Visions of Phyrexia – The Brother’s War
Date Reviewed: November 21, 2022
Ratings:
Constructed: 4.00
Casual: 5.00
Limited: 3.50
Multiplayer: 3.88
Commander [EDH]: 4.13
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
There was a time when Phyrexia was mysterious and distant, when we didn’t know seemingly every nook and cranny of the Nine Spheres. That’s why Yawgmoth’s title was “the Ineffable”, for one thing. A card like Visions of Phyrexia has a difficult task: it has to evoke that era when it’s in a set that exists at the opposite end of the timeline. The mechanics actually kind of help it in that regard, as the impulsive draw ability is inconsistent at giving you any particular thing, or even at making a play every turn – your deck’s twists and turns will be just as much of a mystery as the machine world once was, but going through your deck faster is more often than not worth it. And the Powerstone generation is a nice in-game analogue to the way the visions inspired Mishra to ever-greater heights of artifice.
This card is quite good in general, potentially explosive when you have a deck constructed to maximize its chances of playing something every turn, and an actual combo piece when you have big artifacts to cast, or even just anything that cares about artifacts coming into play. Subtle red really is the best red.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
Visions of Phyrexia strikes me as being akin to a red Phyrexian Arena…an extra card each turn, though not completely without cost. That said, you do benefit the turn it came down if you don’t have something that cast from exile (like a suspend card), and this does let you play lands off of it. This isn’t terribly flashy, but it’s a powerful consistency piece for the enterprising red deck in all. Costing four mana does make this sting a bit, but you’re usually getting, at worst, a Powerstone, and those have plenty of fun functions if you’re careful with them. It’s maybe not the best topdeck late, but if you can hold on, it becomes a powerful weapon in the long run.
Constructed: 4
Casual: 5
Limited: 3.5
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 4.25
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