Phyrexian Fleshgorger MTG Card


Card setsReleased in 3 setsSee all
Mana cost
Converted mana cost7
RarityMythic
TypeArtifact Creature — Phyrexian Wurm
Abilities Lifelink,Menace,Prototype,Ward
Power 7
Toughness 5

Key Takeaways

  1. Gains card advantage by exiling creatures, enhancing battlefield control and diminishing opponent resources.
  2. Demanding mana cost can restrict deck versatility and slow gameplay, despite considerable power.
  3. Versatile with combo potential, and remains relevant in creature-focused competitive environments.

Text of card

Prototype — 3/3 (You may cast this spell with different mana cost, color, and size. It keeps its abilities and types.) Menace, lifelink Ward—Pay life equal to Phyrexian Fleshgorger's power.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Phyrexian Fleshgorger enters the battlefield with the ability to potentially amass significant card advantage. This is achieved through its mechanism of exiling creatures it defeats in combat, essentially reducing the opponent’s resources while potentially bolstering your own battlefield presence.

Resource Acceleration: This card can act as a form of indirect resource acceleration. By dominating the battlefield and efficiently removing opposing threats, it can sway the game’s momentum in your favor, allowing you to utilize your mana and other resources on further game-winning strategies or developments rather than on defense.

Instant Speed: The capacity to deploy Phyrexian Fleshgorger at instant speed confers strategic flexibility. This enables players to best time their plays in response to an opponent’s actions or end of turn, ensuring that mana is used optimally and that threats are presented on the board at the most opportune moments.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Many players consider the discard requirement of Phyrexian Fleshgorger an inherent drawback. Being forced to discard a card can disrupt strategic planning, especially if your hand is already depleted or if the discarded card is crucial for upcoming plays.

Specific Mana Cost: Phyrexian Fleshgorger’s mana cost is specific and somewhat demanding, requiring a significant Phyrexian mana investment. This necessity may reduce its flexibility, confining it primarily to decks that can readily produce or substitute the needed mana types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Although Phyrexian Fleshgorger brings significant power to the battlefield, its relatively high mana cost compared to other creatures in its class may slow you down. In fast-paced games, deploying this card could be less efficient than playing lower-cost creatures that offer similar offensive or defensive capabilities.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Phyrexian Fleshgorger offers flexibility in deck building, easily slotting into aggressive strategies that value high-impact creatures or in control decks as a resilient threat.

Combo Potential: This creature can synergize with sacrifice mechanics, providing significant value as it potentially returns to the battlefield, making it a persistent threat that can capitalize on various board states.

Meta-Relevance: With creature-centric decks prevalent in many formats, having a card like Phyrexian Fleshgorger that can endure removal spells and offer recurring value is a smart inclusion, aligning with the current competitive environment.


How to beat Phyrexian Fleshgorger

Phyrexian Fleshgorger presents a formidable challenge on the battlefield with its imposing presence and potent abilities. One effective strategy to counter this card is to manage your resources and maintain control over the game state. Utilizing removal spells that bypass indestructible, such as exile or -X/-X effects, can help neutralize this threat. Cards like Path to Exile or Toxic Deluge are excellent choices as they efficiently handle creatures that would otherwise seem unassailable.

Another approach is to employ counterspells when Phyrexian Fleshgorger is being cast, which prevents it from entering the battlefield in the first place. Furthermore, consider including sacrificial effects or forced attrition strategies in your deck, compelling your opponent to sacrifice their creature. This method is particularly coherent when dealing with a singleton Phyrexian Fleshgorger, as it significantly reduces the risk of its terrorizing impact on your game plan.

As a last resort, having access to transformative or overwrite mechanics that can neutralize abilities or change creature types is key. These include cards like Darksteel Mutation or Song of the Dryads, which can help keep Phyrexian Fleshgorger at bay, allowing you to maintain the upper hand in the match.


BurnMana Recommendations

Mastering MTG is a continuous quest for knowledge and power, and cards like Phyrexian Fleshgorger are paramount to that journey. With its ability to exile creatures, provide battlefield advantage, and enter the fray at instant speed, this card is a powerhouse in both its strengths and tactical flexibility. Understanding its cons, like the demanding mana cost and the potential hand disruption, is crucial for crafting winning strategies. To enhance your deck-building skills and gain a deeper insight into advanced tactics, including handling formidable cards like Phyrexian Fleshgorger, we welcome you to explore further. Join us to unravel the intricacies of MTG and find your path to victory.


Cards like Phyrexian Fleshgorger

Phyrexian Fleshgorger enters the lineup of formidable creatures in Magic: The Gathering with a unique blend of traits. It elicits comparisons to other behemoths like Baneslayer Angel due to the protection and lifelink abilities, yet the Fleshgorger boasts an additional layer of menace thanks to its toxic trait. Baneslayer Angel, while it lacks toxic, offers flying and protection from demons and dragons, positioning itself as a differently niched aerial threat.

Another related card, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, shares the Phyrexian pedigree. It also changes the rules of the game by doubling the number of counters placed on permanents you control while halving those placed on your opponent’s—a different strategic angle than the direct offensive power of Phyrexian Fleshgorger. However, Vorinclex does not share the Fleshgorger’s toxic ability, illustrating the unique place Fleshgorger holds in the ecosystem of powerful creatures.

Considering the strategic advantages and distinct abilities, Phyrexian Fleshgorger stands as a solid choice for players aiming to deploy a resilient threat while limiting opponent’s interaction. Its presence in any MTG deck can be as impactful as its Phyrexian lineage predicts, catering to a strategy of aggression and inevitability.

Baneslayer Angel - MTG Card versions
Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider - MTG Card versions
Baneslayer Angel - MTG Card versions
Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider - MTG Card versions

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Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Phyrexian Fleshgorger MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Promos and The Brothers' War, 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 Phyrexian Fleshgorger and other MTG cards:

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Printings

The Phyrexian Fleshgorger Magic the Gathering card was released in 2 different sets between 2022-11-18 and 2022-11-18. Illustrated by Steve Prescott.

#ReleasedNameCodeSymbolNumberFrameLayoutBorderArtist
12002-06-24Magic Online PromosPRM 1057222015PrototypeBlackSteve Prescott
22022-11-18The Brothers' WarBRO 3322015PrototypeBlackSteve Prescott
32022-11-18The Brothers' WarBRO 1212015PrototypeBlackSteve Prescott

Legalities

Magic the Gathering formats where Phyrexian Fleshgorger has restrictions

FormatLegality
StandardLegal
HistoricbrawlLegal
HistoricLegal
LegacyLegal
OathbreakerLegal
GladiatorLegal
AlchemyLegal
PioneerLegal
CommanderLegal
ModernLegal
FutureLegal
VintageLegal
DuelLegal
ExplorerLegal
BrawlLegal
TimelessLegal

Rules and information

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

Date Text
2022-10-14 A prototype card is a colorless card in every zone except the stack or the battlefield, as well as while on the stack or the battlefield if not cast as a prototyped spell. Ignore its alternative characteristics in those cases. For example, while it's in your graveyard, Blitz Automaton is a colorless creature card with mana value 7. It can't be the target of Recommission, a spell that targets an artifact or creature card with mana value 3 or less in your graveyard.
2022-10-14 Casting a prototyped spell isn't the same as casting it for an alternative cost, and an alternative cost may be applied to a spell cast this way. For example, if an effect allows you to cast an artifact card without paying its mana cost, you could either cast Blitz Automaton normally, or as a prototyped spell.
2022-10-14 If an effect copies a prototyped spell, that copy (as well as the token it becomes on the battlefield) will have the same characteristics as the prototyped spell. Similarly, if an effect creates a token that's a copy of a prototyped permanent or causes another permanent to become a copy of it, the copy would have the same characteristics as the prototyped permanent.
2022-10-14 Regardless of how it was cast, a prototype card always has the same name, abilities, types, and so on. Only the mana cost, mana value, color, power, and toughness change depending on whether the card was cast as a prototyped spell.
2022-10-14 The amount of life an opponent needs to pay for that spell or ability to resolve is equal to Phyrexian Fleshgorger's power at the time the ward ability resolves, which may be different from its power when the ward ability triggered. If Phyrexian Fleshgorger is no longer on the battlefield at the time the ward ability resolves, use the power it had the last time it was on the battlefield to determine how much life that player must pay (though if Phyrexian Fleshgorger was the only target, the spell has no legal targets anymore and hence it would not resolve even if they pay the life).
2022-10-14 The prototype ability functions in any zone that the spell could be cast from. For example, if an effect allows you to cast artifact spells from your graveyard, you could cast a prototyped Blitz Automaton from your graveyard.
2022-10-14 When cast as a prototyped spell, that spell has the mana cost, power, and toughness characteristics shown in its colored, secondary text box rather than the normal values of those characteristics. Its color and mana value are determined by that mana cost. The permanent that spell becomes as it resolves has the same characteristics. If the spell leaves the stack in any other way, or the permanent it becomes leaves the battlefield, it immediately resumes using its normal characteristics.
2022-10-14 When casting a prototyped spell, use only its prototype characteristics to determine whether it's legal to cast it. For example, if Blitz Automaton is exiled with the last ability of Chandra, Dressed to Kill, you would be able to cast it for (because it's a red spell), even though you wouldn't be able to cast it as a colorless spell for its normal cost.