First strike and infect are a very potent
comination. Any creature that tangles with this
guy in combat is going to be shrunk before it
has a chance to deal damage back. And if that
creature is red or white, it won't deal damage
at all. Add to that the fact that red and white
are two of the colors most likely to have a kill
spell, and that some black mages still use Doom
Blade over Go for the Throat, and you have a
creature that's very hard to deal with in combat
or out. An excellent vanguard of any infect
army.
I remember when three-mana black creatures,
especially ones with "Phyrexian" in their
name, sometimes had drawbacks. I suppose you
could argue that the infect ability basically
curtails a lot of the Crusader's opportunities:
he needs either a lot of companions with infect,
or to be the only creature in a deck. Maybe some
kind of Preordain/Negate/Creeping Tar Pit deck?
I don't know. Even if all he ends up
being remembered for is being the best creature
in the infect deck, though, that's not nothing.
Quite the opposite.
Today's card of the day is Phyrexian Crusader
which is three mana 2/2 zombie knight with
Infect, First Strike, protection from Red, and
protection from White. Combined with being
Black and you have a creature that is immune to
nearly all removal and with the synergy of First
Strike dealing Infect damage can destroy 3/3
creatures with ease.
A very worthwhile creature for the cost, an
automatic four of in any Black Infect deck, and
likely to be included in many zombie or general
Black builds for some time.
In Limited despite not being removal or being a
large creature the stability and difficulty in
removing it makes this a solid first pick and
excellent card to add support to through
equipments. The double Black is a bit of a
drawback as is being a small creature in your
rare slot in a format that will produce larger
creatures over time. Other than those
points this is still an excellent creature to
have on the board in the early stages of the
game and can shut down any opponent relying
heavily on a color it has protection from.
Welcome back to pojo.com’s Card of
the Day. Today we are taking a look at the
Phyrexian Crusader. The Phyrexian Crusader costs
two black and one generic mana. The Crusader has
First Strike and protection from red and white.
The power and toughness is 2/2.
Easily put, one mean card for the current block. With protection
from the main Mirran colors, this guy threatens
to get through and deliver some fast poison
every turn. Using him properly as a true
Phyrexian based deck with green could result in
some easy wins with this guy commanding your
forces. A Giant Growth or two and then any other
decent pump, game, set, match.
The Phyrexian Crusader doesn’t really need much help
from Vintage, since he is at his meanest in
standard. The potential to avoid the majority of
burn and spot creature removal spells is just
such a great asset. And even black removal
spells traditionally wouldn’t help much against
the Phyrexian Crusader, since Doom Blade and
Terro wouldn’t be able to take him out either.
Perhaps the greatest threat would still be
standard, Go For The Throat.
But in Vintage this guy really can end games FAST.
Cover of Darkness, choose zombies, an Undead
Warchief or two, some Cemetary Reapers, and you
have an old school zombie butt-whooping with a
side of new school poison. That is a dish best
served undead.
Phyrexian Crusader is easily a no brainer addition to
any black deck, especially if you run infect.
And anyone who says otherwise is obviously
Mirran.
