I think this card is a sleeper. Yes, it would be positively broken if you could mill yourself (especially in formats with a certain undead troll) but this seems really solid.
I know that Modern Mill isn't exactly T1 but this effectively gives it 8 Crabs available on T1. Also, Delta makes Mill a little less sucky.
In Standard, it seems a solid card against control (you play and crack a fetch, they mill 4: you get value just for playing Magic which is one way I define a good card).
I don't think this is a bulk rare, at any rate. At a bare minimum, this will see lots of EDH play as it hits all opponents.
Hmmm. Mill cards do tend to be popular and go up in $ significantly, like Glimpse the Unthinkable. I'm gonna preorder a playset, in case I decide to give Phenax a go.
Modern: UUUBlue Man Group
Legacy: UWBMiracles
Edh: UUUThassa Control WWWHokori Stax GGGJolrael, Empress of Land Stompy BBBGriselbrand French List RBGShattergang(Super Villians) RWGHazezon Flicker UBRMarchesa Aggro URGMaelstom Wanderer (Maelstorm)
Seems terrible to me. Mills far too slow. As a topdeck it's a blank card.
I wouldn't call it terrible, but I would say there are decks this would be terrible in. It is one of those cards that with the correct support, it can be powerful. For example, Gaea's Cradle is all around agreed to be a very good card, but in a Miracles deck, it is complete junk. This card may find a home. It may not be in standard, but I think it will be tested out somewhere. I don't know if it will make the cut in any deck testing it, but it is 100% certainly worth a look.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
All your base are belong to us!
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
too bad oblivion ring is rotating cause cards like that can cause amusingly long loops to just deck your opponent out instantly with this.
Maybe skybind can do something mental with this? hmmm
Alter of the Brood + Enduring Renewal + Cartel Aristocrat + any zero cost artifact creature is all you need for modern to make a game winning deck. The rest of the deck can be search or redundant sac outlets and control cards.
The owner of my lgs tried hard to hype up the infinite etb combo of Leonin Relic Warder and Phyrexian Metamorph, but you needed more to truly break it. This turns that into a pretty consistent Turn 3 win.
At first I though this fed your graveyard as well, and thought that it might be an actually decent engine-piece for delve if more delve cards came around for standard, but then I realized it only affects the opponent's GY, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense considering it is a Sultai card. This was certainly a design fail in my opinion.
I think this card is a sleeper. Yes, it would be positively broken if you could mill yourself (especially in formats with a certain undead troll) but this seems really solid.
I know that Modern Mill isn't exactly T1 but this effectively gives it 8 Crabs available on T1. Also, Delta makes Mill a little less sucky.
In Standard, it seems a solid card against control (you play and crack a fetch, they mill 4: you get value just for playing Magic which is one way I define a good card).
I don't think this is a bulk rare, at any rate. At a bare minimum, this will see lots of EDH play as it hits all opponents.
I play modern mill (U/B Burn as I call it), and this isn't even close to good enough for that deck. Crab is much more aggressive than this. If it did indeed mill 2 per perm it might be a sideboard consideration if leyline of sanctity was expected to be everywhere. As is, it just doesn't do enough.
It might not really look that good at first glance, but it has potential, for sure. I always liked cheap artifacts like this because they're so easy to tutor for. Trinket mage's the most fun when it comes to edh, if nothing else.
I'm SO SICK of the "too strong for Standard" argument. It's the new "Dies to removal". We can have a two mana 4/4 with a zillion abilities, but we can't just have Accumulated Knowledge. Makes sense.
Hope the topic is still open. I use this in my modern token deck and I rip 1v1 and multiplayer. My favorite one is a commander game I played with my modern deck and milled everyone for 160 cards at once.
While you're free to discuss Altar of the Brood, the fact remains that the card is not new and has not been for several years. Please start a thread in the appropriate format rather than necroing in the New Card Discussion section.
I know that Modern Mill isn't exactly T1 but this effectively gives it 8 Crabs available on T1. Also, Delta makes Mill a little less sucky.
In Standard, it seems a solid card against control (you play and crack a fetch, they mill 4: you get value just for playing Magic which is one way I define a good card).
I don't think this is a bulk rare, at any rate. At a bare minimum, this will see lots of EDH play as it hits all opponents.
Draft it Here!
UUUBlue Man Group
Legacy:
UWBMiracles
Edh:
UUUThassa Control
WWWHokori Stax
GGGJolrael, Empress of Land Stompy
BBBGriselbrand French List
RBGShattergang(Super Villians)
RWGHazezon Flicker
UBRMarchesa Aggro
URGMaelstom Wanderer (Maelstorm)
I wouldn't call it terrible, but I would say there are decks this would be terrible in. It is one of those cards that with the correct support, it can be powerful. For example, Gaea's Cradle is all around agreed to be a very good card, but in a Miracles deck, it is complete junk. This card may find a home. It may not be in standard, but I think it will be tested out somewhere. I don't know if it will make the cut in any deck testing it, but it is 100% certainly worth a look.
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
Maybe skybind can do something mental with this? hmmm
About Mindslaver rulings:
I play modern mill (U/B Burn as I call it), and this isn't even close to good enough for that deck. Crab is much more aggressive than this. If it did indeed mill 2 per perm it might be a sideboard consideration if leyline of sanctity was expected to be everywhere. As is, it just doesn't do enough.
Infinite combo, in standard, in only 2 colours! As early as turn 4? This is very interesting. Very fragile creatures, but very interesting.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
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