MTG: 3 Surprising Power Cards From the “ONE” Prerelease
Prerelease Weekend is here, and a few cards rose above the others to be…surprisingly better than we thought.
The planar bridge has opened and the sickly sweet smell of Phyrexian oil is wafting through the air. That can only mean one thing; Phyrexia: All Will Be One is almost upon us! Prerelease events are happening at FLGS all over the country, and avid players are getting their hands on the new cards for the first time. While everyone has picked out some of their top picks for power cards in the set, a few powerful cards may have slipped under the radar. In my prerelease journey, I was lucky (or unlucky) to run into some of them, and these are pieces you don’t want to miss.
Skrelv, Defector Mite
On the surface, this little bug is far from scary. Sure he has the dreaded Toxic mechanic, but he’s a 1/1 and he can’t block. Easy to deal with, right? Well, it’s that secondary effect you need to watch out for. For one white Phyrexian mana (meaning you can pay it with life instead) you can give another creature essentially protection from a color of your choice for one turn and a little dash of poison with Toxic 1. This makes mundane creatures scary and already Toxic creatures a massive threat since it stacks. If you see this guy crawling around, call an exterminator quickly; he can get out of hand fast.
Unctus’s Retrofitter
This one, like Skrelv before it, seems kind of mundane on the first reading. A 2/3 with Toxic isn’t a BAD card by any stretch, and its secondary ability to awaken an artifact is pretty cool. However, most people think this lass only wakes up noncreature artifacts, making her a bit less of a threat. But nay nay; nowhere on her card does it specify “noncreature”, meaning you can turn a simple 1/1 mite into a 4/4 beatstick with ease. If you happen to have the previously mentioned Skrelv as well, you can also make it Toxic and unblockable. This one is the perfect example of “read the whole card first”.
Tainted Observer
This one is probably the most obviously powerful as a 2/3 Toxic 1 flyer for 3 mana, but don’t let that stop you. The horrible bird’s secondary ability to proliferate whenever a creature hits play makes it the perfect combo for token generators like Skrelv’s Hive. If you can make mites, birds, or horrors for free and then proliferate all those nasty poison counters, you can win the game before your opponent can react. With poison, all it takes is a tiny scratch…
Which cards are you hoping to snag?
