Magic: The Gathering New Phyrexia Blue Infect

With the release of the final set of the second Mirrodin block, New Phyrexia, it has been revealed that infect has gotten some new toys, such as the poisoned mechanic. Poisoned gives cards extra power if an opponent has a poison counter. Some cards can be extremely potent with this mechanic, and I will review some of them with you.

Corrupted Resolve is a must have for any blue deck utilizing the infect mechanic. This 2 mana ({1}{U}) counterspell acts has a hard counter when the opponent has received a poison counter. This kind of low cost non-completely blue hard counter has not been seen since the days of mana drain, and it will make any player wary of playing cards against a blue infect deck. We have yet to see how strong infect will be in this metagame, but cards like this definitely prove it will be a forced to be reckoned with.

Blighted Agent is a 2 mana drop for a blue infect creature with unblockable. This card can be extremely powerful with cards like giant growth and other boosting cards. It also fits right in with equipments, utilizing the unblockability to hit for massive poison damage.

Viral Drake is a new blue flying infect creature that costs 4 mana for a 1/4 body. What makes it more special than that is its ability to pay 4 mana and proliferate instantly. Having this creature sitting there can make a very nice safety net, and can also help out your planeswalkers, such as Jace, Tezzeret or Venser.

Tezzeret's Gambit is a simple draw spell. For three mana and two life you can draw two cards and proliferate, and you can use any color for that cost. It is unfortunate it is a sorcery, but it may see use in certain decks, such as Pyromancer Ascension.

You can get these cards and more on http://www.mtgfanatic.com where you can find discount prices and great rewards programs. It is definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!

Magic: The Gathering Card Review: The Red Praetor

With the release of the Praetors, none has looked cooler than the Red Praetor, Urabrask, The Hidden. Today I will discuss its synergy with red and the decks out there and its effects in the metagame and in limited play.

As with all Praetors, Urabrask has a positive effect for the user and a negative effect for the opponent. Being red, his effect focuses on the ability of a card to attack right after being played. He grants all your creatures haste and forces your opponent's creatures to come into play tapped. This can give you an edge in landing powerful attacks from creatures that would have otherwise had to wait a turn. That can mean the difference of a game when your dragon comes in and wrecks havoc on that same turn, and then another because your opponents cant set up a blocker. Also in the vein of a typical red card, Urabrask also costs the least of any other Praetor at a modest five mana, compared to the other Praetors who run from 7-10 mana. 


Urabrask can be a huge asset to certain red and green decks that rely on a heavy beatdown. No deck would appreciate having a Primeval Titan hitting them the turn it came out and then also not being able to set up any form of defense. However, past this point, Urabrask has fewer uses. Despite his low cost, he probably wont see much use and his price will probably remain stagnant at 5 dollars, unless a card from a future set comes in and gives this card new life.


As a limited pick, Urabrask doesn't fulfill any desirable roles like the other Praetors. He isn't that much of a color commitment, meaning that he can be splashed, but he doesn't compare to his brethren in the limited format.


If you would like to preorder Urabrask or any of the any cool new cards from New Phyrexia, you can go to www.mtgfanatic.com where you can get these cards for excellent prices with excellent rewards programs and excellent service. Enjoy!

Magic: The Gathering Card Review: Green Praetor

With the announcement of the name of the third and final set in the second Mirrodin black being named New Phyrexia over Mirran Pure, wizards had also released info about the five colored leaders, or "Praetors" of New Phyrexia. Today, I will go over and review the strengths and weaknesses of the green Praetor: Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger.

Vorinclex's cool name is not undeserved at all. Like all the other Praetors, Vorinclex has a positive and negative ability for you and your opponent, respectively. His ability focuses on mana production, something readily available for green. When he is in play, he will double the amount of mana you produce and will make your opponent's mana untap only every other turn. This is a great addition to any ramp deck, because after it is cast, with one more mana you can play any creature in the game of Magic, most notably, Emrakul. He can also disrupt the strategy of the opponent by potentially neutralizing every other turn your opponent has with his mana freezing ability. In limited he can severely hurt your opponent's game too. He disrupts the flow of your opponents cards while doubling your output, and doesn't have an intense color commitment from green. At seven mana, he is certainly playable and competitively viable, and can definitely see use in some green decks. When paired with genesis wave, you can also double the output of the card, which is commonly seen in Valakut decks. Another card seen in many green decks that would benefit from Vorinclex is Green's Sun Zenith. With Vorinclex out you can pull virtually any green card straight from your deck with the zenith.

You can find Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger and other New Phyrexia cards on http://www.mtgfanatic.com for discount prices with great rewards programs. It is definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!

Magic: The Gathering Card Review: White and Blue Praetors

Along with the introduction of the name New Phyrexia, the new and final set of the second Mirrodin block has also been revealed to run a Phyrexian leader of every color, otherwise known as a Praetor. These Praetors range from 5 to 10 mana, but mostly around 7 mana. Today I will be reviewing the White and Blue Praetors specifically.

The White Praetor, also known as Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, is one of the two femininely formed Praetors. Her ability is a lot like Massacre Worm's, but more more intense. Not only does she permanently give your opponent's creatures -2/-2, she grants yours +2/+2. She gives the player controlling her a power increase of +4 over your opponents creatures, a huge advantage. She herself has a pretty solid body, a 4/7 equipped with vigilance. This makes her difficult to be killed by red, although at 7 mana red may have a resourceful way of dealing with her. She is however, a little too expensive for a lot of decks, and she is susceptible to many forms of removal, such as black removal (both Doom Blade and Go for the Throat), blue removal (No one wants to have to play her again, and wont likely have the mana to resist a leak), and white removal such as Oblivion Ring and Journey to Nowhere.

The Blue Praetor, also known as Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, is the king of card advantage. Like all the other Praetors, he has two abilities, one that helps yourself, and one that hurts your opponent. He lets you draw Seven Cards at the end of each of your turns, granting you major card advantage, while forcing your opponent's maximum hand size down to zero, forcing them to have an empty hand on your turns, and the start of theirs. The blue Praetor is a tad expensive, at the cost of 10 mana, to make him really worth playing without cheating him out. He isn't very competitively viable due to this, but he will certainly give your opponent a scare when he hits the field.

You can get these cards and the other Praetors for discount prices on http://www.mtgfanatic.com. With many great rewards programs it is definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!

Magic: The Gathering Card Review: Surgical Extraction

Surgical Extraction is a card in the upcoming last set of the second Mirrodin block, New Phyrexia. It features some of the new toys that cards have: Phyrexian Mana. It costs one black Phyrexian mana, meaning you can pay one black mana or two life to pay its cost. The implications are that you can but this into any deck that could utilize its effect, because it only costs two life to play. When cast, you can choose any card in a graveyard and exile it, then you search through the rest of the deck and hand to get rid of the others. This combo killer has giant implications, because any deck that has removal can deal a lot of damage to a lot of decks. Against a Valakut deck, a Valakut in a graveyard or a Primeval Titan taken out by a Despise can totally throw a deck into chaos. Even a Jace, The Mind Sculptor hit by a duress can lead to the removal of all of them from the deck. When paired with Duress, Despise, and Inquisition of Kozilek, they turn into a major deck killer. In red decks, they can remove annoying counterspells or creatures from a game, and in white decks they can prevent certain removal cards from hurting your game. The ability of this card to be in virtually any deck at the cost of two life is astounding, and a lot of combo decks will have to be ready for any of their cards to be taken right from the deck. This card will defiantly have an outstanding effect on the metagame, with Surgical Extraction and other one Phyrexian Mana cards like it popping up in all other decks.

You can preorder Surgical Extraction and other New Phyrexia cards at discount prices on http://www.mtgfanatic.com with many different possible rewards programs. Enjoy!