If you like to set the sky on fire and rise from the ashes to the top, then Phoenix Tribal is the right deck for you.
I love tribal decks because they combine synergy and flavor and of course power. On top of that you can find many unique cards that support a tribe and can be great budget options as those cards work only on a specific tribal deck and are bad to unplayable to any other deck. That’s why I will try building and presenting a series of decks for all those who share the love for tribal decks.
Phoenix is a mythical fire bird which can be reborn out of its own ashes. The cards bearing this creature type in Magic: The Gathering have the same ability. In early cases, after a Phoenix has been sent to the graveyard from the battlefield, the Phoenix can be sent to the owner’s hand or back to the battlefield, either for free or by paying mana. Recent designs also use unusual triggered abilities to return it, and many also now have haste. Firestorm Phoenix from Legends was the first Phoenix ever printed. Because of their association with fire, Phoenixes are red aligned creatures. (MTG Wiki)
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame is the first Black-Bordered Legendary Phoenix and a great commander for leading Phoenix Tribal. It has great graveyard recursion and Phoenix Tribal synergy and is a target removal engine, as at the beginning of each end step, if a creature card left our graveyard this turn, target Phoenix we control deals damage equal to its power to any target. Moreover, whenever another Phoenix we control dies, we may cast it from our graveyard, avoiding commander tax and becoming super consistent in Phoenix Tribal.
Synergy Diagram
I always like to make a simple synergy diagram in order to deeply comprehend the potential and the strategy areas that are supported by the commander when I choose top-down building. But in some cases, I do a mix of top-down and bottom-up building.
In some tribes there are mechanics that are bound to a Tribe. In our case one mechanic bound to Phoenixes is graveyard recursion. In such cases we can build a subtheme on our deck giving it more depth, without sacrificing its Tribal focus.
Let’s analyze the main goals of the deck.
- Add the best Phoenixes. Syrix, cares about recurring creatures, so adding the best Phoenixes (most have self-recursion) seems a natural choice.
- Add graveyard recursion support. Cards that help us recur our Phoenixes are great additions to our build.
- Add cards that help us fill our graveyard. Since we have a strong graveyard recursion strategy, we need to fill our graveyard in order to have a great pool of choices to recur. Discard and Sacrifice, can help towards that cause.
- Add cards that synergize with our strategies. To make the best out of our strategies, we can further amplify them by adding cards that synergize with many of our strategies.
For the sake of flavor some of the choices are not optimal, but are (usually budget friendly) alternatives that fit greatly the Phoenix Tribal theme.
The Deck
Phoenix Tribal
Comparative Analysis
Let’s see how the deck compares to the general ratios of my deckbuilding guide.
34 Lands
11 Ramp: Patchwork Banner, Arcane Signet , Sol Ring , Hazoret’s Monument, Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded , Heraldic Banner, Herald’s Horn, Rakdos Signet , Convergence of Dominion, Big Score , Myriad Landscape
8 Target Removal: Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, Rakdos Charm , Flayer of the Hatebound, Terminate , Bedevil , Warstorm Surge , Fatal Grudge, Soul Enervation
5 Board Wipes: Crippling Fear , Magma Phoenix , Shard Phoenix, Molten Disaster, Earthquake
32 Graveyard Recursion: Syrix, Carrier of the Flame (self-recursion), Patriarch’s Bidding , Rekindling Phoenix(self-recursion), Skyfire Phoenix(self-recursion), Flamewake Phoenix(self-recursion), Lightning Phoenix(self-recursion), Phoenix Chick(self-recursion), Warcry Phoenix(self-recursion), Nemesis Phoenix(self-recursion), Everquill Phoenix, Phoenix of Ash(self-recursion), Ashcloud Phoenix(self-recursion), Magma Phoenix(self-recursion), Immortal Phoenix(self-recursion), Firewing Phoenix(self-recursion), Flame-Wreathed Phoenix(self-recursion), Skarrgan Firebird(self-recursion), Shard Phoenix(self-recursion), Akoum Firebird(self-recursion), Detective’s Phoenix(self-recursion), Chainer, Nightmare Adept, Lamplight Phoenix(self-recursion), Sunstreak Phoenix(self-recursion), Kuldotha Phoenix(self-recursion), Bloodfeather Phoenix(self-recursion), Flayer of the Hatebound(self-recursion), Chandra’s Phoenix(self-recursion), Tortured Existence, Victimize, Living Death, Oversold Cemetery, Mortuary Mire
2 Graveyard Hate: Rakdos Charm , Bojuka Bog
4 Tutors: Descendants’ Fury , Heirloom Blade, Unmarked Grave, Buried Alive
0 Protection: –
12 Card Draw: Hazoret’s Monument , Faithless Looting, Aurora Phoenix (card advantage), Kethek, Crucible Goliath(card advantage), Cathartic Reunion, Pyre of Heroes(card advantage), Village Rites, Transmogrant’s Crown, Herald’s Horn, Fatal Grudge (1/2), Corrupted Conviction, Big Score, Tramway Station (1/2)
3 Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions: Flayer of the Hatebound , Warstorm Surge , Syrix, Carrier of the Flame
As we see form the comparative analysis, the rates per category are good. The only score below the optimal low average is protection, but that is no problem due to our heavy graveyard recursion, where we see a huge spike. Target removal seems to be a weak point of the deck but that is not true, since with Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, all our recurred creatures can act as removal.
Deck Highlights, synergy and flavor options:
Ramp
Hazoret’s Monument combines red mana cost reduction (and most of our Phoenixes are red) with card draw whenever we cast a creature (which is very often in our Phoenix Tribal deck) as long as we discard a card (great for filling our graveyard). Sounds like a perfect fit for our deck.
Purphoros, Bronze-Blooded can act as ramp, as by paying 
at instant speed, we may put a red creature card or an artifact creature card from our hand onto the battlefield (but we have to Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step). It works wonders in our Phoenix Tribal, as it gives our other creatures Haste, it is Indestructible so it is hard to be removed and due to our high devotion to red, it can easily become a creature and pose a considerable threat.
Herald’s Horn is great for every creature Tribal deck. It works both as ramp and a kind of card draw, so it is very valuable for our Phoenix Tribal.
Convergence of Dominion can even refill our grave with Milling three cards by paying 
,
, but its real power is its ability that works as long as we control our commander, reducing activated abilities of cards in our graveyard by . Works great with our Phoenix Tribal, as many of our Phonixes have activated abilities to recur themselves.
Patchwork Banner is one of the best cards for Tribal builds as it combines ramp and tribal support. Being both a mana rock and a Tribal Anthem gives us amazing value for its mana cost. Of course it is a top pick for our Phoenix Tribal Heraldic Banner is a sligtly worse alternative, since it cares for color and not a Tribe, but works great in our Phoenix Tribal as all of our Phoenixes are red. A great pick for our build!
Target Removal
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame is our main target removal engine, as at the beginning of each end step, if a creature card left our graveyard this turn, target Phoenix we control deals damage equal to its power to any target. A trully powerful ability that can be easily triggered with our graveyard recursion effects of our Phoenix Tribal.
Flayer of the Hatebound has a similar ability to our commander and works as an amazing secondary target removal engine with our Phoenix Tribal. Whenever it enters or another creature enters from our graveyard, that creature deals damage equal to its power to any target. Having Undying, makes it more durable and it wsynergizes with itself, which is very welcome. A must-have card for our build.
Fatal Grudge is a flexible card that can work as target permanent removal as long as we sacrifice a permanent of the same type, while it replaces itself, by letting us draw a card.
Warstorm Surge is always great in creature-heavy decks as it can be a repeatable removal or even a finisher. Phoenixes have average stats, but can be recurred for multiple ETB, so it works even better in Phoenix Tribal.
Soul Enervation is an Enchantment that when it enters, target creature gets -4/-4 until end of turn. It is average as removal, but its real power comes from its draining effect that triggers whenever one or more creature cards leave our graveyard. Great synergy with our Phoenix Tribal.
Board Wipes
Crippling Fear is a great budget mass removal for tribal decks as it can clear the board of our opponents while leaving ours intact.
Magma Phoenix on death trigger deals 3 damage to each creature and each player. It can be self-recurred to our hand by paying , so we can use it multiple times. A great pick for our Phoenix Tribal.
Shard Phoenix can be sacrificed at instant speed to deal 2 damage to each creature without flying, so it becomes an one-sided wipe for small creatures since all our Phoenixes have Flying. By paying we can return it from your graveyard to our hand, so we can use it multiple times. A top pick for our Phoenix Tribal.
Molten Disaster and Earthquake can also be one-sided board wipes, since they affect creatures without Flying while all our Phoenixes have Flying. They also deal damage to players, so they can even be hidden finishers. Great picks for our Phoenix Tribal.
Graveyard Recursion
Phoenixes with self-recursion : 24 cards
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, Rekindling Phoenix, Skyfire Phoenix, Flamewake Phoenix, Lightning Phoenix, Phoenix Chick, Warcry Phoenix, Nemesis Phoenix , Everquill Phoenix (can also recur any Phoenix), Phoenix of Ash, Ashcloud Phoenix, Magma Phoenix, Immortal Phoenix, Firewing Phoenix, Flame-Wreathed Phoenix, Skarrgan Firebird, Shard Phoenix, Akoum Firebird, Detective’s Phoenix, Lamplight Phoenix, Sunstreak Phoenix, Kuldotha Phoenix, Bloodfeather Phoenix, Chandra’s Phoenix
Most of our Phoenixes, can recur themselves, so we have a strong graveyard recursion strategy in our Phoenix Tribal.
Patriarch’s Bidding is one of the best graveyard recursion spells for Tribal decks.
Chainer, Nightmare Adept is a great utility card for our Phoenix Tribal. By discarding a card at instant speed, we can cast a creature spell from our graveyard this turn (only once each turn). Great both as recursion engine and for filling our graveyard. Moreover, whenever a nontoken creature we control enters, if we didn’t cast it from our hand, it gains haste until our next turn, so it is a Haste enabler for our recurred creatures. Great synergy with our build.
Tortured Existence is one of the best utility cards for our Phoenix Tribal. By paying 
and discarding a creature card at instant speed, we return target creature card from our graveyard to your hand. Perfect both for filling our graveyard and for recurring our best creatures. In addition, we are easily able to trigger Syrix, Carrier of the Flame at each end step, gaining multiplied value. It is trully a key card for our build.
Victimize is one of the best target graveyard recursion spells for graveyard and sacrifice builds. By sacrificing a creature, we can return two target creature cards in your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. A great fit for our Phoenix Tribal.
Living Death is one of the best mass graveyard recursion spells for graveyard and sacrifice builds. A nice pick for our Phoenix Tribal.
Oversold Cemetery works wonders in our Phoenix Tribal as it can easily return target creature card from our graveyard to our hand at the beginning of your upkeep (as long as we control four or more creature cards in our graveyard). A free recursion each turn can really help our build shine.
Mortuary Mire on ETB, let us put target creature card from our graveyad on top of our library.
Graveyard Hate
Bojuka Bog is a staple for graveyard hate.
Tutors
Buried Alive and Unmarked Grave are cards that tutor cards into our graveyard so they work great in our Phoenix Tribal which has a strong graveyard recursion strategy.
Descendants’ Fury is a value engine for our Phoenix Tribal. Whenever one or more creatures we control deal combat damage to a player, we may sacrifice one of them to reveal cards from the top of our library until we reveal a creature card that shares a creature type with the sacrificed creature. In our build we can recur the sacrificed creature and multiply the value.
Heirloom Blade is a staple equipment for Tribal decks, offering a repeatable tutor effect whenever equipped creature dies. The +3/+1 boost works great with Syrix, Carrier of the Flame and help us deal increased damage when we recur a creature.
Protection
–
Card Draw
Village Rites and Corrupted Conviction are identical cheap Instant spells that let us draw two cards for the additional cost of sacrificing a creature. Sounds a small cost to pay for our Phoenix Tribal, where we can easily recur most of our Phoenixes.
Aurora Phoenix has Cascade, so we get multiplied value by casting it.
Kethek, Crucible Goliath is a value engine for our Phoenix Tribal. At the beginning of our end step, we may sacrifice another creature to reveal cards from the top of our library until we reveal a nonlegendary creature card with lesser mana value, put it onto the battlefield, then put the rest on the bottom of our library. It is not card draw but combined with our graveyard recursion strategy, it can give us great card advantage.
Pyre of Heroes is another value engine for our Phoenix Tribal. By paying , and sacrificing a creature at sorcery speed, we can search our library for a creature card that shares a creature type with the sacrificed creature and has converted mana cost equal to 1 plus that creature’s converted mana cost and put that card onto the battlefield. It can give us great card advantage.
Transmogrant’s Crown works well with our Phoenix Tribal as the power buff is important for increasing the damage by the ability of Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, while whenever equipped creature dies we draw a card.
Faithless Looting and Cathartic Reunion are draw staples but I refer to them here only because in our Phoenix Tribal deck they even fill our graveyard so they become even better. Big Score is a similar card that costs more but can be used as ramp too, as we create two Treasure tokens. Great picks for our build.
Finishers/ Surprise /Alternate win conditions
Flayer of the Hatebound and Warstorm Surge combined with a mass graveyard recursion spell, can be explosive and become great finishers.
Syrix, Carrier of the Flame can target any target with its ability, so if we manage to trigger it at each end step, it can become a finisher on its own. Works great with cards that that raise power, as it can deal significant damage each turn.
Other synergy pieces
Other
Desecrated Tomb let us create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying and Tormod, the Desecrator let us create a tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature token whenever one or more creature cards leave our graveyard. Great synergy with our Phoenix Tribal.
Thran Vigil let us put a +1/+1 counter on target creature we control whenever one or more artifact and/or creature cards leave our graveyard during our turn. Great synergy with our graveyard recursion strategy and it can quickly buff a Phoenix we control to a big threat, while offering us a great target for the ability of Syrix, Carrier of the Flame.
Syr Konrad, the Grim works great with our strong graveyard recursion strategy and can drain our opponents to the point where he can be a secret finisher. Great pick for our Phoenix Tribal.
Let’s see some more statistics about our deck. Some important info to care about is the mana curve and the card type distribution, as it can help us understand better our deck and may indicate where there is space for improving it.
Mana Curve
The mana curve seems close to average, but it seems to be a bit more middle-ranged than usual but that’s because many Phoenixes are within that middle-range mana cost. We see a spike at 4 mana cost position and an absence of 7+ drops.
Card Type Distribution
The Phoenix Tribal Card Type Distribution shows the dominant Tribal creature-heavy theme with 31 creatures, while all other categories have smaller presence. We see Instants at 6, Sorceries at 11, Artifacts at 12 and Enchantments at 6. No Planeswalkers or Battles are present for the time.
Of course statistics and comparative analysis are great tools but they don’t always tell the whole truth, since many factors like synergy and combo pieces are hard to be measured numerically. For example in this deck, with all the deck build around Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, the target removal potential of our build is one of its stronger features, something that is not reflected in statistics.
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If you liked the deck, don’t forget to revisit the article after every major new release as I will try to keep my decks updated and examine any potential upgrades. If you want to keep being updated, you can follow mtgbudgetcommander.com on social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, linkedin, reddit, tumblr, medium). For more information on Minotaur tribal, check out the Minotaur Reviewer’s work on the Commander’s Herald. I enjoy reading his reviews and take them into consideration for upgrading the deck.
If you like my tribal series, you can check my other tribal decks.
