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The Phyrexians are one of Magic The Gathering's oldest villains. With the game reaching its 30th anniversary, they are making a comeback in a big way; with Dominaria United kicking off the first of a multi-set story as they face off against combined forces of the multiverse. They made their initial return in Kaldheim, leading into Dominaria United ramping things up in a huge way for this multi-planar threat.

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Phyrexians are metallic beings, found originally on the Plane Phyrexia (and later New Phyrexia, formerly known as Mirrodin). They corrupt organic matter, turning them into Phyrexians themselves. While most of the Plane has been corrupted, a small but dedicated resistance remains.

Updated March 6, 2023 by Johnny Garcia: Phyrexia: All Will Be One has drastically altered the course of many Planeswalkers and Planes. With the creation of the Realmbreaker – a tree capable of infiltrating the Planes of the Multiverse, the Phyrexians of New Phyrexia have begun an invasion of the Multiverse. They are seeking to compleat the Multiverse and bring everyone together under the banner of Phyrexia, with a resistance trying to hold them back and defeat them before they succeed in their goal. The Phyrexians have upgraded their technology, making it much more efficient thanks to the research done by the Phyrexian scientists, including Jin-Gitaxias and the compleated Tamiyo.

The Creation Of Phyrexians

yawgmoth card art
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician by Mark Winters

Many years ago, Yawgmoth, a physician from the Dominarian region of Thran, was brought to the Plane soon to be known as Phyrexia by the Planeswalker Dyfed.

Yawgmoth is the creator of the Phyrexians, creating them out of any organic matter he could find on the plane. Yawgmoth believed that the Phyrexians were perfect beings and brainwashed them to do his bidding. On Phyrexia, Yawgmoth created followers, both priests and killer beasts alike, building up an army to invade Dominaria. A pecking order on Phyrexia formed, with the strongest evolving further. Yawgmoth served as Phyrexia's ruler until he died in the first Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria.

The process of turning someone into a Phyrexian was known as Phyresis, a process originally used to save sick members of the Thran with Phthisis, a disease caused by too much exposure to the powerstones on Dominaria. Later, phyresis became the name of the infection caused by exposure to Glistening Oil which initiated the transformation into a Phyrexian.

Mirrodin Corruption

mtg New Phyrexia
Norn's Dominion by Igor Kieryluk

Karn is a silver Golem from Dominaria, who became the first artificial Planeswalker after he was given his spark. He was given the Mightstone and Weakstone, the eyes of the powerful Planeswalker Urza, after he lost his head in a fight with Gerrard.

Karn's ascension to becoming a Planeswalker would defeat Yawgmoth during the Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria, killing Yawgmoth, Gerrard, and Urza in the process. After the Phyrexians lost their God Yawgmoth, they no longer had the will to live and continue fighting, and the original Phyrexians, as well as the plane of Phyrexia itself, faded away.

Sometime after the invasion, Argentum - an artificial Plane - was created by Karn. The Plane has a mixture of organic and inorganic beings living on it, including Artifact Creatures. The Plane would come under fire and be renamed Mirrodin after Karn left Memnarch, another creation of Karn's, in charge of the Plane as Karn explored the Multiverse.

However, the powerstones inside Karn had traces of Phyrexian Oil (known as Glistening Oil) which caused him to track the Glistening Oil on the Planes he visited. One of these Planes was Mirrodin itself, and an artificial Plane was the perfect breeding ground for Glistening Oil to spread.

Since no one had known about the Phyrexian Oil, the artificial Plane was corrupted, quickly turning its inhabitants into Phyrexians. While Karn was ultimately cleansed of the Glistening Oil within him thanks to the sacrifice of fellow Planeswalker Venser, the damage was done, and Mirrodin would be transformed into New Phyrexia.

Compleation

mtg Tamiyo's Compleation
Tamiyo's Compleation by Dominik Mayer

Compleation is the term used to describe a being who has reached the max evolution a Phyrexian can reach, named compleation as it's seen as the perfect form by Phyrexians. Compleation removes all traces of organic matter from a being, turning them into a completely artificial being. While they retain their memory and personality after compleation, their soul is lost, and their minds are contorted to serve New Phyrexia. The process is primarily performed using the Glistening Oil, however, more brutal methods involving removing body parts and grafting machinery in have also been utilized.

Glistening Oil previously could only induce phyresis, but the addition of robotic features required surgery. However, the Praetor Jin-Gitaxias managed to improve the oil, allowing it to do much of the work on its own. Surgery is still required for full compleation, but the process has become much more streamlined. This has been seen with the compleations of Jace Beleren and Lukka, who shifted into Phyrexians without the need for surgery.

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Previously, it was impossible to compleat a Planeswalker, as their Planeswalker Spark also contained their soul, and removing it would kill them. However, on Kamigawa, the Phyrexian Praetor Jin-Gitaxis (brought there by the Planar Bridge thanks to the Planeswalker Tezzeret) studied the Kami of the Plane, and that, combined with the advanced technology found in Kamigawa, allowed him to perfect compleating a Planeswalker without removing their soul.

This was tested on the captured Planeswalker Tamiyo, and succeeded, creating the first Phyrexian Planeswalker.

The Factions Of New Phyrexia And The Praetors

Triumph of the Hordes card artwork
Triumph of the Hordes by Izzy

Unlike the previous Phyrexians, which were focused in colorless and black mana, those born on Mirrodin or New Phyrexia had access to all five colors of mana, and factions on the Plane formed. Each color faction on New Phyrexia has a leader known as a Praetor and resides in different areas of the Plane. All the Praetors have personalities relating to their respective colors and lead in rather different ways.

Elesh Norn

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite by Igor Kieryluk MTG
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite by Igor Kieryluk

Elesh Norn, known as the Mother of Machines is the white Praetor and serves as the ruler of New Phyrexia. She leads the Machine-Orthodoxy, a hyper-religious group with multiple sects. Elesh Norn and the Machine-Orthodoxy want to indoctrinate everyone into their teachings and will rip apart and repair beings into perfect images of Phyrexia.

She will gift those she deems worthy with compleation, with Atraxa, an Angel who protected the pre-Phyrexian Mirrans during their retreat, being the most notable example. She used Atraxa, the new Phyrexian Angel, as a symbol of unity for all Phyrexians.

Elesh Norn became the dominant Praetor after decimating the domains of fellow Praetors Sheoldred and Urabrask, and easily manipulated Vorinclex to make him do her bidding. The final Praetor, Jin-Gitaxias, has pledged loyalty to her, helping to expand compleation by researching how to compleat a Planeswalker successfully.

Elesh Norn was visited by the Planeswalker Ashiok, sometime before the second invasion of Dominaria. When Elesh Norn attempted to compleat a Mirran woman in a crowd of Phyrexians, the Glistening Oil she used failed to work, discovering it to be a vision that Ashiok brought into her mind. Elesh Norn unsuccessfully attacked, with Ashiok conjuring up a vision of the Planeswalker Elspeth wearing Elesh Norn's armor. This gave Elesh Norn a foreign feeling of fear, and she vowed to kill Elspeth for making her feel that way.

Elesh Norn nurtured the Realmbreaker, created out of tyrite from the World Tree of Kaldheim obtained by Vorinclex. This tree was able to pierce the Planes of the Multiverse, allowing Phyerxia to initiate their invasion of the Multiverse. Elesh Norn desired to spread Phyrexia outside the boundaries of New Phyrexia and indoctrinate all life under them.

Jin-Gitaxias

Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant by Chase Stone
Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant by Chase Stone

Jin-Gitaxias is the blue Praetor who leads the Progress Engine. These are the scientist of the Plane, researching how to create new lifeforms and new methods for compleation. Jin-Gitaxias is obsessed with bringing Phyrexia to its truest potential. He and the Progress Engine movement believe that this perfection can be achieved through experimentation, even if it's lethal or unethical.

Elesh Norn, seeking to take over the Multiverse, challenged Jin-Gitaxias to learn how to compleat a Planeswalker to help the cause. On Kamigawa, he was attacked and cut in half by the Planeswalker The Wanderer, but his body was brought back and repaired on New Phyrexia thanks to the Planeswalker Tezzeret. There, he was able to successfully compleat the captured Planeswalker Tamiyo.

Vorinclex

vorinclex mtg art daarken
Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider by Daarken

Vorinclex is the green Praetor, leader of the Vicious Swarm. Unlike other factions, they don't believe beings should be artificially perfect, instead following a "strong will cull the weak" mentality.

Vorinclex cares less about progress and only about the strongest leading. He compleated many elves in the Tangle on New Phyrexia, compleating the Elf Glissa, who acts as his champion. As such, he was content with his work, which allowed Elesh Norn to easily manipulate him and send him to Kaldheim for her own ends.

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On Kaldheim, the journey there practically destroyed his body but he was ultimately able to repair himself by absorbing local wildlife. There, he infected the Planeswalker Tibalt and forced him to do his bidding in exchange for the antidote.

While Tibalt sowed chaos on the Plane, Vorinclex was able to attack the God Esika and take a sample of tyrite. Succeeding in the mission, Vorinclex returned to New Phyrexia with the tyrite in hand.

Sheoldred

sheoldred phyrexian praetor mtg art
Sheoldred, Whispering One by Jana Schirmer & Johannes Voss

Sheoldred is the black Praetor, the top of the Steel Thanes (also known as Black Thanes). Unlike the other Praetors, she wants to become the leader of the Plane. The Steel Thanes aren't united and are all vying to be named the Father of Machines and rule New Phyrexia. They grow power by enslaving those against them.

Due to Sheoldred's goal, she has a rivalry with Elesh Norn. It would go in Elesh Norn's favor, and Sheoldred's domain was decimated by her. It was believed that Sheoldred might have even been killed, though has popped back up on Dominaria. Her weakened body was being repaired by Rona there, a Dominarian artificer who helped her recover. On Dominaria, she converted many residents into Phyrexian sleeper agents. She was responsible for capturing Karn for New Phyrexia and bringing him back along with the recently compleated Ajani Goldmane.

Despite assisting in Elesh Norn's plan, Sheoldred is not an ally. She leads a resistance unrelated to Urabrask's seeking to overthrow Elesh Norn to claim the title of Mother of Machines for herself.

Urabrask

Urabrask the Hidden by Brad Rigney
Urabrask the Hidden by Brad Rigney

Urabrask is the red Praetor and the most independent of the bunch. Due to his red mana giving him strong feelings of individuality, he has empathy towards the remaining Mirrans. He leads the Quiet Furnace, where the forges are used to build new weapons and recycle Phyrexians and Mirrans.

Unlike the other sections of New Phyrexia, Mirrans who showed up were not hurt and told to be ignored, with Urabrask declaring, "let them be" when they arrived.

Urabrask also dislikes all the other factions and demands that the forge is closed off from the rest of New Phyrexia. Most didn't mind, though Jin-Gitaxis and the Progress Engine were paranoid about what was going on in there. Urabrask was the only Praetor who did not attend the ceremony to compleat Atraxa, leaving her shut off from accessing red mana.

Like Sheoldred, Elesh Norn would send her forces to destroy his domain as well, forcing Urabrask to seek to dethrone Elesh Norn. After their fight on New Phyrexia, Urabrask is taken to New Capenna, thanks to Tezzeret. Urabrask met the Planeswalker Vivian Reed there, who he told to bring him the local substance Halo, and Elspeth Tirel, claiming them to be the key to defeating Elesh Norn and help tip the tides of the war in the Mirran's favor on New Phyrexia.

Urabrask leads a resistance against Elesh Norn, rebelling against her and hoping to take her out of power in New Phyrexia. He works with the Gatewatch - a group of Planeswalkers who vow to protect the Multiverse from threats - to help in his plan, relaying them information that would assist in their shared goal of defeating Elesh Norn.

Next: Magic The Gathering: Planes, Explained