Atraxa Is Everything. Brewing with Magic’s Greatest Creature

2023-02-17

Season 17, Episode 7: Brew Session (Atraxa, Grand Unifier) + Flashback (Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler) Atraxa, Grand Unifier is a tremendous creature. No one would dispute that. But is it really possible that Atraxa is the strongest creature in all of Magic? Recent tournament results from Standard, Legacy, Modern, and even Vintage have seen Atraxa decks soaring to the top of the standings. This is a heavyweight creature, much more likely to be cheated into play than cast fairly. But once on the battlefield, Atraxa does...

Season 17, Episode 7: Brew Session (Atraxa, Grand Unifier) + Flashback (Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler)

Atraxa, Grand Unifier is a tremendous creature. No one would dispute that. But is it really possible that Atraxa is the strongest creature in all of Magic?

Recent tournament results from Standard, Legacy, Modern, and even Vintage have seen Atraxa decks soaring to the top of the standings. This is a heavyweight creature, much more likely to be cheated into play than cast fairly. But once on the battlefield, Atraxa does things other creatures can only dream of. Her trigger looks at a massive 10 cards (1/6th of a typical library), making this less of a “draw 4 cards” and more of a “draw 10, discard 6.” And unlike Niv-Mizzet Reborn, Atraxa grants access to these cards with almost no deckbuilding concessions. Want to use Atraxa to grab a Mox Amber and an Ephemerate? You are welcome to, and you even keep a few other cards for your trouble.

What truly sets Atraxa apart is how she helps you even before entering the battlefield. For better or worse, we live in the era of free pitch cards, and Atraxa pitches to everything from Solitude and Grief (more Ephemerate targets) to Force of Vigor and Force of Negation. That means your Atraxa turn doesn’t have to end when you tap out for Atraxa, as you can follow up with a Grief or even a free protection spell like Not Of This World.

The sky is the limit for Atraxa, and her price has been skyrocketing accordingly. We’ll do our part this week to drive that price even higher, as we attempt to find new homes for Atraxa in both Modern and Pioneer. Whatever happens, one thing is clear: never bet against a Niv-Mizzet trigger!

Like our content? Support us on Patreon and join our brewing community!

Decklists for this episode can be viewed at FaithlessBrewing.com

Timestamps

[3:35] Housekeeping

[6:43] Brew Session: Atraxa, Grand Unifier

[10:57] Rules notes

[14:52] The competition at 7+ CMC

[22:21] Getting Atraxa into play

[29:06] Atraxa Reanimator (Legacy)

[31:02] Emi’s Neoform Atraxa (Modern)

[33:40] Esper Goryo’s (Modern)

[35:04] Obosh Creativity (Pioneer)