Pointed Discussion

I guess this can make for a very solid wall for infect decks. Sadly, when you want to run infect you don't end up running non infect creatures...

I'll put this in an infect deck to... trim down their life total? It doesn't make any sense... This card's only saving grace is its mana cost.

Good blocker, or i guess alternate wincon. attack a couple times with this guy and they will have to start pitching creatures to him. he doesnt win by himself, but he keeps the pressure on them.

Phyresis or Grafted Exoskeleton?

Although, as stated you wouldn't want to put this in a non-infect deck...
But maybe in edh when there is other people playing infect?

odd, but maybe it will find its place in a deck.

3/5

I went crazy when I first saw this card.

And then I realized that it didn't have infect.

I love this card mainly for its flavor. But imagine what happens when I give infect. Oh noes

Very contradicatory card, it's interesting but I think the upside isn't good enough to justify the dis-synergy.

Eh...
It's been said: it needs infect.
But he'd be so overpowered otherwise.
Just give him infect with any of the various ways this block's given,
Which shouldn't be too hard,
And you have one hell of a creature.

I know wizards deliberately made this card w/o infect to encourage hybrid cards, but honestly I would feel too conflicted playing this in an infect deck, you just have to be so dedicated. Ofc this could give you incentive to play cards like Phyresis or Tainted Strike but I think really you'd just want to take a more effective infect creature over anything w/o infect, slows down the whole process lol

You don't need to focus on infect to make it big. Pistus Strike, Virulent Wound, and Decimator Web pump it up just fine while also doing other things you'd want to do in any deck anyway.
Also those creatures that can gain infect temporarily like Vector Asp and Pestilent Souleater.
And then those non-Phyrexian cards that deal with poison, like Snake Cult Initiation.
Punishment for your opponent's Ichor Rats, I don't know...

Requires too much effort and relevant cards to make him worthwhile if you're thinking of giving him infect;

As an alternate wincon for infect decks (killing them with 0 life)----I rather you not waste the deck space in your infect deck.

Counterintuitive most days, but the art is lovely. Perhaps as an alternate killer in a multiplayer game...? Meh. Decent blocker anyway.

SHROOM FIEND

I've been thinking about making a deck based around Spikeshot Elder and Grafted Exoskeleton. Since I'll have the exoskeleton anyway I'll try to fit this guy in. It's hard to make an infect deck out of creatures that don't already have infect.

Pretty good alternate kill switch for infect decks.

M. Fiend watched as all of the other kids found homes. Loving Planeswalkers to call their masters. Some kids were excellent at what they did, and exceeded their masters' expectations. Some of them were summoned to the field because their masters just plain loved them...

But M. Fiend sat sadly in the corner, with no planeswalker to love him. He often stared out the window on rainy cold days, wishing he had someone warm to hug when the cold winters came. Longing for the feeling that others felt when they had someone who cared about them. Mycosynth Fiend would lay awake at night staring at the ceiling, wondering why... How could a God exist that would throw him into a world that he just didn't fit in? Why was he created? What was his purpose? His mind conflicted with his heart, as he forever searched for a deck that would accept him despite his obvious imperfections.

How could anyone love a creature as ugly as he... His thoughts plagued him for days. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and eventually he was beginning to lose hope. He didn't cry himself to sleep anymore, because his eyes had run dry. And so there he stood at the top of the orphanage, looking down at the ground below. Nobody would love a creature like him. He was just... Not a good fit for this world...

"Don't jump."

He looked down, astonished to hear a voice call out to him. He stared down at the massive being that waited below with open arms. It was a two-headed giant that watched with soft eyes. M. Fiend was silent.

"I have imperfections too. Who could love such a hideous beast, with an extra head where he shouldn't have one... Trust me... I understand." The Giant stood there with his arms open.

M. Fiend stared for several seconds, before tears streamed down his face.

A home.

A master.

This is the kind of card that is interesting, and I'm kind of glad they made it, but I'd probably never play it in constructed.

Even though I don't think this card is that good, I still think it's an incredibly neat concept.

My hat is off to the designers for NPH: it's an all around neat set with lots of really cool cards (minus Sanity Bat or whatever the hell it's called...).

Why is this guy uncommon? He's really not good at all! They should've given him reach...

It looked good...then I realized it didn't have infect.

Incredible powerfull in a sealed deck format

T1: Forest, Glistener Elf
T2: Island, Blighed Agent, attack with the Elf
T3: Forest, Mycosynth Fiend, attack with The Agent and the Elf (Your opponent has 3 poison counters)
T4: Forest, Triumph of the Hordes, Mutagenic Growth for 2 life on Mycosynth Fiend, attack with everyone. Your crappy 2/2 is now a 7/7 infect with trample, and you won on turn four.
I'll be throwing him into my infect deck.

This thing is a monster in limited with the right deck. As others have pointed out, he loves Triumph of the Hordes.

Leave a swamp untapped when you attack with him and listen to the gears grind in your opponent's head.

The idea behind this guy not having infect just baffles me. Would have been an otherwise SOLID card with great art. 2/5

It actually seems pretty decent in an oldschool poison deck that doesn't run infect. In those, standard life diminishing is a viable secondary win condition, one that this perfectly compliments.

I'm not sure what to think about that card. As mentioned multiple times before, it's an interesting design, but a hybrid deck doesn't seem too powerful, and there are better targets for Grafted Exoskeleton, Tainted Strike or Phyresis.

Pity it doesn't get the boost from any player with poison counters, then it would synergize with cards like Phyrexian Vathmother or Ichor Rats...and it would be a pretty card against infect decks as well, obviously.

What would happen if you played this in a red green white weird strategy deck against control and you have a strategy of losing a lot of life early on so you can play Phyrexian Unlife. You take some poison counters, let's say 7. Then you drop this guy & your opp laughs at you like you're a fool and loves you for it as he steals your 9/9 3 drop but little did he/she know that your next turn you would be stealing him back & swinging. If you steal him back at instant speed & swing/fling, does he stay 9/9 or the moment he changes sides does he drop back to a 2/2? Yes I'm stretching far down this limb I'm on, I'm very aware.

Opponent: "Sure, I'll let it through."
Me: "Okay, I'll play Tainted Strike on it."
Opponent: o__o

It's not great, but the card has it's uses.

mm I'll try him in a poison deck (not infect deck!)

I'd prefer this as a 0/0 with infect.

In an infect deck, this guy isn't a threat.

In a non-infect deck, this guy is basically Scathe Zombies, minus the tribal benefits and Muraganda Petroglyphs.

You know, I think that NeoKoda is on to something. Perhaps, if turned into an Artifact Creature, given new art, and then given Infect and made into a 0/0, you'd have a rather...bizarre Infect creature that actually referenced what Mycosynth is, rather than just being...

Whatever the flying *** this guy is.

I mean at about 5 poison counters this guy is a 7/7 for 3. I'd say that's pretty respectable. Enough to be an alternate win-con. Infect players must be spoiled.

And it's not like it can't be given infect. Tainted Strike ftw?

oh stfu vorinclex, you're such a d*****bag

Infect has the issue that your creatures are all undersized. This guy seems to be a reasonable blocker who can provide an alternate win con when needed. That said, I didn't have trouble pushing my infect damage through in *regular* games, but when it came to multiplayer this guy may have been helpful.