Valko Indorian

Card details and Rulebreaker permissions

Collector number

#60 Scryfall: Valko Indorian

Mana cost / color

{3}{B} · Black

Type / stats

Legendary Creature — Human Wizard · 2/4

Rulebreaker — paraphrased

Phyrexian cards may have any color identity, and the deck may include any basic land cards. The permission refers to the Phyrexian creature type, not Phyrexian mana symbols. Scryfall: Valko Indorian

Other abilities

Phyrexian creatures you control have menace and lifelink. Scryfall: Valko Indorian

Deck direction

A Phyrexian creature strategy that turns its expanded selection into combat pressure.

Design notes

Our reading is that Valko keeps a creature theme at the center of the deck while letting that theme reach beyond black. Menace and lifelink give those creatures a shared combat role, so the wider selection still has a reason to act as one deck. We would favor Phyrexians that contribute to that plan over cards chosen only because the exception makes their colors available.

Deckbuilding priorities

We would choose off-color creatures by their actual Phyrexian type and their combat role. Phyrexian Vindicator is a white Phyrexian Horror, while Bloated Contaminator is a green Phyrexian Beast; both qualify for Valko's exception and receive its menace and lifelink. By contrast, Gitaxian Probe uses a Phyrexian mana symbol but is a blue sorcery, so that symbol alone does not make it an eligible off-color inclusion. We would build a mana base that can cast the chosen Phyrexians and let the shared combat abilities connect the creature package into one plan.

Verified card text: Scryfall: Phyrexian Vindicator; Scryfall: Bloated Contaminator; Scryfall: Gitaxian Probe