Powerful cards at affordable prices.
It’s been about a month since the release of Phyrexia: All Will Be One, where the second return to Phyrexia has offered some remarkably strong cards such as Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, who is already making waves in Pioneer, Modern, and Commander. Even though it is effortless to focus on headline Mythic Rares such as Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Mondrak, Glory Dominus, there are plenty of strong Uncommon and Rare cards that see plenty of play but are also kind on the wallet.
Market Price: $19.26
Market Price: $15.05
One of the most challenging aspects of Magic: The Gathering is financial accessibility, as this varies from person to person — with prevalent and potent releases such as Phyrexia: All Will Be One, it allows extensive circulation of these cards on the market, which in some cases, can drive the price down for budget-focused players to acquire. But also, there are plenty of cards to keep in your collection if you open any Phyrexia: All Will Be One packs, and knowing what to keep can become difficult as there are so many different cards and variants in sets these days.
But don’t fret, as I’ll take you through a bunch of budget-friendly cards you should consider keeping or picking up from Phyrexia: All Will Be One for constructed and Commander usage.
The Eternal Wanderer
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Seen as a blight in Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft and Sealed, The Eternal Wanderer is also an excellent card in Standard and Commander. Already making waves in Standard Mono-White Midrange, The Eternal Wanderer features a selection of effects that makes the Planeswalker tricky to remove through combat. And if you happen to have Mondrak, Glory Dominus in play, her second ability becomes even more effective as you can create a small army of double-striking Samurais.
Market Price: $23.67
Market Price: $12.72
Market Price: $44.20
In Commander, her minus ability is essentially Tragic Arrogance, allowing you to clear the board of threats and keep your best creature on the battlefield. What’s absurd about the ability is how it avoids Indestructible as the effect involves sacrificing instead of destroying these creatures, where you can do it all again if you activate her first ability enough times. As for her first ability, you can use this in Blink archetypes to take advantage of those enter the battlefield abilities on cards such as Mulldrifter or Avenger of Zendikar. For her current price, The Eternal Wanderer is a strong card that can serve well in a White-based Commander or Standard strategy.
Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Another affordable Planeswalker card appearing in Phyrexia: All Will Be One is Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler, an exciting and powerful Planeswalker if utilized correctly. Already seeing play in Modern alongside cards such as Devoted Druid, Tyvar offers plenty of combo equity. And sometimes, when there’s combo equity with a card, it can cause plenty of interest and long-term value.
Tyvar is an interesting case as the card becomes more potent the more creature cards with powerfully activated abilities come into print. We’ve already seen an excellent synergy with Circle of Dreams Druid and Priest of the Forgotten Gods in Pioneer, and it won’t take much to see Tyvar’s usage extend further. The combination of activating creature abilities as if they had haste and recurring those creatures with mana value two or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, Tyvar is an excellent card. And at the current market value, it’s a good deal if you intend to play creature-focused strategies that can utilize Tyvar best.
Tyvar’s Stand
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Speaking of Tyvar, Tyvar’s Stand is an excellent spell that offers protection from spells, abilities, and damage. At present, Tyvar’s Stand plays a crucial role in Standard Selesnya Toxic as it protects your threats, which generate poisonous value if targeted with Venerated Rotpriest. Another reason why I’m mentioning Tyvar’s Stand as a potential pickup is the demand and value of Tamiyo’s Safekeeping from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is worth noting over the last year. If you are looking to play Green creature-focused strategies in Standard and Pioneer, grabbing a playset of Tyvar’s Stand will protect you from any price spikes.
Phyrexian Arena
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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While many claim the power of Phyrexian Arena is dwindling in Commander due to newer cards such as Black Market Connections, the Phyrexia: All Will Be One reprint remains a solid option for the singleton format. Before the reprint in Conspiracy and Commander Collection: Black, Phyrexian Arena used to be a costly card as it was so clean and effective in what it did — draw cards. Sometimes, seeing a powerful card drop in value can always indicate a fall from grace in terms of power level, but don’t let this discourage you from finding a steal or wanting to play the card.
Market Price: $19.91
In Commander, you can play whatever you like, and even though it’s easy to fall into the trap of playing nothing but powerful staples, cards like Phyrexian Arena remain reasonable options, even today. Often, you see the card appear in Black-heavy Commander strategies as a way to draw an extra card in exchange for one life. Better yet, the Phyrexia: All Will Be One reprint provides fresh card circulation, allowing an affordable path to acquire the long-time Commander staple. If you play a bunch of Commander, snagging copies of Phyrexian Arena will serve you well — especially at the current market value. And if you are looking for some bling on a budget, the Extended printing isn’t much more.
Ossification
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Already making a notable impact in Standard and Pioneer is Ossification, a mana-efficient removal spell that can exile a target creature or Planeswalker by enchanting a land you control. At present, Ossification appears in Mono-White Humans, one of the best archetypes in Pioneer, as a four-of, where the card enables you to remove threats to keep applying pressure.
Pioneer
Mono-White Humans
Market Price:$223.05
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (34)
- 4Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
- 1Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4Thalia’s Lieutenant
- 2Dauntless Bodyguard
- 4Luminarch Aspirant
- 4Adeline, Resplendent Cathar
- 4Brutal Cathar
- 4Hopeful Initiate
- 4Recruitment Officer
- 3Skrelv, Defector Mite
Enchantment (4)
- 4Ossification
Land (22)
- 14Plains
- 4Mutavault
- 2Castle Ardenvale
- 2Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
Sideboard (15)
- 3Reidane, God of the Worthy
- 4Portable Hole
- 2Guardian of Faith
- 4Wedding Announcement
- 2Sword of Forge and Frontier
Outside of Pioneer, Ossification appears in Mono-White Midrange, which is another excellent strategy utilizing other affordable cards such as The Eternal Wanderer and White Sun’s Twilight. While Ossification remains affordable, it’s definitely a card to keep in your collection if you open any Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft, Set, and Collector Booster, as it’s a solid spell that will see play in years to come.
Conduit of Worlds
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Taking inspiration from the iconic Cruicible of Worlds, Conduit of Worlds is an exciting card for Commander from Phyrexia: All Will Be One, especially for Land-focus archetypes such as The Gitrog Monster or Lord Windgrace. Even with the restriction of not being able to cast spells when activating Conduit of Worlds, being able to cast a nonland permanent from your graveyard is powerful, especially if your Commander happens to be in the graveyard, avoiding Commander tax in the process.
Market Price: $15.35
Market Price: $45.46
Market Price: $18.48
While it takes a few hoops to gain the most value, Conduit of Worlds is an interesting card and could become powerful with the correct build. If you intend to play a Land-focused strategy in Commander, then Conduit of Worlds is a must-have to make the most of those Land drops, in addition to returning nonland permanents from the graveyard as the game progresses.
Mercurial Spelldancer
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Shortly after Phyrexia: All Will Be One’s release, Mercurial Spelldancer saw a significant price spike as applications began to extend in Legacy, where it saw comparisons to the now-banned Dreadhorde Arcanist. Despite the hype (and price) dying down, Mercurial Spelldancer remains a strong card for strategies that play a high density of low mana value spells. Sometimes, the Phyrexian Rogue appears in Pioneer’s Izzet Phoenix as an unblockable threat that can copy Instant and Sorcery spells when needed. In Commander, the card often appears in Anowon, the Ruin Thief strategies as the Rogue typing is relevant. Even though the demand has died down for the card, Mercurial Spelldancer is still a consideration if you want evasion packed with value.
Sheoldred’s Edict
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
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Edict effects are often desirable, and Sheoldred’s Edict is the best iteration of this effect. Currently featured in Standard Grixis and Jund Midrange, Sheoldred’s Edict comes with an array of abilities where you can force an opponent to sacrifice a creature, a nontoken creature, or a Planeswalker — a fantastic set of options as many players would often use their Token creature as fodder to protect their more significant threats, this is not the case anymore.
Modern
Rakdos Midrange
Market Price:$996.26
Maindeck, 60 cards
Sortsort deckCreature (20)
- 4Dauthi Voidwalker
- 4Fury
- 4Grief
- 4Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
- 4Seasoned Pyromancer
Sorcery (3)
- 3Thoughtseize
Instant (15)
- 3Feign Death
- 2Kolaghan’s Command
- 3Lightning Bolt
- 2Sheoldred’s Edict
- 2Terminate
- 3Undying Malice
Enchantment (2)
- 2Blood Moon
Land (20)
- 3Blackcleave Cliffs
- 1Blightstep Pathway
- 4Blood Crypt
- 4Bloodstained Mire
- 1Castle Locthwain
- 1Graven Cairns
- 1Marsh Flats
- 1Polluted Delta
- 3Swamp
- 1Verdant Catacombs
Sideboard (15)
- 1Blood Moon
- 2Chalice of the Void
- 2Fatal Push
- 2Hidetsugu Consumes All
- 3Necromentia
- 1Surgical Extraction
- 2Tourach, Dread Cantor
- 2Unlicensed Hearse
It’s that good, Sheoldred’s Edict is trickling into Modern Rakdos Scam as an additional way to remove threats while avoiding the Indestructible or Ward clause. Plus with Fury being able to remove creatures and Grief tearing through the opponent’s hand, Sheoldred’s Edict cleans up any mess left behind. Even though inexpensive, Sheoldred’s Edict is a solid card and comes with the best of this effect we’ve ever seen. If you looking to play Midrange archetypes in the future, I recommend grabbing a few copies or adding the card to your collection if you opened any in Phyrexia: All Will Be One packs.
The Fast Lands
Another noteworthy series of reprints from Phyrexia: All Will Be One is the Fast Land cycle introduced in Scars of Mirrodin, where the enemy-colored pairings debuted in the expansion. In particular, Blackcleave Cliffs became the most expensive out of the selection due to extensive play in Modern Jund, Rakdos Midrange, and Rakdos Scam, with Copperline Gorge seeing value at the height of Dredge’s popularity. Now with the reprint, Darkslick Shores, Seachrome Coast, Razorverge Thicket, Copperline Gorge, and Blackcleave Cliffs are incredibly affordable, making acquiring playsets easier than ever.
Going further, if you appreciate the Borderless treatments, these are also affordable if you want to add some Phyrexian charm to your lists. If you are looking to dive into Modern or Pioneer with the hope of expanding your collection affordably, I recommend grabbing these Fast Lands, as you’ll get plenty of use out of them between the two formats for the price paid. Plus, if you ever decide to play Standard, these Fast Lands will serve you well until rotation in the fall of 2024, and after then, you can use these in eternal formats without much issue. Out of the cards mentioned in this article, I can’t recommend grabbing these Fast Lands enough, as decent yet inexpensive mana options allow you to play optimized Magic lists without breaking the bank.