Locations
Welcome back, Lore Seekers! We're on the verge of our return to New Phyrexia with Phyrexia: All Will Be One, and your life won't be compleat without a refresher course on New Phyrexia! I talked quite a bit about Phyrexian history in general with Phyrexian History for the Incompleat, today I'm going to be talking about the physical and political landscape on the plane we now know as New Phyrexia!
The Plane of New Phyrexia
Phyrexian Atlas
New Phyrexia has changed quite a bit from our last visit. Where before there was only the surface, the Furnace Layer, and the core - with hints that more was being built, now we see the true purpose of the Mycosynth and after five in-universe years, New Phyrexia is now a plane of nine nested spheres, just like the original Phyrexia. From surface to core, these spheres are:
- The Glorious Facade - A thin layer built on top of the original surface of Mirrodin, full of monuments to New Phyrexia's victory.
- Mirrex - The former surface, now a ruin.
- The Furnace Layer - The lava-filled forge of the Quiet Furnace.
- The Hunter's Maze - The copper forests of the Vicious Swarm.
- The Surgical Bays - The sterile laboratories of the Progress Engine.
- The Dross Pits - The bubbling swamps of the Steel Thanes.
- The Fair Basilica - The citadels of the Machine Orthodoxy.
- Mycosynth Gardens - The remnants of the original core of Mirrodin.
- Seedcore - The garden from which the Invasion Tree sprouts.
The Factions of New Phyrexia
Mirrodin Besieged by Bram Sels
The original Phyrexia was unified under Yawgmoth, the Father of Machines, who the other Phyrexians viewed as their god. When the New Phyrexians were forming, the influence of Mirrodin's five suns caused factions to emerge. Only recently has a singular leader emerged, with Elesh Norn declaring herself Mother of Machines - although I'm sure the other faction's leaders, called praetors, are eying her position for themselves.
The Machine Orthodoxy
Goal: Convert all life into Phyrexia
Legends: Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice
The Machine Orthodoxy uses the most religious terminology, focused around Elesh Norn's writings known as the Argent Etchings. The Orthodoxy's tenets can broadly be categorized into two compelling drives: The elimination of flesh and the unity of all things under Phyrexia.
The Progress Engine
Goal: Perfection through experimentation
Legends: Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant, Ezuri, Claw of Progress
The Progress Engine is focused on bringing about The Great Synthesis, Jin-Gitaxias' vision of perfection. The Progress Engine has a hierarchy based around four sectives who lead different fields of study. Those sectives are Malcator, Sarnvax, Uulbrek, and Avaricta.
The Steel Thanes
Goal: Overpower and enslave all other beings
Legends: Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Keskit, the Flesh Scultpor, Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
The Steel Thanes aren't a singular faction, but seven factions, one for each thane, although Sheoldred is the most powerful of them all. Each Thane bides their time until they can seize power. The thanes include Azax-Azog, Geth, Kraynox, Roxith, Sheoldred, Thrissik, and Vraan.
The Quiet Furnace
Goal: Urabrask has no long-term goals, only the Great Work.
Legends: Urabrask, Heretic Praetor, Slobad, Iron Goblin
The Quiet Furnace is the least interested in the other Phyrexians' goals of conquest. Like their praetor, they mostly just want to be left alone to continue the Great Work, which is Urabrask's vision of perfection. Urabrask has shown glimmers of emotions like 'apathy' toward the Mirran Resistance, who he has decreed be left alone unless they interfere with the Great Work.
The Vicious Swarm
Goal: Perfection through survival of the fittest
Legends: Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, Glissa, the Traitor, Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer
Vorinclex takes the concepts of original Phyrexia's Grand Evolution literally, creating a faction where only the fittest predators survive. While Vorinclex is the nominal leader of the faction, the completed elf Glissa has most of the responsibility of running the day-to-day delegated to her.
The Mirran Resistance
Goal: Survive
Legends: Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden, Kemba, Kha Regent, Melira, Sylvok Outcast, Thrun, the Last Troll
Led by Koth, Fire of Resistance, the Mirran Resistance are a rag tag group of survivors who desperately cling to life in a plane that has become a literal hell.
The History of New Phyrexia
Cover Art for the Quest for Karn by Jason Chan
- The Moons of Mirrodin
- The Darksteel Eye
- The Fifth Dawn
- Gathering Forces, Part 1-3
- Scarred, Part 1
- Scarred, Part 2
- Scarred, Part 3
- Dark Discoveries, Part 1
- Dark Discoveries, Part 2
- Dark Discoveries, Part 3
- War!
- The Golem's Legacy
- Phyrexia and the Vaultlord
- Corrupted Conscience
- Phyrexia: The Strong and the Scattered
- The Quest for Karn
- The Lost Confession
It's difficult to sum up an entire saga in just a few hundred words, but I'll do my best here. Very quickly the original Mirrodin saga began with Karn, Scion of Urza creating the world of Argentum, a perfect metal sphere populated by golems that look like himself. After the events of the Odyssey block, he brought the Mirari back to Argentum and transformed it into a golem called the Warden. The Warden became infected by the Glistening Oil that Karn had unknowing infected the plane with.
The Warden becomes obsessed with becoming like his creator, renames himself Memnarch, renames the plane Mirrodin, and sets a plan into motion to kidnap beings from other planes in search of a spark to harvest for himself. He does this using devices called Soul Traps. When Glissa Sunseeker emerges as the first being on the plane with an ember - or ignited spark - she's forced to go on the run from Memnarch's forces and figure out what's happening. Along the way she befriends Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer, Bosh, Iron Golem, Raksha Golden Cub, and even sort-of Geth, Lord of the Vault, among others who never got a card.
Long story short, Everyone but Slobad is killed in the final battle against Memnarch (both the armies on the surface and the heroes fighting him directly in the core). Menarch's spark transfer device activates, transferring all the souls, including Glissa's spark, into Slobad. Karn appears and offers to mentor Slobad as a planeswalker, but Slobad just wants his friends back, and with Karn's help restores the souls he'd absorbed to their rightful places, but the entire original generation of Mirrans whose soul traps were destroyed in the battle vanish. Glissa and Slobad are eventually captured and completed by the proto-New Phyrexians, and Geth either cuts a deal or already had a deal in place with the Phyrexians.
Years later, Karn sacrifices his spark to seal the Time Rift at Tolaria during the Time Spiral block. With the last vestiges of his spark, he flings himself to Mirrodin, where he's captured by the Phyrexians and goes mad from Phyrexian corruption. Venser, Shaper Savant always wonders what happened, until he's approached decades later by Elspeth Tirel and Koth of the Hammer - Koth has discovered the Phyrexian corruption of the plane and is seeking allies. Venser doesn't join them very willingly, but eventually becomes a stalwart ally.
Unfortunately, they're too late, and they return to Mirrodin just in time for the New Phyrexians to begin pouring onto the surface. Deciding their only option is to rescue Karn, they journey to the plane's core, helped along by the untrustworthy Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, who is playing both sides (even back then!). Tezzeret gives them Melira, Sylvok Outcast, who is immune to the glistening oil, and even the metallic growths that most other Mirrans have. Melira gains the ability to confer her immunity to others, using it on Elspeth, Venser, and Koth. The three planeswalkers fight their way to the plane's core, only to find the completely corrupted Karn. Venser, who is suffering from a terminal illness, sacrifices his life to grant Karn his immunized spark.
Eventually, it's clear that they're not going to win with what they have, and Karn departs to find Karn's Sylex, while Koth forces Elspeth to leave during a botched raid. That catches us up to the current story arc, which you can read about in Catching-Up: From War to New Capenna.
The Side Stories of New Phyrexia
Hero of Bladehold by Austin Hsu
- A Tale of Two Clone Shells
- On the Mirrodin Site: Roxith, Thane of Rot
- On the Mirrodin Site: Kessla of Temple Might
- On the Mirrodin Site: Farris of the Anvil
- On the Mirrodin Site: Ria of Bladehold
- On the Mirrodin Site: Unctus of the Synod
While there was no side stories for the original Mirrodin, there are a few hard-to-find stories set around Scars of Mirrodin. They're all relatively short and provide a good slice of what life was like while New Phyrexia was conquering the plane. Some of these side characters may even return in the new set!
Until Next Time
We're now on the eve of the team of planeswalkers who are going to invade New Phyrexia embarking on their mission to destroy the Invasion Tree. Will it go well? Only time will tell.
