have an excuse to quarantine them....
(I bet you don't need me to tell you where the rest of this is going.)
Step 5: Present the cure that you 'only' just discovered.
Step 6: Be hailed as a God that can heal anyone.
Step 7: Kindly refuse the people's attempts to vote you in as Ruler of the World
(remember, you are just trying to help people. You're a magnanimous God.)
Step 8: Oh, well, if you insist....ok.
Step 9: Insist that everyone needs the cure, because the disease was more contagious than you thought.
Step 10: When the other nations of the world decide you look suspiciously like a Dark Lord trying to Take over the World, point out to them that you've already done it, then curb-stop them with your Phyrexian Army.
Then I was Curse of Echoes'd.
Suspend it, and your opponents won't play big creatures as long as it's exiled.
Don't suspend it and kill said big creature.
Either way it works quite nicely.
So, *puts sunglasses on* TB or not TB? That is the question.
YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
Also, I know it destroys the creature, but I still wish that it turned the creature red.
oh, never mind.