Sort of disappointing. I mean, it's the card that represents the basic unit of existence for all Phyrexians, the oil itself. And it's... not impressive. I expected more.
lorendorky
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
It's not glaringly obvious like the Chancellor cycle, but I think this is for EDH.
grey-warden
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(10 votes)
This was pointed out somewhere else, forget where, but I'll repeat it here because nobody else has spotted it yet.
Maybe use it to kill 1 or 2 Toughness opponents creatures soon in the game and then turn a fatty 5 power with some evasion into a finisher infecter late game. In a control proliferate deck it could be nice.
bfugitive
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Actually, not bad on things with recursion, like Nissa's Chosen (with Nissa Revane, or Bloodghast. It's a damn shame it couldn't buff, and giving non-infect creatures infect is so clunky. What's nice is it answers the inherent problem of Auras, which Totem Armor tried to do, but this is much more elegant.
GrimjawxRULES
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@grey-warden: I'll admit my first thought when seeing this was Grim Poppet, but yeah, I see it.
MrQuizzles
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This is actually pretty insane removal in limited. Your opponent's creatures WILL die, and you can just keep using it over and over again.
infernox10
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I'm not quite sure why this isn't rated higher (currently 3 stars).
Between Grafted Exoskeleton, Phyresis, and this, there aren't any other permanents that grant infect.
You'll be putting this on some seriously powerful creatures, of course,
And this sort of counters the two-for-one that most auras face.
My recommendation:
Put this on a creature with Blade of the Bloodchief.
(Vampire Nighthawk seems like a REALLY good candidate.)
The -1/-1 and +1/+! counters cancel out, or they're taking some serious poison damage.
Oh, and you can use it to kill opponents' utility creatures, or maybe prevent a big baddy from killing you via life loss.
.Blaze.
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
The more I think about it the more I like this card. It's reusable removal, even if it's a little slow, that makes one of your opponent's creatures hit you for the wrong type of damage. It's not omg amazing, but it's a solid rare that has a lot more going on for it then it first appears.
GoatKnapper
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
this card is much, much better than it first reads. Pulled it out of my first few packs, wasnt thrilled on it but turned out pretty good in use. Possible combos, recurring control, or the possiblility to help you max your poisin...not the best in set at anything in particular but fun and versatile..4/5
Shirei's supporting minions will be glad to have this
Lavrant
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I found this is great at hosing infect decks that rely on small quick creatures like Glistener Elf and Blighted Agent. The fact that it grants infect is irrelevant when you're using it as repeatable removal against a deck where all the creatures already have infect!
kenethare
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
1.) Amazing card in limited. 2.) I thought of Protean Hydra first for combos.
tom_hero
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Surprisingly good in limited as recurring removal. As the games are generally longer, you end up getting some serious card advantage if you're picking off 1-toughness guys. Constructed: 3 Limited: 4 Total: 3.5
Kryptnyt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you plan to use this as removal, its not so bad against most weenie decks. against infect it is slow but doesn't give the opponent's creature any added firepower. against a normal damage deck it actually stops the damage by turning it into poison, and if that isnt your opponent's win condition and they don't have proliferate, you're set. Problem is, a lot of control is in standard right now, playing things like the Titans, which will not fall to this very fast and actually kill you quicker when they have infect. hmm...
TPmanW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Morselhoarder or Grim Poppet perhaps? Deity of Scars could use some regeneration fuel. Or run it with Kulrath Knight where it can double as a pacifism? Also remember this thing can kill indestructible creatures... often very slowly.
JoralG
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I used this with decent results in a Melira based deck, use on my opponents creatures when Melira is out to slowly kill them while keeping them from hurting me or use it on a 1 toughness creature even if Melira isn't out and they only get one swing with it, for poison instead of life. Then later in the game after I sweep with a Black Sun I can put the oil on one of own creatures like Thrun or Melira herself and swing in for poison.
Not saying it's going to be a tournament deck idea or anything, but it has it's uses.
modestmouse_55
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
should not be rare i used it as removal at the prerelease.
SeiberTross
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Bloodghast early. Deity of Scars and Carnifex Demon for later game...add in lots of black death. Could be a great black/green extended griefer deck.
Ninjakraken
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Its for MORTARPOD! lookee! if you can reliably get out tokens(Sengir Autocrat), you can give them infect and sacrifice them to do do poison counters for 4 mana!
DeathDark
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Some nice offensive and defensive capabilities.
For White/Black, use with pacifying spells.
chrishocker
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I laughed when my opponent played one on my creatures, but then i realized all of my creatures were going to die and i wouldn't even be able to deal damage to him.
Flavour-wise, I would've loved it if this had "When enchanted creature dies, return it to play under your control" (having lost the -1/-1s on its brief trip to the graveyard). Dunno if you could fit that into mono-black though....
This could be good with Simic Guildmage, swapping it all around the place at your convenience.
Beyond that, it's pretty fun. With all the fuss about the oil, im glad we finally have cards with this and Phyresis as their names. Also.... it reminds me a little of Mark of Eviction.
Cuervo_
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(15 votes)
Noooooooo. This card is bad. Get over it. Stop looking for ways for this bad card to not be bad... Being bad is simply in it's nature.
@kenethare Kudos for being the first to mention the Hydra here ... although that doesn't necessarily mean you were the first to think up the combo. ;)
It's a nice little combo (also with Scute Mob ... and now there's another hydra), since you can use proliferate effects to both up your opponent's poison AND make your guys bigger.
pedrodyl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Essentially a newer, cheaper Traveling Plague that uses counters instead of -x/-x, and gives it infect and isn't as fast. Ok so there not identical ha but they are pretty similar
Viperouslito
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Amazing for direct damage. Otherwise there are few uses for this card. I use him in my Kaervek, The Merciless EDH deck. Sticks around for (at most) 4 upkeeps of direct damage infect to target creature or player. If Glistening Oil kills him, Kaervek returns to the commander zone and the oil bounces back to your hand for the recast. Devastating.
chrisAAMO
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Similar to Bonds of Fate but with recursion. And deadlier.
are you kidding me this is a 5/5. it may not look like much but a two cast card that never goes away and helps almost any situation is an incredible thing. disenchants and counter spells only slow it down. it's good in your opening hand and it can make your endgame. for example: your opponent is using gain life and/or few to no creatures? kill him with poison counters. he's got lots of small creatures? take 1 out every turn or 2. he's using big creatures? slap this bad boy on your blocker. when his attacker kills your blocker put it on his now much smaller creature and negate it's damage until it's small enough to kill/dies on it's own. you can put 1 in your deck or you can put 4 in your deck, it's one of the very rare cards that is even better with two on the field. no it isn't a quick kill spell i'll give you that, but it's got enough good combos to be the center of a deck and it never goes away so that deck will be super reliable.
Now, after having this card for a year, I figured a good way to put it to use:
Have it in a Black Aggro EDH deck, with Mirri the Cursed as your general.
Mirri has haste, flying and first strike. Like all the shenanigans that Phyrexian Crusader can pull off, giving her infect is quite deadly.
Not only that, but an aggressive general dies quickly. This cards recycling effect is very useful when this happens, so you can attack with her, probably lose her, and then try it again next turn.
However, Grafted Exoskeleton seems like a better card in this case. The negative counters are really the problem here, rather than sticking on the field (artifacts, are more susceptible to destruction, I believe)
Regardless, it's, overall, mediocre. If the -1/-1 ability wasn't there, then it'd be much more efficient.
DoragonShinzui
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Amusing how effective it is against infect.
SkyyValentine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Makes me sad to see this card rated so low. It's one of my favorite cards of all time. My favorite use for it is to combo it with Evershrike. As long as Evershrike is in your graveyard, this card makes it a 4/4 flying, infect, flash for 4 black mana. Beyond that, throw it on a Carnifax Demon or use it to target a 1/1 infect equipped with Livewire Lash for cheap poison counters or just throw it on a Phyrexian Obliterator and make your opponent weep. So many uses. I can't rate this card high enough.
Squall238
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Throw it on something with undying.
bumway
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
O...M...G... protean hydra....i think i need to clean myself up... but seriously tho, yeah, think about it. the -1/-1 counter cancels out the +1/+1 counter and they both leave the monster...now what happens when a +1/+1 counter leaves the hydra? *insert evil laugh here* that's what happens.
TzarChasm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Um... wouldn't this be awesome as balls with Geralf's Messenger? Infect aside, it resets undying every turn and can get him bounced in and out pretty quickly—and infinitely, since this thing keeps returning to your hand.
It may not be a particularly flashy card, but I'm digging the flavor of it. It slowly kills the creature, makes it infectious, and even when you think you've seen the last of it, there's always a little bit more. That's exactly what the Phyrexian Oil is.
Sleazebag
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
One of my favorite "bad" cards. I even made a deck using this as one of its centerpieces.
Together with Melira,Sylvok Outcast this card simply does SO MUCH.
So how do they interact?
If Melira is already on the table when you play Glistening Oil, its effect will overwrite Melira, giving the creature Infect. However, you can't get poison counters, and your creatures can't get -1/-1 counters placed on them! This is essentially a "pacifism" (although it can still attack/block, and it can still in theory deal damage, just that damage does absolutely nothing) that kills their creature over time AND returns to your hand to repeat the deed.
Damn thats good, but there's more!
Etched Monstrosity joins the party. With Melira in play he comes out for a 10/10 for only 5 mana. Now its time to enchant it with the glistening oil that just returned to your hand for a lovely 10/10 infect that doesn't get smaller! All of a sudden your Monstrosity turns into a OH-KO engine!
Add Canopy Covers for protecting your Melira / Ensuring your Etched Monstrosity gets in for the kill. Add in some essentials to streamline your deck (4 BoP, 4 G'Zeniths, Some Worldy Tutors, and plenty of black disruption) and we now have a unique and fun deck that actually wins. Also added a Thrun, the Last Troll to tutor for vs those counter heavy decks.
AkiraHayakawa
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Leave it to Wizards to sneak an X-Files reference into the game.
Nucleon
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I just realized some serious flavor here. You don't want to use this card in-set. Infect-heavy environments make it fairly useless. You also don't want to use this on your own creatures, you have Phyresis for that.
No, the use for this card is to bring Phyrexia to others. You infect the incompleat with the Glistening Oil, slowly killing them while making them harmless against you, due to them likely not dealing the proper type of damage.
You are an invader. You, the player, are spreading the blessings of Phyrexia.
This is a pretty good card. Do not use this for granting units infect though, there are better cards. This card is essentially a -1/-1 counter generator for a creature and you always get it back into your wind. I run one in my modern wither deck.
Comments (58)
This + carnifex demon
think about it...
...see it yet?
oh... wow!
Between Grafted Exoskeleton, Phyresis, and this, there aren't any other permanents that grant infect.
You'll be putting this on some seriously powerful creatures, of course,
And this sort of counters the two-for-one that most auras face.
My recommendation:
Put this on a creature with Blade of the Bloodchief.
(Vampire Nighthawk seems like a REALLY good candidate.)
The -1/-1 and +1/+! counters cancel out, or they're taking some serious poison damage.
Oh, and you can use it to kill opponents' utility creatures, or maybe prevent a big baddy from killing you via life loss.
You overlooked Corrupted Conscience.
For everyone else, what about Etched Monstrosity?
2.) I thought of Protean Hydra first for combos.
Constructed: 3 Limited: 4 Total: 3.5
Problem is, a lot of control is in standard right now, playing things like the Titans, which will not fall to this very fast and actually kill you quicker when they have infect. hmm...
Not saying it's going to be a tournament deck idea or anything, but it has it's uses.
if you can reliably get out tokens(Sengir Autocrat), you can give them infect and sacrifice them to do do poison counters for 4 mana!
For White/Black, use with pacifying spells.
This could be good with Simic Guildmage, swapping it all around the place at your convenience.
Beyond that, it's pretty fun. With all the fuss about the oil, im glad we finally have cards with this and Phyresis as their names. Also.... it reminds me a little of Mark of Eviction.
Tl;dr bad card is bad.
Nether Traitor
yay =)
It's a nice little combo (also with Scute Mob ... and now there's another hydra), since you can use proliferate effects to both up your opponent's poison AND make your guys bigger.
Ok so there not identical ha but they are pretty similar
Have it in a Black Aggro EDH deck, with Mirri the Cursed as your general.
Mirri has haste, flying and first strike. Like all the shenanigans that Phyrexian Crusader can pull off, giving her infect is quite deadly.
Not only that, but an aggressive general dies quickly. This cards recycling effect is very useful when this happens, so you can attack with her, probably lose her, and then try it again next turn.
However, Grafted Exoskeleton seems like a better card in this case. The negative counters are really the problem here, rather than sticking on the field (artifacts, are more susceptible to destruction, I believe)
Regardless, it's, overall, mediocre. If the -1/-1 ability wasn't there, then it'd be much more efficient.
Together with Melira,Sylvok Outcast this card simply does SO MUCH.
So how do they interact?
If Melira is already on the table when you play Glistening Oil, its effect will overwrite Melira, giving the creature Infect.
However, you can't get poison counters, and your creatures can't get -1/-1 counters placed on them! This is essentially a "pacifism" (although it can still attack/block, and it can still in theory deal damage, just that damage does absolutely nothing) that kills their creature over time AND returns to your hand to repeat the deed.
Damn thats good, but there's more!
Etched Monstrosity joins the party. With Melira in play he comes out for a 10/10 for only 5 mana. Now its time to enchant it with the glistening oil that just returned to your hand for a lovely 10/10 infect that doesn't get smaller! All of a sudden your Monstrosity turns into a OH-KO engine!
Add Canopy Covers for protecting your Melira / Ensuring your Etched Monstrosity gets in for the kill. Add in some essentials to streamline your deck (4 BoP, 4 G'Zeniths, Some Worldy Tutors, and plenty of black disruption) and we now have a unique and fun deck that actually wins.
Also added a Thrun, the Last Troll to tutor for vs those counter heavy decks.
No, the use for this card is to bring Phyrexia to others. You infect the incompleat with the Glistening Oil, slowly killing them while making them harmless against you, due to them likely not dealing the proper type of damage.
You are an invader. You, the player, are spreading the blessings of Phyrexia.
5/5 for Vorthosgasm alone.
Also also Ball Lightning and its various wannabes.
And we still have to deal with Mirrodin and New Phyrexia?
Gee, goes to show how much I hate Wurmcoil Engine.