I've been wanting to open Phenax for some time, and today it finally happened. So of course I went for , and this is what I ended with:

1 x Baleful Eidolon
1 x Bronze Sable
1 x Nyxborn Eidolon
2 x Returned Phalanx
3 x Blood-Toll Harpy
1 x Mogis's Marauder
1 x Disciple of Phenax
1 x Returned Centaur
1 x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 x Keepsake Gorgon
1 x Phenax, God of Deception
1 x Abhorrent Overlord

1 x Viper's Kiss
1 x Ordeal of Thassa
1 x Necrobite
1 x Cutthroat Maneuver
1 x Griptide
1 x Sudden Storm
2 x Sip of Hemlock

10 x Swamp
7 x Island

Sideboard
2 x Asphodel Wanderer
1 x Boon of Erebos
1 x Crypsis
1 x Felhide Brawler
1 x Mindreaver
2 x Fate Foretold
1 x Drown in Sorrow
1 x Mogis's Marauder
1 x Grisly Transformation
1 x Weight of the Underworld
1 x Floodtide Serpent
1 x Thassa's Bounty

1 x Revoke Existence


Not exactly a Phenax deck. But a lot of good black devotion. I wasn't really sure what to expect.

First match was against another control deck. Turned out he didn't have an answer for the Harpies and Phalanxes. I killed him twice just before he managed to stabilize. About this time, I finally noticed I've managed to build an aggro deck in the control colors.

Match two was against . He had a lot of fat, and won a game where he curved out with a Polis Crusher. In the other two games, he couldn't find the blockers for the Harpies, and Marauder alpha-strikes killed him.

Match three was against heroes. Game one was the only game where I played Phenax, and I lost to an onslaught of tiny white attackers and tricks. This was exactly the matchup for the Drown, so I boarded that in, plus the second Marauder, instead of the God and Overlord. He again had a turn two Akroan Skyguard, and by turn six, I was at eight life (having gained six with Gary), facing an 5/6 flyer. So I cast Sip and prayed. And it resolved, leaving him with a 1/2 groundling. It got enchanted by Aqueous Form, but the little guy drowned in Sorrow the next turn, while my three critters lived through it. After that, game three was an anticlimax, he had a bad hand and never really got into the game.

So, now I can stop playing this format, and get into the beta for some JINX goodies.

Congrats on the win. I know it always seems petty to comment on a winning deck but I do think there are a number of changes I would make to your deck.

This isn't an aggro deck I don't think but really is more of a midrange deck. As such, I think I would build it like this:

- Bronze Sable (as I said this isn't an aggro deck and this guy doesn't really add anything - side him in against aggro if you want an early creature)
- Viper's Kiss (too situational, you have better cards)
- Sudden Storm (this card is really for aggro decks who win turn 5 or 6 while the opponent only has a couple of creatures).
- Cutthroat Maneouvers (I just don't rate this card)

+ Mogis Maurader #2 (this card is awesome in heavy black decks)
+ Boon (a good combat trick)
+ 2xFate Foretold (cheap cycling is good)

If you ran it like this I would probably also take out necrobite (Boon does a similar role) and add the Floodtide Serpent for value with the Fate Foretolds and also as another big creature for milling.

Sable makes sure he has action and can curve out. I feel like adding another 3rd drop saturates his 3-spot.

Kiss is really good in this format--BNG amped up the power of removal like Spark Jolt bc there are a lot more X/1s. Also stops monstrous.

Sudden Storm is good and a potential blowout I have no idea what you're talking about.

Cutthroat is fine.

Cheap cycling is good when you have plenty of good action, but you're suggesting taking out good action to replace it. I like card draw as much as everyone else, but half the things you're suggesting taking out are two-for-ones, making the "cycling" here redundant. Kiss is really good in this format too.

EDIT: I took the grumpy out.

I'm not sure I would build this exact deck, but I think your suggestions detract from the very reason it worked.

Thanks, I post these hoping for comments.

Yes, Fates would turn this into a different deck. Then, Serpent would make sense. But that plan didn't work out, blue was pretty heavily cut from both sides.

With hindsight, I'd run the second Marauder over Phenax, and 18th land, probably over Sable. Gorgon, Sip and Overlord make hitting your land drops very important.

My main misconception was that I'd have to play catch up to faster decks. Hence the Manouver, and Sable for early blocks. Surprisingly (for me), I was often the aggressor, and Storm was very good, gaining just the turn, sometimes two, I needed to win the race. Turn two Phalanx, turn three Harpy, every game, is a very solid foundation to build upon. Turn four Disciple, turn five Gary, and you win on six.

Edited my post because I got very grumpy all of the sudden. My bad.

I can't see putting in Fate Fortold with no heroic and no floodtide serpent. And I certainly don't suggest putting in the serpent here.

I could see playing crypsis or boon over viper's kiss or swapping them around in the SB.

I probably would have put in Mauraders over Sable but I am not sure that's correct. Phenax might be best vs. slower decks only. I would not play 18 lands. You don't need Gorgon or Sip on curve, or if you do it's not because you were playing 2/1s instead of land. If the game goes long you should get to 6.

Your SB is really strong - I think that's what makes this deck very good.

That's a really aggressive Phenax deck. But hey, it isn't like it matters what UB deck you put Phenax in, he wins anyways