I have always liked the punisher mechanic
(cf. Browbeat et al). Yeah, mail in whatever
"corrections" and insults you feel like, but in
a strategy game that involves a lot of choices,
giving your opponent a choice between bad and
bad can get you places. So, it's no surprise
that Born of the Gods' "punisher" creatures
caught my attention, especially Flame-Wreathed
Phoenix. I hate to be "this guy," as I don't
like looking at creatures as just stats, but the
fact is that either of this Phoenix's modes is
well above the curve for red - not so much a
choice between bad and bad, as between bad and
worse.
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is one of the few powerful tribute cards worthy of seeing competitive play. For four mana you get a 3/3 flying creature, if your opponent doesn’t pay the tribute you get a recursive 3/3 haste creature coming back for another go promoting value. If they pay the tribute however you get a discounted dragon, a 5/5 flying creature is no joke and can put serious pressure on your opponents. In standard I can see this card being part of a big red deck or decks looking to just get some solid mileage out of a creature. I believe it will see a moderate amount of play due to the potential power it has. In modern and eternal formats this card is a little too slow as a four drop and doesn’t do enough to justify running this as a four drop. In casual and multiplayer this phoenix has some political applications and can be a recursive source of damage and a constant threat. In limited it’s a solid flying creature that must be dealt with by opponents.
Today's card of the day is Flame-Wreathed
Phoenix which is a four mana Red 3/3 Flying with
Tribute 2 or comes into play with Haste and when
it dies return it to its owner's hand.
This is either a 3/3 Haste that can be replayed
or a 5/5, both with evasion, making it an
efficient card for the cost and likely to see
play in several Red decks that have an opening
at the four mana slot in the curve.
In Limited this is a four mana 3/3 or 5/5
evasive which makes it a strong first pick in
Booster and welcome sight in Sealed. The
double Red is a bit of a drawback which keeps it
from just being splashed, though a bit of
removal to help with larger Flying creatures and
it can make a strong primary or secondary color.
Flame-Wreathed Phoenix is the first Phoenix that I actually like. All of the other phoenixes were a waste of the “phoenix” name. That is my opinion though. Flame-Wreathed Phoenix can be a 5/5 for 4 mana and that is still awesome in my book. At one point, Four mana 5/5 creatures were the top dogs in Magic the Gathering. I like Flame-Wreathed Phoenix because it can be very versatile against different decks. Red/ Green decks will probably never pay the tribute because they might not be able to kill it if they do. This means that they must exile the phoenix to get rid of it completely. I enjoy the concept of a Phoenix that can keep coming back to your hand without paying anything extra to do so. I have one problem with this card. I don’t think that it is Mythic. I guess if you compared Flame-Wreathed Phoenix to all of the previous phoenixes, then yes it is a Mythic!
