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New Phyrexia
Set Information
Set symbol
Themes and mechanics Colored artifacts,
Golems,
Phyrexian mana
Keywords/​ability words Imprint,
Living weapon,
Infect,
Proliferate,
Metalcraft
Set size 175 cards
(10 basic lands, 60 commons, 60 uncommons, 35 rares, 10 mythic rares)
Expansion code NPH[2]
Development codename Action [3]

New Phyrexia is the third set in the Scars of Mirrodin block. It is the 55th Magic: The Gathering expansion and was released on May 13, 2011.

Set details

New Phyrexia contains 175 cards (60 Common, 60 Uncommon, 35 Rare, 10 Mythic, 10 Basic Lands), including randomly inserted premium versions of all cards in the set. The set concludes the story that began in Scars of Mirrodin, with the Phyrexians defeating the Mirrans and taking control of the plane of Mirrodin. Like the cards in the two sets before it, the cards of New Phyrexia are watermarked with either faction's symbol [4], but the ratio of Phyrexian to Mirran cards significantly favors Phyrexia. This showcases the progress of the Phyrexian invasion and is a reversal from the ratio as it was seen in Scars of Mirrodin. [5] In a similar fashion, the Phyrexian keyword mechanics of Infect and Proliferate spread into colors that did not get cards with these mechanics before. The expansion symbol was the Phyrexian symbol again, which also heavily featured in the art. [6] Several familiar creatures show up in a compleated version, and several favorites were redone. [7] [8] The set showcases Karn, as a planeswalker and Father of the Machines. [9] [10] [11]

Just like Mirrodin Besieged before it, New Phyrexia features a cycle of basic lands. [12] Half of them depict a scene inside the Phyrexianized core of Mirrodin, while half of them contain references to artifact lands from Mirrodin. [13]

Originally, Wizards of the Coast announced that the set would be called either Mirrodin Pure or New Phyrexia, as they did not wish to reveal which of the factions would win. [14] [15] [16] On March 29, 2011, it was announced that the new set would in fact be called New Phyrexia. [17]

The set was spoiled in its entirety on April 19, 2011, before the spoiler season on magicthegathering.com began. This was the result of the "Godbook", which contains all cards of an upcoming set, being leaked. Godbooks are sent to magazines for review purposes before the release of sets. In this case, the godbook was sent to Lotus Noir, which passed it on to pro player Guillaume Matignon for reviews. Matignon was the World Champion at the time. Matignon in turn shared it with Guillaume Wafo-Tapa and two other players in his group, one of whom leaked it on the internet. [18] Consequently, all four players involved were suspended by the DCI for a year and a half.

Flavor and storyline

“  The Grand Compleation is Achieved  ”

It came not in the form of a noble struggle, a fair contest of warriors clashing will against will, but as a wave of unstoppable slaughter. Mirran partisans resisted bravely, using their wits and magic to fend off the onslaught that originated from inside their own world. But their efforts were for naught. Phyrexia is victorious. Mirrodin now goes by a different name: New Phyrexia.[19] [20] [21]

Marketing

NPH 6 card booster

New Phyrexia 6-card booster

New Phyrexia was sold in 16-card boosters, 6-card boosters, five intro packs, two event decks and a fat pack [22]. [23] The 16-card boosters featured artwork from Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Sheoldred, Whispering One and Suture Priest. [24] The small booster featured artwork from Etched Monstrosity.

Suture Priest and a version of Pristine Talisman (with the Mirrodin Pure expansion symbol) were previewed at the Mirrodin Besieged Game Day. [25] The prerelease was May 7-8, 2011 [26], the launch party on May 13-16, the Magic Online release on May 30 21, 2011. The Game Day was held on June 11-12, 2011. The promotional card given to participants at the Prerelease tournaments was Sheoldred, Whispering One, one of the five powerful Phyrexian praetors. [27] The launch party promotional card was Phyrexian Metamorph, and the Magic Game Day promotional card was a full-art Priest of Urabrask (top-8 participants received a full-art foil Myr Superion). The Buy-a-Box card was Surgical Extraction. [28]

Regular boosters of New Phyrexia come with a bonus sixteenth card that is either a "tips & tricks card", a creature token from New Phyrexia, or a poison counter (which is subtle different from the poison counters in the previous sets). [29] These bonus cards display on their reverse side one of 14 advertisements for organized play programs, other Magic products such as fat packs and intro packs, the Magic books library, Magic Online, UltraPro products, or various Wizards-run, Magic-related websites (such as community.wizards.com).

NPH Poison counter

New Phyrexia Poison counter

Tips & Tricks

The tips & tricks cards are:

Tokens

The New Phyrexia tokens in numerical order are: [30]

  1. {G} 3/3 Beast produced by Beast Within and Fresh Meat.
  2. {R} 1/1 Goblin, similar to the token from Scars of Mirrodin, but with "Phyrexianized" art to show the compleation of the plane, produced by Chancellor of the Forge.
  3. 3/3 Golem Artifact, similar to the token from Scars of Mirrodin, but with "Phyrexianized" art, produced by Blade Splicer, Conversion Chamber, Master Splicer, Maul Splicer, Sensor Splicer, Vital Splicer and Wing Splicer.
  4. 1/1 Myr Artifact, similar to the token from Scars of Mirrodin, but with "Phyrexianized" art, produced by Shrine of Loyal Legions.
Phyrexian mana

Phyrexian mana

Mechanics

New Phyrexia introduces five new mana symbols, referred to as "Phyrexian mana." [4] These symbols resemble a mark of Phyrexia on a colored background, one for each color of mana, and indicate a cost that can be paid with either 2 life or one mana of the respective color. This mechanic also heralds the return of colored artifacts, previously seen in Future Sight and the Esper shard from Alara block. [31] Because these symbols were all identical except for color, there were multiple complaints from color blind players, although this was somewhat mitigated by the appearance of the standard symbols in the effect boxes.

The keyword mechanics Infect, Proliferate, Living weapon, Metalcraft and Imprint return. [32] [33] Karn gets a Planeswalker card, the first colorless planeswalker card that has, up to that point, the largest amount of loyalty counters added by a planeswalker's first ability with +4, and the most costly ultimate ability at -14 loyalty counters.

The set has a small subtheme of "splicers", 1/1 creatures that put a certain number of 3/3 Golem artifact creature tokens onto the battlefield and grant abilities to them. [4] Another small subtheme was nicknamed the "blood tax," and referred to spells such as Vapor Snag which resembled other utility cards (in this case, Unsummon), but with an additional rider that caused a loss of 1 life. [4]

The rules term "poisoned" introduced in Mirrodin Besieged returns. A player is poisoned if they have any poison counters.

Cycles

Sheoldred, The Whispering One

Prerelease promo of Sheoldred

New Phyrexia has five cycles:

Reprinted cards

Colorshifted

Strictly better

Notable cards

Preconstructed decks

Intro packs

New Phyrexia has five bicolored intro packs.[35]

Intro pack name Colors Included Foil rare
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Artful Destruction W G Blade Splicer
Devouring Skies U B Phyrexian Ingester
Feast of Flesh B R Chancellor of the Dross
Life for Death W R Moltensteel Dragon
Ravaging Swarm U G Phyrexian Swarmlord

Event decks

New Phyrexia has two monocolored event decks. The number of rares was increased from seven to eight.[36]

Event
deck name
Colors Included
{W} {U} {B} {R} {G}
Rot from Within G
War of Attrition W

References

  1. http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/products/card-set-archive/new-phyrexia
  2. [1]
  3. Mark Rosewater (December 3, 2012). "The Six-Year Plan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. a b c d e f Wizards of the Coast (May 04, 2011). "New Phyrexia Frequently Asked Questions". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. Mark Rosewater (May 2, 2011). "Touch of Evil". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Monty Ashley (May 18, 2011). "The Phyrexian Symbol (Again)". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Monty Ashley (May 03, 2011). "Infecting the Tanadon". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Tom LaPille (April 29, 2011). "Obliterate!". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Doug Beyer (April 25, 2011). "The Golem's Legacy". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  10. Monty Ashley (April 29, 2011). "Wallpaper of the Week: Karn Liberated". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. Monty Ashley (May 17, 2011). "Shrines of Karn". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. Monty Ashley (April 18, 2011). "New Phyrexia Basic Lands". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  13. Monty Ashley (May 10, 2011). "Land Callbacks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  14. Monty Ashley (December 9, 2010). "Announcing "Action"". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Kelly Digges (February 21, 2011). "Make Your Choice". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Mark Rosewater (February 21, 2011). "Pick a Side, Any Side". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. Monty Ashley (March 29, 2011). "Action Is New Phyrexia". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  18. Wizards of the Coast (April 28, 2011). "New Phyrexia Leaks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  19. magicthegathering.com Staff (May 09, 2011). "A Planeswalker's Guide to New Phyrexia". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  20. Doug Beyer (May 18, 2011). "The Art of New Phyrexia's Factions". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  21. Monty Ashley (April 12, 2011). "New Phyrexia Art Gallery". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  22. Monty Ashley (May 13, 2011). "Wallpaper of the Week: New Phyrexia Fat Pack". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  23. Monty Ashley (March 15, 2011). "Action Packaging". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  24. Monty Ashley (April 21, 2011). "New Phyrexia Boosters". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  25. Monty Ashley (February 15, 2011). "Your First Action Card". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  26. Tim Willoughby (January 07, 2002). "New Phyrexia Prerelease Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  27. Monty Ashley (April 19, 2011). "New Phyrexia Prerelease and Launch Party Promos". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  28. Wizards of the Coast (April 27, 2011). "New Phyrexia Buy a Box Promotion". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  29. Monty Ashley (April 20, 2011). "The Changing Face of Poison". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  30. Monty Ashley (April 14, 2011). "New Phyrexia Tokens". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  31. Mark Rosewater (April 25, 2011). "Phyrexian Powers: International Mana Mystery". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  32. Wizards of the Coast (April, 2011). "New Phyrexia Mechanics". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  33. Aaron Forsythe (May 16, 2011). "Phyrexian Ken's Demands". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  34. Template:NewRef
  35. Monty Ashley (May 2, 2011). "New Phyrexia Intro Packs". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  36. Monty Ashley (April 27, 2011). "New Phyrexia Event Decks". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

External links

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