M11 Phylactery Lich

Magic: The Gathering 2011 Core Set spoilers are bubbling, and out of the black cauldron this evening crawls the rare revenant known as Phylactery Lich.  Let's take a look at Phylactery Lich, its likeness featured on the Magic: The Gathering 2011 booster pack :

Phylactery Lich
BBB
Creature – Zombie Rare
As Phylactery Lich enters the battlefield, put a Phylactery counter on an artifact you control.
Phylactery Lich is indestructible.
When you control no permanents with phylactery counters on them, sacrifice Phylactery Lich.
5/5

5/5 for three mana.  Indestructible.  Zombie.  Seems downright amazing, doesn't it?  Of course, Phylactery Lich comes with a catch, but it doesn't involve sacrificing tons of life or risking your permanents as some previous cheap black beaters have done (i.e. Phyrexian Negator).  All a player needs to do is tie the life of Phylactery Lich to something else - an artifact.

Where can we find a good target for Phylactery Lich in Standard?  Maybe Basilisk Collar.  Will Phylactery Lich have to wait around for Scars of Mirrodin like its associate Hoarding Dragon?  It's possible, but we're quite sure players are going to try to make Phylactery Lich work any way they can, as a 5/5 indestructible for a token mana cost shall be rigorously tested.

In Limited players may find themselves in an awkward first pick position staring down at a cracked Phylactery Lich unless M11 reveals some easy to access artifacts.  Phylactery Lich isn't really the sort of thing you plan to attach to your Juggernaut, but there are still plenty of cards left to be spoiled from this core set, so we'll see if this undead assailant can find some tools.

On the chance that you are able to run heavy black and have some artifacts to bind your black brute to, Phylactery Lich will absolutely dominate the game - It's rare for players to include artifact removal in their main deck, and Phylactery Lich laughs off any other kind of removal.

Phylactery Lich keeps the bar high for making Magic: The Gathering's 2011 Core Set one of the most interesting base sets ever printed - Don't miss your chance to see this indestructible, artifact-attaching zombie wreak havoc  during the 2011 Core Set prerelease and release events coming up in July!

Spoilers incoming! Check out the latest spoilers and news on Magic: The Gathering's M11 Core Set!

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