Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire

Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire

Legendary Creature — Human Noble Wizard // Legendary Enchantment Creature — Saga Phoenix · {1}{R}{W} · Red/White commander

When Joshua enters, discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards. {3}{R}{W}, {T}: Exile Joshua, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner's control. Activate only as a sorcery. (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.) I, II — Rising Flames — Phoenix deals 2 damage to each opponent. III — Flames of Rebirth — Return any number of target creature cards with total mana value 6 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. Exile Phoenix, then return it to the battlefield (front face up). Flying, lifelink

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What Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire actually does

Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.

• Triggered ability · etbWhen Joshua enters, discard up to two cards, then draw that many cards.
• Activated ability{3}{R}{W}, {T}: Exile Joshua, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner's control. Activate only as a sorcery.
• Keyword · flyingflying
• Keyword · lifelinklifelink
• AbilityI, II — Rising Flames — Phoenix deals 2 damage to each opponent.
• AbilityIII — Flames of Rebirth — Return any number of target creature cards with total mana value 6 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. Exile Phoenix, then return it to the battlefield .

What a Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire deck needs

Plays as ETB value. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.

• creature cards in the graveyard with total mana value 6 or less (chapter III returns them)
• discard fodder (its entry rummages two)
• haste and untap effects that reach the commander

The Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire deck plan

The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.

• 10× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
• 7× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
• 7× Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
• 9× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
• 8× Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
• 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
• 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
• 1× Answer a whole board at once
• 7× Refill your hand

Best cards for Joshua, Phoenix's Dominant // Phoenix, Warden of Fire

Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.

Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →

Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables. Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing