Typical Dimir stuff. Works well with Lazav and Consuming Aberration.
I really wish they'd find a new general B/U mechanic, though. Mill is getting old.
IzzetRaikou
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(3 votes)
It's great for mill but in the way mill is going right now its gonna take a real genius to figure out how to successfully make Phenax work in constructed,
SirLibraryEater
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
Consuming Aberration for some exponential funtimes. I can see this bringing back mill decks in Standard. It's been a while, hasn't it?
00zau
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(5 votes)
Stall with walls and tap out at the end of their turn to mill them out?
bowlofgumbo
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(10 votes)
At least all the mill garbage they insist on printing continues to get lumped solely into Dimir... I'd be super offended if they wasted White card slots on that rubbish :D
djh119
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
UB gets screwed over yet again...
Flyinpenguin117
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Consumming Aberration and Traumatize. Not the most practical idea ever, but still awesome.
SpaceMagic
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
"Alright, Black and Blue can individually be crazy bonkers good in constructed. Just make sure that any joint initiatives they might have suck." - WotC's "New" Policy for Managing UB Creep
MageofVoid
★☆☆☆☆ (1.0/5.0)(2 votes)
As a player that even enjoys playing mill, it's bothersome when they devote mythics to it but don't print any at the commons level. It makes good mill decks expensive to play in constructed and nearly impossible in limited. The problem with mill is that it is it's own unique deck type, separate from any other, you really will never have any reason to put milling cards in a non-milling deck. And, similarly to land destruction, wizards has shown that they really don't want milling to be prevalent and good in the metagame, they seemingly just want to keep it around for novelty's sake, except rares and mythics don't get wasted on land destruction.
Kanra777
★★★☆☆ (3.1/5.0)(4 votes)
4/5 Two Wall of Frosts can mill someone out really quickly. Combine that with Triton Tactics and Hidden Strings and you can mill for upwards to 60ish cards in one turn. Not as imaginative as some of the other gods though. Fun times with Duskmantle Guildmage since all those abilities can be used during the end step before your turn allowing you to block, then deal damage with mill.
Ferlord
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Coming from the guy called "SirLibraryEater", I bet he's been waiting for the moment when mill becomes a viable win-con, watching each set go by with fewer and fewer viable millers.
How does mill have anything to do with Deceit? Phenax should have dealt with mind control, cloning, or shapeshifting, not the same tired old mill that U/B always gets.
James_Kernaghan
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(4 votes)
We're all annoyed by UB getting another lame mill card, but this one might actually work with a bunch of big toughness defensive creatures, walls and the like. Plus it's an Inspired enabler.
Rydoste
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
How to instantly mill someone by using this guy: Step 1: Consuming Aberration Step 2: This guy Step 3: Traumatize Step 4: Tap aberration for the win
Fenix.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
@bowlofgumbo: figures someone that would say something like that like the most boring color in magic
Vividice
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Dimir - the degenerated Mill Faction.
It's disappointing how more than half of all UB Cards get mediocre mill slapped on it.
Totema
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Yes yes... Keep hating on this card, so the price stays low and I can get a play set for cheap. Then I can show all of you how frightening a fast mill deck is. Say goodbye to your library at the end of my fifth turn. 4/5.
Shadowcaster3975
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(12 votes)
He likes big butts, and can not lie (except when he wants to).
UncleJulio
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Wall of Denial is gonna be really annoying with this guy (more so then it already is.)
MisterAction
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(9 votes)
I don't have a problem with mill. And this looks very powerful. But isn't my favorite color pair for its power. It's for all the flavorful,varied,elegant and downright insanely cool cards that result when blue and black intersect.
Given that Lazav was a straight-up love letter to everything blue and black does, ideal for mill but also good with countering, sacrifices, discard and kill spells, and cipher was an awesome mechanic (even if it had to be understandably weak), yes I am disappointed that our patron god is "Just an insanely powerful manaless repeatable mill effect attached to a huge cheap indestructible creature." It's *very* good, but it doesn't have that blue-black swagger.
Oh yeah, you running out of sanity points and ending up in Arkam Asylum. Better fill an EDH deck with ancient, sea dwelling, horrific, tentecled creatures with big butts.
TheWallinator74
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm gonna be honest here: I hate mill as much as the next non-Dimir guild member...
...but the art is gorgeous.
Sel3l3e
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
best limited multicolour god 4/5 rest multigods are not so good
i was more hoping for a grind 4 or so tap mill type effect, but granted this is good too, let it be dubbed "you end? alright, mill 8 per wall of D, 7 per wall of I, and 7 for the god" alright i draw, i play ruler of dark realms, hand over your creatures. now, end, during your upkeep i tap you for 170 mills...
Nucleon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
As one not prone to much Standard play, I'm looking forward to doing sadistic things with Undead Alchemist.
HalfcowMan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Wall Mill Deck. 'Nuff said?
TheHunted17
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The only problem I see with building a deck with this card is that it is the heart of the deck. If Phenax is Slaughtergamed or simply removed from play (Unravel the Aether, Detention Sphere...etc.) you're screwed.
Boroski
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(4 votes)
He is actually surprisingly good for mill. I do think they should come up with a new B/U mechanic though.
4.5/5
Edit: Seriously guys? 3.4? He is really good for mill. Don't rate him badly just because you thought he was gonna be some sort of amazing all around god.
Mr.Formal
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
While I do think there could have been more imagination behind what his ability is, it's a tad crazy not to recognize how powerful he is. Considering where he stands among the gods, his ability is quite crippling if not down right deadly. Plus he allows possibilities when it comes to mixture, an example such as a defender deck that fights passively. I'd say, for imagination 2.5, for sheer power 4.5, for flexibility upon use 5.0. Just maybe, he could use a grade higher than a 3.7, maybe even a 3.9? eh? eh?
haloless0
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
C'mon everybody, lets not forget about another fun thing he can do, which is fuel a Reanimator deck... I personally hope that everyone continues to underestimate this guy.
Alvorada
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Anything that makes Wall of Frost into a legitimate threat is all right in my book!
Bagofmonkeys
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Well, I can't speak for his capabilities in constructed, but I CAN say that I just won the pre-release tournament because of Phenax. He was just too hard for people to answer.
Milling for +10 a turn does the trick.
Darkgoyfbadontcaster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
It's a bummer that people who keep trying to make mill work even though it DOES NOT keep warping what wizards produces, at this point the people who want black blue to be the mill colors outweigh the ones who want it to be the control colors, please think about what you are doing to the game you play while you continue to force worse burn that can't be aided by creatures in most circumstances
Yes, Phenax is really powerful, it's really ridiculous mill. Awesome. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only blue black mage out there who actually likes combat and wants to participate in it and you know...not sit behind walls and mill my opponent to death. So why is this the God of Deception? The best thing I can come up with is this: the fact that mill decks snap 4 of this guy as soon as they can is obvious. The mill is just too effective not to...however, since it is so effective...it enables mill for non-mill decks, too. By that I mean, finally we have a very good, repeatable mill effect on a pretty sturdy stick for our blue black decks that -don't- necessarily use mill as their win condition, but just use the graveyards as a resource. Mill stuff for your Rise from the Grave effects. Mill stuff for your Memory Plunder or Psychic Intrusion. This card enables graveyard shenanigans like no other in a neat package, saving you lots of card slots that you would have otherwise used for all the random mill cards out there just to enable your other effects. Even after that though, I think I'm still a little disappointed in this. It's slow - for this is yet another blocker against the creatures you see these days. It does nothing when you have no creatures of your own and let's face it is a color combination that finds itself in that position quite often. And I still don't think deception means milling :P
Toquinha1977
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Somehow managed to get 2 of these bad boys in my Prerelease pack (one in the seeded pack, one in the random booster), which made the deck a no-brainer to build. Only milled one person out (the rest of 'em died to damage), which is certainly doable in limited, but I'm eager to see if I can make a BUG Fog deck.
I like Phenax. He's a pretty cool guy. I like what he's got goin on. I'm not doubting his power. What I MAINLY complain about is how not creative he is. Blue/Black has some crazy shenanigans going for it: Lim-Dûl's Vault Countersquall Dimir Infiltrator Recoil Shadow of Doubt Silent-Blade Oni Undermine That's just SOME of the vast amount of what this color combination has to offer. In addition to all this, blue/black has had a reputation for being the "main mill color combination", which is well-deserved, I'll admit. BUT MILL DOES NOT DEFINE THIS COLOR COMBINATION'S IDENTITY. So when Wizards tells the community that there are Gods that are meant to be embodiments of these color pairs, people get really excited. These are GODS of these colors. They show what these color combinations are all about, what they'll mean to the community henceforth. THEY EVEN NAME HIM GOD OF DECEPTION! THAT'S SO FREAKIN' COOL!!! But, instead of any weird, funky, neat thing that they could come up with, they just slap a powerful mill clause on him and call it a day. That's where the backlash comes from. Not from his "lack of power"; Phenax is plenty powerful. Not from "mill isn't viable"; casual players love alternate win-cons, and mill is prominent with them. It's from the let-down of knowing that this color-combination's embodiment is mill. The knowledge that blue/black is now NOT solidified as deceptive and incrementally advantageous, but INSTEAD simplified into "the mill colors".
Ladsworld
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The funny thing is, he's not a god by nayan standards.
Demento_Recraves
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm weirdly drawn to make a B/G/u life gain deck with this and Tree of Redemption.
Or I could just mill myself and let Laboratory Maniac take care of the rest.
jlbyellin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
You can mill for forty cards in a single turn with two Wall of Frost and a Triton Tactics. I've built a pretty awesome deck around him that can mill an entire deck on the turn that he hits the field. Do not underestimate this guy.
the_unthinkable
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Phenax goes well with hold the line and your choice of weenies.
bertuccia32
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
I dunno whose brilliant idea it was to print this card while Consuming Aberration is still in standard, but whoever it is should have his head lopped off and paraded around on a pike in front of his entire family.
Necroken
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
so i added this card to my grimgrin EDH deck and man is it too funny. this plus undead alchemist and grimgrin equals alot of mill. 1. sac a zombie to untap grimgrin 2. tap grimgrin have opponent mill 6. as long as they hit atleast one creature u get one zombie from undead alchemist 3. sac the new zombie to untap grimgrin 4. tap grimgrin to have opponent mill 7. 5. rinse and repeat as an opponent looses their deck and creatures ^_^
Babyjenks
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
It makes sense that Wizards made a mill god, as the Dimir are the kings of mill, and this guy will be in standard with them. Also, am I the only person who likes this card?
This guy really disappointed me. I hoping for really cool god to replace Lazav as my Commander in EDH. While many of you are giving fine uses for him he just isn't conducive with what I do in EDH. My deck is mostly instants and sorceries, you know the stuff B/U does best, if I used him he would never be a creature because I don't use that many permanents. If I had my druthers he would have "At the begging of each opponent's upkeep that player discards a card and you draw a card."
amberbock
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Gcrudaplaneswalker: This card would have been broken if the cards were exiled instead of going to the graveyard. Imagine the power of Nightveil Specter equipped with Accorder's Shield if the milled cards were exiled. It may have originally been exiled during the design phase but there is no way they would have allowed it to pass if they play tested it first that way.
I like mill, I play a dedicated mill deck. However, this god is just boring, as is the style of play it encourages. He is incredibly straight forward, not the god of deception in any way! He want you to play walls, defend and counter, then tap all your junk at the end of your opponent's turn. This is slow, and non-interactive and predictable. It is the opposite of the effect a god of deception would have on the battlefield! Ephara, God of the Polis may be pure white/blue, but she still feels more deceptive than he does with her flash and blink antics.
I guess the flavor they were going with was that your seemingly un-threatening creatures can kill? Still, this god reeks of missed opportunity. He is powerful but boring, which is sad because that art is amazing! Look for the larger version in the wallpaper archives!
I would have preferred an effect that shows real deception, even if it was less powerful. Some ideas: "If a spell or effect you control would cause an opponent to make a decision, you make that decision for that player.", "Opponents play with their hands revealed. You may look at face down cards your opponents own, and any cards in an opponent's library he or she looks at." or ": You may cast target instant or sorcery card in an opponent's graveyard this turn." How about "Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, you may exchange control of it and target non-token creature you control." Maybe "Whenever a permanent is returned to its owner's hand, that player discards a card." I will admit, some of these are probably too odd or technical, but there are just tons of interesting effects in Blue/black and its a shame they went with such a straight forward card for what should be the least straight forward god.
CaptElephant
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Agreeing that mill is a terribly boring ability for the god of deception. The card is fine but I think most U/B fans wanted something more evocative and exciting.
He should give all of your creatures perplexing chimera's ability! the reminder text could read: "The rest of the game becomes unplayably confusing."
On the one hand, it'd be nice to see some more wacky tutoring and stealing effects for {U}{B}, but on the other, this is a vital piece of an awesome mill deck that people have been wanting for a while. Hello my Doorkeeper/Defender deck, DADDY'S HOME.
From what they've said, the pendulum's about to swing away from mill for a while, so I'm glad this guy is there to plant the flag for it over the next year.
Solstice-273.15
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really would have liked an ability in the same vein as Notion Thief, considering that he's the god of deception, but I suppose mill is gonna be as close as we get to blue/black strategy this time around.
Goddamit, Hedron Crab. As if you weren't already annoying enough.
BongRipper420
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Oh look, the UB God relies on having creatures turn sideways to mill opponents. I probably should have seen this coming.
Slaughterswag
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Once this dude is a creature, he pairs pretty great with duskmantle guildmage's first abilty.
syrazemyla
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Fat-bottomed gods, you make the rockin' world go round!
The_USAgent
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Dear WotC,
PLEASE STOP forcing Blue/Black mill. I know players like milling someone out but its getting old. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy mill but this is starting to get ridiculous. Please go back to cards like Recoil, Undermine, Agony Warp, Diabolic Vision.
Out of the 20 U/B legendary creatures: 5 are mill, 2 are mill dependent, 8 are unplayable (all the old bordered ones are bad), the other 5 have various degrees of playability. I'm not saying get rid of mill forever just give it a break for a while, please.
JailedWanderer
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Because players need another annoying card to use in mill strategies. I love using mill, don't get me wrong, but after halimar excavator I had hoped there would be less cards for mill. With excavator people were already milling people out ridiculously fast, and I hoped that WoTC would maybe print a mill hoser. Instead we get something that makes mill slowdown a ton more playable.
There's plenty of mill hosers out there. It's powerful when it goes off, and lays waste when you're unprepared, but it's far from unbeatable, and it's far from having no hosers.
kor6sic6
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I run this god as a one-of in my current Standard BUG list, along with one Thassa (soon to be a one-of Kruphix as well), and this guy packs a whallop. The deck packs a ton of removal and answers to other control decks. Also, no one expects him late game, so dropping him down and then decking your opponent on the spot always feels good.
I also participated in an unsanctioned four-man draft recently, and this guy was my rare-slot in pack one. I'm a U/B Timmy/Johnny by nature, so this was an easy pick one. No one else ended up drafting my colors, so the slate was open for me. I didn't end up winning overall, but I did mill two separate opponent during my matches. Felt good, man.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I feel that this guy is a little TOO underpowered. They could've made it EXILE instead of PUT INTO GRAVEYARD, just to make a connection with Ashiok and prevent graveyard shenanigans.
EDIT:
I forgot you can use him and your creatures on yourself and use your graveyard, but I agree with others when they say to stop forcing mill.
Phelplan
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
So... Phenax is wearing a mask of The Returned and appears to have grey undead flesh behind it. Does that mean Phenax is a Zombie God?? Such a strange concept O.o
rainbownorth
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Of all the gods released in Theros, I was most disappointed by this guy. Don't get me wrong, he's pretty insane, but UB can be so much more creative than supermill. At least Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver has some control shenanigans attached, which is why I like it. It has flavour. IN SPADES. . This is no fun to play against, and I wouldn't play this because it's no fun to play with either. At least to my mind at any rate. I play this colour combo to have fun, and mill ain't much fun. UB deserves better role models than this, it's just a damn shame is all.
Comments (78)
I really wish they'd find a new general B/U mechanic, though. Mill is getting old.
I can see this bringing back mill decks in Standard.
It's been a while, hasn't it?
Two Wall of Frosts can mill someone out really quickly. Combine that with Triton Tactics and Hidden Strings and you can mill for upwards to 60ish cards in one turn. Not as imaginative as some of the other gods though. Fun times with Duskmantle Guildmage since all those abilities can be used during the end step before your turn allowing you to block, then deal damage with mill.
Wait...
Seriously though. Knacksaw Clique. 2 Mana repeatable mill 5.
3/5 Stars
Definitely not the weakest though.
Step 1: Consuming Aberration
Step 2: This guy
Step 3: Traumatize
Step 4: Tap aberration for the win
It's disappointing how more than half of all UB Cards get mediocre mill slapped on it.
Given that Lazav was a straight-up love letter to everything blue and black does, ideal for mill but also good with countering, sacrifices, discard and kill spells, and cipher was an awesome mechanic (even if it had to be understandably weak), yes I am disappointed that our patron god is "Just an insanely powerful manaless repeatable mill effect attached to a huge cheap indestructible creature." It's *very* good, but it doesn't have that blue-black swagger.
Oh yeah, you running out of sanity points and ending up in Arkam Asylum. Better fill an EDH deck with ancient, sea dwelling, horrific, tentecled creatures with big butts.
...but the art is gorgeous.
rest multigods are not so good
4.5/5
Edit: Seriously guys? 3.4? He is really good for mill. Don't rate him badly just because you thought he was gonna be some sort of amazing all around god.
Milling for +10 a turn does the trick.
So why is this the God of Deception? The best thing I can come up with is this: the fact that mill decks snap 4 of this guy as soon as they can is obvious. The mill is just too effective not to...however, since it is so effective...it enables mill for non-mill decks, too. By that I mean, finally we have a very good, repeatable mill effect on a pretty sturdy stick for our blue black decks that -don't- necessarily use mill as their win condition, but just use the graveyards as a resource. Mill stuff for your Rise from the Grave effects. Mill stuff for your Memory Plunder or Psychic Intrusion. This card enables graveyard shenanigans like no other in a neat package, saving you lots of card slots that you would have otherwise used for all the random mill cards out there just to enable your other effects.
Even after that though, I think I'm still a little disappointed in this. It's slow - for
I'm not doubting his power.
What I MAINLY complain about is how not creative he is.
Blue/Black has some crazy shenanigans going for it:
Lim-Dûl's Vault
Countersquall
Dimir Infiltrator
Recoil
Shadow of Doubt
Silent-Blade Oni
Undermine
That's just SOME of the vast amount of what this color combination has to offer.
In addition to all this, blue/black has had a reputation for being the "main mill color combination", which is well-deserved, I'll admit.
BUT MILL DOES NOT DEFINE THIS COLOR COMBINATION'S IDENTITY.
So when Wizards tells the community that there are Gods that are meant to be embodiments of these color pairs, people get really excited. These are GODS of these colors. They show what these color combinations are all about, what they'll mean to the community henceforth. THEY EVEN NAME HIM GOD OF DECEPTION! THAT'S SO FREAKIN' COOL!!!
But, instead of any weird, funky, neat thing that they could come up with, they just slap a powerful mill clause on him and call it a day.
That's where the backlash comes from.
Not from his "lack of power"; Phenax is plenty powerful.
Not from "mill isn't viable"; casual players love alternate win-cons, and mill is prominent with them.
It's from the let-down of knowing that this color-combination's embodiment is mill. The knowledge that blue/black is now NOT solidified as deceptive and incrementally advantageous, but INSTEAD simplified into "the mill colors".
Or I could just mill myself and let Laboratory Maniac take care of the rest.
1. sac a zombie to untap grimgrin
2. tap grimgrin have opponent mill 6. as long as they hit atleast one creature u get one zombie from undead alchemist
3. sac the new zombie to untap grimgrin
4. tap grimgrin to have opponent mill 7.
5. rinse and repeat as an opponent looses their deck and creatures ^_^
I guess the flavor they were going with was that your seemingly un-threatening creatures can kill? Still, this god reeks of missed opportunity. He is powerful but boring, which is sad because that art is amazing! Look for the larger version in the wallpaper archives!
I would have preferred an effect that shows real deception, even if it was less powerful. Some ideas: "If a spell or effect you control would cause an opponent to make a decision, you make that decision for that player.", "Opponents play with their hands revealed. You may look at face down cards your opponents own, and any cards in an opponent's library he or she looks at." or "
He should give all of your creatures perplexing chimera's ability! the reminder text could read: "The rest of the game becomes unplayably confusing."
2. Pump Aetherlings Toughness
3. ???
4. Win
From what they've said, the pendulum's about to swing away from mill for a while, so I'm glad this guy is there to plant the flag for it over the next year.
Turn 2: Second Elvish Mystic or Sylvan Caryatid
Turn 3: Elite Arcanist with Triton Tactics exiled
Turn 4: Play Phenax, God of Deception and then infinite Elite Arcanist with Triton Tactics until you have enough to deck the opponent.
PLEASE STOP forcing Blue/Black mill.
I know players like milling someone out but its getting old.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy mill but this is starting to get ridiculous.
Please go back to cards like Recoil, Undermine, Agony Warp, Diabolic Vision.
Out of the 20 U/B legendary creatures: 5 are mill, 2 are mill dependent, 8 are unplayable (all the old bordered ones are bad), the other 5 have various degrees of playability.
I'm not saying get rid of mill forever just give it a break for a while, please.
There's plenty of mill hosers out there. It's powerful when it goes off, and lays waste when you're unprepared, but it's far from unbeatable, and it's far from having no hosers.
I also participated in an unsanctioned four-man draft recently, and this guy was my rare-slot in pack one. I'm a U/B Timmy/Johnny by nature, so this was an easy pick one. No one else ended up drafting my colors, so the slate was open for me. I didn't end up winning overall, but I did mill two separate opponent during my matches. Felt good, man.
EDIT:
I forgot you can use him and your creatures on yourself and use your graveyard, but I agree with others when they say to stop forcing mill.