New Phyrexia Completely Spoiled!!! (Part 2: Black and Red)

Hello everyone! For those of you tuning in late to this broadcast, New Phyrexia has been completely leaked, and I am going through discussing various cool cards from the set that get me excited. I already talked about White and Blue, and today is Black and Red:

Despise

B
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a creature or planeswalker card from it. That player discards that card.

This card adds to the Duress/Inquisition package of 1 mana targeted discard spells, and I think this is the best of the 3. Planeswalkers are incredibly prevalent right now (32 Jaces anybody?), and creatures are always going to be played, so this should never miss. It is awkward using Duress/Inquisition sometimes against Valakut because you will often just miss and go home crying, but you can make them Despise you when you strip their Primeval Titan from they're now sucky hand. Props to this card as well for having a great name (Go for the Throat is still awkward to say...)

Dismember

1{b/p}{b/p}
Instant
Target creature gets -5/-5 until end of turn

This card is really interesting! Often times this card will be a Doom Blade type effect, except it can kill indestructable cards. This is an obvious first pick in draft, and it doesn't even put you in any colors! As far as constructed goes, unless if something goes wrong and we have a need for a turn 1 -5/-5 spell, Doom Blade is just better.

Reaper of Sheoldred

4B
Creature - Horror
Infect
Whenever a source deals damage to Reaper of Sheoldred, that source's controller gets a poison counter.
2/5

We haven't seen a whole lot of really good infect cards yet from the set, but then this bad boy shows up. Blocking isn't too productive against him, but taking the damage isn't fun either.... Lightning Bolt doesn't work.... You simply have to Go for the Throat this guy or you're in trouble, like when facing down Phyrexian Cancellor, whose name is now apparently Phyrexian Obliterator. This is definitely a solid infect card to start your sickening draft with.

Sheoldred, Whispering One

5BB
Legendary Creature - Praetor
Swampwalk
At the beginning of your upkeep, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature.
6/6

This Praetor is awesome, but is probably only going to be a boss on the EDH and other casual tables. The biggest problem with upkeep triggers is that they can be avoided with a well-timed removal spell. But this is definitely going to hold some good value because of the casual demand this is bound to receive, so don't pawn it off too low.

Fallen Ferromancer

3R
Creature - Human Shaman
Infect
1R{tap}: Fallen Ferromancer deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
1/1

An infect pinger?!?! Nice!! One really powerful archetype in BSS draft is the UR control deck with Vedalken Anotomast, counterspells, removal, and Flameborn Hellion. This guy is an instant addition to that deck by simply being great recursive removal, and just like a normal pinger, he can always just go for the face. Also, this guy does have 1 point of power, so if you have your opponent down to 5 life with 0 poison counters, he can just start bashing with the team. I would probably first-pick this guy.
 
Moltensteel Dragon

4{r/p}{r/p}
Artifact Creature - Dragon
Flying
{r/p}: Moltensteel Dragon gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
4/4

This is a really cool card! Having the ability to Hatred-esque pump is an awesome way to make the most of your advantage! I can definitely see this card striking fear into the souls of unsuspecting vistims as you pay 10 life to hit your opponent for 9 and kill them from out of nowhere! Hatred was a little broken, but by having to pay 2 life for each 1 extra damage makes this guy way more fair (but it's still awesome)

Ogre Menial

3R
Creature - Ogre
Infect
R: Ogre Menial gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
0/4

And now I present you the same card, with infect! This card isn't necessarily very powerful, but is something we haven't seen on any infect creatures yet, making it something worth pointing out. The one danger of this card is that it can be a 1 turn clock if everything is dead and you and your opponent are in a topdeck war, this guy can swing for 6 or 7 poison really fast! Imagine drafting a RB infect deck and going turn 2 Plague Myr, turn 3 Ogre Menial, turn 4, swing for 3-4 infect damage, turn 5 win? I would absolutely play this in a mono-red deck as the threat of him killing you in 2 swings is simply scary! I think this card is a sleeper in draft!
 
Priest of Urabrask

2R
Creature - Human Cleric
When Priest of Urabrask enters the battlefield, add RRR to your mana pool.
2/1

I spy with my little eyes.... a red Priest of Gix! I can't testify how good Priest of Gix was, excpet one time playing Phyrexia vs the Coalition where I went turn 1 Dark Ritual -> Priest of Gix -> Phyrexian Negator, GG.

Whipflare
1R
Sorcery
Whipflare deals 2 damage to each nonartifact creature

This is a very interesting Pyroclasm variation, which really makes me want to make a Myr deck (although I may not have thought of it were it not for the art of burning Myr.... the art and the rules text don't make sense together...). The only problem with Pyroclasm right now is that most decks don't get harmed by it. It is good vs Vampires, Mono-Red, and Boros, but that's basically where it stops. Caw-Blade doesn't mind losing a hawk or 2, and Valakut just shrugs it off as they lose nothing. This is just a very interesting card to consider next time you take your little Myr tribe to war.

That's all the Black/Red cards I'm going to cover today, I'm sorry they aren't as exciting as Jin-Gitaxias, but I didn't make the set, I'm just reviewing it! I will probably have part 3 of this series up tomorrow night, so stay tuned! Until next time, stay classy!