Pointed Discussion

i'd rather have a scooter with wheels

Inferior to both Phyrexian Negator and Juzam Djinn. Nice artwork, though.

I use 4 of them in my green/black land destruction deck, I can usually get it out second turn with the use of Dark Ritual, pay the kicker and now my opponent has to deal with a 5/5 creature when they will in all likelyhood have only two lands, it buys me time for my Argothian Wurms or Spiritmongers, and seeing as it's a land destruction deck I can usually make sure they will have a hard time dealing with the Scuta... counterspells are a pain though.....

Inferior?
Please.
The life payment is one time only.
If anything he's better than either one of those.

Alright, this is -not- better than Juzam Djinn. By the time you've paid 3 life for Juzam, you've already swung for 10. Still could be worse though.

Possibly better than Juzam Djinn - this guy is a real bruiser. It's a pity he didn't get a fair shot, though, since he was in such a bounce-heavy standard environment. And of course, bounce is his main weakness.

All the same, he looks mighty cool. I can imagine that shield shooting lasers out of its eyes.

Please make his shield and weapons equipment lol

One of the greatest black cards ever, besides of course necropotence and phyrexian negator.

Wish it got reprinted in somewhere in the Scars block. Would OWN with proliferate.

@makochman:
One could argue whether Juzám Djinn or Phyrexian Scuta is better.
Generally the Djinn will be worse after your fourth upkeep, before that you'll have lost your life slower so if you just need him for two attacks he's preferable.
This would only be the case though if you assume that either...
-your opponent will have used removal on him in time (which, albeit annoying, sounds quite plausible)
-you have won the game at that point (which is unlikely)
-you have some way to get rid of him (which would be dumb)
-you have some way to prevent the damage, like Personal Sanctuary (which is the only case where i'd prefer Juzám).

The Scuta has more upsides by himself:
-he can also be played as a Hill Giant if you don't need him to be 5/5, or if you don't want or can't even afford to lose any life, making him more flexible.
Further deck-specific advantages:
-he costs just one black mana. That makes him easier to cast in a deck with multiple colors - again, more flexibility.
-he's a Zombie, making him a nice target for tribal decks - with Undead Warchief for example you'll have the choice to get a 5/4 or a 7/6 by just paying three mana.


But you can't really compare this dude to Phyrexian Negator in the first place. They're simply two different cards.
Phyrexian Scuta isn't meant as a finisher, and the days where you could rely on Juzám Djinn as one are long gone.

Great card. Wish we got a similar version in the Scars block.

Sorry Phyrexian Scuta, Phyrexian Obliterator.
Oh ya, and that comes out turn 2 with dark ritual + swamp also!

Why does he have the coalition symbol on his shield?

AND it's a zombie! All hail Phyrexia!

You can play Scuta even when your life is dangerously low, because kicker is not required.

This sits in my black zombie deck, useful on occasion, and often worth the life to make bigger. That said, I happen to play in an enviornment with lots and lots of bounce ( Reality Strobe ) but for its mana cost, it is still a decent zombie. It makes a good example of Black's 'pay life for power' theme.

a 5/5 for four mana and three life with no sort of evasion? Why is this rated so high?