Pleasantly surprised to see this card reprinted. Great synergy with chandra ablaze's + 1 ability.
Chosen_of_the_Dark_Sun
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@PhyrexianLobbyist: No it doesn't. Baneslayer survives thanks to First Strike meaning the Phoenix does no combat damage.
PhyrexianLobbiest
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
At least it's pretty. Also, it's a recurring red flier that isn't a dragon and comes out on the same turn as Baneslayer Angel and kills it.
Choosen of the Dark Sun: Ah, nuts. Forgot about that. Thanks for catching my error.
Sir_Kaeru
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
om nom nom, flavorful ^_^
exterion
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
beautiful art and a brutal card to use as the archenemy (It often stirrs discussions on whether they should attack with anything big enough to kill it or not, since it'll often wipe the weenie player's board)
MDStrawHat
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Guys got a question I'd be grateful to have answered. How does this work with basilisk collar? Would it be a constantly recurring Wrath of God?
achilleselbow
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
This is essentially a tweak of Shard Phoenix for the same CC. The extra power and toughness and additional point of damage are nice, but the much greater cost to return it as well as the fact that you can't sacrifice it whenever you want probably make it somewhat worse.
yesnomu
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(6 votes)
A friend of mine held off a Grave Titan with one of these at the Prerelease. Killing the titan + wipe out the zombies + comes back next turn all made it quite unfavorable for his opponent to attack. Shame about the high cost to return, though.
infernox10
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I'm a pretty casual player, as are my friends.
So, when I equipped this guy with a Basilisk Collar and sacced him,
I was very happy to wipe the board clean, gain my life, and laugh.
However, I read this card carefully, and I have a question:
Does him dying remove the Collar before he deals the damage when sent to the graveyard?
I'm perplexed at the order it's working in.
sliverfan
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Due to the new rules on deathtouch and lifelink being static abilities, basilisk collar does give both abilities even though the phoenix goes to the graveyard. since it's an effect that says when it's put in the graveyard, as it's being put in the graveyard, the collar would still be attached, and the zone-change rules checks the phoenix's stats/abilities as it moves or before it moved (not sure which), before the equipment becomes unequipped.
also, two phoenixes on the field would kill baneslayer if she tried to kill one.
Wraique
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
@ DacenOctavio
Your Rockslide Elemental would survive that.
- Celestial Purge - You bolt the bird in response. - In response Sparkmage taps and targets himself. - In order of what's about to go down we have Sparkmage, then bolt, then purge. -You both pass priority. Sparkmage's ability resolves. He goes to the graveyard as a state based action. (The next time someone would get priority, which is the very next thing that happens, players getting priority as objects on the stack resolve). - That tiggers Rockslide's ability. It resolves and becomes 3/3. - Bolt resolves. Phoenix goes to the graveyard. Both Rockslide's and Phoenix's abilities trigger at the same time, so you get to choose in what order they resolve. You have Rocky get another counter before Birdlips blows everything to hell, so the elemental hangs on by the skin of his 4/4 teeth.
Now, the art! All of Raymond Swanland's Magic art is heavily contrasted, which is perfect when you're looking at a small picture like this. There's always a sense of action and intensity in his pieces, which contrast also helps to make clear (firey redness benefiting especially). Even Arid Mesa looks threatening. I want Ray's babies.
iondragonx
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@sliverfan Yes, you are correct. The ability checks the state of the Phoenix before it went to the graveyard. Otherwise, tokens could never have somewhere-to-graveyard abilities because they wouldn't exist. @Cyberium Silverfan has it right. But if you play that way, you better have indestructible creatures of your own.
Cyberium
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Old Counter-Phoenix uses Phoenix, Squee, Masticore, and Forbid, abuses the recurring power :P
@MD I believe not, since the Phoenix's death is what triggers it, and that alone removes the Collar from it.
@Sliverfan Ok, thx for the correction. I'm still not versed with the new rules yet. That makes the Phoenix so much more versatile :)
Guest1162619373
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@beowulf22 :: They've made at least 1 good Phoenix last I checked. Just because none of them are 5/5s, and first strike, haste or trample for 4CC mana doesn't mean they are not good. In a game gravitating to dropping 5/5s on turn 2 in every format, the Phoenix continues to not conform to the greedy demands of players, thankfully.
U-caster
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
This card is incredibly undderrated. A guy at my FNM played this in some sort of red control deck and won.
JaxsonBateman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great limited card... red as a whole is probably the weakest colour, given that all their decent fliers are rare (meaning that you have to have some really high quality cards to support a heavy investment into the colour), but this is one card which can help justify going red. It's a stronger, repeatable Pyroclasm, as well as a 3/3 flier. It won't win the game on its own, but it'll certainly help.
raijin7X
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Honestly now that hellspark elemental, hells thunder, etc... are cycling out in october i think that it will be seen in the new red metagame. It may not be agro but there are some nasty things that you can combine magma phoenix with to do some awesome combos. Valakut is a great example, just drop the land and its pretty much a field wipe. Even better, pyroclasm then blow up the phoenix. There is so much potential for this card. Honestly the later the game progresses the better is becomes.
justicarphaeton
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
this is one of those cards that would have been absolutely amazing a few years ago. As it stands, it's outclassed head and shoulders by a ... *certain* mythic rare that costs 4RR and whose art depicts a flaming bald man. And yes, I know that he's not strictly better than the phoenix, but it's almost a slap in the face that these perfectly good creatures are printed alongside cards of mythic rarity which can for the most part obsolete them in almost any deck.
It's kind of sad really.
In a vacuum, a really nice card, though with creature power creep as it is, its recursion ability could be costed at 2RR and no-one would complain
chocolate_lightning
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
it's not worse than shard phoenix because you can only pay shard phoenix's return cost during YOUR upkeep, which means that's 3 less red mana for your entire turn. You can pay magma phoenix's return cost at the end of the opponent's turn who goes right before you and bam, on your turn you have all your mana and the phoenix back in your hand. It makes your chandra very happy.
RedCravat
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Great with slagstorm! 6 damage to everything (even gets through shroud) and you can pull it back into play
igniteice
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@lorendorky Chandra Ablaze's ability has you discard a card from your hand. Magma Phoenix's ability reads "put into a graveyard from the battlefield," therefore the synergy is slightly broken. Yes, you'd still be dealing 4 damage with Chandra Ablaze, but it would cost you 5 mana to return this card to your hand, and this card's ability would not trigger (to deal the 3 damage) unless you played it (at which point, you couldn't discard it). For cheaper synergy with Chandra Ablaze, I'd recommend Shard Phoenix, which only costs 3 mana to return to hand from graveyard.
DacenOctavio
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ beowulf:
Not a good enough phoenix? It's power and toughness are not bad. It's meant to be fodder for Lighntning Bolt! Destroys weenies, punishes counterspell users, and has excellent synergy with Destructive Force :). My favorite thing is that it's more valuable to you dead than alive. If someone tries to exile it, you can bolt it in response, fizzle their spell, and potentially wipe the board. Also, Fling. Also, if you run them in pairs, or 4 of them, you can guarantee 6-12 damage to everything should one of them die. The best thing about this card is that the death of one sets of the death of others. Doom Blade it, I dare ya. Lol Sylvok Lifestaff XD.
Also, rules question: I had a Rockslide Elemental out with one +1/+1 counter on it, an untapped Cunning Sparkmage, and had just cast Magma Phoenix and gone to combat with the elemental. In response, my opponent Celestial Purge'd my Phoenix, to which I responded by bolting Magma Phoenix. When Phoenix goes to the graveyard, which ability goes on the stack first, Magma Phoenix's, or Rockslide Elemental's? Can I prevent my elemental from dying by making Sparkmage kill itself fast enough to put enough counters on the elemental for it to survive Magma Phoenix's demise? @ Wraiq: Thanks, I thought so. Long live the burn deck!
i really like this guy. i use it in a red green ramp deck. not only is it a flyer that keeps comin back for more, i also ditched three pyrclasms for him cause. well. you should know why. between this guy and slagstrom, i damage someone and their planeswalkers. and did i mention he kills all the titans? as long as no ones buffen em up of course.
GrimjawxRULES
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
@MDStrawHat: Yes, equipping this with Basilisk Collar would basically turn it into a living Day of Judgment; only that your opponents would also lose 3 life, and you would gain three life for each creature and each player aside from yourself.
Philip-BANG
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really enjoy this card.
It is not the most insane rare creature ever, but it has so many nice combo and deck ideas going for it.
For laughs I'd like to cast a Slagstorm in some multiplayer game with a few of these on the board and see what happens.
For actual competetive play I'm including a few of these in a red and white defender control deck. Only kills Cathedral Membrane which I'm not running too many copies of anyway. It's a great deterent when it's damage from dying will really only hurt my opponent because all of my walls and defenders will have in excess of 4 toughness. I'm hoping it will prove an excellent finisher for this kind of strategy. Ideally you will be able to swing for three every turn because the opponent can't afford to kill it off.
Besides all of this phoenix cards always seem to have a nice flavor going for them and Swanland's art only adds tons of sugar on top. Great artist to choose for a phoenix like this one.
BlackAlbino
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
shard pheonix cant hit flyers and can only be returned during your upkeep
Nayban
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run a Burn deck with these in it. Its just plain fun to have 2 on the field, Attack with both, 6 damage, Fling one at an opponent for another 3, its abillity triggers to cause everyone and everything another 3, killing off my other one, causing another 3. thats 15 Damage in a turn for the price of a Fling in a burn deck.
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Expensive, but lets face it, no one wants it to die, and no one wants it to live. It really puts your opponents into a tight spot.
psychichobo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Nayban's right. I had a match where two of these were present with this one guy, and I actually used Lightning Helix to detonate it and make it kill the other for 6 damage to everything. Same thing happened again later, and killed off a third player.
Sadly, I was then immolated by two Fireballs over two turns. Don't underestimate this monster, it rips into everything and keeps the board nice and empty for burn players.
blurrymadness
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You put this into your Raymond Swanland deck.
..what do you mean "you don't have a Raymond Swanland deck"?
@ tomato101: "Dissipation Field to recur to hand every time it dies." I am sorry but this wouldn't work. The pheonix has to die to deal damage. Since it is dead, it is in the graveyard and no longer a creature, but rather a creature card. You idea does not work the way you'd like it to.
EDIT: I just looked at Dissipation Field again, and while it doesnt specify creatures (like i thought it did), it does say permenant. By the time the bird triggers, its a card, not a permenant, so my comment while not entirely accurate is still correct.
Comments (34)
I guess Wizards doesn't want RDW to have Turn 2 Ball Lightnings with Pyretic Ritual for the next year.
Choosen of the Dark Sun: Ah, nuts. Forgot about that. Thanks for catching my error.
So, when I equipped this guy with a Basilisk Collar and sacced him,
I was very happy to wipe the board clean, gain my life, and laugh.
However, I read this card carefully, and I have a question:
Does him dying remove the Collar before he deals the damage when sent to the graveyard?
I'm perplexed at the order it's working in.
also, two phoenixes on the field would kill baneslayer if she tried to kill one.
Your Rockslide Elemental would survive that.
- Celestial Purge
- You bolt the bird in response.
- In response Sparkmage taps and targets himself.
- In order of what's about to go down we have Sparkmage, then bolt, then purge.
-You both pass priority. Sparkmage's ability resolves. He goes to the graveyard as a state based action. (The next time someone would get priority, which is the very next thing that happens, players getting priority as objects on the stack resolve).
- That tiggers Rockslide's ability. It resolves and becomes 3/3.
- Bolt resolves. Phoenix goes to the graveyard. Both Rockslide's and Phoenix's abilities trigger at the same time, so you get to choose in what order they resolve. You have Rocky get another counter before Birdlips blows everything to hell, so the elemental hangs on by the skin of his 4/4 teeth.
Now, the art! All of Raymond Swanland's Magic art is heavily contrasted, which is perfect when you're looking at a small picture like this. There's always a sense of action and intensity in his pieces, which contrast also helps to make clear (firey redness benefiting especially). Even Arid Mesa looks threatening. I want Ray's babies.
Yes, you are correct. The ability checks the state of the Phoenix before it went to the graveyard. Otherwise, tokens could never have somewhere-to-graveyard abilities because they wouldn't exist.
@Cyberium
Silverfan has it right. But if you play that way, you better have indestructible creatures of your own.
@MD
I believe not, since the Phoenix's death is what triggers it, and that alone removes the Collar from it.
@Sliverfan
Ok, thx for the correction. I'm still not versed with the new rules yet. That makes the Phoenix so much more versatile :)
It's kind of sad really.
In a vacuum, a really nice card, though with creature power creep as it is, its recursion ability could be costed at 2RR and no-one would complain
Chandra Ablaze's ability has you discard a card from your hand. Magma Phoenix's ability reads "put into a graveyard from the battlefield," therefore the synergy is slightly broken. Yes, you'd still be dealing 4 damage with Chandra Ablaze, but it would cost you 5 mana to return this card to your hand, and this card's ability would not trigger (to deal the 3 damage) unless you played it (at which point, you couldn't discard it). For cheaper synergy with Chandra Ablaze, I'd recommend Shard Phoenix, which only costs 3 mana to return to hand from graveyard.
Not a good enough phoenix? It's power and toughness are not bad. It's meant to be fodder for Lighntning Bolt! Destroys weenies, punishes counterspell users, and has excellent synergy with Destructive Force :). My favorite thing is that it's more valuable to you dead than alive. If someone tries to exile it, you can bolt it in response, fizzle their spell, and potentially wipe the board. Also, Fling. Also, if you run them in pairs, or 4 of them, you can guarantee 6-12 damage to everything should one of them die. The best thing about this card is that the death of one sets of the death of others. Doom Blade it, I dare ya. Lol Sylvok Lifestaff XD.
Also, rules question: I had a Rockslide Elemental out with one +1/+1 counter on it, an untapped Cunning Sparkmage, and had just cast Magma Phoenix and gone to combat with the elemental. In response, my opponent Celestial Purge'd my Phoenix, to which I responded by bolting Magma Phoenix. When Phoenix goes to the graveyard, which ability goes on the stack first, Magma Phoenix's, or Rockslide Elemental's? Can I prevent my elemental from dying by making Sparkmage kill itself fast enough to put enough counters on the elemental for it to survive Magma Phoenix's demise?
@ Wraiq: Thanks, I thought so. Long live the burn deck!
I like feeding him to Thunder-Thrash Elder.
It is not the most insane rare creature ever, but it has so many nice combo and deck ideas going for it.
For laughs I'd like to cast a Slagstorm in some multiplayer game with a few of these on the board and see what happens.
For actual competetive play I'm including a few of these in a red and white defender control deck. Only kills Cathedral Membrane which I'm not running too many copies of anyway. It's a great deterent when it's damage from dying will really only hurt my opponent because all of my walls and defenders will have in excess of 4 toughness. I'm hoping it will prove an excellent finisher for this kind of strategy. Ideally you will be able to swing for three every turn because the opponent can't afford to kill it off.
Besides all of this phoenix cards always seem to have a nice flavor going for them and Swanland's art only adds tons of sugar on top. Great artist to choose for a phoenix like this one.
Sadly, I was then immolated by two Fireballs over two turns. Don't underestimate this monster, it rips into everything and keeps the board nice and empty for burn players.
..what do you mean "you don't have a Raymond Swanland deck"?
EDIT: I just looked at Dissipation Field again, and while it doesnt specify creatures (like i thought it did), it does say permenant. By the time the bird triggers, its a card, not a permenant, so my comment while not entirely accurate is still correct.