As per usual, we have the set list here. The commander lists are here, but since there's only 16 new cards there, I leave it to the reader to evaluate those. Let's get going!
To begin with I want to say that I don't find Toxic to be a very compelling mechanic. For any creature with power greater than 1, the effect is almost always competing with regular damage as a win condition and this makes Toxic seem pointless. A 2/2 with Toxic 1 kills me at the same pace on both poison and damage axes.
The attempt to make Toxic relevant gets ugly for me with all the cards that provide a bonus if an opponent has three or more poison counters: if I'm able to attack for 8 damage in the air, why do I need poison to win me the game? If I'm able to get 3 poison counters on someone, how much work is it to get the last 7?
It all feels like it's at odds with each other. It also feels at odds with the set's story-this is the set where the Phyrexians have the upper hand. Poisoning the flesh is what they do-why isn't that easier?
The other mechanics-a new take on Living Weapons (For Mirrodin!) and Proliferate- are fine. Proliferate will make a lot of Commander players happy that's for sure, and it absolutely takes the sting out of playing Compleated Planeswalkers. Oil counters are a non-mechanic to me: there is nothing distinct about them to separate them from Experience counters or any other non-+1 counter. It's a thematic thing, nothing more.
White
The Phyrexians are kicking the hell out of everyone else, aren't they?
I'm already noticing a tension in this set, between using Oil counters, Poison counters and wanting artifacts to matter. There's a lot happening here and I can't help but wonder if there's just too much? Or maybe it's just right and it feels like a lot because of how it's manifest: Kemba, for example, cares about artifacts...but only equipment. Plated Onslaught outright has Affinity for Artifacts and is portrayed as a Phyrexian card.
I suppose that's what is troublesome to me: On the artifact planet, how do we really distinguish between our heroes and our villains? Mechanically, that is.
Blue
I like what Blade of Shared Souls is doing, and I expect someone to break Encroaching Mycosynth.
I hate Ichormoon Gauntlet. Mostly because I tire of the interactions of Planeswalkers and I don't think enough is done to keep the card type in check. Do we really need to give that card type the ability to boost itself for free?
Black
Of the cards here, Drivnod, Carnage Dominus is the first "ooo, wait" card I've seen. Death triggers haven't gotten a lot of attention but here's something that, as far as I know, does something new in the game. That's interesting.
8/3s for five aren't usually great but if you can get an indestructible creature for 6 mana then that might be worth it. Plus, you can team Drivnod up with Vraan for fun times!
Huh. Looks like I was a little mistaken about Toxic; we have a creature that has a Toxic value equal to its power in Sheoldred's Headcleaver (what an awkward title!)
Red
Here's another place where the set's tension clashes: Bladegraft Aspirant is a Phyrexian creature type but it cares about equipment, something I thought the Mirrodin faction cared about. That's why keyword the riff on Living Weapons "For Mirrodin!" is...for Mirrodin, right? Furnace Punisher is another: if the Phyrexians are all about corrupting oil that changes their enemies, why does Furnace Punisher want to see basic lands?
I do think Blazing Crescendo is one of the better pump spells we've seen in a long time. Very aggressive, allows for you to dig further and cheap: there isn't another spell that I can think of that comes at such a good rate.
Interestingly, Red is the only color that has no interaction with Poison counters at all! Blue has a couple and is pushing proliferate; Red has a couple proliferate cards but nothing mentioning Poison! I assume this is because of story reasons but it is still odd. In New Phyrexia, Blue/Black/Green were the poison colors. Here it seems to have slid into White/Black/Green (some Blue).
It's a dramatic shift for story purposes but I'm not sure that it flows well from what was established on New Phyrexia..
Green
Interestingly, here is the place where Toxic gets a boost. But, the mana value on all the cards that use Toxic to end the game quickly are very high. Examples: Tyrannax Atrocity and Rex, and Paladin of Predation, Basically: Sure you might get to end the game in two attacks but also you just paid 7 for that and if you aren't in a position to win by then, that's on you.
None of this inspires confidence in me though. Players who have infect decks aren't going to benefit from any of this with the exception of Venerated Rotpriest.
It's fine, I suppose. The Limited environment will be happy and that is really the point.
Multicolor
I want to get this out of the way: No, I don't really like that Atraxa, Grand Unifier mentions a new card type that won't exist until March of Machines. This feels like the weakest form of hype: a way to get players to hyperfixate on a NEW THING WHAT COULD IT MEAN while ignoring that this card is just a wordvomit of abilities that are kind of insane. The original Atraxa is insane and this is even worse, since it effectively refills your hand on top of everything else.
Is that good design? I don't think so. It'll get people hyped though.
I am wary of Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler's design. They did this kind of thing a lot during War of the Spark and it gave us some of the most oppressive, unpleasant Planeswalkers to play against, ever. Same thing with Kaito and the Eternal Wanderer. Kaya is less of a problem because that mana cost is outrageous but I don't like that, either. All of these constant effects on Planeswalkers make me very suspicious and eat into design territory that I wish they did not.
Artifact
Mirran Safehouse is some unusual card design! I don't know what we'll do with that yet but someone's going to break that card.
Still, if there's any point in the set that shows that the Phyrexians have won Mirrodin, here it is. Two Myr, the Prophetic Prism and the Sword of Hearth and Home are all that seem to be left of the plane. I don't even know if Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut is Phyrexian now.
Though as a complaint: Why is Urtet, Remnant of Memnarch only available in the Commander product? This character seems important!
I had to read Soulless Jailer several times and check the explanations for how it worked to understand how it works. If it wasn't an 0/4, I would even say that it has potential! There are better options to do what it does, but redundancy or availability for budget players are all good things.
Land
Now it's always good to get a reprint of lands that are in demand. The reprints of rare lands from Scars of Mirrodin are more than welcome, and I hope that this continues. Fundamental game pieces shouldn't be expensive to acquire.
The spheres are a new thing for Magic and...I question their existence. Mostly because: what is the connective tissue that ties them together? Will they-or should they-exist on non-Phyrexian planes? The rare ones seem explicitly tied to Phyrexia via abilities (3 of the 4 mention Phyrexian related things the last artifacts), the commons via names. There's nothing wrong with that, unless of course one of these cards explodes, becomes necessary for a deck and now cannot be reprinted because Phyrexia isn't a place we can go anymore.
Or, with March of Machines, becomes the thing and spheres are all we're getting for the next year. Well, all we're getting from MoM. And hey, if that becomes 'the villains win but are thwarted for now' set, then cool.
But with the only other in-universe set we're getting this year being Wilds of Eldraine, followed up by The Lost Caverns of Ixalan in 2024 (I can see spheres here, maybe) I don't see this land type being expanded on for now.
They don't suck though!
So what do I think about all of this?
Well, I think it's ok, but with a caveat. I'll be interested in reading about why they made the choice to have Toxic instead of Infect as a mechanic, and certainly the design stories are ones I'll be looking for in the next few weeks: Phyexian mana, oil counters in Red but no poison, Spheres, and so many other choices made that I'm very curious about.
In the end though, this seems like an interesting set that wants to live inside itself and not do a lot of interaction with the external environment. There's a meaningful miss here: The Brothers' War or Dominaria could've had oil counters incorporated into it, for example. This kind of dripfeed could have been put in either of those sets (or both!) to help illustrate the rise of Phyrexia (DU) or the initial infection (BW). That's the caveat: this set feels very insular and its tendrils do not seem to reach into other sets.
At least, not yet.
