very scary beast that I can see as an amazing finisher for MBC.
H4yd3n
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(6 votes)
This is the very definition of powercreep. Strictly better than Grizzly Bears.
Rumblin-Slumm
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(7 votes)
This dude looks ready to party. Strictly more bad ass than Phyrexian Negator.
VarteDod
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(25 votes)
Oh, so those witty Phyrexians finally fixed Phyrexian Negator's polarity system.
Volcre
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I guess this is why they printed Go for the Throat... else this thing would be near unbeatable...
Chamale
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(8 votes)
->Hey guys, most players don't use walls. ->Not even Wall of Frost? ->It's good, but most tournament decks don't use it. ->Well, let's give them a really good reason to block with walls.
Part of me wants to mention It That Betrays as a combo with this card, but I know that any deck unable to withstand the Obliterator will be dead long before It That Betrays might have come into play.
Some people will say, "it dies to Go For the Throat" or "it's stopped by Mana Leak". Walls, kill spells, and counterspells stop this, but it could be too late. Fact: Unless you can stop the Obliterator before it attacks, you will lose many permanents or a quarter of your life total. Leaving enough mana open for a counterspell will slow down your tempo, and not many decks will be able to handle that loss. This is a very good creature, and it will likely be one of the biggest dangers on the field.
PhyrexianFailure
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Everything about it is awsome, from the art to the abilities. i find it funny that it obsoleted negator, like blightsteel did to darksteel, but this doesnt get hated on.
Boakes2047
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(25 votes)
"F*** IT" - Wizards of the Coast
Combolulz
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(18 votes)
You remember the look on our faces when we saw vampire nighthawk?
"3 mana... Not a bad cost.
2/3 body... okay. It's not terrible.
Flying... Yeah, now it's playable.
Deathtouch... Oh snap, it's above the curve.
Lifelink... WTF?!!!!! "
Yea , well now look at our faces when we see this card
4 black mana... ok seems cool , black too.
5/5 body....lol for 4 mana? There MUST be a drawback otherwise this would seem broken.
Trample - Wait , so it's playable...and it's an early trampler? Whoa.
"Whenever a source deals damage to phyrexian obliterator the source's controller sacrafices that many permanents" - LOLOMGWTFBBQ , THIS THING BRINGS DOWN DUDES FASTER THAN A FRENCH HOOKER ON PAYDAY!
Flavortext- Wait , no more abilities? No drawbacks? WTF WIZARDS!!!!
Leonidus78
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(11 votes)
Damn wizards ... what were you thinking?
rinoh20
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(15 votes)
i read this once. then i read it again. and if it says what i think it says, a little of my soul has died. mono-green part of me, you will be missed.
busdude
★☆☆☆☆ (1.9/5.0)(7 votes)
4.9, really? Had to rate this low just to balance it, even though he's obviously not a bad card, he's not 4.9.
The only colors that could have difficulty dealing with this guy are green and red, and even they have access to answers like Tumble Magnet, and Dismember.
MBC isn't viable right now despite all the claims after every single set that it will be.
Gabriel422
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The only thing I hate about this card is the mythic status, which means I won't have the pleasure of playing with one. But I guess justified since mythics like this sell the set.
Bluecash
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Phyrexian Obliterator, I love you.
bigdeezy88
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(1 vote)
i think you could make him splashable in a black green casual deck of course. you could use glissa the traitor as well. primeval titan can throw out all the swamps you dont already have if you ramp to him first.
*Starts tearing up*
No words...
Should have sent,... a poet.
ConsoleCleric
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(5 votes)
Juzam Djinn just fell into a coma and died.
I like the artist for this card, he's a real good one.
raadface
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
this card is just ridiculous it's like wizards is trying to revive mono-black or something lol..
NocteMundi
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(12 votes)
Apparently Wizards thought it wasn't powerful enough, so they gave it trample.
Smooth.
TheSwarm
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This guy.. This guy is interesting. Weird Monoblack cruel control will definantly make an appearance I think. between this, despise to take care of opponent mystics and jaces, and lashwrithe monoblack looks good. Turn four obliterator into turn five lashwrithe swinging 9/9 trample turn five that kills permanents... yes please.
God_Of_The_Smurfs
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
*J1zzes explosively in pants* 5/5
jumpenrun
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Freaking IMBA. What the hell was MTG thinking. MBC for the next expansion set because Liliana maybe back?
greg2367
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Just a big beater? Yeah. Swings for 5 a turn, costs 4. Can't be removed by damage, including other creatures. You get no immediate value from him, so Jace can bounce him and he'll get Condemn'd and Oust'd a lot. If the mirror is ever relevant he dies to Go for the Throat. He only swings through for 2 damage over a Sword-Feast-Famine'd creature. If he ever gets tier 1 they'll SB Wall of Tanglecord for him ;__;
All that being said, he sure is one hell of a beater. Don't EVER fight him fair. PS: My favorite creature ever. 'Behold blessed perfection"
SloanMcgee
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Does anybody else think that Wizards is going through a phase of "Phyrexia makes stuff better" with Blightsteel Colossus over Darksteel Colossus and this? On the other hand, I don't like how Wizards is going back on the promise about mythic rares being too powerful.
WhiteyMcFly
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
-Obligatory- Exodia, OBLITERATE!
Mightyass
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I could imagine some fun with this and Arena...
SeiberTross
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Type your comment here.
Phantom950
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
dude is gonna tank shit
dragonking987
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Wow... Thank god it dose not have shroud and that it's not splashable.
Mr.Wimples if you presented this card to a WOTC employee ten years ago they would have said it should coast 3 mana and be a common that was when the urzas block was coming out. While the new sets are vary powerful and this is just plain broken the urzas block still manages to make all the new stuff look week.
Jokergius Kiku's, Shadow reads Target creature deals damage to itself equal to its power. So it is Phyrexian Obliterator doing the damage not Kiku's Shadow. So it would be the controller of Phyrexian Obliterator who loses the 5 permanents.
PhyrexianAdvocate
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Continuing the noble Mythic tradition of cards that make people flip out at first and then go "Meh." a few months later.
Really. White exiles/pacifies it, Black spot removes it, Blue bounces or counters it. The only colors that care are Red and Green, except we've got Dismember in the same set probably, specifically, to kill this guy. Negator was a champ because you could reliably Rit him out on turn 1 and beat your opponent's head in before they knew what was happening. This guy is, admittedly terrifying if you don't have an answer for him, but I really don't think he's going to be as impressive as everyone seems to think he's going to be.
(Green gets to spot remove it too, actually Beast Within exists.)
EvilCartographer
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm torn. It's obviously a 5 star card, but it is just like Baneslayer. If it wasn't limited by its Mythic availability, it would be grotesquely OP. But that is, literally, the only drawback to this card. It doesn't have a built in downside, or penalty, it's just damned difficult to actually own. I feel like that should somehow penalize the rating. A card shouldn't be this perfect.
EDIT - Just realized that this guy dies quite nicely to Dismember OR Cathedral Membrane's effect, both of which were probably introduced just to deal with this guy.
Sironos
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(13 votes)
Mythic seems to have become an excuse to print way too overpowered creatures. Don't give me that "dies to removal, so it's fair" phrase; By that logic, a 20/20 trample flying infect double strike creature at 3CMC would be fair, as long as it doesn't have shroud, indestruct, reg or pro.
Where is the drawback? When you print something so blatantly above the curve, it's supposed to have a drawback, not a huge advantage slapped on (4 black mana symbols doesn't justify this). I love black, powerful creatures, but this is just silly.
GruesomeGoo
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(8 votes)
WHAAAT
thepillow
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Royal assassin is still standard... plenty of answers but this card is great and is something u need to get rid of (unless you have a wall). Nice to have a 4 mana kill spell magnet, also consider counterspells and bounce. Love this card and i'm going to get a playset.
Aradimar
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(7 votes)
This card is ridiculous, whatever happened to the drawbacks cards used to have. They made it so you had to play cards smartly rather then just whenever. Even lords nowadays only affect your side. Power creep needs to be put in check and bannings need to be used more often.
majinara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Nice card. Not as good as Negator was with Dark Ritual, but still good. Beeing one of the few actually powerful cards from this set, it's of course mythic. T_T
Paleopaladin
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(5 votes)
Currently, google and bing shopping searches put's pre-orders of this dude at $20-$30. Almost seems like an investment...lol.
Radagast
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(5 votes)
Silliness, and following the new tradition set by Wallet-Slayer and the Titans that if a creature is a "finisher" it should be mythic rare and stupidly powerful. Great... not...
Anyone else remember when finishers (Serra Angle and Sengir Vampire) were uncommons, easily obtained, and wouldn't break the bank? Look at how far we've "progressed" from those days...
Mr.Wimples
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(12 votes)
If you presented this card to a WOTC employee ten years ago, they would've done one of these
(The art, not the card name)
WateryMind
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
....... *brain explodes*
PtolemisPlaneswalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
"Hell yes, I'll do mono-black just for this card."
: I fling my titan at you for lethal : fine... *Redirect* well they wouldn't do it again would they?
Gamma_Guy
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(10 votes)
I'm disgusted by this card. I don't care if you can take care of it in some colors, with some cards. Green and Red have almost no way to deal with this, and it will often spell game over for them if it hits the field, which can happen as early as turn 3 in standard. I do not understand how Wizards could let something so blatantly unfair be printed. Oh wait, they're making lots of money off it. That's right, they're greedy.
Shadoflaam
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
WHY IN GOD'S NAME DOES IT HAVE TRAMPLE? "Oh, yeah, uh, Bill, it's a great mythic, gonna be amazingly OP, but, y'know, it needs a keyword ability. I think, since it's, y'know, 5/-" "TRAMPLE" "Thanks."
SleetFox
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(5 votes)
This is the perfect example of a card that is likely to see no high-level tournament play despite being better than almost everything out there. It's all about whether or not there's a deck good enough to fit it.
Of course, it's possible this finds its way into vampire decks or starts an a new archetype entirely. Time will tell.
blindthrall
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Jokergius: Jesus, read the card before you type. Target creature deals damage equal to itself. Who controls the Obliterator?
This is fittingly disgusting as the pinnacle of Phyrexian evolution.
AColonyOfAnts
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
For all of you complaining about how this card is overpowered against green/red, there's always Dismember. Now stop qq'ing and play the game.
DragoKnight
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Incite finally has purpose!!! xD Make your opponent attack into Obliterator!!!
All jokes aside, I don't really think the Obliterator is that amazing. Good, but not really amazing. Your opponent is definitely not going to attack into it and I doubt your opponent will block into it either. 4 Black means you're either going to go for a mono-black deck or fill it with a lot of dual lands. Then again, if B/R vampires can do it, I'm sure someone else can too.
Equinox523
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card poses so many problems.
- Should a red player simply absorb 5 a turn? Or risk losing 6 permanents by double Lightning Bolting it? - Token-heavy decks cannot simply chump block it due to trample. Eldrazi tokens, with 0 power, may actually help stave off the sacrifice ability, but not the trample unless you throw 5 at it. - Huge creatures cannot successfully block it their controller without sustaining serious economic sacrifice. This is the first creature in recent memory that punishes damage overkill. - Guard Gomozoa, while a great defender, can only neutralize 3 of its damage due to trample, unless you somehow reduce its power. - Ironically, black may have a hard time dealing with this due to its immunity to Terrors and Doom Blades if the user doesn't factor it in. Maybe Dismember will become more popular?
DeathDark
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hm. Heh. Ha, ha. HA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAAAAAHAHAHAHA!
Yes...
Splizer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would have liked to see Phyrexian Negator in this set. Instead we got this hugegolliathmongous monolithmythic uberbaby that would look fairly sexy in my mono-black aggro.
"Behold blessed perfection? Where's the boobs?" -Me
scorpiolegend
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
4 CMC 5/5 Trample An ability that makes it defensive, aggressive, and breaks nearly all red decks.
Broken.
WiggleWurm
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Last time I checked Tumble Magnet was still a legitimate card in Standard.
oj48
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(6 votes)
*** this game. I love Black, I have always loved awesome black creatures, I even own one of these cards, got 2 boosters got this an karn, but seriously, something like this could cost BBBBB and still be worthy of mythic status, ***, it could even cost BBBBBB and still be mythic status, why the *** is this so blatantly broken? wizards, i can kind of appreciate you wankers trying to push black, but seriously. This is not the way to do it. this is just unethical, yes, theres plenty of ways to deal with it, but thats not the point, the fact is there is no way to get rid of it, because you've already printed it. seriously, you guys need to grab hold of the reins, you greedy money grubbing scumbags don't need to destroy the fun of the game to make money, and this card is a prime example of doing exactly that. well done you greedy fuckholes. you really are intent on destroying the fun of the game aren't you? And for the record, Dragonking987, Phyrexian Negator was in Urza's Block and they printed it as rare, i'm pretty sure they'd realise this is better than that. hm? retard.
mflanaga
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(11 votes)
Although I LOVE this card, it makes me wish there were more mono-colored cards. Like : Counter target spell, you may have its controller draw a card, if you do, draw a card. Or : Destroy all creatures, then return a creature from your graveyard to the battlefield. Stuff like that.
darkgnosis
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Completely kicks the arse of a Chaos Obliterator: "Shoot it with your lascannon" "OK!" *shoots cannon* "Hey, it didn't work and.... guys? How the hell did you all die just then!?"
LarsBek
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
Inflation this is... this card is simply too powerfull and a good example of the fact that Wizards are getting desperate to keep people buying cards. PLEASE WotC do not ruin the balance of this fine game!
kor6sic6
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
HOLY EFFING CRAP. Especially after what Marchangel pointe out. No one should be able to get a mythic out on T1.
LiXinjian
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(12 votes)
It's not like green's not going to play Beast Within, heh? Who's complaining that BW is more versatile and, therefore, more likely to be played in large numbers? No one. What makes JTMS great? Versatility. Obliterator is just a "unblockable" beatstick. It fills a very narrow role, in a very limited number of decks. It's not going to pop all over the place and warp the metagame.
I think Wizards realized that as long as they provided a healthy amount of removal for all colors, it was okay to make powerful and flashy creatures. And we're benefiting from it. The whole game thrives on cool creatures with nifty abilities. It's like DnD at higher levels: you can do great things and you feel awesome doing them, but your enemies can do a lot too, so the balance (usually) remains. Everybody's happy. Or should be.
altheuser
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(29 votes)
This guy is why we have 'New Phyrexia' instead of 'Mirrodin Pure'.
EggShen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@ Toasticus -
Grappling hook grants double strike, which is normally sweet, but actually doesn't work very well with the Obliterator. The first strike inherent in double strike means he won't be taking combat damage very often, & therefore won't be destroying permanents very often.
TheDanish
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Incredible. Perhaps once cawblade rotates out we'll see mono-black Phyrexian Obliterater with Sword of War and Peace & Sword of Feast and Famine. Protection from white removal, black removal, and Beast Within.
Stormseye
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Your Juzam is worth how much now?
Axelle
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@kor6sic6: Dragonmaster Outcast. I got my Mythic out on turn 1, what're you gonna do about it?
(Although turn 1 is probably not the best time for Dragonmaster Outcast.)
Toasticus
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The idea of splashing red for Incite is kind of amusing. I wonder what other (and hopefully, better) options there are out there to force your opponent to damage this guy. edit: EggShen, you're completely right, thanks for pointing that out. Grappling Hook doesn't really help Obliterator. Funny how that Double Strike bonus gets flipped into a drawback of sorts.
How about Tainted Strike? Suddenly the prospect of whether to block the Obliterator becomes much more complex.
Gishra
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Terribly designed (or developed I suppose) card. Why not just 3b? Or 6/6? Or 3b 6/6 and tack on flying? At this point, why not? If Wizards doesn't remember that they can't just make cards better than what came before to make cards impressive then this game's powercreep is going to spiral out of control and the long term health of the game will be ruined. We need the next Masques/Kamigawa block to come sooner rather than later.
jmnic63
★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Funny thing...I actually pulled two of these out of one box not including the six other mythics I pulled. So my son was not to impressed by the Phyrexian Obliterator until I played it. He didn't realize that on top of its awsome ability it had trample. The look on his face was priceless! I can't wait to attach a Lure to it just to add insult to injury. Great card!
Thrull_Champion
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
"*** it"-Wizards of the Coast
Donovan_Fabian
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I don't see why all the hype here honestly. Yes, it's a ridiculously overpowered card.. but it's also printed at the same time as about 5 different removals that handle it.
Let's see.. there's dismember obviously, mind control, volition reigns, go for the throat, consuming vapors, geth's verdict, steal it with an act of aggression and sac. it to a culling dias, gatekeeper of malakir, beast within, dispatch, condemn, and so on and so forth. Granted that many of them are in black.
Really, the only time this is deadly is against a full out red aggro deck that has no response to it (although said same deck can also just kill you on turn 3 before this ever gets played), and on top of all that it's 100% mono black.
Oh and that's not even including the colorless removals like brittle effigy.
Still a completely awesome card, but like how thrun was printed last set at the same time as when they printed infect and black sun zenith keeps them under control. Had thrun been printed any other time it would have been completely game breaking, and this card too, had it not been printed during a time where there are a lot of new ways to kill it without doing any damage to it.
Giving it a 5/5 anyways, because it's so powerful what other score can you give to it.
Rikiaz
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Perfect art.
Awesome flavour.
Cool name.
Sweet (Looking) Mana cost. (I am attracted to cards with lots of mana symbols in it's cost, don't know why.)
...no drawbacks..................=)
EDIT: First pack of new Phyrexia ever pulled one of these =) The mono-black me is happy, the me is sad he isn't splashable.
Just1Micky
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Rikiaz, the first one of New Phyrexia I got also had one of these lol.
Please stop being 25 dollars so I don't feel dirty buying a playset of you.
Sincerely, MBC Player #10584
GoatKnapper
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
True Story: Today I traded in 2 cards for nine packs (me and my friend got a box), in ONE pack i pulled a Karn Liberated and a Foil one of these baddies. It was a good pack to open. And a good day.
As for this card...Absolutely amazing in every way..but NOT insta win unaided, altho im sure it could be very easily against many decks.. 5/5 til the cows come home....than the cows will be sacrificed.
goodlyknight
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(7 votes)
Anybody that doesn't like this guy is holding out because they love old power and old cards. It is nice to see a new mover and a shaker out on the battlefield. I've played with this, it is powerful, yet it can also be defeated. Black has always had crazy big horrors or demons or whatever that had to be dealt with immediately. I think it even has a relatively classic feel and look on the battlefield, especially when you see the fear in the opponents eyes... third turn, nice; second turn, awesome; first turn, Obliterator!!!
Mavlis
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card is very good, however it's very hindered from being great. The very unfortunate part is how much black has gained to be anti-red - between Phyrexian Crusader and this guy and, of course, the new addition of Sword of War and Peace. While I won't deny this card isn't good in general, the amount of harm is disproportionately given to red given it has no non-damaged based removal to deal with this guy. The other unfortunate thing for this card is that it's right in the range of dismember (whereas titans exceed it), and - at least in speaking of standard, a format used to dealing with protection-bearing, sword-wielding birds shouldn't have too much problem dealing with this guy. The other issue is, that, mono-black is a little bit weak now as it is, and while you can definitely stick him in a 2 color deck (with 12 dual lands per combination), he just feels like he's a conceptually good card that needs the format to change for him to be good - maybe in rotation.
Increasing the CMC of a Phyrexian Negator by one apparently allows changing his drawback into an equally big advantage...given of course that you change the color of the expansion symbol to orange, too.
Red and green can suck on that one. (Or rather, their side will get completely sucked through this card.) Imo this dude at least shouldn't be able to block, so players could try to stomp their mono-black opponent over before he does...
Not even saying it's overpowered. Just not that type of Mythic Rare i like.
Amazing flavor thoguh.
DarthParallax
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(11 votes)
Emrakul: What makes you think we should hire you?
Phyrexian Obliterator: RAAAWWWWWRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kozilek: Interesting. What do you like most about our company?
Phyrexian Obliterator: RAAAWWWWWRRR!!!!!!!!!!!
Ulamog: Do you see yourself as looking at this as a career, one you might be promoted in?
Phyrexian Obliterator: RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(eats the Eldrazi, because they're taking too long and he's bored and wants to eat something)
Yawgmoth's Ghost: Damnit, I wish I'd thought of making one of those :(
also, if the Phyrexians have taken over the plane, why isnt this a common? (jk, lol limited would be a bit stupid o.O)
TPmanW
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Yah this guy makes me look forward to Innistrad. I wonder whether there'll be a monocolor theme in general (oh god yes) or just in black. That and I suspect there might be some tribal elements (vampires or minotaurs) what with Xenograft seeing print in Scars block where it really doesn't serve much of a purpouse. Here's hoping for a Didgeridoo reprint.
statiefreez
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want to see someone hit this with Shivan Meteor. Although chances are, you'd have to Mindslaver someone to make them do it.
volsak
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I would like this card a lot more if it weren't a rip-off of one of the most iconic suicide black creatures of all time. It's cards like these that make the current standard environment boring to older players. Flavorless and stupidly overpowered.
Connotations and griping aside, the card itself is probably one of the most powerful black creatures printed.
Brandon_Chung
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Why is this allowed to live?!
Drewid
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(5 votes)
I cant think of anything to post on this card besides whining and complaining that its overpowered, when really what i should be doing is putting a deck together with him and nemesis mask and calling it a day. i guess its fair since blue still has Storm crow
Adammoroni
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
guys! with legacy making a comeback, this is the perfect time for some shenanigans! Enchant the Obliterator with Pariah and see if they ever try to damage you again! for further fun, Indestructablity!
Arcos
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(7 votes)
I hate cards like this. It's a classic example of a card that won't be anywhere near as good as it looks in competitive play where you can sideboard answers for it, but will cause a tremendous amount of frustration for casual players.
Cheza
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
Quote: I hate cards like this. It's a classic example of a card that won't be anywhere near as good as it looks in competitive play where you can sideboard answers for it, but will cause a tremendous amount of frustration for casual players. Absolutely!
It was only a matter of time when R&D gives up to the "the newbies like to play black demons" stupidness and print a card like this. It's just a tradition to print a powerful creature like baneslayer angel to the currently weakest color just to rotate the cycle, so noone will notice how boringly stupid the whole thing is. Buy your own copy of the currently most powerful deck and go for it... And as usual, it's a creature with the corresponding destruction spells within the same set.
I wonder if the target audience for Magic is really that stupid. If they really like the game as it is today... And I wonder if MaRo is really behind this, it would simply reduce my respect.
Of course you could add the response card for this creature in your sideboard and there are surprisingly few comments with "dies to ...", but as I quoted the relevant argument above, the problem doesn't come from tournament issues, but it's about the casual game table, where the most important part of the game is FUN and not winning. There will be uncountable situations, where the game ends up being unfun. And I hate the responsible person/team for just these occasions.
Tynansdtm
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(15 votes)
Phyrexian Negator at least had a downside to make up for the fact that it was undercosted. This card just feels like cheating.
mikebeingmike
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I LoLed when I Lignified my friend's obliterator.
Wulfsten
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(8 votes)
This is a stupid card. 5/5 trample and a devastating ability for 4 mana? It throughs the very idea of balance out the window. And of course, it's a mythic rare. It's like R&D doesn't think balance applies to mythic rares. What a load of -
Malnourished_Student
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I think, if I included this in a deck, that I would swing with mana spare and I'd either get 5 damage through or get it blocked and then pump my opponents creature as much as possible.
Slap A darksteel plate and Pariah on this thing and itll pretty much be a pit of sacrifice
jemas42
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Then you play Mimic Vat, and they don't even want to kill it.
Endreon
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
You can Just exile it! The only reason all of us like this game so much is because no card is invincible. Walls block it! If you are non standard use reroute! Use Divine Verdict! There are so many ways just have fun playing this awesome game!
SparkleTiger
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This card showcases the benefits of playing Mono-Black. Cards like Lashwrithe and Nightmare already push the theme, but an all-around powerhouse like this really give the "devote your whole being to black" theme. Personally, I love it. The card's got great flavor, amazing artwork, and is just powerful for a 4CMC.
And honestly it's not that broken. Magic knew what they were unleashing on the current standard, that's why the made cards like Dismember (which shuts this guy down completely) and Dispatch etc. This cards triggered ability only further lays down the Red hate (you do NOT want to burn this guy to death), but burn typically already has a problem with dealing with 5+ toughness creatures.
4.5/5 for trying to entice players to go Mono-Black. Or at least run Dark Rituals and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Enemy_Tricolor
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
They should rename this card "Timmy-Trap." It looks terrifying when it hits the battlefield, but I have yet to see it on the winning side of any game.
Asmodi0000
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
When I first saw this card, I was overwhelmed. The Negator was already a powerful card, and for one more , its drawback is reversed. How could this not be the strongest card ever?
After actually facing it, however, it's not really as scary as it reads. The cost is rather prohibitive, and you can treat it as a 5/5 unblockable creature without really having to worry about its scary ability.
Overall, the reason the negator was feared was because it came out during a time when creatureless control decks were very common in standard, and dark ritual allowed you to blast him out on turn 1 and then just proceed to win. The obliterator exists in a very different environment, and while it's still an excellent card, it's manageable.
Unless, of course, you manage to equip/enchant it. Then it can actually be a very nasty headache.
MindEcho
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I am running this guy in a Birthing Pod Deck. It works really well. It by passes the crazy BBBB casting cost, and it can't be countered. And I find that it makes a much better blocker than an attacker... They might want to swing, but not on the ground... So, I make them... with Incite. Then I block... It's pretty sick...
The3rdEmpire
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Amazing card for mono-black players and i wish i had the money to get a playset of it :(
Lateralis0ne
★☆☆☆☆ (1.7/5.0)(8 votes)
Kaizeischi:
If you don't like it, don't play the game. There's simpler, safer TCGs out there for kids like you. The reason not all cards are like this is because of the balance of the game, and the balance of the various formats, player types, and in general the balance of the feel of the game. You can whine and *** all you want (yes, that's what you're doing), but learn to accept the occasional crazy-powerful card, or go back to yu-gi-oh.
/Rant over, Awesome card. Great for mono-black, powerful yet with answers. It's perfectly balanced; just flashy in a set about power and dominance (both in past forms and new incarnations).
lolcats
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I feel like gatherer's ratings are quite silly. According to the gatherer ratings Phyrexian Obliterator is much better than Jace the Mindsculptor somehow. lol? How does that make sense?
Dear Gatherer.wizards.com, Your rating system is silly. :)
PS: Make up your mind on the rules of magic and think about the cards you print a little harder. Just for the lolz.
Also I like this card and Jace I just wanted to comment on this and I have nobody to talk to so the interwebs is the next best thing. :D
Wraique
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(4 votes)
I've butted heads with this guy in 4 draft games (NMS/MBS/SOM). Each game my opponent went swamp, swamp, swamp, swamp, Phyrexian Obliterator. Had no answers. Was handily defeated.
I've drafted this card twice. First time I drafted him I tried to build mono black around him and ended up with a pretty crummy deck because of it. Never even got him onto the board. Second time I drafted him I won the draft but he didn't even make my deck, even though I had 2 ragers, grim affliction and 2 morbid plunders. He's the hardest thing to cast in limited.
BattleFish
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Some people recommend using walls against this but thats definitely not the solution because this thing makes one hell of a blocker, better than any wall. My friend was playing Eldrazi Green but I used Surgical Extraction on Emrakul the only creatures left in his deck was non-flyers. He had some 8/8 and Kozilek out which was a 12/12. No wall was going to save me from this one. But I had two Phyrexian Obliterators out. Point is, unless you have some creature removal, facing an Obliterator in combat is serious FML.
They aren't hard to keep alive if you have surgical extraction. They may be able to remove the first one, but good luck on the second. Having targetted discard adds another level safety.
hugemanatee
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In Soviet Phyrexia Annihilate comes to you!...If that made any sense. I mean because it reminds me of Eldrazi annihilate just in reverse and requiring damage
Aldonius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The prohibitive casting cost of this monster is so easily side stepped even in my black/white deck by one of my favorite black cards... Culling the Weak. I run three of his little brothers(Phrexian Negator's) and just one Obliterator along with two Desolation Angel's, some dark rituals and Phyrexian Walkers for sacrificial fodder.
(but Yeah he's usualy just a 5/5 unblockable for BBBB)
Pontiac
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Juzam's new wing-man for a Friday night magic night on the town. Yay!
samwisel88
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card is powerful. Not TOO powerful, just plain powerful. Blue, black, and white all have plenty of non-damaging removal. Green gets overgrown battlement, which people play anyway, and wall of tanglecord, which now has something other than birds to block. Also, green gets Beast Within. Even red can dismember it. And for those that say dismember isn't enough, I say just burn your opponent till they're dead. This card is a great card when used properly, but it's not some kind of combo-tastic, gamebreaking, meta-defining monster like its grandpappy the Negator or the newly banned Jace. This isn't power creep, it's a shiny new toy that has the potential to steal some, but not all, games if it hits the field.
Ogrenoodle89
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
get this puppy out on turn 1! just drop a swamp, then ornithopter then culling the weak. That will likely be game....
TwoStars
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Enchant it with Lure and watch your opponent's reaction.
SKaREO
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I give him a 3.5 out of 5, just overall its a decent card (not a black baneslayer, but decent)
The problem with this guy is how fast he can be answered with little if any loss of life or permanents.
Counter, Destroy, Sacrifice, every deck has answers to this card by the time he enters play.
I'm sure all the new players think its a super-bomb card, but good luck even having it to block with before its erased from play.
Revelation666
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(13 votes)
The effect of powerful mythic rare cards on casual play; acquire Phyrexian Obliterator from booster pack. T2 Dark Ritual, Phyrexian Obliterator. Opponent Rage-quits. Lets do something else instead!
Cuervo_
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(17 votes)
JANKY, RIGGED, AND OP...
I main deck 4.
monkeybonez
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
ok first i was astunned but after thinking a while its so:
advantages:
1) 5/5 creature for just 4 mana! 2) trample and its ability which makes it more or less unblockable and indestructuble by damage
disadvantages:
1) more or less only playable with pure black deck because u need 4xblack 2) its absolutely no team player! how/where will you integrate this?? 3) if opponent gains control of that somehow... you are fucked up if you have no solution for this
------------
all in one i would say its a 4 because mostly because of the first two disadvantages... and by the way: yeah i have 3 of these because i was "lucky" so i am not jealous... but i cant play this!
Guest742242900
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Dies to Doom Blade.
Khavrion
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
To counter: block the obliterator with a creature. Then have Bazaar Trader give control of said creature to your opponent. Then force him to sacrifice :D
MrBarrelRoll
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Man, as awesome as this dude is, it's just so frustrating to open him in a draft....since, you know, a flashy mythic is so hard to pass up, and trying to play it in a deck is so very tempting, even though it NEVER works out. Still, opening a rare that pays for your next draft makes it sorta ok ^_^
Artscrafter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Khavrion: That doesn't work. If you block and then give the blocker to your opponent, it gets removed from combat. The 5/5 trampler that's blocked, but not by anything in particular anymore, proceeds to smash face as though it weren't blocked at all.
Speaking as a strictly casual player, I'd say that cards like this are a good object lesson in adjusting decks to the metagame. Admittedly this mostly applies if you have a consistent playgroup, but if someone shows up with a deck that has a few of these, and by your next session you aren't packing answers at least in your sideboard, you're doing it wrong.
Admittedly it's awkward for red and green decks in particular, but green has Beast Within and either color can board in Wall of Tanglecord. There's also Brittle Effigy, but I don't generally approve of expecting people to have specific rares as answers.
Red also has Act of Treason and sacrifice effects if you're willing to go that far, but I should also point out Lust for War. Red runs burn and aggro, so it should be able to handle getting hit for 5 a turn if the opponent is taking 3 a turn and can't block with their big scary thing.
BlackFlameAshura
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(5 votes)
I did a double take when I first read this card and I seriously doubt that I was the only one. This card is so unbelievably powerful I'm surprised it doesn't appear to be seeing quite as much tournament play as it deserves.
GengilOrbios
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(47 votes)
What happens when you block this with little girl? Do you have to sac half a permanent?
Ladnarud
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(14 votes)
So I guess something fun like Phyrexian Negator just wasn't obvious and easy enough to use for the soft-headed noobs out there. It just had to be mocked with the creation of this card.
...Ok.
Looks like Baneslayer has a new butt-buddy.
Those of you saying that it's not overpowered because it has lots of removal against it are COMPLETELY missing the point. It's ridiculously extreme mana efficiency for the power that it has. The fact that it doesn't have any protection doesn't matter in the slightest. And don't even start with the "it's so restricting because it's mono-black! /cry /cry" argument.
Would an 8/5 creature with a 4 CMC not be overpowered because it can be Mind Controlled? No. Would a 5/5 creature with Trample and a 3 CMC not be overpowered because it dies to Doom Blade? No. Would a 5/5 creature with Flying, Lifelink, First Strike, and protection from 2 large creature types with a 5 CMC not be overpowered if it were called "Baneslayer Angel" and given a Mythic Rare status? No. Is ANY CARD completely neglected from even being considered to be overpowered just because it doesn't have shroud or indestructibility?
Absolutely not. You're a moron if you think so.
This card is ridiculous and shameful to use. My respect for a magic player goes down considerably when I see them using things like this and Bankslayer. Pitiful card, Wizards.
0.5/5
NoobOfLore
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(8 votes)
I... I didn't even see the trample the first time. That's just adding insult to injury. This card is crazy overpowered.
Arachnos
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(13 votes)
The fact that this abomination's CMC is smaller than that of a Chimney Imp makes me think there's something wrong in here...
Awesome card, no doubt about it! But still... are you sure this is really something that should be able to come out by turn 2 provided you have a Dark Ritual ready, Wizards?
PcvsApple
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Just the art freaks me out... If the controller of this plays say lightning bolt, and I redirect it to this guy, who sacs the permanents?
LuminOfMoonlight
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I've never once seen this card in a DECK, let alone on the battlefield. But I have seen it in, or rather, coming out of a booster.TWICE. The guy that got them, just looked at them, and said ehh, while he put his blighted agent into his U/B infect/control deck.
Henrietta
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
This is a great skill tester card - it's absolutely terrible (in competitive play, at least) but newbs think it's very overpowered. It can only be played in one deck thanks to its mana cost, and that deck is completely terrible. Even then, it doesn't ever do ANYTHING. Practically every good Standard deck is running Dismember somewhere in their 75, and besides that... against Valakut, they just ignore it and kill you with Valakut triggers. Against Spllinter Twin, they just ignore it and kill you with infinite combo. Against Caw-Blade, they deal with it with Into the Roil, counterspells, Dismember, Day of Judgment, Oblivion Ring, or Celestial Purge, almost all of which are in any given 75 with Caw-Blade. And so on. The only tier 1 deck it can do anything useful against is Mono-Red, and even then it's not the end all be all as many Mono-Red lists run Dismember or can manage to get you low enough by the time you play it to burn you out.
Dr_Fletchers
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
A brilliant card in Mono Black Deck, with the power affordablity and nice abilities to go with it this card is why New Phyrexia exists.
It's upsetting, in my opinion, when a card this cool and this powerful is hardly given a second glance because of the metagame it's in. I'm glad everyone comes to the consensus that he's a very good, well-rounded creature, But many ALSO agree that he's extremely manageable. He's in an environment where can kill him without activating his ability. (Dismember), and can do the same without life loss, but needs the (Go for the Throat). I like him, and many people like him, and his flavour is just so awesome. However, him being printed in an environment that is difficult to survive means that he won't see as much play as I would personally like to see him in.
Arachibutyrophobia
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(8 votes)
yea, for four mana you get a 5/5 trampler! and by the way, there's this other ability too...
Kaizeischi
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(21 votes)
Lateralis0ne,
First off, assuming my age before forming a proper argument shows me that you're clearly younger than I am. Secondly, you don't actually FORM a proper argument. You speak of balance, then, and I quote, call the card, "crazy-powerful." There is no balance when certain colors gain cards on incredible, unbalanced strength. Look at Jace. Look at Stoneforge. The developers of Magic banned those cards because they powered up cards far too much and released them into the public without realizing the consequences. Here is a quote from MTG's R&D on the topic of overpowered cards:
"Everyone agrees that innovation is a Very Good Thing and thus we should be constantly pushing the envelope. Well, if we're constantly pushing the envelope and striving to come up with cool new weird and wacky cards, then occasionally we're going to make a mistake." - Randy Buehler
Cards like this are not only a problem for non-black players, but for everyone. People defending this card make a valid point: Obliterator is not seeing play in standard tournaments. Why? Because there just aren't enough fast, efficient, standard-worthy decks that are mono-black. This is not to say that black is not getting a ton of good cards, but they are simply being outclassed and leaving this monster on the sidelines. However, a question arises: For how long? R&D now has only two choices: A, give black amazing cards and turn this into the next Jace, aka causing half the metagame to build decks specifically tailored to support his existence, or B, mellow Black out so this card isn't overpowered AND oversupported, thus causing damage to black players all over the world and shutting out those who enjoy the flavor of monoblack. Look at Dismember. The majority of people playing it DON'T PLAY BLACK. Yet, this is one of the most efficient, if not THE most efficient, removal spells out there. 1 mana of any color and 4 life to wreck everything in standard, INCLUDING this card. The loss of life is supposed to be a restriction, yet this so-called "cost" is completely ignored by serious players. This is exactly what will happen with Obliterator, it simply hasn't happened YET. When two incredible cards are placed in a position to be played in monoblack and NO ONE plays monoblack, something is obviously wrong.
This card is not unstoppable, but neither was Baneslayer, or Jace, or anything else. Nothing in Magic is unstoppable, but this card is just plain Powercreep at its worst and is completely unbalanced and armed to the teeth with unnecessary strengths. No, I don't think Negator would be anywhere near as amazing as it was back in the day, but NO, I don't think completely reversing the effects of a card from NEGATIVE to POSITIVE is a good reason to throw it into the public's hands. You can't block it without being punished, you can't let it through without being punished, and it's extraordinarily mana efficient at only four CMC. The moment black gets a few cheap cards or mana becomes even more ridiculously multi-color efficient than it already is this will flood the metagame and everyone will be singing the same tune. I feel like Magic is tailoring too much to decks that want to make the opponent sweep on turn 4 and really needs to back up a little. If you don't think four CMC can end the metagame, try looking at another fancy little card with a similar cost. I'll leave it up to the imagination what it is.
P.S. Spouting general, uninformative nonsense and attempting to insult me is no way to gain any respect on this site. If you want to attack me for my opinions you could at least have the courtesy to challenge me to a d-d-d-d-duel. ;)
LouisCaravan99
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(17 votes)
This card seems, uh...
Black. Very... black. A bit too black.
Like, REALLY black.
TheRosewater
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(17 votes)
It tramples AND makes you sacrifice?
:P Might as well just say "Unblockable." It's "Win-more," but it only takes a turn to really screw over anyone :/ Why put so much on it? Kinda makes it lose flavor.
Fatspasm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I think Kaizeisch Is probably talking about Quicksilver Amulet! Ive been using them to cast Eldrazi while I can!!!
jetzine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This card. Is pure evil.
TDL
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I love how this card has seen, like, no play whatsoever at the competitive level since it came out. Granted, I haven't been paying that much attention, but it seems that way to me. It's probably because every single color was given a 1 mana instant-speed answer to this guy in the same set. Hooray for Dismember!
starfox444
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If you're considering having access to dark ritual and complaining about this card, this is by no means broken in that environment. Reanimation has been putting out fatties turn 2 for quite a whiile. It's not even hard too.
T1: go on the draw, don't play anything, discard fatty T2: swamp, dark ritual, reanimate dead
I feel like I wasted my money buying these for standard since Innistrad does not have a black instant that allows me to pull this from the graveyard during my opponent's attack and force him or her into losing permanents. Why is it that Wizards won't let us have fun with creatures?
My friend has had two of these in packs. I bought him one of those packs as a farewell gift. I even joked "Even if there's an Obliterator in there, it's yours."
I have never opened one (actually, I've never opened a NPH mythic). What did I do to deserve this.
Thomas_204
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I like how people act as if this card is absolutely horrible, when they fail to realize that standard is not the only format that exists. How about Legacy? Eva Green? Trainwreck? This deck can be run in both of those without even changing anything in it. It's absolutely insane.
As well, in EDH, this card can be thrown in any number of decks that have black because of the length of the games and access to wacky things people always throw in. It's not busted, just very strong in some decks. It's not like goyf, it's not like SoTf. Jace was only ever truly broken in standard, legacy he's still played in a number of decks because of his utility, but it's not nessecary to do so like it was in standard.
tl;dr If you think this card sucks it's because you don't play anything besides standard, or you suck.
Ryney
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Screw Dark Ritualing this second turn. Memniteand Culling of the Weak, baby!
morugatu
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(13 votes)
Love the art and flavor text, however that's where anything 'black' about this begins and ends. It plays and feels more like an eldrazi or green creature than anything. The only major complaint I have is the CMC is totally unfair for a black card without a draw-back.
twinArmaggedons
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.9/5.0)(10 votes)
People 2eem two forget that thii2 ii2 ju2t a creature.
Jace wa2 banned becau2e not much hiit2 plane2walker2, and he didn't have two 2tay long two wiin game2. 2toneforge wa2 banned because iit, agaiin, diidn't need two 2tay long two help wiin game2.
The only color Ii could 2ee haviing a true problem wiith thii2 ii2 red. Green can make token2, and ha2 Bea2t Wiithiin. Black can ea2iily straiight up kiill thii2, no 2weat. Blue is control, with Clau2trophobiia and counter2pell2 galore. And wiith Dii2member even red ha2 an2wer2 to thii2.
The only people that 2hould be afraiid of thii2 guy beiing overpowered are people who don't play removal, iid e2tra, bad one2.
Po2t 2criipt: Ii al2o fiind iit nece22ary two 2ay that the powercreep ii2 iintentiional. Creature2 were way underpowered when compaiired to noncreature 2pell2 at that tiime. Creature2 are ju2t a2 kiillable now, or at lea2t 2ome are. And 2tiill many deck2 are good wiith liittle two no creature2. Iit'2 not a bad thiing that thii2 ii2 way powerful, he 2tiill diie2 to removal.
BumbleSquish
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
what more could u ask for
Anggul
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oh how I'd love to Redirect something at this guy.
FoxxyEDarko
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@WOTC
Reprint dark ritual before this rotates, i dare you.
@GengilOrbios In the spirit of unhinged, yes. If I was playing you, you would have to sac one half of a permanent.
If it was a land, it would tap for 1/2 of what ever color. A creature? Cut it's P/T in half. Also, if it had double strike, it becomes first strike. It's CMC is also cut in half. Oh, and you have to physically rip it in half, so part of it can be in the two different zones at once.
Don't like it? Then don't chump block my goddamn Obliterator with a goddamn Little Girl!
non1337
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It isn't strictly better than anything, as if your opponent plays Kiku's Shadow you basically lose the game.
Guest488791010
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anggul,
Swerve ??? Round two with a dark ritual will be met with pacifism or perhaps Geth's Verdict or you will suffer quickly.
Obliterator in my opinion is not under costed as some people are saying. when wizards 'increases' the cost of a card and make it more colorless mana it's normally like 1color'd symbol for 2 colorless.
so if you wanted to bring it to the 1 black mana negator used it would be like 6colorless 1 black, I don't think anyone would say 7 mana for a 5/5 sometimes sack things dude is undercosted.
also the jump from 3 mana (negator) to 4 mana is fairly large.
Ultimario
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm not really experienced enough to comment on whether or not this guy is overpowered (pros: obvious, cons: dismember in same set, mono-black non-infect not being all that great right now apparently). Definitely intimidating, though.
As for those arguing that 2 colorless mana = 1 colored mana...Do you think that if Wurmcoil Engine cost 3 black mana (BBB), that that would be balanced? Or if Emrakul, the Aeons Torn cost 7 or 8 green (or any other color, really) mana? Or even worse, if Blightsteel Colossus cost 6 colored mana? Even if something like Solemn Simulacrum cost 2 mana, even green mana, it would easily overshadow every other 2-mana ramp spell out there and all the wolf run decks would run 4 copies.
TAGVoar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Has anyone thought of Mirrorweave? I had two of these guys on the field in my last game, one Shrouded and one not so. When the guy next to me swung at the kid across the table, the guy had board domination, so me and my friend knew we had to do something about it. My friend was holding a Mirrorweave. When the boy was about to concede, we told him he had to declare his blockers, so he did, buy throwing all of his little 0/1 eldrazi in front of these 7 tramplers the guy controlled. My friend Mirrorweaved my Obliterator, and suddenly, mister "I own the board, you guys are screwed," became "Crap, I have no permanents on the board anymore." Boy dies, guy scoops, my friend flies over my head and wins the game. It was awesome. I truly hope we see more "fight" cards coming in the future, because there are awesome, and they were dumb enough to print this guy, with a mechanic like that.
BlackRoseDani
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@LadNarum
How is it shameful to use this card in anyway, if you are duel colored he's harder to play, if he's given pro from the defending color he's unscathed, if you force backlash damage to him with a redirect off a burn spell, he's a great card with huge advantages, but his biggest down side is most anything can kill him before he does anything, in most situations you'll be "Yay I played an Obliterator" then come the opposing turn, "Oblivion ring, Beast within, go for the throat, or any kill spell that'll hit him." I know I play 3 of him and 4 metamorph, and especially against monogreen he sucks bad, what good is a super blocker like him when the Opponent has a Bellowing tanglewurm?
dontmess17
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
i love how whenever a black card comes around with trample, no one's going to want to block it anyway XD
luca_barelli
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(15 votes)
Phyrexian Negator without the need for intelligent gameplay. I hate it.
5/5
SgtSwaggr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
4 CMC for a 5/5 is pretty good compare to some vanilla creatures out there.
Trample, even better.
Sacrifise a permanent for every dealt damage to him? WHAT?!
5/5
001010011100101110
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(6 votes)
R&D: IF WE CAN'T REPRINT PHYREXIAN NEGATOR THEN WE ARE JUST NOT GONNA BE FAIR ANYMORE.
Tapir
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
This guy would be even more rigged if non-red removal did damage. Thank goodness that's not the case.
Havrekjex
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(6 votes)
Dies to removal. 1/5.
...yeah, I'm joking. It's incredibly powerful, and I like any step mono black takes away from the cheesy vampire mechanics. I don't think it's quite as overpowered as Baneslayer Angel or Wurmcoil Engine because of its restrictive mana cost, but yeah, definitely incredible value for CMC. If it was {B}{B}{B}{B}{B}, I'd still play it.
joker53
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@TheRosewater I used to think that unblockable stuff. But you are forgetting half of the turns of the game.... yeah, it actually Makes you sacrifice when blocking. That's why the text isn't changable. I got two of these out of my first five Magic Boosters ever. Since then I knew, even though I didn't like it much at the beginning, I had to play black. Obliterator is a supernova. After playing looots of games with them, there are two things I can say for sure: it is Definetely the best option for you not to block it. No trying to wither it with Boggart Ram-Gang. No super sacrificing to save you, cause this is what Obliterator's controller is praying for...
And what you should be praying for is removal.
Hammerbrother
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I know this thread is old but i just gotta say i made a Mono Black Agro deack wth this card its BOSS just a quick question do they Sac as many Perms as you do damage or just up to 5
Howle021
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Turn 1: Forest and Birds of Paradise Turn 2: Swamp and Fume Spitter. Sac Fume Spitter and kill a weenie; play Caravan Vigil for a swamp. Turn 3: Swamp. Tap Birds of Paradise (and land, obviously) for Obliterator Turn 4: Many possibilities (Depends on draw). Inquisitors Flail, or maybe Prey Upon.
Very improbable, but fun all the same. Use Ranger's Guile to protect Obliterator.
SkaerKrow
★★☆☆☆ (2.4/5.0)(5 votes)
Bad card design, here. Black isn't supposed to be the color that gets creatures that are ahead of the mana curve (that's green's schtick). A 5/5 Trampler for BBBB would have been solid in and of itself, and in black, usually would have come with some sort of drawback (see Phyrexian Negator). To give him such a potent ability on top of a strong body with trample for that cost? Someone dropped the ball. Honestly, I wouldn't play this card, even in mono-black. No skill to it. Cash cow mythics I guess, but cards like this aren't good for the game. 5/5 for power, 1/5 for bad design.
thewalkingdead
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
he is blacker than the blackest black times 1000
Tsuichoi
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
well... I rooted for the Mirrans...
Until i saw this.
Perfection = Understatement
fun with Eldrazi Con***ion :D
9TailedJackal
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@SkaerKrow
There's plenty of skill required to play it; this has "Go For The Throat me" written all over it. Almost anyone would take this thing out quickly and without damage as soon as possible, so a lot of counterspells are nice to have, as is a bit of resurrection. This thing doesn't work as well in just any deck. The fact that it's so overpowered is what draws all the attention from removal to it. Can't just throw it out there and expect it to be alright on its own.
SeasideMessenger
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I have seen 3 of these in person among my group of Magic players. Once Dark Ascension is out, my life goal will be to Alpha Brawl every last one of them.
ChaosK
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(9 votes)
Man, i feel so sorry for green and red. This card is just silly.
Vividice
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
MUST... FORCE... PLAYERS... to play... MONO BLACK CONTROL!!
Shard_Fenix
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Something tells me Wizards at first made a copy of Phyrexian Negator, then switched the drawback to "unblockable, protection from red" and forgot to rebalance it. Wizards said they've been power creeping creatures because creature combat is exciting, but then they print a creature that makes you win when it becomes involved in creature combat. Someone f***ed up.
Lord_of_Tresserhorn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I drew one of these in a pack the owner of my game shop gifted me because I had just bought close to 200 bucks worth of RPG stuff.
What would happen if this blocks or gets blocked by a creature with deathtouch? A creature with deathtouch only has to deal 1 damage to be lethal, so would that mean that you could kill the Obliterator and only have to sac 1 permanent?
Torturing101
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I know that this will never, ever happen outside of VERY casual, but: Alpha Brawl.
Galgus
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
This card goes into my "They were probably drunk" level of power creep rating.
Or they just like overpowering mythic rares.
JackTheStripper
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's okay guys! He still gets romped on by my storm crows.
I don't think I saw anyone mention it yet but Argentum Armor . Turns this guy into a baby Eldrazi.
Benno9
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If anyone ever figures out how to use this effectively in standard, I reckon people will just side in wrack with madness. Who says you can't get a kill spell with annilihator 5 for just four mana?
Rocchio
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(8 votes)
There must be something I am misunderstanding in this card. It's just me, or it's a 5/5 black with trample and that tears apart your permanents if you try to block it or destroy it with (red) direct damage spells at 4 CMC? I mean, there must be some flaw I'm not taking into account.
And it's black, so it can be cast on turn two with dark ritual or even in turn one with a reanimator deck.
It just looks like some overpowered cards people create with Magic Set Editor.
Bonghoots
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Obliterator looks exceedingly powerful on paper, but in practice this card actually plays out quite balanced (without dark rituals). Firstly, he's playable in mono-black only which severely limits his diversity in application. Other than that, his trample doesn't mean much because it's rare an opponent will take the hit in permanents anyways, so it's better to think of him as an unblockable because of his ability. With this I see a 5/5 unblockable for 4cc that isn't worth burning away for your opponent. Exceptionally powerful, yes, but it's one of the few black beatsticks that gets damage done efficiently and effectively without being prohibitively expensive and easily removed. Compared to other colors, black was in greatest need for a creature that could get some threatening damage through while buying time to play it's other tricks. Obviously Obliterator has incredible defensive potential as well, but it is actually quite difficult to decide whether he is best attacking or defending, which may give your opponent that rare chance to work around him. Other than that, he is easily nullified through the variety of pacifying enchantments, exile, and damage mitigating spells to which black has always been vulnerable. 4.5/5 for just being so flavorful and black, but a minus for the blatant powercreeping. My $0.02
I like this guy because, despite at first blush he looks like a Timmy card, he's actually quite Johnny friendly due to his color restrictiveness and the parameters of his effect. As people have pointed out, Wall of Tanglecord stops this cold for 2. This can be played with by casting a Vampire's Bite on their wall. This also thrives with pump spells so cheating it out in green is pretty beneficial, bring out the Birthing Pod.
This set was very heavy (black targeting) removal which is why he can exist. There are a lot of answers available in both limited and constructed, they even rolled out the answers before the question. I don't think power creep is as pervasive as a lot of people like to claim, a big part of it is power being re-allocated to creatures in favor of other effects (The game has become much more "permanant-based", in my opinion) in order to keep the game appealing. It doesn't make for fun gameplay in most people's opinions to have to run counter magic just so you can prevent a game ending sorcery or instant from resolving, a lot of people prefer to have their things resolve and let their opponents resolve and then deal with them afterwards.
Does that mean I don't think power creep exists? No, it almost certainly does. Do I think its a bad thing? Not necessarily. Over time Wizards has learned lessons as to what they can print and how far they can stretch the power of cards before breaking them, this lets them make things that have flashier effects with less worry of them being unstoppable. Sure they still have mistakes, but they're a lot better at correcting them without printing "LOL, DESTROY ALL ISLANDS" anymore, at the same time they don't have to stress out if Abby Matron is overpowered. Sorry for the thesis of ideas people have already probably presented, this is just an interesting card to me.
JaxsonBateman
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
My new pet deck features this guy alongside my pet mono-black land-suite (basically, 4x Expedition Maps, 4x Cabal Coffers, 2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and 1x Volrath's Stronghold), as well as a new addition - Arena!
Arena with Obliterator is just insane. At worst, you're getting 5 cards for one. At best, you're getting 1-3 cards for none, or 6+ cards for one. Pretty much the only creatures that get around the pain of the Oblit are 1 power deathtouchers, or 0 power/6+ toughness 'walls'.
My personal favourite play was barely hanging on against some elves with a Coat of Arms out. The next turn, I dropped the Oblit and activated Arena, and pretty much forced my opponent to sacrifice all their permanents. ^^
MrFluffyThing
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ChaosK
Don't feel sorry for red. They've got Wrack with Madness, which in my book is the hardest slam in the jewels that this card can take.
WannabeJedi1337
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
overpowered is overpowered
luckily, my group of friends feels the same way, so no one uses this card.... it costing more than $15 helps too
This card is essential for every Mono Black deck ... I personally love everything about it!
Skuzzie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I don't get why this creatures isn't played in birthing pod, or modern rock.
Green gives you Prey Upon, which might aswell spell : target player sacrifices permanents equal to target creatures power. Insanely powerfull
CuChulain01
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
OK...yeah...even when time spiral came out I'd have stared at this and just kind of wondered who let R&D get ahold of acid, moonshine, and absinthe in a 15 minute time span but...I mean, come on while it is an extremely powerful creature, flavor-wise Yawgmoth would've given his left testicle for one of these during the Dominarian invasion, just ONE and this thing isn't legendary so I have to assume following what I can remember from the novels (when I read them all those years ago) these things would travel in groups of two plus underlings. How is anything short of a force of pre-mending planeswalkers supposed to fight a full invasion force of Mirrodin phyrexians? I mean there are supposed to still be a few survivors right?
gman92
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
In Multiplayer, this card is a little more fair. A little. I've got one and I've only made my opponents sacrifice a few permanents in multi at most, and that's when I attack the players with worse board positions. It really shines in single player if you can get it out lategame though.
The flavor is nice: Black makes people sacrifice, and Sheoldred, Whispering One has improved on Phyrexian Negator in New Phyrexia to the point where it's almost broken.
Come to think of it, this would have been a great time for R&D to bring back Morph, in one fell swoop justifying every overcosted Morph card ever printed.
rebelrebel
★★★☆☆ (3.6/5.0)(7 votes)
Opponent plays Blasphemous Act "in response, use Quicksilver Amulet to put out oby.... sac 13 permanents " opponent flips table
ThatTobyGuy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
the other day before we played, my friend was bragging about his awesome obliterator he bought... He windmill slammed it on turn four I laughed a hearty viking laugh and played wrack with madness
j_mindfingerpainter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If Innistrad came out before NPH, this card would have come out with Dismember on the back and some crazy way to transform it. Just for irony.
EDIT: @ MrFluffyThing:
Right now it's actually Alpha Brawl. Something even more extreme will probably come out in Avacyn Restored.
SECOND EDIT: Avacyn Restored isn't out yet, but I might be right. A replacement for Tajuru Preserver!
Sigarda, Host of Herons {2}{G}{W}{W}
Legendary Creature - Angel
Flying, hexproof Spells and abilities your opponents control can't cause you to sacrifice permanents. 5/5
Cazaric
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
A 5/5 trampler for 4CMC would be a reasonable, powerful card for monoblack to possess. But that little orange-red symbol changes things, it seems.
I am all for Magic making mythics unique and rather powerful for their cost. But this is a perfect example of them thinking that mythic grants them free reign to make a card as powerful as they desire.
I rated it 5/5 because its insanely awesome, but I think its the worst design for a card I've ever seen.
Zoltantf
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Perfect art. Perfect black creature. Perfect flavor text. I love this monstrous flagship of Phyrexian power. Smashing face with this badass is very satisfying. Not unfair in standard due to the prohibiting mana cost. Dark rituals make this a little unfair, but black mages don't play fair. Like his power and toughness, 5/5 for sure!
omni8000
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
until yawgmoth gets his own card this is the best thing to ever crawl out of phyrexia
dlgn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wrack with Madness .
Player 1: "Look, your creature killed itself! Sac 6 permanents now, don't be shy."
Player 2: *facepalm*, then starts crying.
C-Rod358
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This card and the New Phyrexia set as a whole got me back into Magic. 5/5
Kitty_the_Kat
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
"Broken. Extremely overpowered. Black already has too much without this hitting the field. What blocks this thing AND sees standard play? Its predecessor was strong enough. They didn't just take away the downside, they reversed it.
Whining? Hell no. Why doesn't Wizards just do what they did here to every card? Let's take Phage and say, "When she comes into play, if you played her from your hand, you win the game."
Argument: "But she can be countered!"
And that's EXACTLY what the arguments are like for this guy. He's overpowered and we all know it."
~Kaizeischi
..Over reaction much? First off, what are these other "powerful" cards that black is dropping in standard?
You think he doesn't have a downside. What about him being mono-black? Does he do anything when he first enters? No? What about when he's removed? Still nothing??? This guy hardly ever sees play, and he's slowly been dropping in price because of it. If he was broken, wouldn't he be seeing more play? Wouldn't he be getting higher in price? Mono black is actually extremely weak right now in standard.
You might win the first round, but the moment they know you're running this guy they'll just be holding their removal for him and your Vampire Nighthawks.
My point? He's good. Not broken.
Edit: Its funny how people rated me down, even though I'm telling the truth. lol
Seriously, it can be held off, turn after turn, by a card from Homelands. Homelands! .5/5.
Naw, just kidding. I've had my face beaten in by this guy more times that I can count.
mdakw576
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(4 votes)
It certainly has a powerful effect, but what it basically does is be a big unblockable creature, as most cases your opponent will not block it (alternately they won't attack you if it's untapped). Which makes trample kinda silly (though because it's obviously a callback to negator, they kept it anyway).
It's true that red and green have difficulty removing this guy, but it can still be played around. Red can put you at low life before you can even drop thsi guy, meaning you still need to be careful and obliterator can't just swing in all the time (he has to stay back and block). Green can just play creatures with more p/t, meaning that if you swing with obliterator, they'll swing back except do more damage.
Now keep in mind that...
- It dies to dismember, a removal spell every color has access to (and yes, I know a lot of things die to this spell) along with other spells like go for the throat - It has no entering or leaving play triggers, meaning if it's removed ASAP no harm is done - It is BBBB, making it very difficult for anything other than mono black to play it
It's a strong card, but it will not break the game.
As horrible as this guy is, I assure you he doesn't last very long in my playgroup. Casual multiplayer is a cruel mistress.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Phyrexian Obliterator is more of a card that people will remember when you ask them about the "old days", kind of like how people remembered playing against Lord of the Pit... or, you know... Phyrexian Negator.
It's a perfect example of the evolution of Magic as a game, at least from the Urza block until now, and I think there's more change to happen in the future.
Let's just hope that they haven't planned on making Uncommon or Common Planeswalker's...
Dream_Twist
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
The only thing anyone could possibly complain about this is if it's on the other side of the board in a game or if you looked at the price. 5/5 stars rating for being over the top good.
Enelysios
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(3 votes)
This isn't broken, its just very good. There is a difference. I think many of the people commenting on new "high profile" cards here are newer players without a grasp on how cards will play out.
This card is almost unplayable outside mono-black, he has nothing to protect him from any kill spells. Unless you have something like arena to force an opponent to damage him, he is probably just an unblockable 5/5 or a very effective wall. He is cool and flavorful, has some scary art to boot.
This card has not seen real tournament play, unlike things like Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage or Primeval Titan. Why is that? This guy takes up a high mana cost slot in your deck and does very little when he hits the table. Yes, your opponent must deal with him, but they likely will, what decent deck has no answers to a big creature? Most importantly, you have to be playing mono-black to use this well. Mono-black is not very threatening in any format right now.
That said, I want to try this out with the new black exalted in M13, he would be a very nasty 10/10 to run into.
... what? You were expecting a more complicated strategy?
Hivis_of_the_Scale
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Everyone gives you angry looks when you play FNM with this guy.
ilovealara
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Great card. the only bad thing is that if you deal damage to it you have to sacrifice. for example, if you get Mindslavered and if you have direct damage, your opponent can really make you feel pain. Plus, you can't play Pyroclasm and the likes
McKnuty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
"Dies to removal."..."Monoblack has no protection."
Anyone heard of Undying Evil? A very versatile card that deals with all sorts of removal and it's only one black mana. Still dies but comes back better. Even against its clear counter Wrack with Madness you might lose all your mana but your obliterator still comes back. Awesome.
Black is really getting pumped up with a lot of cards that don't feel black. This guy is better and cheaper than a lot of green creatures out there. They say it's a midgame card but lategame, this guy can keeps titans at bay. Really awesome card especially since you can have it out turn 2 easy with Dark Ritual.
To this card: No. Go away. Nobody likes you. You are second only to Elesh Norn on my list of things to Terminate. Also possibly other cards. But really....
No.
4.5/5
TheAmberSpyglass
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Saw a guy buy 4 of these at once for $15 each. Ran them with Griselbrand and what appeared to be a monoblack aggro deck. He also got 4 Gravecrawlers for $3.50 each!
Sweet Christ would I hate to face off against this thing in any variant! GO PHYREXIA!
Hmm . . . . So back in Urza block when Phyrexian Negator was being playtested, somebody somewhere at some point thought, "hey, maybe the controller of this 5/5 trampler for 3 shouldn't HAVE to sac permanents when it takes damage, maybe it should be, like, optional." But (thankfully, we may have all presumed) nobody listened.
Then, years later, somebody else in a playtest session testing an early version of this must've said, "You know what? Why should I have to sac permanents for my 5/5 trampler for 3? You know who should be saccing permanents? YOU!" So they made it mono black, raised it's cmc by one, and made it mythic.
Am I the only one that looks at this and thinks maybe they just should've listened to the guy from back in Urza's block and made the permanent saccing optional?
Dammit Wizards, you're making Urza Block look bad for crying out loud!
Dragasm
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
For all the people saying that this card takes skill to play, isn't broken, or that it isn't too bad because it pretty much forces you to play mono-black, I think you need to take another look at this card. Yes, it dies to go for the throat and a couple other things, but so what? It's BLACK! Guess what black is good at? That's right bringing things back from the dead. Ok now let's take a look at it's mana cost. It's 4 for a 5/5 with trample...already looking pretty darn good. Then they go and throw that heinous ability on it. It's too powerful. So powerful that it loses any flavor it could have had by being Phyrexian Negator . Point is they seem to have forgotten what a good mythic should be like. Wanna see a good mythic card for black? Look at Xathrid Demon
StoicChampion
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Looks like Suicide Black is now First Degree Murder Black.
Enjoy the blessed perfection!
Pick15
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(7 votes)
Wasn't the reason Negator had a drawback that it was a 5/5 with trample for three? So, umm... What happened here?
Anzu-chan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@ mdakw576 : At least, there is Beast Within in green. It's better than nothing. For red, I've no idea.
It is a good card for black, and hard to splash black only for this card.
Blackworm_Bloodworm
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(6 votes)
I give it 4.5 stars for its undeniable power, but -0.5 stars because it's an overpowered piece of ****.
SgtPepperjack
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I want four. Hundred. Thousand. 5/5.
DoragonShinzui
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(6 votes)
"Behold cursed powercreep." -Every player ever
EKraj
★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5.0)(2 votes)
*ahem* This is a freaking 5/5 for four with trample! No drawback! And that awesome ability! This makes Juzam Djinn look like Screeching Skaab!
Well, a lot of things do, but this is the best thing ever. Should be 5 stars.
VirusVescichetta
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
If I say "dies to Murder" will people finally stop bitching about this thing?
h8yuns
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Great card for the cost. Plenty of ways to deal with him, though too. That, to me, adds to his "blessed perfection". Can be murdered, smited, countered, deathtouched and token'ed to death. But I have to say that my very favorite way to deal with an obliterator would be wrack with madness . Nothin' says f*** you like taking an opponent's awesome creature, making it kill itself, then shoving it's corpse up said opponent's @$$ for 5 permanents of their own. Can you say "touche'"? Still, we have a cost of 4 for a 5/5 (already worth it), then trample and its ability and the only drawback is that it's pretty much restricted to mono-black. Of course, with the advent of a slew of dual lands as of late, plus several mana boosting cards, I could see this card getting squeezed (albeit not perfectly) into a 2 color deck. This card is well worth 5 stars, not just for its holy s*** ability/power per cost, but its tendency to force people to react to it, and react to it in creative ways. The genius in this card lies not in the ability of the caster to get it on the field, but in the myriad uique ways that people come up with to deal with it.
Pipikako
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Play with Nemesis Mask and enjoy the rage of opponents.
Totema
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Protip: It's really badass to shout the flavor text as you cast it.
pallymander
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Lure/Slagwurm armor/something to give it vigilance/things to make it block more creatures game over other people 5/5 i use it in a green/black deck and get it out all the time stop complaining use an extraplanar lens if you really need to hey also transmutation after you've got a few slagwurm armors on it. makes for a tasty treat that can't be beat
alzabo
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
Not a big fan of this guy. The cost means you virtually have to play mono-black, which keeps this thing out of most competitive formats. However, he's universally hated in casual. Which begs the question, "When is it appropriate to play this guy?"
@Fictionarious: Thanks for linking to that article; it was interesting to read. But the best thing about it is the final paragraph, pondering that in ten years, people will look back on recently-made cards and wonder what they were thinking. Then the poll reveals this article was written shortly after the release of Darksteel. XD My reaction: "You have no idea..."
ThePieManOfDeath
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I'm going to pretend that the only reason this isn't banned in Modern is that everyone has the dignity to not use it.
Layk
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(10 votes)
*grabs magnifying glass* I STILL can't find the drawback!
Domak
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The only drawback I can think of is using Redirect on your opponent's burn. Otherwise, WTF?!?!
MyrBattlecube
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@VirusVescichetta "If I say "dies to Murder" will people finally stop bitching about this thing?" Ha ha ha, nope! Don't count on it. This was in block with two much MUCH better removal spells, Go for the Throat and Dismember, both of which saw quite a bit of play (especially Dismember). Tempered Steel would occasionally run Dispatch, which was a fantastic way of dealing with this. Control decks had counters, Vapor Snag, and Day of Judgment to deal with this thing. Once M12 came around, Oblivion Ring was back in for dealing with this. The only colors that really couldn't answer this well were green and red, and that's only because their answers were situational as opposed to nonexistent. No amount of answers will ever get the casuals to shut up about this card. Heck, there are probably at least three of four cards I didn't mention that were in the same Standard as Obliterator that could easily handle it. Oh, just remembered. Green had Beast Within. Not great, but it did the job well enough. Better than any of its other answers.
C0nker3
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wow... This seems (almost) broken. 4 mana for this? Yeah its pure black, but most 5/5 cost 5 cmc to begin with. Especially when they have a list of great abilities. (like the mythic angels in 'Avacyn' for example.) Its a powerful card, but having it cost this little and having no drawback at all doesn't seem right. Especially in black.
I would have personally preferred 'Any time damage is dealt to Phyrexian Obliterator Each player sacrifices that number of permanents.' Yeah its harsh. But that's how black is suppose to be. You give everything to gain everything. And that's whats fun about making black decks. Finding ways to push those sacrifices to your own advantage. But with this card, you don't have to be clever when you throw him in a black deck. He just plays great, as is.
But er, philosophical magic flavor complaints aside. The art is phenomenal, the text is great, and its really powerful... The card, without a doubt, fills the shoes of a 'Mythic Rare' creature.
NoIHavent
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(5 votes)
*sigh* This card. Here I go. I love this thing to pieces. It's probably my favorite creature of all time. Now that that's out of the way, I'll discuss the brokenness of this card. There is none. This is simply a good creature. The drawback lies in the fact that it doesn't /do/ anything most of the time. Even in casual, I drop it, and then there's a flurry of counter spells, bounce, and other nonsense. This is basically, a 4cc, an opponent discards a removal spell. It has no effect on the board, like Grave Titan, Sheoldred, and no effect on your hand like Griselbrand. It is, for all practical purposes a vanilla creature that is above the curve for black. Yes, this will win games if left unanswered, but really, what 5/5 won't? This just makes it a bit easier. And as far as flavor goes, I do believe this thing oozes it. I mean, look at it. It's phyrexian perfection in form. It's vindictive, and as such, just. It isn't like negator in that it only hurts whoever controls it, it acts like a black creature should, no loyalty to anyone but itself (on that note, whoever says they "reversed" negator's drawback is wrong, they just made it symmetrical. Not that that means much in magic, but it isn't really reversed). Similarly, this isn't the kind of creature that says "if you play black, run 4." I have several black decks where this just didn't fit. Black has a lot of 4-drops, and sometimes you need a Korlash or a Mutilate instead.
TL;DR: good, but it doesn't have any immediate effect on the board, like most currently played creatures do, so not broken at all. 5/5 for a flavorful, beautiful, monstrosity.
My love of black and everything it represents continues. This card is NOT broken; there is SO much creature removal that doesn't deal damage, that if they have no answer to it in they're deck, that's their problem. Plus as it's been stated, at 4B it'll be hard to play in anything but mono-black.
@Pick15; To answer your question, they made it better! That's what happened. Obviously!
@alzbo; It's always appropriate to play him. If he's so hated then they can find a way to remove him.
@NolHavent; Thank you for having some reason.
mangara137
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
At first I though it is a ridiculously broken creature, but it is just another power creep. Dies to Go for the Throat basically. Yeah people say, well, Baneslayer Angel dies to Doom Blade too. But it is truth, your 4 mana creature died to a 2 mana spell, the end.
MordukaiBurning
★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5.0)(5 votes)
Card proposal: Jace's Mind Flayer Creature -- Illusion, mythic rare Flash Whenever a source source deals damage to Jace's Mind Flayer, you may draw that many cards and that source's controller puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard. P/T: 5/5
Mythic rare = R&D can take the day off.
Stinga
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Ugh. Go away. The only reason this is not completely broken (har har) is that it dies to removal. But only "destroy" removal. Seriously? Come on wizards. Mythic Rare means interesting and can be built around. Not "Lets throw balance to the winds because no one will get it anyway right?" That is the logic that made black lotus and we all know how that turned out. You will get one if you really want it, it will just hurt your wallet like one of these guys coming at your face. Lastly, I feel the need to complain about the Color philosophy here. Green is the creature color. Black is sacrifice and all but this is on a creature so if it is really good it should be green! For we get Leatherback Baloth, a vanilla 4/5. Shifting that to black (which ramps just as well anyways, by way of dark ritual, getting this guy out turn two) and adding one more mana gives it +1/+0, trample and "come at me bro." Why? That is so much good... Make a Viridian Obliterator 6/6 trample, hexproof and "Whenever this creature takes damage search your library for that many creature cards and put them in your hand." Yes, it is stupid but that is the point. Better yet, print neither.
BongRipper420
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Honestly, this should just be treated as a 5/5 unblockable the majority of the time. The black part is he can blocked, but at a heavy price from your opponent. Also he might as well be unburnable, too.
This card is a mistake. It brakes the reason of cost/power. There's no drawback. And disrespects a whole lot of cards, black creatures, which are great creatures. This makes no sense at all, it's a worse mistake than Misstep. That was a gamble, people knew it would be dangerous but still got it out there, but this bad made creature simply makes no sense at all. It's not overpowered cards that make the game fun. Great decks and plays make the game fun.
LordOfTrolls
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
My first rare I ever boostered, fell in love with this guy instantly.
strider24seven
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@zomboss *Sigh* That is not how Angel of Jubilation works. There is no ability to activate or spell to cast with regards to Phyrexian Obliterator's TRIGGERED ability, so Angel of Jubilation does absolutely nothing for either player in this case other than be a body to sac to the Obliterator trigger (in the case of being under the control of the player not in control of the Obliterator).
Seriously, people need to learn the difference between activated and triggered abilities (hint: a colon is involved with activated abilities) before they post on sites like Gatherer, lest they confuse people who are new to the game.
The right choice is still Sigarda though.
doktor_doom
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
many comments already, but i must contribute to what is easily my favorite creature in the entire game. super black and super evil. i've had one of him hold down entire boards due to opponent not wanting to sac. extremely flavorful, trample, fantastic name, sick sick art. all for a freaking 4 cmc... and all black as well which is how it should be. there's no splashing obliterator. you're either serious about black or you're not. love love love.
Villainous1
★★★★☆ (4.7/5.0)(14 votes)
So that's how the Phyrexians won - they built an Eldrazi.
The card never really sees play. It's awesome, but it forces you to play monoblack and it just hasn't been a viable archetype since it was printed. Not to mention it was printed alongside Dismember which owns this card and was played in EVERY SINGLE DECK.
Funny how everyone thought this was too insanely OPed. Turns out the cost was enough of a drawback. But this is still a kitchen table all star and a favorite of mine.
lostprophet912
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
5/5 creatures have come a long way since Juzám Djinn
OrphanerDualscar
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
*grabs a pipe full of tabacco and sits down in a rocking chair* I remember back in the day when something like a 4 cmc 5/5 with trample had drawbacks, and we still played it! Those were the days.
ItsHarvestTime
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
So, I see some people are babbling about the fact that this card was balanced by its cost. I strongly disagree. This card, honestly could've cost five black and still see play, but that's not the point. Black is the color of reanimation. Not only is it easy to dredge or discard this guy into your graveyard to get him out, he then easily comes back! I run one in my green white black EDH deck, and many a time has my opponents have cried when they swing and I control both Elvish Piper and Fauna Shaman, flashing out a Phyrexian Obliterator from my library for the small cost of {G}{G} and discarding a creature. He was meant to be cheated into play. Though I have hard casted him before, and in a tri-color deck, that is a satisfying feeling.
Player 1: I attack with Phyrexian Negator Player 2: Um... O.K. I block with Phyrexian Obliterator and you sacrifice 10 permanents Player 1: Ha, that's exactly what I wanted you to do. Player 2: Why? Player 1: This game has taken for ever, I just want to go to bed! Kill me and end this! Player 2: In that case I cast Shahrazad Player 1: I hate you
Majora_13
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Possibly the most satisfying reason to say DENIED!
Essentially is for a 5/5 unblockable, and should be used in that way. It's not a control or removal creature. It's just an undercosted unblockable.
Inquisitor's Flail still doubles its damage so it's still a good choice.
Lure effects change this, making this guy work well in /. Revenge of the Hunted is just plain nasty. Abyssal Persecutor also works well with RotH and Inquisitor's Flail, these guys are probably friends.
SubstantiaNigra
★★★☆☆ (3.4/5.0)(4 votes)
Many of you say this card is broken, and 5-10 years ago, you'd be right. But the fact of the matter is that Phyrexian Obliterator is NOT broken, and here's why. The best way to show it is not broken is by comparing it to similar creature cards which are, such as Baneslayer Angel, Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite. Yes, a 5/5 for 4 CMC that has Trample and clears the opponent's board of creatures every time it attacks may at first sight seem OP, but:
1. Phyrexian Obliterator is awkward to cast with its casting cost, and is therefore far less splashable than its white, green and red counterparts.
2. It is prone to most type of removal (except burn), whereas players must always think twice before hitting that Thragtusk with a Doom Blade.
4. What Baneslayer Angel lacks in "enter the battlefield" effects, it more than makes up for with its FIVE abilities, compared to the Obliterator's TWO.
Essentially, the Obliterator is an unblockable 5/5. When facing experienced players, they will undoubtedly avoid blocking it with anything greater than a 2/2 unless absolutely necessary, and 9/10 times, the Obliterator will be countered/removed right off the bat, before it even has a chance to deal damage or make use of its ability.
In summary, it is a great card, but it is certainly NOT broken. I do, however, prefer the Phyrexian Negator over the Phyrexian Obliterator. The Obliterator is self-admittedly a better (and better-looking) card. But the Negator feels more fair when you play it, embodies the essence of better, and it forces you to think on when/how to play it and use it. The Obliterator removes the 'thinking' part from the equation completely, something more and more cards appear to be doing in MTG these days (case in point: Baneslayer Angel, Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite).
d43c
★★★☆☆ (3.3/5.0)(3 votes)
I think a lot of people ignore the 4 swamp part about him
StudentOfEtherium
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@ Layk I Found The Drawback. Its That It Takes Two Dark Rituals To Cast This On Turn One
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@itsharvesttime: Elvish Piper is ridiculously overpowered and unfair. You can't combo a good card with a broken card and then call the good card broken. That's like comboing Ancestral Recall with Consecrated Sphinx and blaming the Sphinx...
blurrymadness
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(9 votes)
I'm a little sad that Dismember was printed, in part, to give a hard counter to this guy available to everyone without issue. Sometimes I think wizards are a little too careful nowadays. Yeah, they printed this monstrosity (pushing the envelope a bunch) but by including it right in the same set they didn't get to gauge whether he'd even see play without it.
He's occasionally seen in legacy, but competes with Persecutor and the 5 toughness, in part due to dismember, is a large dissuasion. Fact is, MBC has been on the weaker side of things for awhile; they don't need to print a hard counter to every strategy immediately; they could at least have just done it in the core set.
Anyway, I love this card; though I haven't bought it yet. It embodies the *other* side of black. Not the sacrifice for power one (although the colorweight => you sacrifice either ritual cards or playing multicolor); but the other side of black that says "Your doom is at hand; fighting your doom only results in more doomness"
In the words of Immortal; Unending Grimness. In the words of Behemoth; Blackest ov the Black In the words of 40k fans; Grim-Dark incarnate.
How on earth is he win-more? He's an aggressive, undercosted beater... Essentially if you call him win-more, you're saying that having four black mana available to you is having the game locked up, because he's awesome with just that.
I hate cards like this. "Oh yah, we balanced it in tournaments with Dismember. PERFECT!" Yep, but in Casual it's an "I win" unless your opponent's deck is packed with tournament-worthy removal spells.
It's all, "Herp derp lol, you paid 4 mana and got me! Guess you outplayed me! Game 2?"
TheWrathofShane
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Hes just a 5/5 unblockable for , that can in some situations get hosed by Wall of Denial, and wins games with Prey Upon.
Raexs
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
He's more than just a 5/5 unblockable. If he is untapped, he is also the most terrifying wall ever.
FurnaceOfRath
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Would have been so much more hilarious if they printed it with a completely phyrexian mana cost instead.
Pongdok
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Ha! Kids at my elementary school used to make cards like this for themselves using leftover merfolk of the pearl trident, mons's goblin raiders, scathe zombies, scissors and tape. Naturally, nobody was willing to play with anyone using them. How times have changed... This card gets a big ol' F. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
If you want to play with the big boys, don't use garbage like this. Sell them to idiots on eBay. That's all they're good for.
Reishyn
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
Too powerful for the casual players, too vulnerable for the competitive players.
Oh, Phyrexian Obliterator... You're just so misunderstood!
auriscope
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I bet they called geek squad to fix Phyrexian Negator; they just showed up, flipped the switch from "your permanents" to "their permanents" and charged Phyrexia $250 for it.
Continue
★★☆☆☆ (2.9/5.0)(4 votes)
Did they think costing was a drawback or something?
I never thought I would say that I'm happy that my friend's mono black Modern deck is Infect, because if he had four copies of this guy I'm pretty sure I would quit the game.
5/5, no question. It's unfortunate that he was so hosed so much back when he was in Standard because everyone ran Dismember.
MRK1
★★☆☆☆ (2.7/5.0)(3 votes)
I love how upset some get over this card.
In essence it's a mostly unblockable 5/5 with pseudo pro red for 4. Sounds a bit plain if you put it that way.
Sleazebag
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(5 votes)
If only this had been in standard together with Theros.
Casual mono-black devotion deck here I come!
Damagetos
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
I love this card so much.
Flavorwise, it's just pure gold. The art is astonishing and the flavor text - as plain and simple as it should be. CMC is just about right; you can hardcast it with two Dark Rituals on the first turn and it will probably get out on the board very soon; but hey, you can do worse things with a ramp, am I right?
And sure, it's a power creep, but it's not broken or really overpowered. Having no protection at all, it's ability will cause only mono red player to scoop immediately. Yet it is so powerful, that any other player should get rid of it as soon as possible - and that's, for me, a definition of mighty card.
It's wasn't playable in standard, due to the mentioned lack of any protection (except the direct damage one) and few other things (Dismember!), but on the kitchen table (and I'm a Timmy) - it just rocks. This card, for me, with its power level, flavor and art is iconic for Phyrexia - and, let's be honest - for black. Only thing that concerns me is its price, stabilized for years since printing.
It's really blessed perfection ;)
sceadu
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
I wish these existed in real life :D
Mr.Freshness-Timmy
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
If i control my opponent for a turn and i bolt this guy with my opponents burn spell, who sacrifices the permanents?
EGarrett01
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I know this might sound a little bit silly, but he actually makes a fantastic wall too.
Lord_of_phyrexia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Beginning hand: swamp, dark ritual x2, this. You win by turn five at the very least
It's also the most overpowered piece of crap I've ever seen, I love it.
That's an awful lot of destruction for one card. This actually works better with less aggressive decks since nobody would ever want to block it in most cases and that ability deters attacks. On another note, that mana cost has just become a huge asset thanks to theros' devotion mechanic.
dontcrywhenicounter
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
If you stick a Lashwrithe on this in multiplayer, you usually die from every player turning against you
Wow. Devotion looks like it might be pretty good in modern at least. Good old Yawglamog the infinite butthurt. I play one in my Mimeoplasm EDH (planning on just taking out Ulamog and leaving this guy, since Ulamog=infinite rage) The art is stunning as well. All around, how could you not rate him highly, he's really good and much more reasonable than creatures with real annihilator for casual.
dhinge
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
The fun in Phyrexian Negator was that you were taking a gamble tossing out a 5/5 trampler early in black that could do massive hurt but had the risk of you losing permanents, which made you rely on creature removal, which is fun in black anyways! Now this card has almost no risk and pushes it to the opponent instead, making it a lazy card that requires almost no support. It's a perfect example of how Wizards has turned on its head against balance and towards powercreep.
SpaceSwine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Now this is what I want to see in a Mythic Card. Big (5/5 trample) scary (pseudo-Annihilator) and flavorful (representing the kind of horrifying power the Phyrexians offer).
Sure, I can see how it may be undercosted (4, even in heavy black, is kinda cheap), but answers are plentiful in white, blue, and black. Also, this block had both Beast Within and Dismember, just in case. Make no mistake, it's still a good card, but I just don't think it's the instant-win button you guys are portraying it as. But that's just me.
Just have some recurring nightmare in your deck with this guy and you won't have to worry about the removal.
Phelplan
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
He should cost three regular black mana and three phyrexian black mana. Then this design would have been genius.
Wizards: Just because there is an "answer" to every card doesn't make cards like this and Geist of Saint Traft good for the game. Please stop making mythic = insanely undercosted.
(Yes, if this were the case, he could come out turn one with a dark ritual, but at the cost of 6 life ~ much fairer than this card with no drawback.)
ABSURD! Obliterator breaks the curve so badly that even Baneslayer Angel looks fair in comparison. Not good for the game even if it haven't end up in winning decks yet.
This with other absurd creatures like Griselbrand, Abyssal Persecutor and Desecration Demon set Black as the reigning 'creature color' in the game. Not good for balance between colors as Black also has best creature removal.
cha0sc0w
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Glad this guy is $25 now, he's an evil amazingly efficient mythic whose only "downside" is the quad black, with a phyrexian mana symbol he would probably be legacy playable... dark ritual and 2 life for a 6/6 with trample seems amazing and he would probably be banned in modern because he could easily hit turn 2.
A little sad to see the price raise but I won't build a mono-black modern anytime soon and he's getting the price he deserves. On another note need to get a sliver legion before their $50...
MasterOfParadox
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Oops, regard my last comment. I didn't notice this is devotion food.
DiasFlac420
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
More like Wallet Obliterator.
Splume
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's like the Phyrexian Negator, only good! They should have put him in Phyrexia vs the Coalition instead.
zomboss
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Go to Skinrender and read the flavour text of that card then come back to this guy and read his flavour text. YUP, IT'S ALL ELESH NORN'S FAULT.
Best surprise blocker I've ever seen, or at least the most memorable.
Bonus points for style if its in a mono-white weenie horde.
PhantomDust
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
"It's okay, we made his mana cost mono-black. That's a fair drawback, right? No way to benefit from that." *releases Theros* "Ha ha, yep. Has to be allll black. And it even dies to removal. I'm sure somebody will still try to build a deck around it. As long as they're having fun, I guess."
LordRegentDoodooClaw
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
is it a dumb question to ask if this... like... combos with anything?
McBlasty
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Ridiculous card, ridiculous price though too. Hopefully won't see it too often.
Goatllama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thought about writing something else but the flavor text just about sums it up. Perection.
Comments (336)
->Not even Wall of Frost?
->It's good, but most tournament decks don't use it.
->Well, let's give them a really good reason to block with walls.
Part of me wants to mention It That Betrays as a combo with this card, but I know that any deck unable to withstand the Obliterator will be dead long before It That Betrays might have come into play.
Some people will say, "it dies to Go For the Throat" or "it's stopped by Mana Leak". Walls, kill spells, and counterspells stop this, but it could be too late. Fact: Unless you can stop the Obliterator before it attacks, you will lose many permanents or a quarter of your life total. Leaving enough mana open for a counterspell will slow down your tempo, and not many decks will be able to handle that loss. This is a very good creature, and it will likely be one of the biggest dangers on the field.
"3 mana... Not a bad cost.
2/3 body... okay. It's not terrible.
Flying... Yeah, now it's playable.
Deathtouch... Oh snap, it's above the curve.
Lifelink... WTF?!!!!! "
Yea , well now look at our faces when we see this card
4 black mana... ok seems cool , black too.
5/5 body....lol for 4 mana? There MUST be a drawback otherwise this would seem broken.
Trample - Wait , so it's playable...and it's an early trampler? Whoa.
"Whenever a source deals damage to phyrexian obliterator the source's controller sacrafices that many permanents" - LOLOMGWTFBBQ , THIS THING BRINGS DOWN DUDES FASTER THAN A FRENCH HOOKER ON PAYDAY!
Flavortext- Wait , no more abilities? No drawbacks? WTF WIZARDS!!!!
The only colors that could have difficulty dealing with this guy are green and red, and even they have access to answers like Tumble Magnet, and Dismember.
MBC isn't viable right now despite all the claims after every single set that it will be.
You can always use Beast Within
There are also artifact answers to this; Tumble Magnet, Spine of Ish Sah, etc
Of course the easiest way would be to just exile,destroy, or counterspell it.
No words...
Should have sent,... a poet.
I like the artist for this card, he's a real good one.
it's like wizards is trying to revive mono-black or something lol..
Smooth.
5/5
Can't be removed by damage, including other creatures.
You get no immediate value from him, so Jace can bounce him and he'll get Condemn'd and Oust'd a lot.
If the mirror is ever relevant he dies to Go for the Throat.
He only swings through for 2 damage over a Sword-Feast-Famine'd creature.
If he ever gets tier 1 they'll SB Wall of Tanglecord for him ;__;
All that being said, he sure is one hell of a beater.
Don't EVER fight him fair.
PS: My favorite creature ever. 'Behold blessed perfection"
Mr.Wimples if you presented this card to a WOTC employee ten years ago they would have said it should coast 3 mana and be a common that was when the urzas block was coming out. While the new sets are
vary powerful and this is just plain broken the urzas block still manages to make all the new stuff look week.
Jokergius Kiku's, Shadow reads Target creature deals damage to itself equal to its power. So it is Phyrexian Obliterator doing the damage not Kiku's Shadow. So it would be the controller of Phyrexian Obliterator who loses the 5 permanents.
Really. White exiles/pacifies it, Black spot removes it, Blue bounces or counters it. The only colors that care are Red and Green, except we've got Dismember in the same set probably, specifically, to kill this guy. Negator was a champ because you could reliably Rit him out on turn 1 and beat your opponent's head in before they knew what was happening. This guy is, admittedly terrifying if you don't have an answer for him, but I really don't think he's going to be as impressive as everyone seems to think he's going to be.
(Green gets to spot remove it too, actually Beast Within exists.)
EDIT - Just realized that this guy dies quite nicely to Dismember OR Cathedral Membrane's effect, both of which were probably introduced just to deal with this guy.
Where is the drawback? When you print something so blatantly above the curve, it's supposed to have a drawback, not a huge advantage slapped on (4 black mana symbols doesn't justify this). I love black, powerful creatures, but this is just silly.
Beeing one of the few actually powerful cards from this set, it's of course mythic. T_T
Anyone else remember when finishers (Serra Angle and Sengir Vampire) were uncommons, easily obtained, and wouldn't break the bank? Look at how far we've "progressed" from those days...
(The art, not the card name)
*brain explodes*
: fine... *Redirect*
well they wouldn't do it again would they?
Of course, it's possible this finds its way into vampire decks or starts an a new archetype entirely. Time will tell.
This is fittingly disgusting as the pinnacle of Phyrexian evolution.
All jokes aside, I don't really think the Obliterator is that amazing. Good, but not really amazing. Your opponent is definitely not going to attack into it and I doubt your opponent will block into it either. 4 Black means you're either going to go for a mono-black deck or fill it with a lot of dual lands. Then again, if B/R vampires can do it, I'm sure someone else can too.
- Should a red player simply absorb 5 a turn? Or risk losing 6 permanents by double Lightning Bolting it?
- Token-heavy decks cannot simply chump block it due to trample. Eldrazi tokens, with 0 power, may actually help stave off the sacrifice ability, but not the trample unless you throw 5 at it.
- Huge creatures cannot successfully block it their controller without sustaining serious economic sacrifice. This is the first creature in recent memory that punishes damage overkill.
- Guard Gomozoa, while a great defender, can only neutralize 3 of its damage due to trample, unless you somehow reduce its power.
- Ironically, black may have a hard time dealing with this due to its immunity to Terrors and Doom Blades if the user doesn't factor it in. Maybe Dismember will become more popular?
Yes...
"Behold blessed perfection? Where's the boobs?" -Me
5/5
Trample
An ability that makes it defensive, aggressive, and breaks nearly all red decks.
Broken.
"Shoot it with your lascannon"
"OK!"
*shoots cannon*
"Hey, it didn't work and.... guys? How the hell did you all die just then!?"
I think Wizards realized that as long as they provided a healthy amount of removal for all colors, it was okay to make powerful and flashy creatures. And we're benefiting from it. The whole game thrives on cool creatures with nifty abilities. It's like DnD at higher levels: you can do great things and you feel awesome doing them, but your enemies can do a lot too, so the balance (usually) remains. Everybody's happy. Or should be.
Grappling hook grants double strike, which is normally sweet, but actually doesn't work very well with the Obliterator. The first strike inherent in double strike means he won't be taking combat damage very often, & therefore won't be destroying permanents very often.
(Although turn 1 is probably not the best time for Dragonmaster Outcast.)
edit: EggShen, you're completely right, thanks for pointing that out. Grappling Hook doesn't really help Obliterator. Funny how that Double Strike bonus gets flipped into a drawback of sorts.
How about Tainted Strike? Suddenly the prospect of whether to block the Obliterator becomes much more complex.
Let's see.. there's dismember obviously, mind control, volition reigns, go for the throat, consuming vapors, geth's verdict, steal it with an act of aggression and sac. it to a culling dias, gatekeeper of malakir, beast within, dispatch, condemn, and so on and so forth. Granted that many of them are in black.
Really, the only time this is deadly is against a full out red aggro deck that has no response to it (although said same deck can also just kill you on turn 3 before this ever gets played), and on top of all that it's 100% mono black.
Oh and that's not even including the colorless removals like brittle effigy.
Still a completely awesome card, but like how thrun was printed last set at the same time as when they printed infect and black sun zenith keeps them under control. Had thrun been printed any other time it would have been completely game breaking, and this card too, had it not been printed during a time where there are a lot of new ways to kill it without doing any damage to it.
Giving it a 5/5 anyways, because it's so powerful what other score can you give to it.
Awesome flavour.
Cool name.
Sweet (Looking) Mana cost. (I am attracted to cards with lots of
...no drawbacks..................=)
EDIT: First pack of new Phyrexia ever pulled one of these =) The mono-black me is happy, the
Please stop being 25 dollars so I don't feel dirty buying a playset of you.
Sincerely,
MBC Player #10584
Today I traded in 2 cards for nine packs (me and my friend got a box), in ONE pack i pulled a Karn Liberated and a Foil one of these baddies. It was a good pack to open. And a good day.
As for this card...Absolutely amazing in every way..but NOT insta win unaided, altho im sure it could be very easily against many decks.. 5/5 til the cows come home....than the cows will be sacrificed.
Red and green can suck on that one. (Or rather, their side will get completely sucked through this card.)
Imo this dude at least shouldn't be able to block, so players could try to stomp their mono-black opponent over before he does...
Not even saying it's overpowered. Just not that type of Mythic Rare i like.
Amazing flavor thoguh.
Phyrexian Obliterator: RAAAWWWWWRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kozilek: Interesting. What do you like most about our company?
Phyrexian Obliterator: RAAAWWWWWRRR!!!!!!!!!!!
Ulamog: Do you see yourself as looking at this as a career, one you might be promoted in?
Phyrexian Obliterator: RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(eats the Eldrazi, because they're taking too long and he's bored and wants to eat something)
Yawgmoth's Ghost: Damnit, I wish I'd thought of making one of those :(
also, if the Phyrexians have taken over the plane, why isnt this a common? (jk, lol limited would be a bit stupid o.O)
Connotations and griping aside, the card itself is probably one of the most powerful black creatures printed.
I hate cards like this. It's a classic example of a card that won't be anywhere near as good as it looks in competitive play where you can sideboard answers for it, but will cause a tremendous amount of frustration for casual players.
Absolutely!
It was only a matter of time when R&D gives up to the "the newbies like to play black demons" stupidness and print a card like this. It's just a tradition to print a powerful creature like baneslayer angel to the currently weakest color just to rotate the cycle, so noone will notice how boringly stupid the whole thing is. Buy your own copy of the currently most powerful deck and go for it... And as usual, it's a creature with the corresponding destruction spells within the same set.
I wonder if the target audience for Magic is really that stupid. If they really like the game as it is today... And I wonder if MaRo is really behind this, it would simply reduce my respect.
Of course you could add the response card for this creature in your sideboard and there are surprisingly few comments with "dies to ...", but as I quoted the relevant argument above, the problem doesn't come from tournament issues, but it's about the casual game table, where the most important part of the game is FUN and not winning. There will be uncountable situations, where the game ends up being unfun. And I hate the responsible person/team for just these occasions.
Broken.
No pun intended.
And honestly it's not that broken. Magic knew what they were unleashing on the current standard, that's why the made cards like Dismember (which shuts this guy down completely) and Dispatch etc. This cards triggered ability only further lays down the Red hate (you do NOT want to burn this guy to death), but burn typically already has a problem with dealing with 5+ toughness creatures.
4.5/5 for trying to entice players to go Mono-Black. Or at least run Dark Rituals and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
After actually facing it, however, it's not really as scary as it reads. The
Overall, the reason the negator was feared was because it came out during a time when creatureless control decks were very common in standard, and dark ritual allowed you to blast him out on turn 1 and then just proceed to win. The obliterator exists in a very different environment, and while it's still an excellent card, it's manageable.
Unless, of course, you manage to equip/enchant it. Then it can actually be a very nasty headache.
If you don't like it, don't play the game. There's simpler, safer TCGs out there for kids like you. The reason not all cards are like this is because of the balance of the game, and the balance of the various formats, player types, and in general the balance of the feel of the game. You can whine and *** all you want (yes, that's what you're doing), but learn to accept the occasional crazy-powerful card, or go back to yu-gi-oh.
/Rant over, Awesome card. Great for mono-black, powerful yet with answers. It's perfectly balanced; just flashy in a set about power and dominance (both in past forms and new incarnations).
Dear Gatherer.wizards.com,
Your rating system is silly. :)
PS: Make up your mind on the rules of magic and think about the cards you print a little harder. Just for the lolz.
Also I like this card and Jace I just wanted to comment on this and I have nobody to talk to so the interwebs is the next best thing. :D
I've drafted this card twice. First time I drafted him I tried to build mono black around him and ended up with a pretty crummy deck because of it. Never even got him onto the board. Second time I drafted him I won the draft but he didn't even make my deck, even though I had 2 ragers, grim affliction and 2 morbid plunders. He's the hardest thing to cast in limited.
They aren't hard to keep alive if you have surgical extraction. They may be able to remove the first one, but good luck on the second. Having targetted discard adds another level safety.
(but Yeah he's usualy just a 5/5 unblockable for BBBB)
The problem with this guy is how fast he can be answered with little if any loss of life or permanents.
Counter, Destroy, Sacrifice, every deck has answers to this card by the time he enters play.
I'm sure all the new players think its a super-bomb card, but good luck even having it to block with before its erased from play.
I main deck 4.
advantages:
1) 5/5 creature for just 4 mana!
2) trample and its ability which makes it more or less unblockable and indestructuble by damage
disadvantages:
1) more or less only playable with pure black deck because u need 4xblack
2) its absolutely no team player! how/where will you integrate this??
3) if opponent gains control of that somehow... you are fucked up if you have no solution for this
------------
all in one i would say its a 4 because mostly because of the first two disadvantages... and by the way: yeah i have 3 of these because i was "lucky" so i am not jealous... but i cant play this!
Speaking as a strictly casual player, I'd say that cards like this are a good object lesson in adjusting decks to the metagame. Admittedly this mostly applies if you have a consistent playgroup, but if someone shows up with a deck that has a few of these, and by your next session you aren't packing answers at least in your sideboard, you're doing it wrong.
Admittedly it's awkward for red and green decks in particular, but green has Beast Within and either color can board in Wall of Tanglecord. There's also Brittle Effigy, but I don't generally approve of expecting people to have specific rares as answers.
Red also has Act of Treason and sacrifice effects if you're willing to go that far, but I should also point out Lust for War. Red runs burn and aggro, so it should be able to handle getting hit for 5 a turn if the opponent is taking 3 a turn and can't block with their big scary thing.
...Ok.
Looks like Baneslayer has a new butt-buddy.
Those of you saying that it's not overpowered because it has lots of removal against it are COMPLETELY missing the point. It's ridiculously extreme mana efficiency for the power that it has. The fact that it doesn't have any protection doesn't matter in the slightest. And don't even start with the "it's so restricting because it's mono-black! /cry /cry" argument.
Would an 8/5 creature with a 4 CMC not be overpowered because it can be Mind Controlled? No.
Would a 5/5 creature with Trample and a 3 CMC not be overpowered because it dies to Doom Blade? No.
Would a 5/5 creature with Flying, Lifelink, First Strike, and protection from 2 large creature types with a 5 CMC not be overpowered if it were called "Baneslayer Angel" and given a Mythic Rare status? No.
Is ANY CARD completely neglected from even being considered to be overpowered just because it doesn't have shroud or indestructibility?
Absolutely not. You're a moron if you think so.
This card is ridiculous and shameful to use. My respect for a magic player goes down considerably when I see them using things like this and Bankslayer. Pitiful card, Wizards.
0.5/5
I didn't even see the trample the first time.
That's just adding insult to injury. This card is crazy overpowered.
Awesome card, no doubt about it! But still... are you sure this is really something that should be able to come out by turn 2 provided you have a Dark Ritual ready, Wizards?
If the controller of this plays say lightning bolt, and I redirect it to this guy, who sacs the permanents?
Nice flavour text as well :-)
I'm glad everyone comes to the consensus that he's a very good, well-rounded creature,
But many ALSO agree that he's extremely manageable.
He's in an environment where
I like him, and many people like him, and his flavour is just so awesome.
However, him being printed in an environment that is difficult to survive means that he won't see as much play as I would personally like to see him in.
First off, assuming my age before forming a proper argument shows me that you're clearly younger than I am. Secondly, you don't actually FORM a proper argument. You speak of balance, then, and I quote, call the card, "crazy-powerful." There is no balance when certain colors gain cards on incredible, unbalanced strength. Look at Jace. Look at Stoneforge. The developers of Magic banned those cards because they powered up cards far too much and released them into the public without realizing the consequences. Here is a quote from MTG's R&D on the topic of overpowered cards:
"Everyone agrees that innovation is a Very Good Thing and thus we should be constantly pushing the envelope. Well, if we're constantly pushing the envelope and striving to come up with cool new weird and wacky cards, then occasionally we're going to make a mistake." - Randy Buehler
Cards like this are not only a problem for non-black players, but for everyone. People defending this card make a valid point: Obliterator is not seeing play in standard tournaments. Why? Because there just aren't enough fast, efficient, standard-worthy decks that are mono-black. This is not to say that black is not getting a ton of good cards, but they are simply being outclassed and leaving this monster on the sidelines. However, a question arises: For how long? R&D now has only two choices: A, give black amazing cards and turn this into the next Jace, aka causing half the metagame to build decks specifically tailored to support his existence, or B, mellow Black out so this card isn't overpowered AND oversupported, thus causing damage to black players all over the world and shutting out those who enjoy the flavor of monoblack. Look at Dismember. The majority of people playing it DON'T PLAY BLACK. Yet, this is one of the most efficient, if not THE most efficient, removal spells out there. 1 mana of any color and 4 life to wreck everything in standard, INCLUDING this card. The loss of life is supposed to be a restriction, yet this so-called "cost" is completely ignored by serious players. This is exactly what will happen with Obliterator, it simply hasn't happened YET. When two incredible cards are placed in a position to be played in monoblack and NO ONE plays monoblack, something is obviously wrong.
This card is not unstoppable, but neither was Baneslayer, or Jace, or anything else. Nothing in Magic is unstoppable, but this card is just plain Powercreep at its worst and is completely unbalanced and armed to the teeth with unnecessary strengths. No, I don't think Negator would be anywhere near as amazing as it was back in the day, but NO, I don't think completely reversing the effects of a card from NEGATIVE to POSITIVE is a good reason to throw it into the public's hands. You can't block it without being punished, you can't let it through without being punished, and it's extraordinarily mana efficient at only four CMC. The moment black gets a few cheap cards or mana becomes even more ridiculously multi-color efficient than it already is this will flood the metagame and everyone will be singing the same tune. I feel like Magic is tailoring too much to decks that want to make the opponent sweep on turn 4 and really needs to back up a little. If you don't think four CMC can end the metagame, try looking at another fancy little card with a similar cost. I'll leave it up to the imagination what it is.
P.S. Spouting general, uninformative nonsense and attempting to insult me is no way to gain any respect on this site. If you want to attack me for my opinions you could at least have the courtesy to challenge me to a d-d-d-d-duel. ;)
Black. Very... black. A bit too black.
Like, REALLY black.
:P Might as well just say "Unblockable." It's "Win-more," but it only takes a turn to really screw over anyone :/ Why put so much on it? Kinda makes it lose flavor.
T1: go on the draw, don't play anything, discard fatty
T2: swamp, dark ritual, reanimate dead
Bam there you go.
I think of it as new phyrexia's platinum angel. It teaches you to run removal. It's not like we just got one of the best removal spells ever.
I have never opened one (actually, I've never opened a NPH mythic). What did I do to deserve this.
As well, in EDH, this card can be thrown in any number of decks that have black because of the length of the games and access to wacky things people always throw in. It's not busted, just very strong in some decks. It's not like goyf, it's not like SoTf. Jace was only ever truly broken in standard, legacy he's still played in a number of decks because of his utility, but it's not nessecary to do so like it was in standard.
tl;dr If you think this card sucks it's because you don't play anything besides standard, or you suck.
Jace wa2 banned becau2e not much hiit2 plane2walker2, and he didn't have two 2tay long two wiin game2. 2toneforge wa2 banned because iit, agaiin, diidn't need two 2tay long two help wiin game2.
The only color Ii could 2ee haviing a true problem wiith thii2 ii2 red. Green can make token2, and ha2 Bea2t Wiithiin. Black can ea2iily straiight up kiill thii2, no 2weat. Blue is control, with Clau2trophobiia and counter2pell2 galore. And wiith Dii2member even red ha2 an2wer2 to thii2.
Ii've fa2ed thii2 guy 2everal tiime2. 2cary a2 hell, but wiith a Vapor 2nag followed by an E22ence 2catter, and a Go For the Throat made 2hort work of hiim.
The only people that 2hould be afraiid of thii2 guy beiing overpowered are people who don't play removal, iid e2tra, bad one2.
Po2t 2criipt: Ii al2o fiind iit nece22ary two 2ay that the powercreep ii2 iintentiional. Creature2 were way underpowered when compaiired to noncreature 2pell2 at that tiime. Creature2 are ju2t a2 kiillable now, or at lea2t 2ome are. And 2tiill many deck2 are good wiith liittle two no creature2. Iit'2 not a bad thiing that thii2 ii2 way powerful, he 2tiill diie2 to removal.
Reprint dark ritual before this rotates, i dare you.
Well, here you go.
In the spirit of unhinged, yes. If I was playing you, you would have to sac one half of a permanent.
If it was a land, it would tap for 1/2 of what ever color. A creature? Cut it's P/T in half. Also, if it had double strike, it becomes first strike. It's CMC is also cut in half. Oh, and you have to physically rip it in half, so part of it can be in the two different zones at once.
Don't like it? Then don't chump block my goddamn Obliterator with a goddamn Little Girl!
Swerve ??? Round two with a dark ritual will be met with pacifism or perhaps Geth's Verdict or you will suffer quickly.
@Tempted_Johnny:
This and Prey Upon? Are you insane!? . . . I feel violated.
Alright, I'll cast Withstand Death on my Little Girl and then sac half of it. Next turn, block with half my Little Girl.
so if you wanted to bring it to the 1 black mana negator used it would be like 6colorless 1 black, I don't think anyone would say 7 mana for a 5/5 sometimes sack things dude is undercosted.
also the jump from 3 mana (negator) to 4 mana is fairly large.
As for those arguing that 2 colorless mana = 1 colored mana...Do you think that if Wurmcoil Engine cost 3 black mana (BBB), that that would be balanced? Or if Emrakul, the Aeons Torn cost 7 or 8 green (or any other color, really) mana? Or even worse, if Blightsteel Colossus cost 6 colored mana? Even if something like Solemn Simulacrum cost 2 mana, even green mana, it would easily overshadow every other 2-mana ramp spell out there and all the wolf run decks would run 4 copies.
When the boy was about to concede, we told him he had to declare his blockers, so he did, buy throwing all of his little 0/1 eldrazi in front of these 7 tramplers the guy controlled.
My friend Mirrorweaved my Obliterator, and suddenly, mister "I own the board, you guys are screwed," became "Crap, I have no permanents on the board anymore." Boy dies, guy scoops, my friend flies over my head and wins the game. It was awesome.
I truly hope we see more "fight" cards coming in the future, because there are awesome, and they were dumb enough to print this guy, with a mechanic like that.
How is it shameful to use this card in anyway, if you are duel colored he's harder to play, if he's given pro from the defending color he's unscathed, if you force backlash damage to him with a redirect off a burn spell, he's a great card with huge advantages, but his biggest down side is most anything can kill him before he does anything, in most situations you'll be "Yay I played an Obliterator" then come the opposing turn, "Oblivion ring, Beast within, go for the throat, or any kill spell that'll hit him." I know I play 3 of him and 4 metamorph, and especially against monogreen he sucks bad, what good is a super blocker like him when the Opponent has a Bellowing tanglewurm?
5/5
Trample, even better.
Sacrifise a permanent for every dealt damage to him? WHAT?!
5/5
...yeah, I'm joking. It's incredibly powerful, and I like any step mono black takes away from the cheesy vampire mechanics. I don't think it's quite as overpowered as Baneslayer Angel or Wurmcoil Engine because of its restrictive mana cost, but yeah, definitely incredible value for CMC. If it was {B}{B}{B}{B}{B}, I'd still play it.
I used to think that unblockable stuff. But you are forgetting half of the turns of the game.... yeah, it actually Makes you sacrifice when blocking. That's why the text isn't changable.
I got two of these out of my first five Magic Boosters ever. Since then I knew, even though I didn't like it much at the beginning, I had to play black. Obliterator is a supernova.
After playing looots of games with them, there are two things I can say for sure: it is Definetely the best option for you not to block it. No trying to wither it with Boggart Ram-Gang. No super sacrificing to save you, cause this is what Obliterator's controller is praying for...
And what you should be praying for is removal.
Turn 2: Swamp and Fume Spitter. Sac Fume Spitter and kill a weenie; play Caravan Vigil for a swamp.
Turn 3: Swamp. Tap Birds of Paradise (and land, obviously) for Obliterator
Turn 4: Many possibilities (Depends on draw). Inquisitors Flail, or maybe Prey Upon.
Very improbable, but fun all the same. Use Ranger's Guile to protect Obliterator.
Until i saw this.
Perfection = Understatement
fun with Eldrazi Con***ion :D
There's plenty of skill required to play it; this has "Go For The Throat me" written all over it. Almost anyone would take this thing out quickly and without damage as soon as possible, so a lot of counterspells are nice to have, as is a bit of resurrection.
This thing doesn't work as well in just any deck. The fact that it's so overpowered is what draws all the attention from removal to it.
Can't just throw it out there and expect it to be alright on its own.
Best value for money pack ever!!! :D
Or they just like overpowering mythic rares.
Good game.
And it's black, so it can be cast on turn two with dark ritual or even in turn one with a reanimator deck.
It just looks like some overpowered cards people create with Magic Set Editor.
This set was very heavy (black targeting) removal which is why he can exist. There are a lot of answers available in both limited and constructed, they even rolled out the answers before the question. I don't think power creep is as pervasive as a lot of people like to claim, a big part of it is power being re-allocated to creatures in favor of other effects (The game has become much more "permanant-based", in my opinion) in order to keep the game appealing. It doesn't make for fun gameplay in most people's opinions to have to run counter magic just so you can prevent a game ending sorcery or instant from resolving, a lot of people prefer to have their things resolve and let their opponents resolve and then deal with them afterwards.
Does that mean I don't think power creep exists? No, it almost certainly does. Do I think its a bad thing? Not necessarily. Over time Wizards has learned lessons as to what they can print and how far they can stretch the power of cards before breaking them, this lets them make things that have flashier effects with less worry of them being unstoppable. Sure they still have mistakes, but they're a lot better at correcting them without printing "LOL, DESTROY ALL ISLANDS" anymore, at the same time they don't have to stress out if Abby Matron is overpowered. Sorry for the thesis of ideas people have already probably presented, this is just an interesting card to me.
Arena with Obliterator is just insane. At worst, you're getting 5 cards for one. At best, you're getting 1-3 cards for none, or 6+ cards for one. Pretty much the only creatures that get around the pain of the Oblit are 1 power deathtouchers, or 0 power/6+ toughness 'walls'.
My personal favourite play was barely hanging on against some elves with a Coat of Arms out. The next turn, I dropped the Oblit and activated Arena, and pretty much forced my opponent to sacrifice all their permanents. ^^
Don't feel sorry for red. They've got Wrack with Madness, which in my book is the hardest slam in the jewels that this card can take.
luckily, my group of friends feels the same way, so no one uses this card....
it costing more than $15 helps too
Green gives you Prey Upon, which might aswell spell : target player sacrifices permanents equal to target creatures power.
Insanely powerfull
I've got one and I've only made my opponents sacrifice a few permanents in multi at most, and that's when I attack the players with worse board positions.
It really shines in single player if you can get it out lategame though.
The flavor is nice: Black makes people sacrifice, and Sheoldred, Whispering One has improved on Phyrexian Negator in New Phyrexia to the point where it's almost broken.
Absolutely eats Swords to Plowshares, Go for the Throat, Beast Within, Wrack with Madness, Mana Leak, and Dismember. There, I listed six cards in all colors (and colorless!) in Standard that can deal with this for three or less mana (except red; sorry red.)
If you face Black or Blue/Black Standard decks, be prepared to face the Obliterator, or all life shall be but an evanescent wisp.
On a different note, in EDH, possibly one of the best cards to equip Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots on.
"in response, use Quicksilver Amulet to put out oby.... sac 13 permanents "
opponent flips table
He windmill slammed it on turn four
I laughed a hearty viking laugh and played wrack with madness
EDIT: @ MrFluffyThing:
Right now it's actually Alpha Brawl. Something even more extreme will probably come out in Avacyn Restored.
SECOND EDIT: Avacyn Restored isn't out yet, but I might be right. A replacement for Tajuru Preserver!
Sigarda, Host of Herons {2}{G}{W}{W}
Legendary Creature - Angel
Flying, hexproof
Spells and abilities your opponents control can't cause you to sacrifice permanents.
5/5
I am all for Magic making mythics unique and rather powerful for their cost. But this is a perfect example of them thinking that mythic grants them free reign to make a card as powerful as they desire.
I rated it 5/5 because its insanely awesome, but I think its the worst design for a card I've ever seen.
Player 1: "Look, your creature killed itself! Sac 6 permanents now, don't be shy."
Player 2: *facepalm*, then starts crying.
Whining? Hell no. Why doesn't Wizards just do what they did here to every card? Let's take Phage and say, "When she comes into play, if you played her from your hand, you win the game."
Argument: "But she can be countered!"
And that's EXACTLY what the arguments are like for this guy. He's overpowered and we all know it."
~Kaizeischi
..Over reaction much? First off, what are these other "powerful" cards that black is dropping in standard?
You think he doesn't have a downside. What about him being mono-black? Does he do anything when he first enters? No? What about when he's removed? Still nothing??? This guy hardly ever sees play, and he's slowly been dropping in price because of it. If he was broken, wouldn't he be seeing more play? Wouldn't he be getting higher in price? Mono black is actually extremely weak right now in standard.
You might win the first round, but the moment they know you're running this guy they'll just be holding their removal for him and your Vampire Nighthawks.
My point? He's good. Not broken.
Edit: Its funny how people rated me down, even though I'm telling the truth. lol
Seriously, it can be held off, turn after turn, by a card from Homelands. Homelands! .5/5.
Naw, just kidding. I've had my face beaten in by this guy more times that I can count.
It's true that red and green have difficulty removing this guy, but it can still be played around. Red can put you at low life before you can even drop thsi guy, meaning you still need to be careful and obliterator can't just swing in all the time (he has to stay back and block). Green can just play creatures with more p/t, meaning that if you swing with obliterator, they'll swing back except do more damage.
Now keep in mind that...
- It dies to dismember, a removal spell every color has access to (and yes, I know a lot of things die to this spell) along with other spells like go for the throat
- It has no entering or leaving play triggers, meaning if it's removed ASAP no harm is done
- It is BBBB, making it very difficult for anything other than mono black to play it
It's a strong card, but it will not break the game.
It's a perfect example of the evolution of Magic as a game, at least from the Urza block until now, and I think there's more change to happen in the future.
Let's just hope that they haven't planned on making Uncommon or Common Planeswalker's...
This card is almost unplayable outside mono-black, he has nothing to protect him from any kill spells. Unless you have something like arena to force an opponent to damage him, he is probably just an unblockable 5/5 or a very effective wall. He is cool and flavorful, has some scary art to boot.
This card has not seen real tournament play, unlike things like Delver of Secrets, Snapcaster Mage or Primeval Titan. Why is that? This guy takes up a high mana cost slot in your deck and does very little when he hits the table. Yes, your opponent must deal with him, but they likely will, what decent deck has no answers to a big creature? Most importantly, you have to be playing mono-black to use this well. Mono-black is not very threatening in any format right now.
That said, I want to try this out with the new black exalted in M13, he would be a very nasty 10/10 to run into.
... what? You were expecting a more complicated strategy?
Great card. the only bad thing is that if you deal damage to it you have to sacrifice. for example, if you get Mindslavered and if you have direct damage, your opponent can really make you feel pain.
Plus, you can't play Pyroclasm and the likes
Anyone heard of Undying Evil? A very versatile card that deals with all sorts of removal and it's only one black mana. Still dies but comes back better. Even against its clear counter Wrack with Madness you might lose all your mana but your obliterator still comes back. Awesome.
Black is really getting pumped up with a lot of cards that don't feel black. This guy is better and cheaper than a lot of green creatures out there. They say it's a midgame card but lategame, this guy can keeps titans at bay. Really awesome card especially since you can have it out turn 2 easy with Dark Ritual.
4.5/5
Wrack with Madness is the only reason not a 5/5.
No. Go away. Nobody likes you. You are second only to Elesh Norn on my list of things to Terminate. Also possibly other cards. But really....
No.
4.5/5
Sweet Christ would I hate to face off against this thing in any variant! GO PHYREXIA!
Hmm . . . . So back in Urza block when Phyrexian Negator was being playtested, somebody somewhere at some point thought, "hey, maybe the controller of this 5/5 trampler for 3 shouldn't HAVE to sac permanents when it takes damage, maybe it should be, like, optional."
But (thankfully, we may have all presumed) nobody listened.
Then, years later, somebody else in a playtest session testing an early version of this must've said, "You know what? Why should I have to sac permanents for my 5/5 trampler for 3? You know who should be saccing permanents? YOU!" So they made it mono black, raised it's cmc by one, and made it mythic.
Am I the only one that looks at this and thinks maybe they just should've listened to the guy from back in Urza's block and made the permanent saccing optional?
Dammit Wizards, you're making Urza Block look bad for crying out loud!
It's too powerful. So powerful that it loses any flavor it could have had by being Phyrexian Negator . Point is they seem to have forgotten what a good mythic should be like. Wanna see a good mythic card for black? Look at Xathrid Demon
Enjoy the blessed perfection!
So, umm... What happened here?
It is a good card for black, and hard to splash black only for this card.
5/5.
-Every player ever
Well, a lot of things do, but this is the best thing ever. Should be 5 stars.
game over other people
5/5
i use it in a green/black deck and get it out all the time stop complaining
use an extraplanar lens if you really need to
hey also transmutation after you've got a few slagwurm armors on it.
makes for a tasty treat that can't be beat
Also, he's boring.
"If I say "dies to Murder" will people finally stop bitching about this thing?"
Ha ha ha, nope! Don't count on it. This was in block with two much MUCH better removal spells, Go for the Throat and Dismember, both of which saw quite a bit of play (especially Dismember). Tempered Steel would occasionally run Dispatch, which was a fantastic way of dealing with this. Control decks had counters, Vapor Snag, and Day of Judgment to deal with this thing. Once M12 came around, Oblivion Ring was back in for dealing with this. The only colors that really couldn't answer this well were green and red, and that's only because their answers were situational as opposed to nonexistent.
No amount of answers will ever get the casuals to shut up about this card. Heck, there are probably at least three of four cards I didn't mention that were in the same Standard as Obliterator that could easily handle it.
Oh, just remembered. Green had Beast Within. Not great, but it did the job well enough. Better than any of its other answers.
I would have personally preferred 'Any time damage is dealt to Phyrexian Obliterator Each player sacrifices that number of permanents.' Yeah its harsh. But that's how black is suppose to be. You give everything to gain everything. And that's whats fun about making black decks. Finding ways to push those sacrifices to your own advantage. But with this card, you don't have to be clever when you throw him in a black deck. He just plays great, as is.
But er, philosophical magic flavor complaints aside. The art is phenomenal, the text is great, and its really powerful... The card, without a doubt, fills the shoes of a 'Mythic Rare' creature.
TL;DR: good, but it doesn't have any immediate effect on the board, like most currently played creatures do, so not broken at all. 5/5 for a flavorful, beautiful, monstrosity.
This card is NOT broken; there is SO much creature removal that doesn't deal damage, that if they have no answer to it in they're deck, that's their problem. Plus as it's been stated, at 4B it'll be hard to play in anything but mono-black.
@Pick15; To answer your question, they made it better! That's what happened. Obviously!
@alzbo; It's always appropriate to play him. If he's so hated then they can find a way to remove him.
@NolHavent; Thank you for having some reason.
Creature -- Illusion, mythic rare
Flash
Whenever a source source deals damage to Jace's Mind Flayer, you may draw that many cards and that source's controller puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
P/T: 5/5
Mythic rare = R&D can take the day off.
It's not overpowered cards that make the game fun. Great decks and plays make the game fun.
*Sigh*
That is not how Angel of Jubilation works.
There is no ability to activate or spell to cast with regards to Phyrexian Obliterator's TRIGGERED ability, so Angel of Jubilation does absolutely nothing for either player in this case other than be a body to sac to the Obliterator trigger (in the case of being under the control of the player not in control of the Obliterator).
Seriously, people need to learn the difference between activated and triggered abilities (hint: a colon is involved with activated abilities) before they post on sites like Gatherer, lest they confuse people who are new to the game.
The right choice is still Sigarda though.
Funny how everyone thought this was too insanely OPed. Turns out the cost was enough of a drawback. But this is still a kitchen table all star and a favorite of mine.
Those were the days.
Phyrexian Obliterator Vs. Phyrexian Negator !
Player 1: I attack with Phyrexian Negator
Player 2: Um... O.K. I block with Phyrexian Obliterator and you sacrifice 10 permanents
Player 1: Ha, that's exactly what I wanted you to do.
Player 2: Why?
Player 1: This game has taken for ever, I just want to go to bed! Kill me and end this!
Player 2: In that case I cast Shahrazad
Player 1: I hate you
Inquisitor's Flail still doubles its damage so it's still a good choice.
Lure effects change this, making this guy work well in
But the fact of the matter is that Phyrexian Obliterator is NOT broken, and here's why.
The best way to show it is not broken is by comparing it to similar creature cards which are, such as Baneslayer Angel, Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite.
Yes, a 5/5 for 4 CMC that has Trample and clears the opponent's board of creatures every time it attacks may at first sight seem OP, but:
1. Phyrexian Obliterator is awkward to cast with its
2. It is prone to most type of removal (except burn), whereas players must always think twice before hitting that Thragtusk with a Doom Blade.
3. It has no "enter the battlefield" effects, unlike Thragtusk and Thundermaw Hellkite.
4. What Baneslayer Angel lacks in "enter the battlefield" effects, it more than makes up for with its FIVE abilities, compared to the Obliterator's TWO.
Essentially, the Obliterator is an unblockable 5/5. When facing experienced players, they will undoubtedly avoid blocking it with anything greater than a 2/2 unless absolutely necessary, and 9/10 times, the Obliterator will be countered/removed right off the bat, before it even has a chance to deal damage or make use of its ability.
In summary, it is a great card, but it is certainly NOT broken. I do, however, prefer the Phyrexian Negator over the Phyrexian Obliterator. The Obliterator is self-admittedly a better (and better-looking) card. But the Negator feels more fair when you play it, embodies the essence of
I Found The Drawback. Its That It Takes Two Dark Rituals To Cast This On Turn One
He's occasionally seen in legacy, but competes with Persecutor and the 5 toughness, in part due to dismember, is a large dissuasion. Fact is, MBC has been on the weaker side of things for awhile; they don't need to print a hard counter to every strategy immediately; they could at least have just done it in the core set.
Anyway, I love this card; though I haven't bought it yet. It embodies the *other* side of black. Not the sacrifice for power one (although the colorweight => you sacrifice either ritual cards or playing multicolor); but the other side of black that says "Your doom is at hand; fighting your doom only results in more doomness"
In the words of Immortal; Unending Grimness.
In the words of Behemoth; Blackest ov the Black
In the words of 40k fans; Grim-Dark incarnate.
Thank you for being *so* black!
Turn one this guy. Aww yeah.
~credit to paolino~
inquisitor's flail
It's all, "Herp derp lol, you paid 4 mana and got me! Guess you outplayed me! Game 2?"
If he is untapped, he is also the most terrifying wall ever.
If you want to play with the big boys, don't use garbage like this. Sell them to idiots on eBay. That's all they're good for.
Oh, Phyrexian Obliterator... You're just so misunderstood!
Nothing like potentially winning the game with zero mana.
5/5, no question. It's unfortunate that he was so hosed so much back when he was in Standard because everyone ran Dismember.
In essence it's a mostly unblockable 5/5 with pseudo pro red for 4. Sounds a bit plain if you put it that way.
Casual mono-black devotion deck here I come!
Flavorwise, it's just pure gold. The art is astonishing and the flavor text - as plain and simple as it should be. CMC is just about right; you can hardcast it with two Dark Rituals on the first turn and it will probably get out on the board very soon; but hey, you can do worse things with a ramp, am I right?
And sure, it's a power creep, but it's not broken or really overpowered. Having no protection at all, it's ability will cause only mono red player to scoop immediately. Yet it is so powerful, that any other player should get rid of it as soon as possible - and that's, for me, a definition of mighty card.
It's wasn't playable in standard, due to the mentioned lack of any protection (except the direct damage one) and few other things (Dismember!), but on the kitchen table (and I'm a Timmy) - it just rocks. This card, for me, with its power level, flavor and art is iconic for Phyrexia - and, let's be honest - for black. Only thing that concerns me is its price, stabilized for years since printing.
It's really blessed perfection ;)
It's also the most overpowered piece of crap I've ever seen, I love it.
devotiondevotiondevotiondevotiondevotiondevotiondevotiondevotiondevotiondevotion
Sure, I can see how it may be undercosted (4, even in heavy black, is kinda cheap), but answers are plentiful in white, blue, and black. Also, this block had both Beast Within and Dismember, just in case. Make no mistake, it's still a good card, but I just don't think it's the instant-win button you guys are portraying it as. But that's just me.
Wizards: Just because there is an "answer" to every card doesn't make cards like this and Geist of Saint Traft good for the game. Please stop making mythic = insanely undercosted.
(Yes, if this were the case, he could come out turn one with a dark ritual, but at the cost of 6 life ~ much fairer than this card with no drawback.)
-Swag_Crow
This with other absurd creatures like Griselbrand, Abyssal Persecutor and Desecration Demon set Black as the reigning 'creature color' in the game. Not good for balance between colors as Black also has best creature removal.
A little sad to see the price raise but I won't build a mono-black modern anytime soon and he's getting the price he deserves. On another note need to get a sliver legion before their $50...
I didn't notice this is devotion food.
YUP, IT'S ALL ELESH NORN'S FAULT.
"Behold blessed perfection." --God
With trample? And annihilator?
WTF.
Guys, New Phyrexia just created an Eldrazi. Better put indestructibility on it.
Best surprise blocker I've ever seen, or at least the most memorable.
Bonus points for style if its in a mono-white weenie horde.
*releases Theros*
"Ha ha, yep. Has to be allll black. And it even dies to removal. I'm sure somebody will still try to build a deck around it. As long as they're having fun, I guess."