On October 16, MTG Fallout cards finally debuted on Magic Online. MTG Fallout is a cool Universes Beyond set that brought a lot of neat Commander cards to the table. On top of that, though, MTG Fallout gave rise to a few Legacy staples.
Cards like Pre-War Formalwear have made their presences felt in the high-powered format, so being able to have access to these cards while playing Magic Online is a big deal. Legacy thrives on the platform, and we’re already starting to see some other MTG Fallout cards make a name for themselves.
In fact, in a recent Challenge event, one player made top 16 with a really unique take on Stiflenought built to abuse the strength of both a unique MTG Fallout card and an elite Duskmourn staple. These new cards enable some sweet synergies that we felt deserved to be highlighted. To start, we need to look at how these cards interact with one of the deck’s namesake cards: Phyrexian Dreadnought.
Awesome Phyrexian Dreadnought Combos
- Mana Value: 2U
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 5/5
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: As an additional cost to cast this spell, exile six cards from your graveyard.
Flying.
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, Manifest Dread. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)
Phyrexian Dreadnought is a creature that has been around in Legacy for quite some time. This weird one-mana 12/12 with Trample doesn’t do much by itself, since you’re forced to sacrifice it unless you can sacrifice 12 power worth of creatures. Luckily, there are a few ways to maximize the wild one-drop.
The most common method involves playing an effect that counters Phyrexian Dreadnought’s triggered ability. Stifle is a classic, hence why the deck gained the name “Stiflenought.” Dress Down is a more inefficient option but has the upside of drawing a card when it enters. Plus, Dress Down has extra utility, including wiping away opposing Construct tokens generated by Urza’s Saga.
Up to this point, most Stiflenought players have used white as a secondary color to gain access to Doorkeeper Thrull. However, this deck strays from the norm, playing black for Psychic Frog. Losing out on Doorkeeper Thrull may sound like a big deal when it comes to setting up Phyrexian Dreadnought. Luckily, this is where the MTG Fallout and Duskmourn cards join the party.
These two cards, Curie, Emergent Intelligence and Abhorrent Oculus, both work perfectly alongside Phyrexian Dreadnought. In the case of Curie, if you get to untap with the Robot, you can set up a window where you cast Phyrexian Dreadnought with two mana up.
Then you can activate Curie’s ability with Phyrexian Dreadnought’s trigger on the stack, exiling Phyrexian Dreadnought and making Curie into a copy of Phyrexian Dreadnought. Once you connect in combat with your 12/12 Trampler, you get to draw a ton of cards. Chances are, you’ll find Force of Will to eliminate your opponent’s hopes of coming back into the game.
Finally, with Abhorrent Oculus in play, you may be able to set things up so that Phyrexian Dreadnought ends up face down via Manifest Dread. Since the creature is already on the battlefield, you’re free to flip it face up and get your 12/12.
Thanks to Brainstorm, you have the opportunity to put Phyrexian Dreadnought and a card you don’t want from your hand on top of your library. Once Abhorrent Oculus’ Manifest Dread ability resolves, you simply put Phyrexian Dreadnought into play face down and the card you want to ditch in your graveyard.
Potent Tempo Gameplan
- Mana Value: UB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/2
- Text: Whenever Psychic Frog deals combat damage to a player or planeswalker, draw a card. Discard a card: Put a +1/+1 counter on Psychic Frog. Exile three cards from your graveyard: Psychic Frog gains flying until end of turn.
What’s nice about how this Stiflenought variant is constructed compared to the Azorius builds is that most cards are individually strong. The Azorius builds feel a bit more reliant on sticking Doorkeeper Thrull or Dress Down. Otherwise, your copies of Nulldrifter would get stuck in hand. While the synergies are undeniable, you really need to set them up to have success.
This Dimir version is perfectly capable of winning the game even without finding Phyrexian Dreadnought. Psychic Frog and Abhorrent Oculus are top-tier win conditions. In some games, you’ll simply look to use tempo to your advantage, slamming Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student turn one into Psychic Frog turn two. Force of Will and Daze help solidify your advantage.
Curie, while not on the same level as Psychic Frog by itself, still lets you draw a card when you connect in combat. As such, keeping the board clear with Fatal Push and generating card advantage with Curie is a legitimate strategy.
Meanwhile, Stifle is far from a dead card in games where you don’t draw Phyrexian Dreadnought. Between opposing Fetchlands and copies of Wasteland, you’ll typically have valid targets for Stifle. This deck can win in a variety of ways, which can make it a bit difficult to hate out.
Is It Worth It?
- Mana Value: 3RR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 3/3
- MTG Sets: Modern Horizons 2
- Card Text: Double Strike. When Fury enters the battlefield, it deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or planeswalkers. Evoke- Exile a red card from your hand.
Overall, this deck functions a bit like a mix between Dimir tempo and Azorius Stiflenought. While this is rather unorthodox, there are some benefits to building your deck this way.
When facing mono-red prison, for instance, you have the luxury of primarily fetching basic lands. Both Psychic Frog and Abhorrent Oculus generally outgrow Fury’s damage-dealing trigger, which is a huge boon in the matchup. At the same time, if you can land a 12/12, it’s easy to ride it to victory, as the mono-red deck has few ways to get it off the table.
Being able to assemble the “nut draw” of turn two Phyrexian Dreadnought+Stifle is also very strong in combo matchups where speed kills. A 12/12 will close the game very quickly against Nadu combo, even in the face of a plethora of chump blockers.
It’ll be interesting to see if this build of Stiflenought ends up catching on. There’s no denying that Curie and Abhorrent Oculus add some flare to the archetype, and we’re happy to see the deck starting to flex its muscles.
