(Phenax, God of Deception | Art by Ryan Barger)

Technically Playable - Phenax, God of Deception

Welcome to Technically Playable, where our mission statement is "Every commander is Technically playable" (the best kind of playable). The way this works is every article will have a commander generated using EDHREC's random button, I'll talk through the card and then write about how we can build around it!

This week's random commander is Phenax, God of Deception.

As one of the Gods from the original Theros block, Phenax has amazing sticking power through the combination of having indestructible and the ability to avoid any cards that exile creatures like Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares (two of the most common cards in the format in 62 and 41% of possible decks respectively) thanks to the fact that if you don't have a ton of permanents in play to give you devotion to make it a creature. These are vital in keeping Phenax around and allow you to build around it much easier without having to worry about it dying as much as other "build-around" commanders might need you to.

I play Xenagos, God of Revels who has the same survivability, so I have experience of people trying to get rid of Theros Gods. As well as being incredibly hard to get rid of, Phenax's main ability is to mill target player by giving your creatures the ability to tap and mill someone based on their toughness. This can then be used as a way of milling out your opponent's library to get rid of their win conditions, or can alternatively be used to self-mill. There are tons of options when it comes to who to target here. The main issue with this ability is that milling is quite a difficult way to win in Commander. Between the larger deck size compared to other constructed formats and the prevalence of ways to shuffle cards back into decks, like the Eldrazi Titans Kozilek, Butcher of Truth & Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and even decks that rely on their graveyard being full like reanimation strategies or the dreaded Thassa's Oracle, it can be really difficult to actually win through milling. We'll need to look at other ways we can get in those wins.

My 2014 Phenax Deck

I first got into Commander in 2013. My very first deck was the Derevi precon. After that, I got kind of hooked on the deck-building element of Commander. At the time my favorite archetype was Mill, so I landed on Phenax since Theros had just come out. It was the first set where I got into all elements of Magic: competitive Standard, casual Commander, and tons of drafting.

When I built Phenax way back in 2014, I had a pretty small collection and didn't have a huge amount of disposable income, so I decided to pick up a few key cards and build the rest with cards that I already owned. When I first got into Magic, one of my favorite cards was Wall of Frost from Magic 2014. Now, I look back on this I realize that I'd probably not play this in most Limited decks, but young Paul just saw an impenetrable 0/7 that allowed me to stall the game until I got to my bombs. Since I'd played this so much in Limited I decided I wanted to go with similar cards for my Phenax deck. Phenax cares about the toughness of your creatures and uses that to mill your opponents.

Wall of Frost is effectively an unblockable creature that taps to make an opponent mill 7 cards. I thought this was an unstoppable strategy, so I went really hard on this using other Walls like a Hover Barrier I picked up from a bulk bin and a Wall of Air I got even earlier from London Comicon before I even started playing Magic properly. On top of Walls with high toughness, I also used a couple of cards from the Derevi precon I'd bought before. Fog Bank and Guard Gomazoa were fantastic options to keep me alive until I could mill everyone out.

Another product that got me into Magic was the Duel Decks. Me and my friend split the Jace, Architect of Thought and Vraska the Unseen decks, so I ended up with some copies of Wight of Precinct Six. I used that to have some really big creatures as options to either win through combat damage or to have cheap threats that got exponentially bigger as they milled my opponents. Since you can't run Lord of Extinction, Consuming Aberration is probably the best option for this kind of card, still featured in 88% of Phenax decks on EDHREC today. With copies running at 10-15 bucks at the time though, I didn't feel like I could warrant spending that amount of money when I could draft instead.

In a similar vein, I also ran Nighthowler. This was mostly a case of just having a copy of it, but it's also fantastic in this deck since you can bestow a Wall to make it mill a huge number of cards, but also when the creature it was enchanted onto dies you still have the threat in play. This was vital to the deck as boardwipes were rampant in my old playgroup. Having an indestructible commander alongside a creature that you could use multiple times allowed me to be able to play through Wrath of Gods.

The deck I built back in 2014 is a perfect example of someone's first Commander deck. I picked a mechanic I really enjoyed, in this case Mill. I grabbed a mythic rare that I pulled in a pack and jammed cards that I had. There was no focus on what was "good" or what was ideal for the format, it was just cards I had that I liked. Wall of Frost in particular was an interesting one. Since I'd played it in Limited a bunch (I'd like to point out it wasn't even good there), I'd grown attached to it. These kinds of cards are part of what I think makes this format so special and dear to so many hearts. I loved the Phenax deck, and recently I've been considering making another one. I'd still run some of the cards I used to for sure, Wight of Precinct Six is incredibly good in this deck and I think would get a spot in a revamped version of Phenax where I have access to more cards (and more disposable income) but I'd also be sure to run some nostalgic cards too. Wall of Air probably wouldn't make the cut in a 2024 version of Phenax but Wall of Frost would definitely have to be in there.

With that in mind, let's go over a bit more of what a Phenax deck I'd build now would look like.

My 2024 Phenax Deck

The main difference is the power level of the cards involved. Back in 2014, the best card (that wasn't part of an infinite combo) was probably something like Wall of Frost or maybe even Hedron Crab. Both are amazing cards in this deck but realistically looking at them now, Hedron Crab is only really good in landfall-centric decks and Wall of Frost has just been power crept out of the format by cards like Charix, the Raging Isle. Or even something like Unhallowed Phalanx, if you're looking for something of a comparable rarity. So let's look at how 10 years of "power creep" has impacted how I'd build Phenax!

Toughing Out The Competition

I like to think that I've learned a lot, and gotten better at deckbuilding (even if I've not gotten better at playing) in the last 10 years. Phenax has lived rent-free in my head the last few years, especially since I've started playing Xenagos, God of Revels and I've seen the power behind such a sticky commander. I'd still probably focus on the toughness element, but there are a few changes I'd make to the deckbuilding as well as the increase in power level that we've seen in Commander in recent years.

I'd still want to keep it kind of reminiscent of the deck I built originally; I'd really want to lean into the big toughness on cheap creatures. The Ancient One is perfect, being an 8/8 for two mana, which explains why it's in 73% of Phenax decks even though it came out recently. As well as The Ancient One, Charix, the Raging Isle also feels like it was designed with Phenax in mind. 14 toughness is a huge amount and being able to Mill more than 10% of someone's deck with one creature increases your clock massively.

Another card that would be a fantastic fit would be Tree of Perdition. It was a bit of a meme when the set came out, referencing Tree of Redemption and being the Mythic Rare that you probably opening 10 of instead of Emrakul, the Promised End. It is amazing with Phenax though, having almost as much toughness as Charix while also giving you a way to modify people's life totals to buff the tree's toughness to as high as 40. If you've never milled an opponent for half their deck, trust me it's hilarious. But, as well as these newer cards I think I'd still want to stick with some of the cards from the original deck. Wall of Frost is just such an iconic Phenax card in my mind and a real pet card that reminds me of a simpler time in my life which is something that I do think is important when building a deck.

As well as sticking with the big toughness theme, I think I'd lean more into the creatures that get bigger based on graveyards. Consuming Aberration is about 50 cents now so that is a must-include. On top of that the new Wilds of Eldraine set brought us Cruel Somnophage, a card with amazing art as well as an ability that fits perfectly with this theme. While not as good as cards like Consuming Aberration that count all cards it only counts creatures so it will be better in some playgroups compared to others.

Mill(k) Alternatives

But milling our opponents isn't the only way to win with this deck. There are a lot of great options for cards that benefit from milling our opponents to get us value in other ways. Syr Konrad, the Grim is probably the best of the options. Even though it has a high mana cost, it hits all of your opponents. This means you only need to mill 40 creatures in total instead of needing to mill all of your opponents' decks (which totals about 350 cards).

On top of that, Syr Konrad also has an ability that you can use as a mana sink, and if you've read my articles before you know how highly I rate mana sinks. Add on top of that the fact you can activate this ability at instant speed to fuel your win condition and we've got a fantastic option here. Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate is a set that never stops giving absolutely fantastic cards for niche strategies and Zellix, Sanity Flayer is no exception. An ability that mills alongside a token-generating static ability that allows you to go wide to either win or gum up the board against your opponents makes Zellix a great value piece in this deck.

This deck also has some options that are a little anti-synergistic with the creatures like Consuming Aberration but are amazing options in case your opponents find a way to remove those creatures. Undead Alchemist is like Zellix, since it makes tokens, but one main difference is that it also acts as graveyard hate for other graveyard decks that want you to mill them. Similarly, The Cyber-Controller is a huge mana sink that not only mills your opponent's creatures but also steals them to create a cyberman army. These are both fantastic options but arguably the best way to win through this type of strategy is with Rise of the Dark Realms. Another card that I simply couldn't afford when I was younger this gives you a way to monopolise all of the graveyards in the game by taking all of the creatures and putting them into play under your control. This is the type of card you put in the deck expecting it to get countered but if it gets through you will probably win.

You can definitely see the difference between the two decks from what I've said above. This newer 2024 version is looking to play more powerful, splashy and yes, more expensive, cards. But that's not all. Some of the cards have changed in price significantly. Consuming Aberration only being $0.5 instead of $10+ makes one of the best cards for the deck much more accessible. Some cards have not dropped in price by much like Rise of the Dark Realms, but I think the power level of the card warrants the slightly higher price tag.

Comparing The Two

Ten years is a long time. Back in 2014, I was just starting university. Magic, like all things, changes. We could spend all day talking about whether these changes are good or bad for the format, but at the end of the day the format has changed. Back in 2014, a lot of decks people had were built with their draft leftovers and there was a lot less discussion about the format online. I think this is quite clear even in something as small as this one article. My 2014 Phenax and 2024 Phenax are both quite creature-centric but the power level of the creatures is much higher, looking at Wall of Air next to Charix, the Raging Isle and Jace, Memory Adept to Jace, the Perfected Mind

I found it really fun to have an excuse to talk about a Commander who is so integral to my Commander experience. Being the first deck I built myself, it was amazing to see how much I'd grown as a deck builder and getting to see how the deckbuilding process I used had changed. I think the biggest change is the sheer amount of knowledge I have now compared to when I was still getting into the format. The other massive change to the way I build decks is the existence of EDHREC. It's such an amazing platform for discovering cards to use. And while I still trawl through every card in Scryfall that has the word "mill" on it, having access to some archetype examples to help refine searches is amazing. For this article, I used the toughness and Walls Phenax archetypes just to remind me of the names of some of the cards. I remember Wall of Air being "that wall with dragons in the art" but couldn't remember the name of the card at all.

As with all Technically Playable articles, this was a quick look at Phenax as a commander and a few of the cards that can really make the deck tick. This is the first time I've finished writing an article and immediately gone to Archidekt to throw a list together which I've put for you below. Writing this article was super nostalgic and I hope you enjoyed a slightly different format!

Let me know in the comments below if you play Phenax, if you want to build a Phenax deck, or even if you just enjoyed this article!

Paul Palmer

Hey there, I'm Paul. I've been writing about magic for a really long time. I love to write about obscure commanders (one of my really early articles back in 2015 was about Skeleton Ship) and how you can make decks around them work, no matter how unplayable they are. I love Gruul, I love Mountains and I love casting Lightning Bolt.