Top 10 Phyrexian Mana Cards (*Free Mana Spells)

[@melvinshine9841]

Good old Mental Misstep, the Red Reboot of Magic, except even better.

[@gorsedh]

well red reboot resolving was almost 100% a win

[@harryf9885]

I don’t think it’s better than red reboot against the decks that red reboot works on. As red reboot locks certain decks out of playing the game, but isn’t live against most decks. Misstep is more like Ash Blossom. Live against pretty much every deck, not usually game winning on its own but can be sometimes, and as a result played in most players main decks at max copies. Ash blossom isn’t banned but that’s more of a game design philosophy decision, as definitely it has the usage to be ban worthy. Ash I think is even a little better but Modern Yugioh I would say has a higher overall power level than modern magic though so the card isn’t as omnipresent at max copies as Misstep would be.

[@davidbass4834]

Wizards basically figured out the issue with Phyrexian mana, which is why none of the more recent cards with the mechanic made this list. Phyrexian mana is more powerful the cheaper the overall spell is, with the most broken ones being spells that only cost 0 or 1 "real mana". A 6 MV card with 1 Phyrexian only goes down to 5 mana and 2 life, which isn't that much of a difference. The color pie breaks being the other issue, where Phyrexian mana allowed decks (outside of EDH) to access effects outside their color pie without needing to splash. Wizards has also largely amended this issue with more recent cards, as the video mentions. So in short, Phyrexian mana isn't *inherently* broken as a mechanic. It's just that the original cards with it were far too pushed by exploiting the mechanic about as much as possible.

[@bluerendar2194]

Also, quite often, 1 mana > 2 life, which is why, for example, compleated on planeswalkers exist, so you *can* get them earlier by paying life, but they're also weaker for doing so. Many other phyrexian mana cards are balanced with the life in mind and so are often not worth with full normal mana cost and therefore mostly paid with life, but the compleated planewalkers are relatively much more evenly cast at all possible costs if not biased towards the full cost. Jace and Nissa are probably the two most commonly seen, with Nissa being slapped down at the end of a ramp curve, wherever it ends up, and Jace being only cast at 3 in emergencies to dig 3 deep but ideally at 4 for 15 mill.

[@MABfan11]

they could also fix the issue by adding "pay half your life" cost instead of simply paying 2 life

[@ForeverLaxx]

Except your example proves exactly why it's inherently broken as a mechanic. You either get an effect that's undercosted and shows up in most decks that can run it, or you end up with an effect that no one wants because it costs too much and comes too late to be impactful. There's effectively no middle ground when it comes to Phyrexian mana. You're either "cheating" or you're doing nothing. That makes the mechanic inherently problematic.

[@gjfwang]

@@ForeverLaxx some call it no middle ground, others would call it strategy.

[@ForeverLaxx]

@@gjfwang You're not smart or more "strategic" for playing bad cards, bucko.

[@BlackeXZZ]

Honorable mention to K'rrik in commander allowing mono black storm to not only be a viable stratwgy but a cEDH level threat that can win on turn 1

[@starmanda88]

That’s my pet deck. He’s so good.

[@JamesSmith-cd6rf]

This was the stuff i saw when i first came into magic. I have ever since been compleated, and advocate for phyrexian justice.

[@josephwodarczyk977]

All will be one!

[@Tinil0]

When freaking Birthing Pod is only #5 you know the list is spicy

[@ThePhyrexian]

I'm a simple man, I see Phyrexia, I like!

[@Kyn12356]

Ah yes the most fair mechanic.

[@AcogR4C]

dredge:

[@professionalcasual5482]

Atleast it's interesting and cool

[@JuanchoCaballero-oy2pn]

That would be affinity.

[@gabrielstick]

Delve and storm entered the chat

[@henryhughes9433]

Companion: “hold my beer”

[@JohnFromAccounting]

Dismember is in the sweet spot. You have to spend at least 1 mana, and the less mana you pay, the more relevant the life loss becomes.

[@dark_rit]

Mental misstep days were so miserable, particularly if you were a storm combo player. I'm on the fence about whether it's really better than probe though when probe truly has no cost to be put in a deck while misstep not every deck could play it. Free information while king in combo decks especially could be used by any deck be it aggro or control to know a variety of information that is relevant to them.

[@ForeverLaxx]

Not to mention that Probe essentially made every deck 56 cards since it replaced itself.

[@jamesskaine4877]

The biggest thing was, probe was good, but misstep was warping. Probe is best used in combo decks, or instant/sorcery decks. Misstep, as stated was the best counter to itself, and even in formats like Modern, 1 mana cards are sometimes a difference of winning and losing, and the problem gets bigger the higher the power level. Probe is very useful, but it doesn't technically offer anything to the state of the game. I could accept probe being better overall, misstep just warps the meta around itself

[@Tornakin-98]

I think something you missed about pod is that it can also win the game on the spot by getting cards that allow you to untap the pod so you can go up a ladder and get cards to reanimate those creatures so you can flood the board with creatures and then kill the opponent.

[@ShinjiSixteen]

5:44 Ah yes, fond memories of going to a Standard FNM during the reign of Cawblade, going 4-0 with my last game being a turn two kill. Good times

[@RonKingMagic]

Phyrexia will be back.

[@andrewraebig9271]

I don’t play competitively, so I have no idea how difficult this would be in your normal content sphere, but after watching your “best cheap cards” video, I’d be curious to see a “best expensive cards,” where they all have CMC>6 or some other threshold. I did watch your “best cards you never cast” video, so maybe in competitive M:tG they’re effectively the same, but it would still be interesting. Thanks for the video, and keep up the good work!

[@shay4232]

For a best expensive card look at reanimator, murktide, any delve spell that saw play, and basically the vast majoritu of eldrazi. the actual answer is so broad that even gristlebrand who is a 7 mana 7/7 with flying and pay 7 life to draw 7 cards os arguably one of the best high cmc spell just due to card advantage, but with the eldrazi. murktide, and hogaak its just we can cheat or cheapen these cards out. High cmc is rarely a factor due to effects. in high mill formats the shuffletitans come out. TLDR there are just to many good high cmc spells that warp or define decks that its near impossivle to decide as it is highly dependent.

[@mylesdenton1819]

Bit surprised to not see K'rrik, son of Yawgmoth on this list seeing the value he brings as a 4 mana (if paying life) defiler of vigor effect that can also regain you that life spent and in commander can make a mono-black deck really optimised.

[@JohnFromAccounting]

Unplayable in 60 card formats.

[@ForeverLaxx]

@@technetin Commander players don't understand this. It's fun looking at spoiler sites and seeing almost every comment on a new card be about its viability (or lack thereof) in Commander. No other format exists to them.

[@Roasty420]

This takes me back to 2012, I was a freshman in high school and me and the boys would play in the library, the lunch table, and even MTG club or anime club after school. I started off playing within the 2011/2012 coreset with my mono-black vampire deck and since I was new whenever I’d go to the shop I would buy random packs of this and that. I would open up packs of Mirrodin, New Phyrexia, and Rize of the Eldrazi! I’d even meet up with the guys after school at the library or the card shop and we would get around 12-32 people within the school just playing magic. The game got so popular that it was mentioned in the school yearbook, and everyone got to take pictures too. It’s sad to see that MTG is becoming stagnant and decreasing in sells because Hasbro keeps trying to make MTG “The cool kid on the block” with these non-canon sets or these sets that nobody wants. The authenticity of Magic the gathering feels short handed now, but I’ve still got my memories from the golden years 😁

[@peterkirk8510]

Not mentioning arclight phoenix alongside gut shot should be a crime

[@KeroTheInvincible]

There's Magic, where everyone playing 4 copies of the same card is format-warping and ban-worthy. Then I look back at early Pokemon TCG, where every deck was running 4 copies of Energy Removal, Super Energy Removal, Professor Oak, and Bill, and it's considered part of a healthy, skill-intensive meta game.

[@Jeison-Nunes]

Noxious Revival can be used to get your commander back without taxing it too for free but skipping your next card draw

[@Dreamer-lr6bf]

I love the flavor of phyrexian mana but it is sadly way too strong

[@taurincochran3398]

Surgical extraction against relentless rats,rat colony,persistent petitioners, or that red card I can't remember. 😂

[@tonyleier]

The red one is Dragon's Approach. There's also Slime Against Humanity now. These two are more common targets, because they're not permanenets

[@suckadoesstuff7095]

evey card mentioned that's blue is in my Urza commander deck and has been from the get go

[@carettcake8752]

Can we bring back the background music lol it fit so well

[@coandy7005]

It would be pretty cool if you did the top ten worst Phyrexian cards also 😊

[@NoName-w4j3t]

I miss Probe. So broken in my pauper Kiln Feind deck, lol

[@trevorcassiday9010]

Phyrexian Mana is basically the same mistake that Affinity for Artifact is: Wizards thinking they made the cards expensive enough for balancing, but they didn't. Hell the two mechanisms even have the same fix: Give the cards a fixed colored mana cost. I guess Wizards didn't learn the first time?

[@7Alberto7]

Amazing!!!!!!❤🎉

[@kennydarmawan13]

If Mental Misstep is more like Nix or only counters 0 mana spells, I think it'll be a lot more balanced. Basically, it'll be a way to counter those idiotic cascade decks and free-casters. Sure, it'll be way nicher, but Nix itself is rather valued.

[@yummines]

I wouldn't call Phyrexian Mana a mistake like Storm or Dredge, but WOTC for sure underestimated its power. Much like Yugioh, the only life that matters is the last point so anything that lets you use life instead of other resources will always be powerful. Cards that only cost phyrexian might as well say 0 mana, pay life to cast this card.

[@Darkusflame]

Noxious Revival can also be used in response to a reanimation effect to make it fizzle and give the opponent a potential dead draw

[@josephwodarczyk977]

Dude that's so mean. *Takes notes*

[@Darkusflame]

@@josephwodarczyk977 Thank you

[@starmanda88]

Noxious revival is target CARD not creature card. It’s pretty great.

[@raynmanshorts9275]

Gut Shot makes you go down on life _and_ a card. And yet it's still OP.

[@IneptCardCollector]

Oh cool. I was wondering what that pip was.

[@Rith9789]

Gut shot doesnt actually target everything. It doesnt target battles or planeswalkers.

[@josephwodarczyk977]

Fake news. Most old cards with that wording are erattad to say "any target." "Gut Shot deals 1 damage to any target."

[@merkyofaycemfx2944]

negative counters sidesteps indestructible

[@saltyseas416]

Weird that Mondrak is not here, yea it only/mostly used in token decks but still its have self-indestructible and value.

[@Flum666]

gaining unlimited life doesn't end the game

[@axis8396]

Much like Yugioh life isn't a cost if you just win before they can do damage

[@nickrondinelli1402]

Wizards should have made the cost "and" and not "or"

[@harlanquinn5076]

I'm surprised pods in the middle of the pack.

[@God-ch8lq]

if u unbanned pod in modern, it won't be tier 0 imo

[@ReederMG]

Top 10 Elves

[@JhettJones]

I desperately someone to explain what "6 out of the 8 top 10" means.

[@AgusSkywalker]

I think they meant "6 out of the top 8" since tournaments don't really have top 10.

[@Flum666]

I think some gnome came and mixed up your list, metal misstep and probe has never won a game of magic, gutshot, growth and pod has.

[@josephwodarczyk977]

With gitaxian probe, there is basically no reason not to play it. Worst case scenario, you lose two life to cycle. With mental misstep, it destroyed competitive. Like us casual players would disagree, but one mana cards are the bread and butter of eternal competitive.

[@SyntheticNuclear]

People say Phyrexian Mana is OP but I say it was actually a good mechanic

[@Shnoblr]

Uhhhh

[@jeezuhskriste5759]

It wasn’t

[@petersimonetti4875]

Hate to be that guy but gut shot can’t hit planeswalkers or battles

[@poiri]

Incorrect, it says “any target”. Remember to check the oracle text before trying to correct people on stuff like this.

[@jaygray6381]

Reading the card does NOT always explain the card

[@zeusalternative1270]

Is a bit weird how he keeps saying that 1 mana spells are free in this video, since he never said that about other one mana cards on his videos.

[@Merlewhitefire]

They're "free" because if you spend the life for 1 phyrexian mana then there's zero mana cost.