If memory serves according to a letter someone wrote to InQuest magazine once, this creature should be able to beat Charizard in a Magic vs. Pokemon fight. I don't think it's that good. But it's still pretty decent.
Vinifera7
★★★☆☆ (3.2/5.0)(4 votes)
Coolest looking zombie evar!
A3Kitsune
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Looks like it should be an Artifact Creature. A lot of Phyrexian creatures look like they should be Artifact Creatures. Phyrexia being a 'Dark Esper' plane, if colored artifacts had been around during Urza block, most Phyrexians would have been Artifact Creatures.
I wonder if it occured to anyone in WotC to introduce colored artifacts in Urza's Saga, given the nature of the Phyrexians it would have made sence.
uberschveinen
★★★★☆ (4.2/5.0)(7 votes)
The Phyrexians aren't artifact creatures as such because they aren't the same as the Esperites. Conventional artifact creatures are machines and tools of artifice, sometimes duplicating biological function, or occasionally artificial life powered by pure magic. Esperites laced with Etherium are biological creatures, part of whose anatomy has been replaced with what is essentially a magically-powered artificial limb. In both cases, the artifact components and the flesh components aren't integrated.
In Phyrexians, the process of becoming Compleat is not nearly so clean and neat. Individual biological components are replaced with mechanical and artificial devices, on the scale of replacing invididual muscle fibers. Entirely new components are granted and some replaced or removed. The level of integration is such that they are neither artifact or biological, because without eiother component in place nothign can work. A natural skin may have implanted iron spikes fed by an artifical organ that extracts metallic content from prey and uses the excess to convert muscle fibers to a semielastic steel driven over bone wheels and pulleys. In the case of the Praetors, Phyrexians who have gone further down the road to Compleation than any other and survived with sapience intact, it is no longer even possible to differentiate biotic and abiotic components. A Phyrexian cannot be classified as alive or dead, mechanical or biological. The entire apparatus is a twisted assemblage of augmentation and chirurgeonism so abhorrent as to be beyond imagining, only held together by the sheer strength and density of black magic involved. The only specifically identifiable feature of a Phyrexian is that is is as Black as anything comes in Dominia. That's why they're black creatures.
OutlawD1
★★★★☆ (4.6/5.0)(4 votes)
@uberschveinen Colored artifact creatures simply didn't exist back then, and the thought of colored artifact creatures would have been laughed at. Plus Sarcomite Myr is a colored artifact creature and its not an esperite Phyrexians would be VERY good candidates for colored artifact creatures, if all those past sets were printed today.
Tiggurix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@stygimoloch: You're aware of that Charizard is not an especially good Pokémon, right? As far as Pokémon goes, it's a pretty average one.
Crag-Hack
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(3 votes)
Aww how cute! He even has a phyrexian symbol at the end of his scythe XD But seriously, this guy is scary looking and not half bad at killing an opponent either.
The most obvious comparison is hypnotic specter. This guy costs more, has different evasion, and lets the opponent chose the card they discard. But he's a zombie so I give up.
Ratazana
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Very interesting creature, but if I have to play something with that cc and rarity, I will play Abyssal Specter.
Mode
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Do i see the Phyrexian symbol at the end of his scythe? What i don't see is a horse, though. What's a knight without a horse? Then again, how should he afford a horse if he can't even afford a head.
Hepatizon
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Without a doubt, every bit of what a Phyrexian should look like. Compleated flesh with the twisted tracery of black mana influence, and the symbolism of Yawgmoth's will to dominate the Planes.
Gameplay wise, yes, hypnotic specter in a non-zombie deck, this guy in a zombie deck. Obvious fun choices include Death Baron and Undead Warchief, among many many others.
Comments (10)
I wonder if it occured to anyone in WotC to introduce colored artifacts in Urza's Saga, given the nature of the Phyrexians it would have made sence.
In Phyrexians, the process of becoming Compleat is not nearly so clean and neat. Individual biological components are replaced with mechanical and artificial devices, on the scale of replacing invididual muscle fibers. Entirely new components are granted and some replaced or removed. The level of integration is such that they are neither artifact or biological, because without eiother component in place nothign can work. A natural skin may have implanted iron spikes fed by an artifical organ that extracts metallic content from prey and uses the excess to convert muscle fibers to a semielastic steel driven over bone wheels and pulleys. In the case of the Praetors, Phyrexians who have gone further down the road to Compleation than any other and survived with sapience intact, it is no longer even possible to differentiate biotic and abiotic components. A Phyrexian cannot be classified as alive or dead, mechanical or biological. The entire apparatus is a twisted assemblage of augmentation and chirurgeonism so abhorrent as to be beyond imagining, only held together by the sheer strength and density of black magic involved. The only specifically identifiable feature of a Phyrexian is that is is as Black as anything comes in Dominia. That's why they're black creatures.
Colored artifact creatures simply didn't exist back then, and the thought of colored artifact creatures would have been laughed at. Plus Sarcomite Myr is a colored artifact creature and its not an esperite
Phyrexians would be VERY good candidates for colored artifact creatures, if all those past sets were printed today.
The most obvious comparison is hypnotic specter. This guy costs more, has different evasion, and lets the opponent chose the card they discard. But he's a zombie so I give up.
What i don't see is a horse, though. What's a knight without a horse?
Then again, how should he afford a horse if he can't even afford a head.
Gameplay wise, yes, hypnotic specter in a non-zombie deck, this guy in a zombie deck. Obvious fun choices include Death Baron and Undead Warchief, among many many others.