We've been building to this for quite a while.

The five Phyrexian Praetors from New Phyrexia have been showing up in various sets over the last year or so, in an MCU-style buildup to a crazy Phyrexian event. Well, the invasion is here, and has already claimed its first casualties in Tamiyo, Completed Sage and Ajani, Sleeper Agent. With one of the original five planeswalkers falling to the Phyrexians you know that it is going down, and now in Phyrexia: All Will Be One it looks like it's ready to hit the fan.

We got our first look at Phyrexia: All Will Be One this week on a special preview stream, and perhaps the biggest news is the fact that there will be a whopping ten planeswalkers in this set, the most in any since War Of The Spark (the last big buildup event). And not only that, they teased that five of the ten will be compleated by the Phyrexians!

That's quite the lineup! While there are some more recent and obscure planeswalkers like Kaito Shizuki and Tyvar Kell, there are also some huge ones like Nissa, Vraska, and perhaps the most famous planeswalker of the them all Jace Beleren. Anytime you've got a scenario where five major characters are going to fall into darkness you know it's all about to go down; can you imagine what a Phyrexian Jace would be capable of?

But wait Jim, that was only nine planeswalkers.

You're right!

Everyone's odds just got a little worse, as they previewed Koth, Fire of Resistance as one of the planeswalkers to make it out unscathed. We haven't seen Koth since his original printing in Scars of Mirrodin, but one thing is for sure... he still loves Mountains!

Koth, Fire of Resistance is unique as he is a Red planeswalker that does not fit very well into aggressive Red strategies, while also providing card advantage and removal in a "Big Red" style. +2 to draw a card and go to 6 loyalty is quite powerful, but you need to be able to make good use of all the mountains he gets you. With a fairly easy to obtain ultimate that is a win condition in and of itself, Koth is essentially the perfect Mono-Red midrange planeswalker, which is awesome.

Phyrexia: All Will Be One will also finish off the new Praetor megacycle that's been seeded in many of the last big sets, as it finally reveals the last unseen returning Preator in Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines.

Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines has a lot in common with her previous incarnation Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite - she's a 4/7 legendary creature with vigilance that does something beneficial for your creatures and detrimental to your opponent's creatures, while also sporting some super creepy art. However, while this Elesh Norn isn't a one-sided Wrath of God, she is a whole lot leaner at a very castable five mana. And what do you get?

A Panharmonicon for you, and a Torpor Orb for your opponent.

Cards that do something when they enter the battlefield are a hallmark of "constructed staples" as they always accrue some sort of value, and Elesh Norn just turns that dial up to 11. However, it doesn't end there, as she also completely turns off your opponent's effects as well which can be completely backbreaking.

In a lot of ways, Elesh Norn is almost like a pre-blink enabler, as it plays well with all sorts of cards you might want to blink, but instead you just get the value up front. Like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Elesh Norn is likely to see some serious play in Standard and maybe beyond.

Koth and Elesh Norn aren't the only ones who are back though!

The classic Phyrexian Obliterator reenters Standard for the second time as a big-time fan favorite. It didn't see a ton of play the first time around, and does face some very stiff competition this time around as it shares a spot on the curve with Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, but it's a very fun card to have back again.

Phyrexian Obliterator is a super polarizing card, even more so than Sheoldred, in that it is extremely good against Red and Green decks that can't remove it or attack into it without damaging it, but very bad against decks that can kill it directly without damage or don't really care about combat. The bad news is that Sheoldred lives in a very similar space, with similar strengths and weaknesses. There also isn't any sort of devotion or bonus for having all the Black pips, which doesn't bode particularly well for its upcoming run in Standard.

Still, it's a cool reprint.

Another returning character from New Phyrexia is Jor Kadeen, who was previously the uninspiring Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer and now a much leaner Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden.

Unfortunately, we go from an awkward 5-drop metalcraft creature to an awkward two-mana "equipment matters" creature (can Boros please do anything else?). Mirrodin was the first home of equipment, giving us such gems as Skullclamp, Cranial Plating, and the Sword of Fire and Ice cycle, so how good Jor Kadeen is will likely revolve around how good the set's equipment is, but what's a bit more interesting is the creature type line: Human Rebel.

Things look bad for our heroes as the Phyrexian plague spreads, but it looks like the rebels will be fighting back. It remains to be seen if we will see actual, Ramosian Sergeant-style rebels or it's just more for flavor, but it's an interesting thing to make note of.

The Big Crossover Event

Like War of the Spark, this feels like the big MCU-style crossover event that's looking for a monster impact both on the story and in the cards, so it's likely this is going to be a big one.

I must say, I'm a bit disappointed that the supposed Magic Netflix show that was supposed to come out seems like it may never see the light of day, as these sorts of stories seem like they would be awesome to see on the big or small screen. As it stands, hopefully we get a cool cinematic trailer or something and get a good idea where the story is at.

Regardless, this is a big one!