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There are few places more dangerous in Magic: The Gathering than New Phyrexia. A metallic plane with all sorts of twisted abominations and nine layered spheres, each one a new and terrifying layer of misery and madness. This world is ruled by five Praetors, Phyrexians of unbelievable power, each one representing the worst of each color of Magic.
Among the burning sphere of The Furnace Layer, where streams of molten metal lead to gargantuan furnaces, rules the Praetor Urabrask. Consumed with completing what he calls his Great Work, Urabrask is a bit of an enigma when compared to the other Praetors.
What Is Urabrask?
Urabrask is a unique creature on Phyrexia, even among the massively powerful Praetors and other beings that live in The Furnace Layer. At his core, molten metal burns and fuels his body, contained by a mixture of bone, claw, steel, and iron. Across his back sit vents and flues that disperse heat and other internal workings from his body.
Many creatures, even those from The Furnace Layer, avoid Urabrask. He is prone to outbursts that result in either the death or severe injury of those around him. Many outsiders view Urabrask as little more than a cog in the machine, a pit boss without the care or ability to think beyond his task.
Unknown to most, Urabrask has reached his own conclusions about what it means to be a Phyrexian. Valuing independence and uniqueness, Urabrask doesn’t completely change those he chooses to bring into Phyrexia’s fold. Instead, he allows them to keep their strongest features so that they might add their strengths to Phyrexia’s.
The Quiet Furnace And The Great Work
Deep within the Furnace Layer of New Phyrexia lies a massive construct, The Quiet Furnace. From there, Urabrask rules with an almost single-minded goal: to complete the Great Work. This ideology consumes the creatures ruled by Urabrask, and under his watchful hand, it has reforged New Phyrexia.
This Great Work is focused on taking the metal of the old world and turning it into fuel for the new layers of New Phyrexia. The forges must keep burning, the dead and dying will be turned into something new, and the raw material of the world have a higher purpose being used to create new Phyrexians and strengthen the layers.
This layer is fashioned after the ancient Furnace Layer of the original Phyrexia, which was built under the gaze of Yawgmoth. Urabrask, however, has been hiding something in the forgotten parts of his layer, a secret that is utterly foreign to any other Phyrexian on the plane.
Influence Of Red Mana On Urabrask
Urabrask is a Phyrexian, there is no doubt of that, but the powerful pull of red mana on him and the Furnace Layer has caused something of a mutation among the Phyrexian population, something akin to empathy for the surviving Mirrans.
No Mirran would ever call Urabrask compassionate, or even caring to the survivors, the Praetor has chosen to overlook the pockets of resistance in his domain, so long as they don’t interfere with his Great Work.
The individualistic and rebellious nature of red mana has caused Urabrask to become something of a recluse among his fellow Praetors. He rejects the strict dictatorship of Elesh Norn, instead seeing her Machine Orthodoxy as the antithesis of his Great Work. Urabrask has since aligned himself with several of the Steel Thanes from The Dross Pits, as well as Mirran resistance fighters from time to time if their goals align.
Urabrask’s independence nears paranoia at times, as he has closed off the Furnace Layer from all other factions on New Phyrexia. He has ordered guards to patrol entrances to his layer, and for the most part, he has been left alone since his Great Work continues.
Urabrask’s Travels
In an effort to break free of Elesh Norn’s control over The Furnace Layer, Urabrask sought an alliance with the planeswalker Tezzeret, an uneasy partnership since he too was working for Norn at the time. The two devised a plan, to bring Urabrask to the plane of New Capenna where he could investigate a potential way to kill Elesh Norn. There Urabrask learned of Halo, a mysterious and magical material that has angelic properties, capable of healing many wounds, delaying the transformation process of Phyresis, and enhancing the user's magic.
Traversing to New Capenna took a great toll on Urabrask’s body, burning away most of his external organic flesh, leaving only the metallic portions of this body exposed. For a time, he rested in the depths of New Capenna, healing from his grievous wounds and upgrading his arms with massive curved blades.
While on New Capenna, Tezzeret introduced Urabrask to the planeswalker Vivien Reed, an ally of the Gatewatch. The green-aligned planeswalker was hesitant to work with Urabrask, and Urabrask was distrustful of Vivien, who was primed and ready to put down the weakened Praetor. Instead of fighting, Urabrask asked Viven to bring him a sample of Halo as well as another planeswalker Elspeth, who Urabrask knows Norn fears though he does not know why.
Perhaps the most revealing element of this encounter is an insight into Urabrask’s philosophy on what it means to be a Phyrexian. He rejects Elesh Norn’s belief that a unified Phyrexia means a uniform Phyrexia, where everything coalesces into a single entity all working under the same goal. Instead, he wishes to serve no ruler and to only be left alone to do his work.
Eventually, Urabrask returned to his home on The Furnace Layer with the help of Tezzeret and the Planar Bridge, though the trip once again ravaged his body and weakened him to near death.
Now back on New Phyrexia, Urabask set his plan into motion, working behind the scenes with several defecting Steel Thanes from under Sheoldred’s rule in The Dross Pits as well as unintentionally helping the surviving Mirran forces. This unlikely alliance worked to the advantage of Jace, Elspeth, Nissa, Teferi, and the other planeswalkers as they assaulted New Phyrexia in an attempt to shut down the great Realmbreaker tree before it could unite every plane in the Multiverse.
Though the planeswalkers failed in their attack on New Phyrexia, Urabrask continues to wage his guerilla war on Elesh Norn and her Machine Orthodoxy. How his attacks have fared at this time is unknown, though given the fact that Elesh Norn successfully united most, if not all, the planes of the Multiverse together, it would seem that his attacks were not enough to disrupt the white Praetor.