Wizards Of The Coast has finally unleashed the final part of its Scars Of Mirrodin block for Magic: The Gathering.
Dubbed New Phyrexia, it’s already garnered plenty of attention due to the inclusion of Karn Liberated, a new Planeswalker who’s already selling for up to £30, thanks to some truly powerful abilities that enable him to exile cards from an opponent’s hand and from play.
Karn isn’t the only desirable new card, though, and as with Scars Of Mirrodin and Mirrodin Besieged, artifacts play a pivotal role. Batterskull is a ‘Living Weapon’ that gives an equipped creature ‘Vigilance’ and ‘Lifelink’, while the ability to return it for mana makes it very desirable and extremely hard to kill.
Another powerful addition are the Praetors. Representing the five colours of Magic, they can turn any game when they come into play, although they are still trailing behind Karn and Batterskull on the secondary market.
All the previous six core mechanics, including Infect, Metalcraft and Proliferate remain, but a new masterstroke has been included thanks to the ability to pay life instead of mana to cast certain cards. This makes a huge difference to how you build and play decks, and is one of the most interesting mechanics to appear for some time.
New Phyrexia is available now from all good hobby shops, and costs £3.50 for a pack of 15 cards.
