New Phyrexia. We're bound to return there at some point; the block was too popular for Wizards not to. The question is: what can be done in regards to furthering the story? Well, I have some theories. Most of them are substantiated by tidbits within the Planeswalker's Guide articles, and I'll be referencing them throughout. Let's get to it.
When we last left the plane, the Mirrans had all but been crushed completely, with only small pockets of resistance still present in the furnace layer. However, all is not lost. Thanks to Venser's sacrifice, Karn regained his spark, the silver golem free once more. The block basically ended there, but this pivotal event has even more drastic implications for the Phyrexians than it does the Mirrans. Karn, having brought the glistening oil to Mirrodin in the first place, was hailed as the new Father of Machines, replacing Yawgmoth. But with him gone, who will hold the title and rule absolute? There is significant evidence to suggest that the answer lies at the end of a vicious civil war between the various powers of Phyrexia, and that this war will be the focus of future stories.
Probably the most direct evidence comes from the article on the black-aligned faction, The Seven Steel Thanes. Namely, this tidbit:
"Each thane wages a secret war of succession, understanding with absolute certainty that he/she/it is the true Father of Machines. All that matters is the thane's eventual ascension."
So, this sort of oncoming conflict is already brewing in the shadows, the ambition of each thane is too great to allow them to sit idly by. But wait, you ask, just who are these thanes? How come I don't remember them from the set? Well, that, dear reader, is yet more evidence. Why would Wizards even bother to write an article about these fellows if only two of them, Sheoldred and Geth, were to be seen in New Phyrexia? Azax-Azog was quoted on the flavortexts of Dismember and Dementia Bat, but the other four weren't mentioned anywhere at all. They probably gave us the information because they were going to use the thanes in a future set.
In that case, assuming this 'civil war' theory is true, how about the other four praetors? Well, their involvement is less clear, but I think I've figured out which of them would be inclined to fight for the throne from the other articles. Urabrask seems solely focused on maintaining the various furnaces under his watch, and therefore would keep well away from the conflict. Hell, his title 'The Hidden' is in reference to his non-involvement with Phyrexian politics. Jin-Gitaxias, on the other hand, would probably at the very least make a token effort. Becoming Father of Machines would ensure that his work on The Great Synthesis would come to fruition. However, he strikes me as smart enough to know that getting too involved would endanger his life, and then he couldn't trust that the work would ever get finished to his satisfaction. Perhaps he would ally himself with Elesh Norn, who almost certainly wants the title, as shown below.
"Conniving and wise, Elesh Norn maintains an appearance of Phyrexian grace and respectability at all times, but secretly she manipulates Phyrexian dogma and the interpretations of the Argent Etchings to suit her own ends."
She's already a praetor, there aren't any other major 'ends' she could be aspiring to achieve. As for Vorinclex and Glissa...
"The green-aligned faction doesn't revere Yawgmoth's memory. They believe his defeat is a sign that he was not the true Father of Machines, and faith or reliance in a single leader was a bad idea. They also believe that the having a single focal point of leadership contributes to stagnation."
Therefore, we can infer that while neither of them want anything to do with rulership, both would wholeheartedly approve of the war itself, since such infighting fits the 'accelerated natural selection' process that the Vicious Swarm holds dear. Maybe they'll show up to rip in half whoever comes out on top.
Personally, I think this type of plot would be a breath of fresh air. Lately, we've been getting nothing but good vs evil or neutral vs neutral conflicts, and a clash between villains is always fun to watch. My money's on Kraynox. Also, following this first set, maybe the remaining Mirrans could band together with Karn and take the offensive amidst the infighting for the second one.
Anyway, let me know what you think of this theory. Does it makes sense? Would be excited for a block with this structure? Discuss in the comments!
Elesh Norn actually has the upper hand among the Praetors, per The Lost Confession, which is a kind of epilogue to New Phyrexia and Prologue to Theros.
Honestly, I think the next step is for New Phyrexia to start invading. What's interesting about old Phyrexia is that while they traveled to other worlds all the time, the only one they actually wanted to conquer was Dominaria, as it was their ancestral home. They mostly just explored the others for artifacts, taking if they needed to.
There are a lot of planes ripe for New Phyrexia to invade. Esper/Alara is the most obvious, but on Fiora there is the Coercive Portal which smacks of old school Phyrexia. Kaladesh is also a good one, and it has quite a few similarities to the Thran, which is an interesting parallel.
Honestly I don't see a block set on New Phyrexia itself, until the very end during the finale of the Phyrexian story arc.
The problem is, that there is no emotional conflict to tell. There is nobody to root for. A civil war would basically be evil vs. evil. They originally envisioned the scars block to be completely without mirrans, but they decided against it, because it would be a dull block.
Don't forget about Tezzeret, though. As far as I know, he acclaimed pretty high position among the Phyrexians, with the instruction to keep the conflict going as long as possible. What if he once again tried to betray Bolas and become the new Father of Machines? He, as a planeswalker, would bring the last missing component to start a new interplanar war. Also, Phyrexians vs. Bolas is probably the greatest villain vs. villain fight currently possible.
Elesh Norn actually has the upper hand among the Praetors, per The Lost Confession, which is a kind of epilogue to New Phyrexia and Prologue to Theros.
Honestly, I think the next step is for New Phyrexia to start invading. What's interesting about old Phyrexia is that while they traveled to other worlds all the time, the only one they actually wanted to conquer was Dominaria, as it was their ancestral home. They mostly just explored the others for artifacts, taking if they needed to.
There are a lot of planes ripe for New Phyrexia to invade. Esper/Alara is the most obvious, but on Fiora there is the Coercive Portal which smacks of old school Phyrexia. Kaladesh is also a good one, and it has quite a few similarities to the Thran, which is an interesting parallel.
Oh, huh. I had completely forgotten about that story. Anyway, in regards to them invading, I agree in that it seems likely, and probably would be cool. The issue is that we've seen a Phyrexian invasion twice already. They'd be competing with the Eldrazi titans at that point, except that the titans effectively can't do anything else and still be in character. So allowing the evil race that's able to do other stuff to do said other stuff is the better call, in my opinion.
You would have to do something similar to Nemesis, which was actually a fairly good book. The downside to New Phyrexia is that it's not similar to Rathe in that there are safe harbors for people to thrive as a civilization and get some different small civilizations to keep going.
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In nature, all ecosystems tend to reach some form of localized stable equilibrium (even if said equilibrium is the virtual extinction of all species). It would be interesting to see what kind of equilibrium New Phyrexia would reach, given enough time. Maybe it would end up evolving and changing into some sort of sustainable ecosystem.
I mean, the extremely predatorial, omnicidal, impulses that drove Phyrexia would probably lead to mass extinction, but we know that colored Mana has changed the phyrexians.
Another crazy theory:
The constant war between factions all but destroys the plane, reducing it to a toxic wasteland where only a few twisted lifeforms remain. Seeing this, Karn decides to cast a great spell to rewind history and prevent it from happening (possible hint: his planeswalker ultimate). However, the spell gets out of control, and instead of reverting time on Mirrodin, it hurls the whole plane thousands of years back.
And some time later, Yawgmoth finds what is left of the plane, settles in its core and starts preparing for his invasion to Dominaria...
Another crazy theory:
The constant war between factions all but destroys the plane, reducing it to a toxic wasteland where only a few twisted lifeforms remain. Seeing this, Karn decides to cast a great spell to rewind history and prevent it from happening (possible hint: his planeswalker ultimate). However, the spell gets out of control, and instead of reverting time on Mirrodin, it hurls the whole plane thousands of years back.
And some time later, Yawgmoth finds what is left of the plane, settles in its core and starts preparing for his invasion to Dominaria...
Doesn't quite work, on a few levels. The biggest one being that Wizards really doesn't want to do time travel again, and Tarkir's time travel story was poorly received.
Karn's abilities are a reference to him being the Legacy Weapon, I think. While Karn was created as a time travel probe, Urza's time machine was dependent on a gem takes from Gix, which was destroyed in the explosion of Tolaria.
Phyrexia has been established as being created by a metallic dragon planeswalker, of which we know little (except that it's not Chromium).
That's why I called it crazy in the first place. Alhough the problem with time travel is in this case irrelevant, because its only effect would be that the old Phyrexia is actually the new Phyrexia, without any split timelines and such complications.
I know I'd enjoy a Phyrexian civil war, but then again I'm the guy who'd enjoy two bad guys beating the tar out of each other for 3 hours.
IF the Phyrexians manage to either out-kill each other or, miraculously, manage to cooperate, and get those purported portals to work, then we're in for quite the culture clash.
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Decks: Casual R Burn R
EDH R Godo Voltron R RUG ETB Overload RUG BW Clerics Pain and Drain BW GW Spirits!!! GW RUG Landfall Silliness RUG
Well the flavor text of Elesh Norn was practically an acknowledgement that we would have another invasion.
Maybe now that Elesh Norn has wiped the competition, she'll learn from Tez (willingly or not..) about these other worlds and get her gears running.
"The Gitaxians whisper among themselves of other worlds. If they exist, we must bring Phyrexia's magnificence to them."
The problem with the Phyrexians is that there's only one possible story to tell. We've seen it in Invasion, we've seen it in Scars of Mirrodin, seeing it a third time just wouldn't be compelling.
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Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
Jodah, Archmage Eternal
Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
Crixizix, Master Engineer
Feather, Boros Peacekeeper
Marisi Coilbreaker
O-Kagachi
Gix, Phyrexian Praetor
Karn, Father of Machines
Yawgmoth, Father of Machines
Serra, Mother of All Angels
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Leshrac the Nightwalker
Jeska, the Thrice-Touched
Elspeth Returned
Crucius the Mad
Taysir the Infinite
Urza's Head (Unglued!)
Didn't Memnarch have some sort of machine that could steal sparks from walkers? And if so would it be possible for any of the Praetors to recover that technology? Was it destroyed in the first Mirrodin block?
Memnarch's machine was made out of the whole of Mirrodin. It required the literal energy of the entire plane to function, and it was only used once. The device's *first* power source was the mana core of Mirrodin, which isn't in too good shape these days. Assuming that the Phyrexians could create their own machine, they wouldn't be able to use it effectively, not unless they started a kind of 'living farm', where they can try to find a living being with a spark to take it and transfer it to the right Phyrexian. It could take a very long time to find someone with a spark, assuming Koth died trying to kill the praetors.
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A giant dork. Who likes to eat with forks. Never used a spork.
Decks: Casual R Burn R
EDH R Godo Voltron R RUG ETB Overload RUG BW Clerics Pain and Drain BW GW Spirits!!! GW RUG Landfall Silliness RUG
Given we are having a block right now that is basically hitting on the theme of what a Phyrexian invasion, I can't really imagine what a Return to New Phyrexia would entail. It's hard to see how they would really make it interesting. Maybe they encounter things they can't convert, but otherwise I'm fine leaving them be for a while. Unless it's just fighting to reclaim Mirrodin.
Memnarch's machine was made out of the whole of Mirrodin. It required the literal energy of the entire plane to function, and it was only used once. The device's *first* power source was the mana core of Mirrodin, which isn't in too good shape these days. Assuming that the Phyrexians could create their own machine, they wouldn't be able to use it effectively, not unless they started a kind of 'living farm', where they can try to find a living being with a spark to take it and transfer it to the right Phyrexian. It could take a very long time to find someone with a spark, assuming Koth died trying to kill the praetors.
Kind of noteworthy to this, Maro said that Phyrexians are best when invading, and that a straight forward return is unlikely. Or at least what I got from his posts on it.
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When we last left the plane, the Mirrans had all but been crushed completely, with only small pockets of resistance still present in the furnace layer. However, all is not lost. Thanks to Venser's sacrifice, Karn regained his spark, the silver golem free once more. The block basically ended there, but this pivotal event has even more drastic implications for the Phyrexians than it does the Mirrans. Karn, having brought the glistening oil to Mirrodin in the first place, was hailed as the new Father of Machines, replacing Yawgmoth. But with him gone, who will hold the title and rule absolute? There is significant evidence to suggest that the answer lies at the end of a vicious civil war between the various powers of Phyrexia, and that this war will be the focus of future stories.
Probably the most direct evidence comes from the article on the black-aligned faction, The Seven Steel Thanes. Namely, this tidbit:
So, this sort of oncoming conflict is already brewing in the shadows, the ambition of each thane is too great to allow them to sit idly by. But wait, you ask, just who are these thanes? How come I don't remember them from the set? Well, that, dear reader, is yet more evidence. Why would Wizards even bother to write an article about these fellows if only two of them, Sheoldred and Geth, were to be seen in New Phyrexia? Azax-Azog was quoted on the flavortexts of Dismember and Dementia Bat, but the other four weren't mentioned anywhere at all. They probably gave us the information because they were going to use the thanes in a future set.
In that case, assuming this 'civil war' theory is true, how about the other four praetors? Well, their involvement is less clear, but I think I've figured out which of them would be inclined to fight for the throne from the other articles. Urabrask seems solely focused on maintaining the various furnaces under his watch, and therefore would keep well away from the conflict. Hell, his title 'The Hidden' is in reference to his non-involvement with Phyrexian politics. Jin-Gitaxias, on the other hand, would probably at the very least make a token effort. Becoming Father of Machines would ensure that his work on The Great Synthesis would come to fruition. However, he strikes me as smart enough to know that getting too involved would endanger his life, and then he couldn't trust that the work would ever get finished to his satisfaction. Perhaps he would ally himself with Elesh Norn, who almost certainly wants the title, as shown below.
She's already a praetor, there aren't any other major 'ends' she could be aspiring to achieve. As for Vorinclex and Glissa...
Therefore, we can infer that while neither of them want anything to do with rulership, both would wholeheartedly approve of the war itself, since such infighting fits the 'accelerated natural selection' process that the Vicious Swarm holds dear. Maybe they'll show up to rip in half whoever comes out on top.
Personally, I think this type of plot would be a breath of fresh air. Lately, we've been getting nothing but good vs evil or neutral vs neutral conflicts, and a clash between villains is always fun to watch. My money's on Kraynox. Also, following this first set, maybe the remaining Mirrans could band together with Karn and take the offensive amidst the infighting for the second one.
Anyway, let me know what you think of this theory. Does it makes sense? Would be excited for a block with this structure? Discuss in the comments!
Honestly, I think the next step is for New Phyrexia to start invading. What's interesting about old Phyrexia is that while they traveled to other worlds all the time, the only one they actually wanted to conquer was Dominaria, as it was their ancestral home. They mostly just explored the others for artifacts, taking if they needed to.
There are a lot of planes ripe for New Phyrexia to invade. Esper/Alara is the most obvious, but on Fiora there is the Coercive Portal which smacks of old school Phyrexia. Kaladesh is also a good one, and it has quite a few similarities to the Thran, which is an interesting parallel.
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
The problem is, that there is no emotional conflict to tell. There is nobody to root for. A civil war would basically be evil vs. evil. They originally envisioned the scars block to be completely without mirrans, but they decided against it, because it would be a dull block.
Oh, huh. I had completely forgotten about that story. Anyway, in regards to them invading, I agree in that it seems likely, and probably would be cool. The issue is that we've seen a Phyrexian invasion twice already. They'd be competing with the Eldrazi titans at that point, except that the titans effectively can't do anything else and still be in character. So allowing the evil race that's able to do other stuff to do said other stuff is the better call, in my opinion.
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I mean, the extremely predatorial, omnicidal, impulses that drove Phyrexia would probably lead to mass extinction, but we know that colored Mana has changed the phyrexians.
The constant war between factions all but destroys the plane, reducing it to a toxic wasteland where only a few twisted lifeforms remain. Seeing this, Karn decides to cast a great spell to rewind history and prevent it from happening (possible hint: his planeswalker ultimate). However, the spell gets out of control, and instead of reverting time on Mirrodin, it hurls the whole plane thousands of years back.
And some time later, Yawgmoth finds what is left of the plane, settles in its core and starts preparing for his invasion to Dominaria...
Karn's abilities are a reference to him being the Legacy Weapon, I think. While Karn was created as a time travel probe, Urza's time machine was dependent on a gem takes from Gix, which was destroyed in the explosion of Tolaria.
Phyrexia has been established as being created by a metallic dragon planeswalker, of which we know little (except that it's not Chromium).
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
IF the Phyrexians manage to either out-kill each other or, miraculously, manage to cooperate, and get those purported portals to work, then we're in for quite the culture clash.
Decks:
Casual
R Burn R
EDH
R Godo Voltron R
RUG ETB Overload RUG
BW Clerics Pain and Drain BW
GW Spirits!!! GW
RUG Landfall Silliness RUG
Maybe now that Elesh Norn has wiped the competition, she'll learn from Tez (willingly or not..) about these other worlds and get her gears running.
"The Gitaxians whisper among themselves of other worlds. If they exist, we must bring Phyrexia's magnificence to them."
Xantcha, Phyrexian Reject
Jodah, Archmage Eternal
Tovolar, Howlpack Alpha
Pivlic, Orzhov Informant
Crixizix, Master Engineer
Feather, Boros Peacekeeper
Marisi Coilbreaker
O-Kagachi
Gix, Phyrexian Praetor
Karn, Father of Machines
Yawgmoth, Father of Machines
Serra, Mother of All Angels
Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Leshrac the Nightwalker
Jeska, the Thrice-Touched
Elspeth Returned
Crucius the Mad
Taysir the Infinite
Urza's Head (Unglued!)
Decks:
Casual
R Burn R
EDH
R Godo Voltron R
RUG ETB Overload RUG
BW Clerics Pain and Drain BW
GW Spirits!!! GW
RUG Landfall Silliness RUG
isn't tezzeret still hanging out there?
elesh norn, planeswalker? fan service in spades.