Basically , it's ability says "Tap {WUBGR} For +5/+5 and draw 3 cards. , and even if you don't manage to pay the cost immediately next turn , it wasn't a complete waste of mana...you have a 5/5 for 5 on the upside.
AnTzero
★★☆☆☆ (2.2/5.0)(8 votes)
As good as this card is without assistance Torpor Orb is a must have for this guy/girl/thing.
Lohran
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(4 votes)
Not work with Torpor Orb: all triggers begin with the words "when", "whenever" or "at". Etched Monstrosity doesn't use any of them.
Ok so if I cheat this in with torpor orb thats cool. Now if the other player swings with a phyrexian dreadnaught every turn I could consivably remove all the counters draw three cards and be ready for it again. Wow
rinoh20
★★★★☆ (5.0/5.0)(14 votes)
THE FLAVOR!1!!! ITS GETTING IN MY EYES!
Razbot
★★★☆☆ (3.9/5.0)(4 votes)
@varteDod You do realize that a 10/10 for 5 is much more appealing than a 10/10, draw 3 cards for 5WUBRG, right? (not that that's bad, but the former is just preferable)
Atali
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Take 1 Leveler, stir in 1 cup Etched Oracle, reduce over low heat until Oily, serve on toast.
krauser-gogetthegirl
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
His etchings translate to, and im taking this directly from the phyrexian faction website: KILL ME-KILL ME NOW
MasterOfEtherium
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
OH MY GOD! RIDICULOUS hillarious Str8 Guccified. 10/5. The Art WOW. The Beef Wow! The Flavor YUM!
You'd actually have to pay 11. 5 for this, 1 for hex parasite, and then 5 as the X in the parasites activated ability cost. The black phymana is just an additional one time cost for the activation, the X can only be payed with mana
NocteMundi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@Alluceanot
Oh yeah, I overlooked that...
But still, I think that's worth it. You wouldn't be doing it all at once unless you had the mana for it.
Kyzar
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(1 vote)
YES mythics are back to where they were meant to be. hard to use but amazing if you do.
I love how completely out of place this card is. Where is this going to fit into standard? Nowhere. As much as I would absolutely die to see a WUBRG control deck in the top 8 it aint gonna happen, this is a fun casual card and I applaude wizards for returning to what this game is: a game.
Endlessor
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
Also he his a Golem and fit with the Golem theme of New Phyrexia. If you don't play the five color you have at least a 5/5 Golem for 5 that can combo with the new artificiers and gain trample for example.
JaxsonBateman
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
It's unconfirmed as to whether it will combo with Melira or not. There are reasons it should, and reasons it shouldn't. But over in the Rules Q&A forums our resident net-rep has told us that it's still in discussion (post was made on 3rd May).
Also, Torpor Orb doesn't do anything. The -1/-1 counters are part of a replacement effect, not an ability.
In any case, on its own, its not very good. Even the draw 3 cards can't save it from a 10 mana investment for a 10/10 - given that Kozilek is a superior choice and doesn't require an absurb mana cost like WUBRG. There are some card combos in standard which can make it a 10/10 more easily - Melira, obviously, if it works (but besides a few situations she seems like primarily a sideboard card), Vampire Hexmage and Hex Parasite. But with Vampire Hexmage you're giving yourself card disadvantage for a 10/10 on turn 5, when there are still better ways at getting big creatures out early (Eldrazi legends and Summoning Trap, for example), and Hex Parasite will make the combo cost at least 10 mana.
As a big creature, this could always be a game winner. But don't think for a second this is constructed viable, at least not in standard.
SeiberTross
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Why is everyone coming up with complicated combos? Play it in a 5 color deck, next turn you probably win.
Kryplixx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Not seeing the Red...
infernox10
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You know, WUBRG,
'Cause there's only 3 golem-supporting colours in this set. <3
All jokingly aside, this thing is just beautiful,
Art, function, flavour, all of it.
FaltonOV
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I can see this pairing eerily well with mana Myr, especially Alloy Myr.
Shadoflaam
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
It doesn't work with Melira, creatures can't have counters PLACED on them, Etched Monstrosity enters the battlefield with them already attached. Judge's rulings.
PEVE_O
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
fate transfer to kill their best creature net a 10/10 in the process.
So, if i have torpor orb on the field, then cast etched monstrosity, will it still enter the field with the counters on it?
LiXinjian
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Torpor Orb won't prevent Etched Monstrosity from entering the battlefield with counters on it, simply because Torpor Orb prevents abilities from triggering, and placing counters on Etched Monstrosity isn't a triggered ability at all (no Whenever, or At).
It's also pretty clear to me that Melira will not allow you to put counters on this card, for any reason.
bijart_dauth
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
on its own you can get a 10/10 turn 6, people are getting all caught up on the fact that its 10 mana, its 5 mana for a 5/5 and 5 mana for +5/+5 and draw 3, you can watt a turn and get all your mana back, meaning that it is far more efiecient than a 10 drop, if they kill it before it becomes a 10/10, ok, you lost 5 mana and a 5/5, a lot, but not unrecoverable, if they kill it after it becomes a 10/10, you still get your 3 cards. Comboing it is help full, but overal unnecessary.
jkt3
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Pair with Hex Parasite for playability in monocolor.....preferably black, since otherwise you're looking at -2 life to pull it off
People people people, Melira, Sylvok Outcast keeps the counters from being placed on creatures you control. This guy comes in WITH the counters so Melira DOES NOT work. Had this card said: "When it enters the battlefield put" (or place) the counters on him then it would work. But it doesn't.
Best thing for you to do is go out and get 4 Hex Parasites and enjoy the game. (Then Fling both the Etched and Hex at your opponents for 16 damage. Repeat as desired.)
^^^Try this with a Blue Red deck. That way your prepared to stop their counter spells.
zk3
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
All what has been said is very interesting, but I WANT it to have five -1/-1 counters, if not ways to get more. Have a few lotus cobras down and a fetchland can easily net you an ancestral recall. Or play it in a 5c control deck. Also interesting: this card can single handedly hold off mid-game infect creatures. It acts as both a 5/5 defensive wall to make blocks, a draw engine from the steady stream of -1/-1 counters, and finally the finisher for when you finally win the attrition war.
This is very interesting. I think removing -1/-1 counters that CIP for a mana cost would be a great way (mechanistically and flavor-wise) for the Mirran to win the war against phyrexians in future sets while NPH is in standard.
I'd like to see infect (or maybe even wither) to become a viable archetype, and for WotC to develop more of this mechanic. It's fantastic how Phyrexian Unlife and Glistening Oil have showed the interplay between life and poison counters. I like seeing them turn our conceptions of detrimental counters upside down.
Mike-C
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Worst case scenario, a 5/5 for 5 which is better than Phyrexian Hulk. That's kind of a best case scenario too, isn't it.. Well.. It's better than a Phyrexian Hulk!! Should've been a rare. 3/5 for being able to kill the somewhat incred hulk. ha ha
Exart
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
People. Please stop saying Melira does not work here, because she most certainly does. Entering the battlefield with counters is a replacement effect that _places_ counters on the object when it enters. Check the rulings in Tatterkite and Flourishing Defenses. That said, I love the flavor of this card and the fact it's a mythic that's more like a mythic and less like a standard staple that costs 20+ dollars.
djbon2112
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
@ Exart is correct. " If Tatterkite would enter the battlefield with counters on it, it enters the battlefield but doesn't have those counters. For example, if an effect grants it persist and then it's destroyed, it returns to the battlefield without a -1/-1 counter on it."
However, there IS a difference between "Enters the battlefield with X" and "When enters the battlefield, put X on it". First is a static effect; the creature enters the battlefield with X on it, versus the second, where it hits the battlefield, THEN X is put on it. It's just not relevant here.
HiACSlater
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
You can combo this card pretty well to get a 10/10 badass. Not too interesting to me though, and I don't think I will be playing against it a lot, and you won't as well.
FiveColorFinder
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
I LOVE the flavor of this card, and the fact that its a shout out to the old Mirran stuff. Plus, 5-color cards are my thing.
In terms of usefulness, too, its a pretty good card. Considering cards like Alloy Myr, Channel the Suns, and Darksteel Ingot, this card is highly effective. The only blaring point of weakness is that it could die pretty quickly in a proliferation deck, if you don't have the necessary typing. Also, the cost-to-power/toughness could be a mite better.
All in all, 4/5. Not unstoppable, but a staple for a 5-color deck, especially one with artifacts.
WateryMind
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Stop saying Melria and start saying Toper Orb.
MechaKraken
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Make sure you have a way to protect this card before investing all ten mana on it. With all the removal and especially artifact removal out there at this time, whispersilk cloaks and canopy covers are essential on costly big creatures like this. Get your money's worth!
metabreed
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I made a green/black deck with a playset of these lovelies and used lotus cobras and birds of paradise. I also put in a couple of vampire hexmages for quick munching and Melira so I can play monstrosities and they don't even get the counters. I put in a couple of asceticisms and a bunch of removal spells and hey...it wins about 90% + of the time. If I need the draw I can usually find the mana somewhere and with a well placed overwhelming stampede I tend to make my opponents unhappy. Simple I know, but call me old fashioned...I love this little guy ;)
Deco_y
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
I want to crack this baby. Many a sleepless night ahead.
Faralay
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
EDIT: Deleted for stupidity. Sigh.
Pigfish99
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You realise you do a sunburst when playing the ability.
each color gives +1/+1, but in this case, since you have -1/-1 counters, they get rid of them.
hence, you're using sunburst, even in phyrexia.
Very good card, if you can get rid of the -1/-1s cheaply.
Tjokkie
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Never thought of this, but glistening oil can be pretty cute with this.
Mode
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Why does phyresis turn a wizard into a golem? And if Wizards thinks the Golem type suits better to it, why did Etched Oracle get oracle'd into a Wizard and not a Golem when initially it wasn't a wizard?
I think both Etched Oracle and Etched Monstrosity should have the same creature types: Wizard Golems, or just Wizards, or just Golems.
mrnubnub
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Kinda disappointed, least mythic mythic I've seen yet
DrTommyCreo
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really love the "Etched" artwork, but then this Phyrexyan Golem I was like wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww, I didin't even realized about the last ability todraw three cards!, just like the old Oraccle did, Ilove it works perfectly for my Sunburst Deck, nice combo with Skeleton Sahrd :-3
50n1c
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
here are the applicable rules for the melira combo
112.6h An object’s ability that states counters can’t be placed on that object functions as that object is entering the battlefield in addition to functioning while that object is on the battlefield.
121.6. If a spell or ability refers to a counter being “placed” on a permanent, it means putting a counter on that permanent while it’s on the battlefield, or that permanent entering the battlefield with a counter on it as the result of a replacement effect
614.1c Effects that read “/This permanent/ enters the battlefield with . . . ,” “As /this permanent/ enters the battlefield . . . ,” or “/This permanent/ enters the battlefield as . . . ” are replacement effects.
this leads me to believe the melira-monstrosity combo works.
This and Kaleidostone gives you a 10/10 and a three card draw (four including the Kaleidostone cantrip) for 2+5+5 mana. If you're playing metalcraft or affinity for artifacts (or both, why not), you won't mind paying 2 for another card and an artifact which will stick around until this badass comes knocking.
The best part is that if you can't pay for the ability, it's still a 5/5 artifact creature for 5 mana. Good old Phyrexian Hulk weeps.
I love it. Just make sure it doesn't meet a proliferate deck, that gets very ugly.
penguinmage25
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(1 vote)
torper orb hahahahah has no one thought of this yet
Arachnos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Phyresis has been pretty good to Etched Oracle, actually. He has become more powerful than ever before.
Superllama12
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
This is how a mythic should be. Absolutely insane if you build a deck around it, but not necessary to have in any competitive deck. I mean, there are tons of awesome ways to break it in half (i.e. Fate Transfer and the like) but it's not like it automatically wins the game if you get it out. However, if they wanted to make this uber competitive, they should have made the removing the -1/-1 counters part of the effect, so it turns into : Draw three cards. If this is the first time this ability has been used this turn, you get a gigantic creature
BorosGeneral
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Get 5 -1/-1 counters from infect Remove them and draw three cards Problem infect decks?
Etched Monstrosity is 6/6 through Mikaeus' +1/+1 as it is not a human. Sacrifice it to your favorite sac engine for fun and profit. As it is not human, it has Undying. It returns to play and gets five -1/-1 counters and one +1/+1 counter. That one and one -1/-1 counter remove each other. Etched Monstrosity is 7/7 and does not have a +!/+! counter on it. Sacrifice it to your favorite sac engine for fun and profit...
Rinse, wash, repeat as often as you want.
Standard legal for now.
Flame_On
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
If i add a plus one counter to EM, would that remove all the -counters already on it?
DoragonShinzui
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Would've been hilarious if all of those symbols were Phyrexian. Perhaps a bit overpowered, but still. Hilarious.
That being said, this is exactly what Mythic should be. Big, flavorful, and full of interesting potential.
Why hasn't anyone mentioned Chromatic Lantern yet? Turn 3 (at least): "Shine a little light down here, Lantern!" Turn 4: (place land, tap all 4 + Lantern) - "Hey look at who the cat dragged in! Etched Monstrosity, you don't look so good. You should get those -1/-1 counters looked at." Turn 5: (Tap all five mana for different colors because the Lantern rules): "There you go! Much better!" *proceeds to deal out copious amounts of death* So by your fifth turn, you get a 10/10 artifact creature AND a three-card advantage.
5/5 if you can pull off the combo, which isn't very hard to set up.
RAT666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
So basically it's a 10/10 creature for 10 mana if you can get around the fact that you need to produce all 5 colors...oh, and either you or another player gets to draw three cards...F it, I would play it just to be able to say, hey B I'm going to draw 3 cards just because I cAN PRODUCE 1 of every color and please don't mind the caps because I unlocked caps and I am not going back to correct the spelling error, normally I would but I think door to nothingness is a far better investment even at "mm ii ss pp ff" versus this guys "m i s p f" cost; target opponent loses the the game for an extra 5 mana! Yeah "p i s m f" whatever, they have the same converted mana cost order, is there some connotation?
GrimjawxRULES
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Quite comparable to Kozilek, Butcher of Truth in the sense that you get a large, colorless fatty and draw a bunch of cards for 10 mana.
BorosGreengrocer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The ability is like an early form of Monstrous from Theros. And it's even called a Monstrosity!
Asthanius
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Composite Golem + This = 11 mana for a 10/10 and either gives you card advantage or mills your opponent.
Comments (72)
You do realize that a 10/10 for 5 is much more appealing than a 10/10, draw 3 cards for 5WUBRG, right? (not that that's bad, but the former is just preferable)
Turn 6 Composite Golem.
You'd actually have to pay 11. 5 for this, 1 for hex parasite, and then 5 as the X in the parasites activated ability cost. The black phymana is just an additional one time cost for the activation, the X can only be payed with mana
Oh yeah, I overlooked that...
But still, I think that's worth it. You wouldn't be doing it all at once unless you had the mana for it.
Also, Torpor Orb doesn't do anything. The -1/-1 counters are part of a replacement effect, not an ability.
In any case, on its own, its not very good. Even the draw 3 cards can't save it from a 10 mana investment for a 10/10 - given that Kozilek is a superior choice and doesn't require an absurb mana cost like WUBRG. There are some card combos in standard which can make it a 10/10 more easily - Melira, obviously, if it works (but besides a few situations she seems like primarily a sideboard card), Vampire Hexmage and Hex Parasite. But with Vampire Hexmage you're giving yourself card disadvantage for a 10/10 on turn 5, when there are still better ways at getting big creatures out early (Eldrazi legends and Summoning Trap, for example), and Hex Parasite will make the combo cost at least 10 mana.
As a big creature, this could always be a game winner. But don't think for a second this is constructed viable, at least not in standard.
'Cause there's only 3 golem-supporting colours in this set. <3
All jokingly aside, this thing is just beautiful,
Art, function, flavour, all of it.
Combos in-block with Vedalken Anatomist.
Also notable is Quillspike.
It's also pretty clear to me that Melira will not allow you to put counters on this card, for any reason.
Best thing for you to do is go out and get 4 Hex Parasites and enjoy the game. (Then Fling both the Etched and Hex at your opponents for 16 damage. Repeat as desired.)
^^^Try this with a Blue Red deck. That way your prepared to stop their counter spells.
Have a few lotus cobras down and a fetchland can easily net you an ancestral recall. Or play it in a 5c control deck.
Also interesting: this card can single handedly hold off mid-game infect creatures. It acts as both a 5/5 defensive wall to make blocks, a draw engine from the steady stream of -1/-1 counters, and finally the finisher for when you finally win the attrition war.
This is very interesting. I think removing -1/-1 counters that CIP for a mana cost would be a great way (mechanistically and flavor-wise) for the Mirran to win the war against phyrexians in future sets while NPH is in standard.
I'd like to see infect (or maybe even wither) to become a viable archetype, and for WotC to develop more of this mechanic. It's fantastic how Phyrexian Unlife and Glistening Oil have showed the interplay between life and poison counters. I like seeing them turn our conceptions of detrimental counters upside down.
Please stop saying Melira does not work here, because she most certainly does. Entering the battlefield with counters is a replacement effect that _places_ counters on the object when it enters. Check the rulings in Tatterkite and Flourishing Defenses.
That said, I love the flavor of this card and the fact it's a mythic that's more like a mythic and less like a standard staple that costs 20+ dollars.
However, there IS a difference between "Enters the battlefield with X" and "When enters the battlefield, put X on it". First is a static effect; the creature enters the battlefield with X on it, versus the second, where it hits the battlefield, THEN X is put on it. It's just not relevant here.
In terms of usefulness, too, its a pretty good card. Considering cards like Alloy Myr, Channel the Suns, and Darksteel Ingot, this card is highly effective. The only blaring point of weakness is that it could die pretty quickly in a proliferation deck, if you don't have the necessary typing. Also, the cost-to-power/toughness could be a mite better.
All in all, 4/5. Not unstoppable, but a staple for a 5-color deck, especially one with artifacts.
each color gives +1/+1, but in this case, since you have -1/-1 counters, they get rid of them.
hence, you're using sunburst, even in phyrexia.
Very good card, if you can get rid of the -1/-1s cheaply.
And if Wizards thinks the Golem type suits better to it, why did Etched Oracle get oracle'd into a Wizard and not a Golem when initially it wasn't a wizard?
I think both Etched Oracle and Etched Monstrosity should have the same creature types:
Wizard Golems, or just Wizards, or just Golems.
112.6h An object’s ability that states counters can’t be placed on that object functions as that object is entering the battlefield in addition to functioning while that object is on the battlefield.
121.6. If a spell or ability refers to a counter being “placed” on a permanent, it means putting a counter on that permanent while it’s on the battlefield, or that permanent entering the battlefield with a counter on it as the result of a replacement effect
614.1c Effects that read “/This permanent/ enters the battlefield with . . . ,” “As /this permanent/ enters the battlefield . . . ,” or “/This permanent/ enters the battlefield as . . . ” are replacement effects.
this leads me to believe the melira-monstrosity combo works.
New Mirrodin - Etched Champion - Rare
New Phyrexia - Etched Monstrosity - Mythic Rare
The best part is that if you can't pay for the ability, it's still a 5/5 artifact creature for 5 mana. Good old Phyrexian Hulk weeps.
I love it. Just make sure it doesn't meet a proliferate deck, that gets very ugly.
Remove them and draw three cards
Problem infect decks?
Etched Monstrosity is 6/6 through Mikaeus' +1/+1 as it is not a human. Sacrifice it to your favorite sac engine for fun and profit. As it is not human, it has Undying. It returns to play and gets five -1/-1 counters and one +1/+1 counter. That one and one -1/-1 counter remove each other. Etched Monstrosity is 7/7 and does not have a +!/+! counter on it. Sacrifice it to your favorite sac engine for fun and profit...
Rinse, wash, repeat as often as you want.
Standard legal for now.
That being said, this is exactly what Mythic should be. Big, flavorful, and full of interesting potential.
Wait...
Turn 3 (at least): "Shine a little light down here, Lantern!"
Turn 4: (place land, tap all 4 + Lantern) - "Hey look at who the cat dragged in! Etched Monstrosity, you don't look so good. You should get those -1/-1 counters looked at."
Turn 5: (Tap all five mana for different colors because the Lantern rules): "There you go! Much better!" *proceeds to deal out copious amounts of death*
So by your fifth turn, you get a 10/10 artifact creature AND a three-card advantage.
5/5 if you can pull off the combo, which isn't very hard to set up.