Phyrexia: All Will Be One Set Review

When you think of the scariest baddies in Magic: The Gathering, a few things come to mind: Nicol Bolas, Mishra, someone who plays with an unsleeved deck, the Eldrazi… but few are anywhere near as creepy or horrific as the Phyrexians. Seeking to corrupt the entire multiverse to their terrible mesh of flesh and machine, their invasion of everywhere from Kamigawa to Capenna has been the main focus of the story the last few years.

For its next set, Magic is taking us right into the belly of the beast, with Phyrexia: All Will Be One. With more Phyrexians than in any other set, 10 Planeswalkers, and, of course, Elesh Norn herself, this is one Machine Hell of a set you’ll not want to miss.

Mechanically, the highlight of Phyrexia: All Will Be One is the new toxic mechanic. It’s a reworking of the infamous infect, allowing you to put poison counters on your opponent by dealing damage to them. If anyone gets 10 or more counters, they immediately lose the game. Toxic will make you want to block every creature coming at you, but with cards like Skrelv, Defector Mite being able to give anything toxic, it might not be that straightforward!

The overhaul of poison counters continues with corrupted, a new way to profit off of putting counters on your opponent. Instead of needing to get ten, aim for just three or more and you’ll be getting all kinds of benefits, like Apostle of Invasion getting double strike, or Skrelv’s Hive which gives your toxic creatures lifelink. Now you don’t need to go all-in on poison, and can spread your strategies out with a few backup contingencies.

Next up is For Mirrodin!, a new take on Equipment spells. Instead of needing you to pay a cost to equip it to a creature before it can be useful, For Mirrodin! Equipment will make a 2/2 red Rebel and attach itself to it, letting you skip the faff. Whether you’re using them in a Voltron deck as regular Equipment, or blinking them to make loads of token creatures, cards like Hexgold Halberd are going to give all those Phyrexians a run for their money.

A really interesting thing about Phyrexia: All Will Be One is it doesn’t have any +1/+1 counters. Instead, oil runs the show here, with oil counters being used for everything from simple stat boosts to scarier effects like Urabrask’s Forge, which makes bigger and bigger Phyrexian Horrors the more oil it has on it. But how do you get oil counters? Well, for that there’s one more mechanic, and it’s a fan favourite.

Proliferate is back! Whenever you proliferate, you can give anything with a counter on it another of that kind of counter. At first you may be thinking of simple things like adding more oil or maybe a +1/+1 from an older set. But what about stun counters from Dominaria United? Shield counters from New Capenna? Loyalty counters on Planeswalkers? Lore counters on Sagas? It’s been a long time since we last saw proliferate in Standard, and it’s going to be a doozy when cards like Thrumminbird and Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus get going.

Though this set does look poised to be an all-timer for players, what about those wanting to crack packs? Fortunately, All Will Be One is going super hard on its alt-art treatments – Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines alone has six different treatments to pull, including art by legendary horror manga artist Junji Ito! From the black-and-white manga art styles to the ink splatter-esque Ichor style, to even concept art Praetors, and the Collector booster-exclusive ‘Step-and-Compleat’ foils that shine with the Phyrexian emblem, there’s a lot to make opening your boosters extra spicy.

Perhaps the biggest pull of this set, though, is its whopping 10 Planeswalkers. The recent story has seen the horrific corruption of both Tamiyo and Ajani into Phyrexians, and, sadly, five of the ten in this set don’t come out unscathed, either. Whether it’s Jace, The Perfected Mind; Nahiri, the Unforgiving; or Lukka, Bound to Ruin, some of the game’s most beloved characters have been swayed by the dark side.

Though you’ll still be wanting Draft and Collector’s boosters to play and find the bling with, Set boosters have a very special inclusion in All Will Be One. At long last, the cards introduced in the Street Fighter crossover Secret Lair are being reprinted with in-Magic-universe new looks. These are only found in Set boosters, though, so make sure you’re stocking up on those if you missed out on Ryu, Ken, or Blanka the first time around!

Of course, a Magic set isn’t a Magic set without Commander decks, and All Will Be One is delivering with the white/black/green Corrupting Influence deck, which is all about finally giving poison counters something to do in Commander thanks to the new corrupted mechanic. Meanwhile, the red/white Rebellious Rising deck looks at the few non-Phyrexian survivors on the plane, and makes use of the For Mirrodin! mechanic to have an Equipment-focused token deck. Both include 10 brand-new cards each, designed with Commander in mind.

All Will Be One is an intensely gruesome, but incredibly fun set. Whether you’re hoping to spread the glory of Phyrexia, or want to put a stop to their invasion of the multiverse, make sure you’re preordering your boxes, bundles (including the new Compleated bundle that includes exclusive ‘oil-slick foils’!), and singles from Magic Madhouse ahead of its launch on February 10!