I'm not certain why the blue/black god has
Mercury-style wings on his helmet. Seriously,
what does it represent in his case? Deception in
the sense of tricking you into thinking he's
someone else or appropriating another god's
symbols? How fast a deck full of walls and other
defensive cards can run down someone's library?
The speed with which people will target him with
Revoke Existence? How fast an entire multiplayer
table will turn on you once they realize that
you can to use him to remove four people's
libraries from relevance?
Today's card of the day is Phenax, God of
Deception which is a five mana Blue and Black
Indestructible enchantment that becomes a 4/7
with Devotion seven to Blue/Black and gives
creatures you control the ability to tap to mill
a library of cards equal to their toughness. A
deck with high toughness cards, particularly
Wall of Frost for the double mana symbol and
stalling efficiency, can hold the line until
Phenax enters play and very quickly mill a deck
down. While turning into a creature is a
drawback by making it vulnerable to
non-destruction creature removal the additional
seven cards it can mill is a major benefit. Even
using the mill on yourself to fill the graveyard
is viable for some decks and overall the raw
power of this card makes mill a serious threat
to current formats.
In Limited the typical deck is forty cards
and with a few high toughness creatures to
support Phenax he can easily dominate a
tournament. An easy first pick in Booster and
top choice in Sealed that works best with strong
defensive support, but is still a threat by
itself once Devotion kicks in.
Phenax, God of Deception is just what Mil decks
needed right now. I’m am kind of sad that they
made the mana cost 5, because that actually
slows down Standard Mil. Traumatize and
Consuming Aberration are both 5 mana a piece.
Can you imagine using Traumatize and Consuming
Aberration with Phenax, God of Deception? That
would be freaking brutal. Even cards like Wall
of Frost and Nighthowler can become milling
monsters with Phenax, God of Deception. My only
problem with this god, is that it almost forces
you to play Mil. If I end up Drafting Born of
Gods this Friday, I hope to get Phenax, God of
Deception. He would be very nasty in a Draft!
Casual players have soooo many options with
Phenax, God of Deception that he could easily
become the most popular kitchen table god ever!
