Syrix: Dark Phoenix

[Hawk]

I'm working on cracking Syrix, since my wife is interested and we don't currently have a Rakdos deck we like. Here's my draft:

Syrix: Carry On, My Wayward Phoenix

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander: 1

1 Syrix, Carrier of the Flame

Fire Birds (and changelings!): 12

1 Flamewake Phoenix

1 Lightning Phoenix

1 Phoenix of Ash

1 Taurean Mauler

1 Venomous Changeling

1 Everquill Phoenix

1 Rekindling Phoenix

1 Skyfire Phoenix

1 Cairn Wanderer

1 Kuldotha Phoenix

1 Magma Phoenix

1 Immortal Phoenix

Phoenix-Care: 3

1 Basilisk Collar

1 Blade of the Bloodchief

1 Swiftfoot Boots

Burning Out (Sac Outlets): 9

1 Burnt Offering

1 Carrion Feeder

1 Viscera Seer

1 Altar of Dementia

1 Deadly Dispute

1 Goblin Bombardment

1 Ashnod's Altar

1 Feldon of the Third Path

1 Woe Strider

From the Ashes (Reanimate and Raise Effects): 11

1 Persistent Specimen

1 Phyrexian Reclamation

1 Relic of Progenitus

1 Tortured Existence

1 Dogged Detective

1 Reassembling Skeleton

1 Undertaker

1 Doomed Necromancer

1 Squee, Goblin Nabob

1 Victimize

1 Graveshifter

Fiery Wrath (Removal): 10

1 Vandalblast

1 Subterranean Tremors

1 Dreadbore

1 Feed the Swarm

1 Infernal Grasp

1 Rakdos Charm

1 Terminate

1 Chaos Warp

1 Chain Reaction

1 Blasphemous Act

Fiery Wisdom (Draw): 9

1 Faithless Looting

1 Skullclamp

1 Cathartic Reunion

1 Night's Whisper

1 Thrill of Possibility

1 Midnight Reaper

1 Morbid Opportunist

1 Read the Bones

1 Big Score

Fiery Accelerants (Ramp): 10

1 Sol Ring

1 Wayfarer's Bauble

1 Arcane Signet

1 Jet Medallion

1 Mind Stone

1 Rakdos Signet

1 Ruby Medallion

1 Talisman of Indulgence

1 Bontu's Monument

1 Hazoret's Monument

Land: 35

1 High Market

1 Command Tower

1 Path of Ancestry

1 Opal Palace

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Blood Crypt

1 Smoldering Marsh

1 Canyon Slough

1 Luxury Suite

1 Dragonskull Summit

1 Sulfurous Springs

1 Drossforge Bridge

13 Mountain

10 Swamp

Approximate Total Cost:

The ratios on this one are tricky - so I have no idea until we start testing if this deck has enough ways to sacrifice and pull back phoenixes to reliably trigger all parts of Syrix's text, and no idea if it can actually, ya' know, win once it is doing so. We'll see, but I'm very open to suggestions since I haven't ordered cards yet!

Budget-wise I don't have spare copies of Ashnod's or Blade right now so those are getting ordered. I'm open to spending $20 on different cards if something seems more powerful here.

[Ulka]

Ashes of the Fallen seems like it would fit at home here. also I would try to fit Flayer of the Hatebound into the list to allow your pheonix's to do even more damage.

Overall I like the feel of the list.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Shard Phoenix and Skarrgan Firebird are pretty easy to recur and give your phoenix package a little more oomph. Firebird in particular can do some massive damage with Syrix considering most phoenix have <4 power.

[Hawk]

Ashes of the Fallen seems like it would fit at home here. also I would try to fit Flayer of the Hatebound into the list to allow your pheonix's to do even more damage.

Overall I like the feel of the list.

Thanks!

Wait does Ashes of the Fallen work for triggering Syrix? Does Syrix see them as a "phoenix dying" if I just clamp the Skeleton? If so that's brilliant and I do have a spare Ashes (wheras I don't own and am having trouble finding a copy of Maskwood Nexus). And I knew I was forgetting some sorta win con - Flayer of the Hatebound does seem clutch in this deck even though a lot of the phoenixes (phoenixi?) go to hand - enough go to the battlefield for sure.

Shard Phoenix and Skarrgan Firebird are pretty easy to recur and give your phoenix package a little more oomph. Firebird in particular can do some massive damage with Syrix considering most phoenix have <4 power.

I am not a fan of Shard Phoenix's "only on your upkeep" trigger - but I am a fan of Firebird's Bloodthirst. Definitely going to cut one of the other top-end phoenixes (Immortal, Magma, or Kuldotha probably) for it. Thanks!

[DirkGently]

Wait does Ashes of the Fallen work for triggering Syrix? Does Syrix see them as a "phoenix dying" if I just clamp the Skeleton?

Unfortunately I'm 99% sure the answer is "no".

[BeneTleilax]

Nice to see someone else building Syrix! One of the things I've found playing mine is that discard outlets are generally much better than sac outlets for this deck, because most of the creatures you want to loop are expensive, only recur to hand and/or don't care how they get to your graveyard. Relatedly, dredgers are really good for filling your graveyard and turning draws into Syrix triggers. I've also swapped out several creature removal slots in favor of ways to give Syrix deathtouch; because he's hard to reliably kill, you can lean a bit more on having access to him.

[Hawk]

Nice to see someone else building Syrix! One of the things I've found playing mine is that discard outlets are generally much better than sac outlets for this deck, because most of the creatures you want to loop are expensive, only recur to hand and/or don't care how they get to your graveyard. Relatedly, dredgers are really good for filling your graveyard and turning draws into Syrix triggers. I've also swapped out several creature removal slots in favor of ways to give Syrix deathtouch; because he's hard to reliably kill, you can lean a bit more on having access to him.

That's interesting - I thought having on-board ways to kill Phoenixes at a moment's notice were the most important things since it lets you recast Syrix at-will. Any discard outlets that you've found particularly potent beyond Tortured Existence and Undertaker? I was worried that Skirge Familiar, which was in my maybeboard, was a bit too cludgy.

[BeneTleilax]

Any discard outlets that you've found particularly potent beyond Tortured Existence and Undertaker? I was worried that Skirge Familiar, which was in my maybeboard, was a bit too cludgy.

Skirge is too expensive for this. I like real cheap effects so I can get something in the bin before casting Syrix the first time, especially looting as that fuels dredge, so I've got Faithless Looting, Faithless Salvaging, Body Launderer and even Hollowhead Sliver (the incidental Conspiracy synergy is not nothing). Then for other discard outlets, I'm running some real jank: Putrid Imp, Haunted Dead. Skirk Ridge Exhumer, and then of course Chainer, Nightmare Adept as an actual good card. You'll probably want less than me, because I'm trying to be real cute with stuff like Garna and Konrad, but it does help to be able to just dump stuff into the bin at instant speed.

Another thing I'm gonna test is putting in a lifegain/food module with the obvious cat & oven, but also Asmie, Blartist and Veinwitch Coven, maybe throwing in Silversmote Ghoul, though I increasingly want my recursive dudes to be able to recur on opponents' turns to get a more reliable stream of Syrix triggers.