Phyrexian
Ironfoot
As a 3/4 for three colorless mana, this sees
quite a bit of play. Its untapping restrictions,
however, mean that it doesn't see a lot of
attacking. It's easy to drop into play just as a
wall, though. So why not just use Angelic Wall
or the like? Because this wall actually hits
what it blocks for three. And it can attack...
just not very often.
Incidentally, its untap ability isn't limited to
use on your upkeep like Brass Gnat and company,
so you could also play Fire Whip on it and turn
it into "1S: 1 damage to target creature or
player". That's pretty slow for Constructed, but
it'd be funny.
Constructed- 3
Casual- 3.5
Limited- 3
Aethereal
Monday -
Phyrexian Ironfoot
A handy creature to have if you're playing snow
lands. This sees play in many such decks that
run snow lands over regular basics, but it's
gotten the most attention in the Mannequin
decks, because it can start beating your
opponent down on turn 4, or provide a good
blocking body until the Mannequin deck gets a
combo going. It also can't be killed by
Shriekmaw, and it can block the thing too. All
in all, a good, solid creature that is starting
to see more play now that the environment is
great for it. Just watch out for Eyeblight's
Ending.
In limited, unless you skipped snow mana almost
entirely, this is a great body for the price.
Just make sure you can pay the untap cost.
Constructed - 3
Casual - 2.5
Limited - 3.5
David Fanany
Player since
1995
Phyrexian
Ironfoot
Think about this: most of the top netdecks play
Shriekmaw, and a couple play Shadowmage
Infiltrator. Both are powerless against
Phyrexian Ironfoot. On top of that, aggro decks
like Kithkin play small creatures by their
nature, and even with lords and Glorious Anthem,
you can keep their creatures at around 3/3 or
under with judicious use of removal. That makes
Phyrexian Ironfoot an excellent card in the
current metagame. It commits you to snow lands,
but that's not really a disadvantage these days;
the Freyalise's Radiance mini-craze has come and
gone, and it makes you able to play Scrying
Sheets if you want to (now that Ghost Quarter is
out of Standard, it's basically a nearly
unremovable pseudo-Phyrexian Arena). I expect it
will start seeing more play in Extended after
November, when the Onslaught fetchlands and the
five-color manabases they allow are gone (and we
start seeing some saner decks).
In limited play, you can usually pick up a
couple of snow lands or a Boreal Druid to use
with the Ironfoot, especially in sealed. If so,
you get a very solid creature that can't be
removed by Chill to the Bone.
Constructed: 4/5
Casual: 3/5
Limited: 3/5
Swordmaster13
I apologize
for not doing the COTD thing, but work and
school pretty much killed my time this holiday.
Still, it's good to be back and doing card
reviews. Monday's card is Phyrexian Ironfoot
from Coldsnap. For three mana you get a 3/4
body that doesn't untap during your mana step
but you can untap it with a colorless and one
snow mana(need a Snow-Covered land or a
mana-producing snow-covered permanent to make
the mana). I think it's a pretty decent card, a
cheap artifact creature that is good in a snow
deck. The fact you can untap it as many times
as you want as long as you got the mana to do it
makes it abusable in some kind of quirky combo
deck. Don't use him though unless you can pay
the mana to untap him.
