Phenax, God of Deception

Bracket

• B1 Exhibition — Not in the same deck as its two-card combo partners: Eater of the Dead, Doomsday Excruciator
• B2 Core — Not in the same deck as its two-card combo partners: Eater of the Dead, Doomsday Excruciator
• B3 Upgraded — Not in the same deck as its early two-card combo partners: Eater of the Dead, Doomsday Excruciator
• B4 Optimized — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list
• B5 cEDH — allowed: No restriction beyond the banned list

Why

• Two-card combo with Eater of the Dead, Doomsday Excruciator (early with Eater of the Dead, Doomsday Excruciator)

How Lotus Vault estimates a bracket

Bracket: Lotus Vault analysis, with Commander Spellbook flags

Combos

27 known combos, 2 of them two-card.

• Phenax, God of Deception + Consuming Aberration + Maddening Cacophony
  Produces: Infinite mill for target opponent, Near-infinite mill
  View on Commander Spellbook
• Phenax, God of Deception + Consuming Aberration + Traumatize
  Produces: Infinite mill for target opponent
  View on Commander Spellbook
• Phenax, God of Deception + Eater of the Dead
  Produces: Near-infinite mill, Near-infinite self-mill
  View on Commander Spellbook

Combos: Commander Spellbook

Rulings

• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  The type-changing ability that can make a God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It's always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color. It's always a creature spell while it's on the stack.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  If a God stops being a creature, it loses the type creature and the creature type God. It continues to be a legendary enchantment.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  As a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color will determine whether any replacement effects that affect creatures entering the battlefield apply to that God. Because replacement effects are considered before the God is on the battlefield, the mana symbols in its mana cost won't be counted when determining this.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  If an effect causes a God to lose all abilities, its ability that causes it to stop being a creature still applies if appropriate.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  If a God is attacking or blocking and it stops being a creature, it will be removed from combat. It won't rejoin combat if it resumes being a creature later during that combat.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  Counters put on a God remain on it while it's not a creature, even if they have no effect.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  When a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color (including the mana symbols in the mana cost of the God itself) will determine if a creature entered the battlefield or not for abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  The abilities of Gods function as long as they're on the battlefield, regardless of whether they're creatures.
• 2020-01-24 · Wizards of the Coast
  Your devotion to two colors is the number of mana symbols among mana costs of permanents you control that are the first color, the second, or both. If an effect counts your devotion to two colors, a hybrid symbol that is both of those colors is counted just once.
• 2014-02-01 · Wizards of the Coast
  If you tap Phenax to activate the ability it grants itself, and Phenax is no longer a creature but still on the battlefield as that ability resolves, no cards will be put into the target player's graveyard. Similarly, if Phenax isn't on the battlefield as the ability resolves and wasn't a creature when it left the battlefield, no cards will be put into the graveyard.
• 2014-02-01 · Wizards of the Coast
  If Phenax is a creature, it will grant itself the activated ability.
• 2014-02-01 · Wizards of the Coast
  If you activate the ability Phenax grants to creatures you control, the toughness of the creature is calculated as the ability resolves. If the creature is no longer on the battlefield at that time, use its toughness when it was last on the battlefield.
• 2013-09-15 · Wizards of the Coast
  Numeric mana symbols ({0}, {1}, and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.
• 2013-09-15 · Wizards of the Coast
  Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).
• 2013-09-15 · Wizards of the Coast
  If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be counted if it's still on the battlefield at that time.
• 2013-09-15 · Wizards of the Coast
  Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.

Rulings: Scryfall · Wizards of the Coast