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Phyrexian Vindicator

Creature — Phyrexian Horror

Flying
If damage would be dealt to this creature, prevent that damage. When damage is prevented this way, this creature deals that much damage to any other target.

CMC
4
Mana cost
{W}{W}{W}{W}
Color identity
W
Rarity
mythic
Set
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Price
$5.67
EDHREC rank
#3268
Buy on TCGplayer
Phyrexian Vindicator card art
Phyrexian Vindicator is a 5/5 flying, first strike, indestructible creature that redirects all damage it takes back to any target — the moment it hits the board, attacking it becomes a liability for your opponents. The cost is real: WWWW in a four-mana spell punishes non-mono-white decks hard, but pair it with Guilty Conscience and you have an instant-win loop that Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer and similar commanders are built to assemble.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer

Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer

77.4% of decks · synergy 0.69

Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer is the natural home for Phyrexian Vindicator — Anti-Venom moves counters onto creatures it grants indestructible to, and Phyrexian Vindicator turns every point of redirected damage into a political weapon that the deck can systematically exploit to close games.

02

Elesh Norn

74.0% of decks · synergy 0.66

Elesh Norn's Praetor-tribal and toxic-matters gameplan wants imposing bodies that punish aggression, and Phyrexian Vindicator fills that role perfectly — an indestructible blocker that punishes any creature sent into it without a way to get around first strike.

03
Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos

Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos

52.7% of decks · synergy 0.51

Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos floods the board with incubator tokens and wants resilient threats to protect that engine while it scales, and Phyrexian Vindicator provides an indestructible deterrent that makes opponents think twice about committing combat damage to clear the way.

04
Piru, the Volatile

Piru, the Volatile

41.8% of decks · synergy 0.41

Piru, the Volatile leverages life loss and punishes wide boards, and Phyrexian Vindicator fits as a nearly unkillable threat that synergizes with the damage-redirection theme — opponents who can't remove it cleanly just feed the engine.

05
Jared Carthalion, True Heir

Jared Carthalion, True Heir

30.5% of decks · synergy 0.30

Jared Carthalion, True Heir wants to absorb damage and convert it into counters, and Phyrexian Vindicator's redirection ability means damage aimed at the Vindicator can be pointed at Jared instead, accelerating his counter accumulation while keeping an indestructible body on the field.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Phyrexian Vindicator does its best work — the multiplayer environment means opponents constantly threaten each other in combat, and an indestructible first striker that redirects damage turns the table's aggression into a political moat around you. The Guilty Conscience combo is a one-card kill condition once the Vindicator is in play, which is exactly the kind of compact win line Commander rewards. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but effectively irrelevant — those formats move too fast for a four-mana creature with a color requirement that demanding to matter outside a fringe white devotion shell. Modern and Pioneer have access to it, but WWWW is nearly uncastable in competitive builds of those formats, so it's a Commander card that happens to have broad legality rather than a cross-format staple.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

No single card fully replaces Phyrexian Vindicator — the combination of indestructible, first strike, flying, and damage redirection on one body is unique — but Sephara, Sky's Blade offers indestructible to your whole team for a similar cost and is a fraction of the price if you just need a white evasive threat. If the redirection text is the key piece, Pariah pairs with any indestructible creature to achieve a similar deterrent effect at well under a dollar, though it requires two cards to assemble what Phyrexian Vindicator does alone.

Price Context

Current price

$5.67 mid tier

At $5.67, Phyrexian Vindicator sits in a comfortable mid-tier price range for a card with a unique and powerful effect — it's not a budget pickup, but it's not a painful include either. The Guilty Conscience combo and its starring role in Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer decks give it sustained demand, so this price reflects real play value rather than speculation.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.