Phyrexia: All Will Be One had a massive impact on Magic. Introducing new powerhouses like Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, players had the opportunity to embrace the glory of Phyrexia before Elesh Norn met her underwhelming end during March of the Machine.
While initially, we didn’t know much about Phyrexia: All Will Be One, eventually, Wizards of the Coast revealed exciting key details. These details include information about new products, new foils, and, of course, the all-important release date. So without any further ado, with these details in hand, let’s get into everything you need to know about Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Release Dates
As you might have come to expect, Phyrexia: All Will Be One followed a fairly typical MTG release schedule. This means that ahead of the set’s official paper launch, there were pre-release events spanning the week prior.
- First Look: December 13th, 2022
- Building Worlds & first story chapter: January 12th, 2023
- Previews begin: January 17th, 2023
- Prerelease Events: February 3rd – February 9th, 2023
- Phyrexia: All Will be One Digital Release: February 7th, 2023
- Phyrexia: All Will be One Tabletop Release: February 10th, 2023
Following the set’s official release, MTG players could also look forward to being entertained by post-release competitive championship events.
- Launch Party Events: February 10th – 12th, 2023
- Store Championship Events: February 25th – March 5th, 2023
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Story
With March of the Machine now come and gone, the Phyrexian arc has just about ended… for now. That said, should you want to read about the events that allowed players an opportunity to witness the glory of Phyrexia, you can find Wizards of the Coast’s story here.
For reference, the events in this story happen before those that occur in March of the Machine and March of the Machine: The Aftermath.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Mechanics
All of Phyrexia: All Will Be One’s mechanics truly represent what type of horrors awaited those who came across the Phyrexians. Infect was the initial mechanic that represented this villain which, as seasoned players may know, ended up being incredibly powerful. Infect was likely too powerful for Standard purposes, so Wizards of the Coast spent some time trying to revisit Poison Counters in a way that wasn’t so oppressive. The result are the mechanics that you see below:
Toxic
Revealed initially during u/PeterboroughPro’s seemingly confirmed leak, Toxic is a new mechanic to Magic: the Gathering. Appearing in the leak only as a keyword, it’s not entirely clear what this ability does. However, the prevailing opinion is that Toxic is an ability that revolves around Poison Counters, similar to Infect. Unlike the wildly overpowered Infect that proceeded it, Toxic is limited by the accompanying number’s abilities. For instance, Myr Convert features Toxic 1. It’s believed this means dealing combat damage to a player with a Toxic 1 creature will give that player one Poison counter.
Corrupted
Alongside Toxic, which dishes out Poison Counters, u/PeterboroughPro’s leak also revealed the Corrupted mechanic. This new mechanic prevents the activation of abilities until a Poison Counter threshold is met. As seen on Sinew Dancer, this is templated as “activate only if an opponent has three or more poison counters.” With both Toxic and Corrupted supposedly a part of the set, Poison Counters appear to be a significant theme of Phyrexia: All Will Be One.
Proliferate
To go along with the leaked new mechanics, Phyrexia: All Will Be One will also feature some returning mechanics. According to u/PeterboroughPro’s leak, one of these returning mechanics will be Proliferate. Similarly synergizing with Poison Counters, Proliferate allows players to increase the number of counters on target permanents whenever triggered.
Oil Counters
Oil Counters are a stand-in counter that can be exchanged for a variety of abilities. The counters themselves essentially have no effect, but many cards from Phyrexia: All Will Be One care about them in some way or another. The most popular of these, currently, is Archfiend of the Dross. Should this flying 6/6 for four lose all of its Oil Counters that it enters the battlefield with, you lose the game. This combos extremely well with Metamorphic Alteration since the Archfiend enters the battlefield with four Oil Counters. This means, should you transform another player’s creature into an Archfiend, they will lose the game on their upkeep.
Phyrexian Mana
A returning mechanic from when Phyrexians were first introduced, this is the most overpowered type of mana a card can have. This, essentially, allows players to tap a color of the mana symbol or pay two life instead, allowing cards like Gitaxian Probe and Mental Misstep to be cast for free.
Phyrexian mana does exist in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, but its appearances have been severely toned down power level wise from their initial appearance. Instead of Phyrexian mana having a massive impact on cards who were the recipient of them breaking color pie, it only affects the mana value of a card slightly.
Once official spoilers from Wizards of the Coast get revealed, we’ll update this section with the appropriate information.
Read More: Absurd Wilds of Eldraine Spoiler Cards Can Warp MTG Formats!
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Leaks & Spoilers
Phyrexia: All Will Be One released back in January. As a result, its very easy to find the full list of cards available in the main set. You can find those from Wizards of the Coast here.
Should you want to take a look at Commander cards that released for the set, you can find them here.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Products
As well as revealing many of the key dates for Phyrexia: All Will Be One, Wizards also revealed a new product to celebrate the set’s launch. Dubbed the “Compleat Bundle,” this new product features “exclusive accessories” such as a foil card box and a “Compleat Edition booster.” Priced at $80, it’s unclear if this product will be repeated for other sets under different names.
The exclusive foils, named Oil Slick Raised Foils were incredibly popular on release, causing the Bundle to go for absurd prices. As the market demand began to be met, prices for these exclusive cards started to calm down.
Here’s everything that’s included within the Phyrexia: All Will Be One Bundle: Compleat Edition:
- 1 Compleat Edition Booster – Containing 2 special foil Mythic Rare cards + 10 special foil land
- 12 Phyrexia: All Will Be One MTG Set Boosters
- 40 Traditional Foil land cards that “celebrate the glory of Phyrexia”
- 1 Traditional Foil Rare promo card
- Compleat Bundle-exclusive foil card box
Alongside the Compleat Bundle, players can also expect the typical assortment of MTG set products. These include Draft Boosters, Set Boosters, Collector Boosters, the standard “Bundle,” Jumpstart Boosters, and Pre-release packs.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One Best Cards
While we have already covered the best Commander cards at length, Phyrexia: All Will Be One has made waves in a lot of formats. So much so, that it’s also worth highlighting the hands-down best cards from the set. Not only are each of these cards rather expensive, but they’re also major threats in multiple formats.
Bloated Contaminator
Currently, Bloated Contaminator is not really played in any constructed format. By this logic, they really shouldn’t be on this short list, since we talked up how there are so many multi-format all-stars. That being said, this is my list and I’ll include what I want to. So, now that’s explained, Bloated Contaminator simply just slaps.
Crashing in with a 4/4 body, dealing Toxic, and Proliferating, Bloated Contaminator does it all. The fact you get all this for just 3 mana is the real icing on the cake. If Mono Green ever becomes viable in Standard again, this card will definitely make the cut.
Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
As our choice for the best Commander card in the entire set, Elesh Norn has already had its praises sung. Unsurprisingly, however, this card isn’t only powerful in Commander. Popping up in Modern, Pioneer, and Standard, this Elesh Norn is fantastically powerful. After all, not only do they double your ETB effect, but they also shut down your opponents!
Primarily, Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines has a home in Modern Ommath and Creativity decks. Here, their abilities synergize heavily with Omnath, Locus of Creation and Evoke spells like Solitude. Essentially giving these cards double the value when in play, it’s no wonder they’re a popular choice.
Atraxa, Grand Unifier
When talking about the best cards from Phyrexia: All Will Be One, there isn’t really any competing with Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Sure, Elesh Norn is good, but Atraxa, Grand Unifier is on a different game-ending level. Played within Legacy, Pioneer, Standard, and a little in Modern, Atraxa, Grand Unifier can provide insane potential value.
As a downside, the cards that Atraxa, Grand Unifier reveals from the top of your library only go into your hand. Thankfully, however, this small downside is easily mitigated by the card’s colossal stats. Clocking in at 7/7 with Flying, Vigilance, Deathtouch, and Lifelink, this Atraxa is an absolutely massive threat. Subsequently, it’s no wonder they’re a popular choice within reanimator strategies.
More Information
Now that Phyrexia: All Will Be One has been out for some time, tons of details have been made public in regards to the set. As mentioned at the beginning of the article, there are some seriously impactful cards to be had in this set.
If you want to check out the most expensive cards in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, you can find them here.
The best commons in the set can be found here.
Cards from this set are still creating new decks even today. The article below covers a bizarre mashup strategy involving two incredible combos!
Read More: Unique Rona-Atraxa MTG Combo Deck Revolutionizes Mediocre Archetype!
