The Schools of Magic - Blue, Part 2: New Phyrexia

Before we start today, I'd like to take a moment to talk about the reason that I'm able to do this blog series. Usually, the two weeks before the prerelease of a small set are devoted to previews. This usually means two to four cards are revealed each day, with the full set revealed the day of the prerelease. New Phyrexia's prerelease is May seventh. That means that yesterday should have been the first day of previews, but the full set was revealed. While Wizards won't ever admit why they did it, it is almost certainly because a week before, scans of the full set were leaked, and everyone could find it if they wanted it.

Honestly, I'm not sure where I stand when it comes to this. I'm a bit of a spoiler hound, and I'll admit that I looked over the spoilers. However, I think this may have hurt my overall experience, as I didn't have the time to digest each card on its own. I'm hoping doing this will help, as I really need to look at each card in detail for this. So, without further ado, go here for the spoiler, and hit the jump to listen to me babble about inane details!

Blue

Mind: This is the same as the standard school.

Æther: Same here.

Elemental: This is a much smaller school in New Phyrexia than it is on other planes.

Artifice: This is a huge part of magic on Phyrexia. On most planes it is a very minor subset of magic, considered a part of either Mind or Æther.

Argent Mutation: The first Artifice spell, and the first Mirran spell! This would be an Æther spell in other sets, but not here!

Arm with Æther: Another Mirran spell, and clearly part of the Æther school. I'll take this opportunity to note that the Mirran schools are the same as the Phyrexian schools.

Blighted Agent: First off, I'd like to say THAT'S A HUMAN??? Anyway, as discussed on the previous post, unblockable creatures can fall under any of the schools depending on how they avoid defenders. This guy looks like he's been massively modified, so I'm going with Artifice here.

Chained Throatseeker: The main weapon of the Phyrexian invasion was the oil, which contaminated Mirrodin from within, transforming all it infected into Phyrexians. This is represented by the poison mechanic. With all this in mind, the Chained Throatseeker belongs in the Artifice school, as it depends on the oil to do its job.

Chancellor of the Spires: It mills and lets you cast the spells that your opponent has forgotten. Definitely Mind magic.

Corrupted Resolve: It's a counterspell, so that makes it Æther magic. It does have some minor Artifice, but not enough to firmly place it in that school.

Deceiver Exarch: The tapping and untapping abilities, combined with the fact that it has Flash, could suggest Æther magic, but the name places it firmly in the Mind school.

Defensive Stance: It is a shield of raw energy, which places it either in Elemental or Æther. I believe it should be Elemental, but I can understand why someone would disagree.

Gitaxian Probe: You look into an opponent's mind and gain insight from it. Mind magic at its finest.

Impaler Shrike: Like the Gitaxian Probe, this creature gets knowledge from an opponent, and you get to draw cards because of it. Mind magic once again.

Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur: Mind magic. I would also like to note that all of the Praetors have shades of the White Hieromancy because they are the leaders of their respective factions. This also applies to the Black, Red and Green Praetors, so keep that in mind when we get to them.

Mental Misstep: The name initially leads one to think of Mind magic, but it quickly becomes apparent that it is simply taking advantage of a mistake that an opponent makes, and is a fairly simple Æther spell.

Mindculling: Phyrexians love Mind magic.

Numbing Dose: Going through the cards in this way is helping me notice trends in the flavor of the set.In this case, Phyrexians use a whole lot of Mind magic.

Phyrexian Ingester: Summoned creatures are made of Æther, therefore this is an Æther spell.

Phyrexian Metamorph: This is almost an exact copy of Clone, but it was created using Artifice.

Psychic Barrier: A combination of Æther and Mind magic.

Psychic Surgery: Really? More Mind magic? Wow.

Spined Thopter: A creation of Artifice.

Spire Monitor: One of the rare Elemental spells.

Tezzeret's Gambit: This is clearly Mind magic. However, it is also Artifice because of the Proliferate.

Vapor Snag: Particularily painful Æther magic. Most Unsummon style spells don't have a side effect other than the bounce, but this one hurts you as it sends the creature back. Phyrexians are mean.

Viral Drake: I know I spent some time talking about how infect and poison are Artifice mechanics, that was partially because the Throatseeker is a created being. The Viral Drake is a natural creature that has been compleated, so it is Elemental.

Wing Splicer: It customizes your golems and is an artificer, therefore it's an Artifice spell.

Xenograft: In any other set this would be Æther, but here it is Artifice!

Join me tomorrow when I go into excruciating detail on Black magic!