I read the archive trap article today and learned of Moag. I'm no story guru but this is to my knowledge the only plane to have been invaded by Phyrexians "off screen". Could this be Elspeth's home plane then?
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I read the archive trap article today and learned of Moag. I'm no story guru but this is to my knowledge the only plane to have been invaded by Phyrexians "off screen". Could this be Elspeth's home plane then?
I doubt it, Phyrexia had invaded a lot of places, but generally only to take resources. They didn't usually colonize, with the big exception being Dominaria, which they thought belonged to them.
Elspeth's home plane is likely one of the ones Karn spread Phyrexian Oil to by accident.
I read the archive trap article today and learned of Moag. I'm no story guru but this is to my knowledge the only plane to have been invaded by Phyrexians "off screen". Could this be Elspeth's home plane then?
I doubt it, Phyrexia had invaded a lot of places, but generally only to take resources. They didn't usually colonize, with the big exception being Dominaria, which they thought belonged to them.
Elspeth's home plane is likely one of the ones Karn spread Phyrexian Oil to by accident.
I did not know Phyrexians invaded for resources, I always figured them like the Borg from Star Trek. But in that case you're probably right, seeing as it will also allow more freedom for WotC to shape the plane to whatever the story needs.
Compliments for the Archive Trap articles by the way. I'm sure a lot of work goes into them and they are always a good read. I suddenly realized a lot more story was depicted on Invasion and Saga block cards then I realized when I cracked those packs.
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It'd be a cool connection to the past, but I'd prefer Jay's alternative where it's Karn's fault. That exchange between Karn and Elspeth (once she's reborn) would be fraught and could add tension or uncertainty for the two of them.
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Dominian Scholar of the Old Guard, specializing in pre-revisionist (Armada comics) and revisionist (Brothers' War through Apocalypse)history
I read the archive trap article today and learned of Moag. I'm no story guru but this is to my knowledge the only plane to have been invaded by Phyrexians "off screen". Could this be Elspeth's home plane then?
I think it all depends upon whether Wizards ever plans on visiting Elspeth's home plane. If they never do, then they might someday declare that plane to be Moag. (And I agree that wouldn't make much sense, but with MtG, Past Continuity always bends to the needs of the Present Narrative.) If they do, then it will be an original world they can flesh out as they see fit. I believe it is a question of whether or not they need another Phyrexian-impacted world, given that New Phyrexia and Dominaria (and Mercadia) already exist.
Elspeth's home plane is likely one of the ones Karn spread Phyrexian Oil to by accident.
As an aside, am I the only one who is bothered by that retcon? Not the idea of Karn as an unwitting instigator of doom - that idea has a lot of story potential. I can see Karn's narrative arc becoming travelling around and trying to fix the worlds that he inadvertently corrupted. No, I mean the idea that the catalyst was Xantcha's heartstone. Partly because it seems inconsistent to what know about the heartstones (Xantcha was walking around with hers for ages with no apparently ill-effects, and you can't tell me that even Insane Urza wouldn't have given that thing a once-over for Phyrexian foulness.) Partly because the Phyrexian Oil was itself a retcon - wasn't it supposed to be retcon'd into some weapon deployed during the Invasion? (So how would the Heartstone - created around the time of the Brother's War - have any of the Oil?)
Mostly, though, I object because it seems like a massive disservice to the character of Xantcha herself, who remains one of the most interesting (to me, at least) characters WotC has ever created.
Elspeth's home plane is likely one of the ones Karn spread Phyrexian Oil to by accident.
As an aside, am I the only one who is bothered by that retcon? Not the idea of Karn as an unwitting instigator of doom - that idea has a lot of story potential. I can see Karn's narrative arc becoming travelling around and trying to fix the worlds that he inadvertently corrupted. No, I mean the idea that the catalyst was Xantcha's heartstone. Partly because it seems inconsistent to what know about the heartstones (Xantcha was walking around with hers for ages with no apparently ill-effects, and you can't tell me that even Insane Urza wouldn't have given that thing a once-over for Phyrexian foulness.) Partly because the Phyrexian Oil was itself a retcon - wasn't it supposed to be retcon'd into some weapon deployed during the Invasion? (So how would the Heartstone - created around the time of the Brother's War - have any of the Oil?)
Mostly, though, I object because it seems like a massive disservice to the character of Xantcha herself, who remains one of the most interesting (to me, at least) characters WotC has ever created.
The whole bioweapon thing was never canon, or at least never laid out in the fiction. It was barely word of god, because it was the author who posted (to this forum, actually) that it was the original intent, which isn't the same thing. The actual novels never talk about it except in the prologue to the first novel.
Scars is retconned all to hell, but as someone who read Scars of Mirrodin first and then the rest of the old lore about Phyrexia, it's not really a conflict. Phyrexian Oil was always semi-intelligent, it was a mutagen of some kind, and had a couple weird properties mentioned offhand that make sense.
I don't think it does a disservice to Xantcha, either, but lends Urza's whole futile endeavor an extra bit of dramatic irony.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
Elspeth's home plane is likely one of the ones Karn spread Phyrexian Oil to by accident.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Compliments for the Archive Trap articles by the way. I'm sure a lot of work goes into them and they are always a good read. I suddenly realized a lot more story was depicted on Invasion and Saga block cards then I realized when I cracked those packs.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I think it all depends upon whether Wizards ever plans on visiting Elspeth's home plane. If they never do, then they might someday declare that plane to be Moag. (And I agree that wouldn't make much sense, but with MtG, Past Continuity always bends to the needs of the Present Narrative.) If they do, then it will be an original world they can flesh out as they see fit. I believe it is a question of whether or not they need another Phyrexian-impacted world, given that New Phyrexia and Dominaria (and Mercadia) already exist.
As an aside, am I the only one who is bothered by that retcon? Not the idea of Karn as an unwitting instigator of doom - that idea has a lot of story potential. I can see Karn's narrative arc becoming travelling around and trying to fix the worlds that he inadvertently corrupted. No, I mean the idea that the catalyst was Xantcha's heartstone. Partly because it seems inconsistent to what know about the heartstones (Xantcha was walking around with hers for ages with no apparently ill-effects, and you can't tell me that even Insane Urza wouldn't have given that thing a once-over for Phyrexian foulness.) Partly because the Phyrexian Oil was itself a retcon - wasn't it supposed to be retcon'd into some weapon deployed during the Invasion? (So how would the Heartstone - created around the time of the Brother's War - have any of the Oil?)
Mostly, though, I object because it seems like a massive disservice to the character of Xantcha herself, who remains one of the most interesting (to me, at least) characters WotC has ever created.
Scars is retconned all to hell, but as someone who read Scars of Mirrodin first and then the rest of the old lore about Phyrexia, it's not really a conflict. Phyrexian Oil was always semi-intelligent, it was a mutagen of some kind, and had a couple weird properties mentioned offhand that make sense.
I don't think it does a disservice to Xantcha, either, but lends Urza's whole futile endeavor an extra bit of dramatic irony.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath