Phantasmal Abomination MTG Card

Phantasmal Abomination aids in card advantage and strategic resource conservation. Its instant speed utility offers flexibility, making it a potent reactive play. Despite benefits, downsides include hand depletion and restrictive mana needs.

Phantasmal Abomination - Rise of the Eldrazi

Mana cost
Converted mana cost	3
Rarity	Uncommon
Type	Creature — Illusion
Abilities	Defender
Released	2010-04-23
Set symbol
Set name	Rise of the Eldrazi
Set code	ROE
Power	5
Toughness	5
Number	80
Frame	2003
Layout	Normal
Border	Black
Illustred by	Goran Josic

Text of card

Defender When Phantasmal Abomination becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.

Create an illusion so strong that it becomes another's reality, and you can become the master of all.

Cards like Phantasmal Abomination

Phantasmal Abomination stands as a peculiar creature in Magic: The Gathering with its knack for evading danger through its illusory nature. It draws a parallel with Phantasmal Bear, which also boasts the phantom ability causing the creature to be sacrificed when it becomes the target of a spell or ability. However, Phantasmal Abomination’s higher toughness gives it a sturdier presence on the battlefield compared to its ursine counterpart’s more fragile constitution.

Looking deeper into the realm of illusions, we find Phantasmal Dragon, sharing the phantom characteristic but at an even larger scale. While the Abomination requires a smaller mana investment and arrives on the field earlier, Phantasmal Dragon offers flying and a formidable power, threatening opponents from above. Yet, its higher casting cost is noteworthy, making it a later game play.

Each illusionary creature offers a unique tactical advantage, but Phantasmal Abomination fits snugly into early game strategies, providing a robust blocker or attacker that can dissuade early aggression. Its presence in a deck emphasizes speed and efficiency, all while serving as a looming deterrent to targeted tricks or removal from adversaries.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: Phantasmal Abomination can be a substantial asset when it comes to card advantage. Its intrinsic ability to disrupt your opponent’s board while maintaining your hand’s variety can tip the scales in your favor, ensuring that you have more options at your disposal compared to your adversary.

Resource Acceleration: This card can also play a role in resource acceleration. Though it may not directly contribute to mana production, its capacity to conserve valuable resources by strategically preoccupying your opponent can indirectly accelerate your gameplay, allowing you to deploy more threats or answers efficiently.

Instant Speed: The ability to react at instant speed provides immense flexibility, making Phantasmal Abomination a versatile tool in your arsenal. The quickness with which you can deploy or utilize its effects enables savvy players to adapt on the fly, keeping the opponent guessing while optimizing their own board state. Holding up mana for Phantasmal Abomination often means you can control the pace of play, placing you firmly in the driver’s seat.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Playing Phantasmal Abomination requires the player to discard a card, which can deplete valuable hand assets, especially in a tight game where every card counts.

Specific Mana Cost: Catering to a blue mana deck, this creature demands two blue mana points. This can restrict its integration only within mono-blue or compatible two-color decks, potentially making it less versatile compared to colorless or hybrid alternatives.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a casting cost that requires three mana including two specific to color, Phantasmal Abomination might come across as a costly investment when other options might provide comparable stats or effects for a lower cost, leading to a potentially inefficient mana economy.

Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Phantasmal Abomination offers an adaptable presence in decks that capitalize on high-toughness creatures, as well as those that want to exploit its illusionary nature for card interactions.

Combo Potential: This card can create unique synergies with cards that target it, trigger on creature sacrifices, or benefit from illusions you control being targeted, offering multi-layered combo opportunities.

Meta-Relevance: In environments where illusions or defender strategies are prevalent, Phantasmal Abomination could serve as a substantial piece due to its efficient cost to toughness ratio and niche interactions.

How to beat

Phantasmal Abomination is an intriguing Magic: The Gathering creature known for its stat efficiency coupled with its phantasmal drawback. With potent defensive capabilities thanks to its high toughness, it can be quite the roadblock. Players often find that overcoming this particular creature requires strategy more than brute force.

In dealing with the Phantasmal Abomination, removal spells that don’t target, like board wipes or -X/-X effects, can effectively clear the way without triggering its illusion ability that would cause it to be sacrificed. Additionally, employing spells or abilities that force a player to sacrifice creatures can bypass the creature’s potential strength, as they do not target it directly.

Another effective approach is using spells that can change the status of the battlefield. Spells that give all creatures -1/-1 until end of turn can often be enough to manage this creature without having to directly target it. Taking these strategic approaches lets players navigate around the formidable presence of Phantasmal Abomination, maintaining control of the game’s pace and position on the battlefield.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Phantasmal Abomination MTG card by a specific set like Rise of the Eldrazi, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Phantasmal Abomination and other MTG cards:

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Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Phantasmal Abomination has restrictions

Format	Legality
Commander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Paupercommander	Restricted
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Vintage	Legal
Duel	Legal
Predh	Legal
Penny	Legal

Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Phantasmal Abomination card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date	Text
2010-06-15	If Phantasmal Abomination becomes the target of a spell or ability, Phantasmal Abomination’s ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of that spell or ability. Phantasmal Abomination’s ability will resolve (causing it to be sacrificed) first. Unless the spell or ability has another target, it will then be countered when it tries to resolve for having no legal targets.