Magic: The Gathering Thread XXV: 3 Vorthoses barely clinging to sanity and 45 Spikes

[Fable Wright]

Does anyone happen to know where I could find that interview with Melissa De'Tora and Gavin Verhey where they were talking about how Oko went wrong in playtesting?

It wasn't Gavin, that's probably why you got the search terms messy.

[Techwarrior]

It wasn't Gavin, that's probably why you got the search terms messy.

Thanks so much. I thought it was on a good morning magic episode. Good thing I didn't go looking through the archive for that.

[enderlord99]

What do y'all think of this custom card design?

I suspect it's probably really strong, but I don't know for sure, and would like feedback.

[Androgeus]

What do y'all think of this custom card design?

I suspect it's probably really strong, but I don't know for sure, and would like feedback.

I think you are too focused on making a complement to Lich's Mastery than actually making a good card.

[enderlord99]

I think you are too focused on making a complement to Lich's Mastery than actually making a good card.

Probably true.

[Emmerlaus]

So, if you haven't heard, CardConjurer, one of the best sites for making custom magic cards, has been shut down after getting a C&D from wotc. I can’t give you a link to the tweets but look up Imkyle4815, Kyle Burton. Very sad day.

I think it will have the opposite effect however. People will feel even less remorse to proxy!

[enderlord99]

I've figured for a while that that there was going to be a card with the typeline "Legendary Planeswalker - Norn" but, after giving it some thought, I have an even more specific prediction to make:


It's either that or exactly double that. Calling it now. Screenshot this.

Spoiler

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I was incorrect.

[LaZodiac]

I couldn't watch the stream because my new workplace is a bit more strnigent about things like that, so here is a less than meaty recap than I'd prefer courtesy of one of the like three vorthos here.

NEW PHYREXIA: ALL WILL BE ONE

Elesh Norn's card in the cycle is here, a nasty effect.

Slobad and Venser's corpses have in fact been compleated. No spark for Venser for obvious reasons.

Sheoldred is seemingly choosing now to try and traitor Mommy Norn. Dumbass.

There will be ten planeswalkers in the set, each with a nasty and cool compleated art varient that is NOT CANON... but five of whom ARE getting compleated or are compleated in the story.

These walkers are as follows: Jace, Kaito, Kaya, Koth (whose card is rad and we see it), Lukka, Nahiri, Nissa, Tyver, Vraska, and the Wandering Emperor.

Place your bets now, folks. I've got a lot of potential pain in this batch... I'll write my own deathpool later though.

[enderlord99]

Elesh Norn's card in the cycle is here, a nasty effect.

Yup. Not as nasty as what I predicted way-back-when, though.

[Emmerlaus]

I couldn't watch the stream because my new workplace is a bit more strnigent about things like that, so here is a less than meaty recap than I'd prefer courtesy of one of the like three vorthos here.

NEW PHYREXIA: ALL WILL BE ONE

Elesh Norn's card in the cycle is here, a nasty effect.

Slobad and Venser's corpses have in fact been compleated. No spark for Venser for obvious reasons.

Sheoldred is seemingly choosing now to try and traitor Mommy Norn. Dumbass.

There will be ten planeswalkers in the set, each with a nasty and cool compleated art varient that is NOT CANON... but five of whom ARE getting compleated or are compleated in the story.

These walkers are as follows: Jace, Kaito, Kaya, Koth (whose card is rad and we see it), Lukka, Nahiri, Nissa, Tyver, Vraska, and the Wandering Emperor.

Place your bets now, folks. I've got a lot of potential pain in this batch... I'll write my own deathpool later though.

Easy if you ask me!

Lukka, Jace, Tyver and Kaito are ... ahem, "pale" and all mens. Those 4 are getting compleated. Then I would would either add Nahiri or Vreska in there cause its not as new as the other planeswalker and because the art I saw of their "compleated" version is sick/awesome looking so Im biased toward those two.

Beside, I wanna see Sorin vs Compleated Nahiri fight lol!

[LaZodiac]

because the art I saw of their "compleated" version is sick/awesome looking so Im biased toward those two.

Beside, I wanna see Sorin vs Compleated Nahiri fight lol!

Right I should clarify, all ten have compleated art as well as part of the showcase frames but it's all what-ifs.

I'm not gonna engage with the rest of your comment beyond "Kaito is Asian".

[Dienekes]

Hmm Kaito and the Emp are both new and from a popularized take on a setting that I think people liked. Now I personally didn't read any of that one because I didn't care. But I'm willing to bet they hadn't completed whatever narrative arc they got. But I think from the cards they were childhood friends? Making one of them compleated would be some nice added drama. Which one though? I'm tempted to say Emp because all mono-White authority figures in MTG either turn evil or die. I don't know how much of an actual leader Emp is, since I believe her backstory had something to do with being forced ever to wander or something. So I'm not sure if that counts. If that's the case, that she's not the one who really handles the empire's normal activities I'm going to bet on Kaito biting it of the two.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Jayce gets compleated. Now a gut reaction amongst fans might be that Jayce is too big, too important for that to happen to him without it being the big smashing ending of series. Which I don't think this is. We still haven't really even found out what the Phyrexians are doing, really. We can just make some educated guesses based on what they're up to behind the scenes. And the heroes definitely don't know. My guess is more the arc will be figuring that out and delaying it for some time. But because of that, I actually think WotC could be pulling a double bluff and actually doing it. Especially since with Chandra's vow to figure out a way to reverse compleation they have an out should they want to bring him back.

I'd be ok watching Nissa bite it. Don't much like her. More easy drama for Chandra if they want to go that route later on. But I doubt they'll compleate two of the original Lorwyn Five in one go. Of the two, I think I'd rather see Jayce go. I like him more than Nissa, but, I think him getting offed would end up more interesting.

Koth getting compleated would be a very darkest moment blow to the resistance against Phyrexia. But there's also a part of me that thinks them showing the reveal art of him as a Phyrexian by way of example means it's not him. Up in the air about it though.

How popular was Tyvar? Honestly he didn't leave much an impression on me reading through Kaldheim. If he left as little an impression on everyone else as he left on me, I can see him getting the axe. If he was popular, I don't think he will. New blood and all.

Nahiri seem bouncing back and forth between becoming increasingly horrible and putting aside her rage fueled blood oaths of murder to fight against a common cause. Seems kind of poorly written just floating off to do what is needed. She might get compleated.

Kaya I think is getting positioned as a new leader figure for team good guys. I don't think she will get compleated here. But, I'd be very amused to be proven wrong.

That leaves what, Lukka and Vraska? Maybe Vraska? Lukka has his whole plot with the Oriq still going and whatever exchange of ideas he made. If Jayce doesn't get compleated then he gets to be a sad boy over his ex-girlfriend. If he does then they can maybe do something about them finding each other among Phyrexians or whatever nonsense. But more importantly her dangling thread is the blackmail by Lazav, which this would effectively solve anyway.

Because everything I said above is a little wishy-washy I think I’m just going to rank those I think will get compleated from most likely to least likely.

Jayce, [Kaito/Emp], Vraska, Nahiri, Tyvar, Nissa, Lukka, [Kaito/Emp], Kaya, Koth

Those paired together because I think it will be one or the other, but not both.

[LaZodiac]

Hmm Kaito and the Emp are both new and from a popularized take on a setting that I think people liked. Now I personally didn't read any of that one because I didn't care. But I'm willing to bet they hadn't completed whatever narrative arc they got. But I think from the cards they were childhood friends? Making one of them compleated would be some nice added drama. Which one though? I'm tempted to say Emp because all mono-White authority figures in MTG either turn evil or die. I don't know how much of an actual leader Emp is, since I believe her backstory had something to do with being forced ever to wander or something. So I'm not sure if that counts. If that's the case, that she's not the one who really handles the empire's normal activities I'm going to bet on Kaito biting it of the two.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Jayce gets compleated. Now a gut reaction amongst fans might be that Jayce is too big, too important for that to happen to him without it being the big smashing ending of series. Which I don't think this is. We still haven't really even found out what the Phyrexians are doing, really. We can just make some educated guesses based on what they're up to behind the scenes. And the heroes definitely don't know. My guess is more the arc will be figuring that out and delaying it for some time. But because of that, I actually think WotC could be pulling a double bluff and actually doing it. Especially since with Chandra's vow to figure out a way to reverse compleation they have an out should they want to bring him back.

I'd be ok watching Nissa bite it. Don't much like her. More easy drama for Chandra if they want to go that route later on. But I doubt they'll compleate two of the original Lorwyn Five in one go. Of the two, I think I'd rather see Jayce go. I like him more than Nissa, but, I think him getting offed would end up more interesting.

Koth getting compleated would be a very darkest moment blow to the resistance against Phyrexia. But there's also a part of me that thinks them showing the reveal art of him as a Phyrexian by way of example means it's not him. Up in the air about it though.

How popular was Tyvar? Honestly he didn't leave much an impression on me reading through Kaldheim. If he left as little an impression on everyone else as he left on me, I can see him getting the axe. If he was popular, I don't think he will. New blood and all.

Nahiri seem bouncing back and forth between becoming increasingly horrible and putting aside her rage fueled blood oaths of murder to fight against a common cause. Seems kind of poorly written just floating off to do what is needed. She might get compleated.

Kaya I think is getting positioned as a new leader figure for team good guys. I don't think she will get compleated here. But, I'd be very amused to be proven wrong.

That leaves what, Lukka and Vraska? Maybe Vraska? Lukka has his whole plot with the Oriq still going and whatever exchange of ideas he made. If Jayce doesn't get compleated then he gets to be a sad boy over his ex-girlfriend. If he does then they can maybe do something about them finding each other among Phyrexians or whatever nonsense. But more importantly her dangling thread is the blackmail by Lazav, which this would effectively solve anyway.

We actually know pretty directly what the Phyrexians are doing, as of the end of the Brother War present day story. They've gotten enough information to surmize, as we readers have, that the Phyrexians intend to link the multiverse with their own World Tree, the REALMBREAKER, that will allow Phyrexia to easily invade every plane in the multiverse.

Also, on the note of Koth that I was not able to update in time: They have officially said in the stream that Koth IS immune, because of the injection from Melira, so he's Safe from compleation, so... that's a thing.

So, my deathpool time!

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JACE: Jace is a character I like pretty decently. He's a cool, flawed hero who has been with the series the entire way, and one of it not the only people who knows Bolas is actually alive. His ongoing relationship with Vraska is or was one of the most popular "things" in Magic for a time. Compleating him would cut off a fair amount of stuff, and be really impactful- especially since he and Ajani are often considered the faces of Magic. If both got got, anyone can get got.

I'm not sure on what odds I give it, but... it's decent to high. The whole Realmbreaker thing is going to change the multiverse entirely, and having "Magic's Main Character" end with the old world makes sense.

KAITO: Kaito is a fun character, but his arc has literally just begun- he and the Wandering Emperor were childhood friends and his entire character motivation has beenn finding a way to save her from her weird spark- the answer to which was taken by Jin, and it along with his studying of Kami is how they're able to compleat walkers in the first place. He and the Wanderer need to get their revenge on Jin and stop the Phyrexian's ability to compleat walkers for the finale... which would also mean the Emperor's problem is still going.

His chances? I'm gonna say no straight up, Kaito's not getting got. Young, fresh faced hero who must journey the multiverse to find some cure to the Wandering Emperor's roaming soul? That's an absolutely great way to give some variety to the plans and introduce a new quote-unquote "main character of magic".

KAYA: Kaya is a hard one. She is, as has been said above, been given a sort of leader role vibe. She is growing as a character, is very cool, a huge fan favorite, and one I personally love a lot. Unfortunately, her biggest plot hook (fixing her home plane) is tied up with the ending to War of the Spark Forsaken, so is likely off limits... and since she was made to kill the Obzedat and literally nothing else, well...

Unfortunately I think it's likely to be Kaya. All of the above, plus the fact that she's a fan favorite of mine, like Ajani and Tamiyo, means she's doomed. I'll also make the called shot of "gets compleated" instead of "was compleated already", since otherwise our heroes would not have made it this far at all.

KOTH: Explicitly immune. Whether this means he'll DIE, instead of being compleated, is another question entirely, but given the presentation of him being The One Who Lived, Elspeth's sole remaining friend who still draws breath, just as he promised so long ago... he's fine.

LUKKA: Lukka is a nasty-man villain that most people hate in the way they like someone like the stabby murder man from Batman. He's a bastard (affectionate) and has some plot hooks of interest (the mysterious voice ****ing with the crystals on Ikoria, the cult of college drop outs on Arcavios) but overall, I can see him getting got pretty easily.

I'm going to give Lukka high odds. He's someone who genuinely hates other people, so him volunteering to help here is suspect. He's basically a slithering doom dragon man for these modern ten titans, so him being pre-compleated would make sense, too.

NAHIRI: Everyone's favorite "discussions about this character are banned because people won't shut up about the discourse". Her character writing is actually really good (and Seanan's newest comic involving her is excellent, give it a look!) and her helping against Phyrexia makes sense.

Does she get compleated, though? I'm... unsure. I'd put it at the lower end of things. It'd take a ****ing lot to put her down on the Phyrexian side in the first place, and while it could be cool to have Sorin vs Compleat Nahiri, I genuinely don't think it'll happen.

NISSA: My favorite character of the bunch. Been with us forever. Perfect elf child who has grown so much over the years. I want her to reunite with Chandra, I want that spark to rekindle. Nissa has so many plot hooks; the growing reminder that Emrakul Chose Her, the fact that Gaia has now Chosen Her too. But the thing is, people would ****in' riot if this happened. Chandra and Nissa not getting together fractured the fandom harder than all of the faults of the War of the Spark books combined.

So how does this affect their chances? Well... sadly I think all of the above taken into account, she's going to get got... but NOT fall to the oil. She'll be compleated, but she'll still be her inside- which we know is true of all the compleated walker thanks to Ajani and Tezzeret's story- and Chandra will help break her out of it, and there'll be a really sad moment of self sacrifice emulating the giant lesbian fire laser that killed Ulamog and Kozilek that started all of this mess.

This would hurt me severely, so please no? Please?

TYVER: I like him a lot, and he's such a delightful dumbass with the power to absorb things into his body to use their materials to fight. He's got a fair number of plot hooks, and is just a really cool character, even if he is the biggest himbo to ever exist.

It is with great sadness that I'll mark him as very likely to get compleated, though. His powers make him so vulnerable to the oil, and his mentality is a norse-warrior-plane inspired "I am alive to die in a glorious battle!" so he's gonna dive right ****ing in.

VRASKA: Vraska is a big fan favorite, and a big favorite of mine, but her plot hooks are all mostly tied to Jace and Ravnica- though with some Ixalan there too! There could be a lot to do with her if say, Jace died, and it made her realize that conquest of Ravnica doesn't matter. It'd be part of the Golgari cycle of death and rebirth if she got got, compleated the current large chunk of it, and was destroyed to be replaced with the new leadership.

But, I think, odds wise... Jace has one over on her, due to the symbolism of it. Vraska is safer than him, but still up there, and I don't think they'll do both- though it would be cute if they both got got and that brought them together for one final dance.

WANDERING EMPEROR: Like with Kaito, she's a new character, fresh faced, and very well loved by everyone, including me (which, as a reminder, means they're likely to be in danger). Her story has ties to Phyrexia and Tezzeret, and like with Kaito could go on even if they were destroyed. I don't think she's very likely... except.

If she gets got and Kaito doesn't, it makes his story more bittersweat and perhaps interesting. Hunting down his compleated friend, who warps across the multiverse, one of the last Phyrexian's... still doing what she do (showing up, killing ****, leaving), but with a sharper, oil'd edge to it. I could see something being made of this!

So, with that all said and done... my deathpool iiiis...

JACE, KAYA, LUKKA, NISSA, TYVER

May god help us all.

[Fable Wright]

So, with that all said and done... my deathpool iiiis...

JACE, KAYA, LUKKA, NISSA, TYVER

May god help us all.

There was a leak.

Spoiler: Three revealed compleations

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[IMG="https://i.redd.it/9y4yxdq7t06a1.jpg"]https://i.redd.it/9y4yxdq7t06a1.jpg[/IMG]

The numbering implies no mono-red compleated walkers and only one Black compleated walker.

[Emmerlaus]

There was a leak.

Spoiler: Three revealed compleations

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[IMG="https://i.redd.it/9y4yxdq7t06a1.jpg"]https://i.redd.it/9y4yxdq7t06a1.jpg[/IMG]

The numbering implies no mono-red compleated walkers and only one Black compleated walker.

Spoiler: Considering the spoilers

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My last comment was very cynical... Sorry about that.

And yet, I was right about Jace being compleated! He is even holding that new Street Capenna weapon that change planeswalker into creature. That detail alone convinced me that he was going to be compleated. Lukka is a given to be compleated as well but mostly because of what we know of his character and how its not a loss if he is compleated.

As for the spoilers go, Im very disappointed Nissa couldn't be spared. It hurts, not going to lie. Not surprised, since they pull out of Chandra/Nissa romance. Feels like a way to bury it for good on their end.

I WISH Nahiri would get compleated though. Would have being freaking awesome to have her and Sorin match up.

Ok, so... Jace, Vreska and Nissa are considered confirmed at this point for me. Not surprised they are sacrificing the old characters to give place to new ones. Still hurt for what they did to Odric to be honest but that's not the same I guess.

I'll put my last two bet on Lukka and Tyver. LaZodiac explained well why its most probably him next and his argumentation seem solid. I really should try to find those online stories again and give it a shot but I have like 4 books to read at home that are begging me to start or finish them LOL!

[enderlord99]

It's a common pattern for me that whenever I think "I've shown off enough; I'll swing for lethal next round, and see how much overkill I've built up" my opponent concedes in the half-round window between my deciding that and my actually doing it.

I find this mildly funny, but also disappointing. The pillowfort experience be like that.

EDIT: It's not a pure pillowfort deck. It's a deck with a lot of different concepts mashed together. However, it feels halfway between pillowfort and manaless dredge (even though it is very much not manaless)

EDIT AGAIN: Tyvar is probably safe, because he only has one card so far; they (hopefully) wouldn't have him get got that fast.

[DrakeRaids]

For those interested; a large leak of rares accidently being placed in Dominaria Remastered draft boosters has resulted in us having now seen all the rare uncompleated planeswalkers, allowing us to deduce the others from process of elimination.

Spoiler: Who got got

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Uncompleated: Koth, Kaito, Wanderer, Tyvar, Kaya
Compleated: Jace, Vraska, Nissa, Nahiri, Lukka

[enderlord99]

Bold (and unlikely) prediction: the next Wrenn will not be "Wrenn and Eight" but rather

Spoiler

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"Wrenn and Worldbreaker"

[LaZodiac]

News today!

Phyrexian Script! They've given us the Alphabet! This is a big win for me specifically because it makes my girlfriend happy. There's also new art for Atraxa and probably a new card for her, which also makes my girlfriend happy. That's going to be a running theme of this set.

Many art of Phyrexia, showing how beautiful and serene it's become. Ajani in full Norn regalia fighting Elspeth, art of a compleated Tibalt being throttled by Tyver.

Lukka is our first confirmed compleated of the five who are getting got, so that's one point for me. Neat! The nasty-man has become nastier.

Near I'm aware that's it for official reveals.

CORRECTION: There are two stories. I'll read them later and make my write ups. New job has less free time.

[enderlord99]

I just encountered a very specific bug for the second time ever, and this time I saw it coming soon enough to record it.

[LaZodiac]

I just encountered a very specific bug for the second time ever, and this time I saw it coming soon enough to record it.

That is fascinating, though I'm not entirely sure what has happened...

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Okay folks story time! MTG Is releasing all the story right away so this post gon be BIG! Oops! Gonna do these in order of release.

Spoiler: ALL WILL BE SIDE STORY 1: Genuinely Shocked The Writer Didn't Make This Gay And Kept It As Just Friends

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Phyrexia All Will Be One Side Story 1: Cinders

In this one we follow a dwindling survivor group in New Phyrexia, specifically a group responsible for raising the cool phoenixes this plane has. It is a brutal showing of just how terrible it is to live during this machine apocalypse, a nice look at the despair and desperation that permeates your life when you live moment to moment, second to second, instead of in a bigger picture sense.

The story itself is more directly about Neyali, the leader of this group, and her friend Reyana. Reyana sees her mother as an Aspirant, one of the Phyrexian's that keep most of their flesh to lure in others. Neyali kills her, and they have a discussion about it- Reyana mentioning her mother used to beat her, not out of hate but out of despair for her life. Cool motive still child abuse. She comes to the conclusion that... as evil as Phyrexia is, compleation did fix her anxiety- she understands why people choose this.

It comes as no surprise that she then chooses so herself. Neyali follows with some of her Mirran forces, gets captured by Slobad, who lets the other Mirrans escape in exchange for her since he's such a swell guy. This is honestly the highlight of this side-story, because the prose is a little weak at times. Slobad genuinely feels like Slobad did back in Mirrodin proper, just Phyrexia'd up. It's well done. Neyali is freed from Slobad's cage by her phoenix and runs off to fight the good fight with her survivor's, because today is not the day she dies.

Over all a good story, but I think by the time this story is all done I'll be able to point at this one and say it is the weakest. Not bad by any stretch, though!

Spoiler: ALL WILL BE SIDE STORY 2: The MTG Story Line Caters, Specifically, To My Girlfriend

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Phyrexia All Will Be One Side Story 2: A Hollow Body

Now this is more like it! In this story, uniquely told from a... first person choose your own adventure style narration style where it's speaking as if the reader is the main character, you (the reader) are Ixhal, one of Atraxa's finest angelic creations. She sends you on missions as befits your status, and she praises you for the job well done, and you long to have her give you a wonderfully gentle headpat no you don't your phyrexian don't think about it don't think about it emotions aren't real stop it. Put in simpler terms, this is the story of a Phyrexian learning that the yoke can be shaken, and just what that means.

Today's mission is a simple one: Find Geth and kill his stupid ass cause he's still alive out there in the Dross Pits, the Phyrexian reconstruction of the Mephidross. You rise up from the Fair Basilica layer (Norn's seat of power) to hunt down the meat-headed lich. Once in the stinking, foul Dross you find a cute aspirant elf called Belaxis, and the encounter is really funnily written and not what I'd expect from a Phyrexian focused story but honestly it works, it works so good. He helps you get into Geth, Thane of Contract's, lair, and as thanks you don't immediately kill him to death for being an affront to the Great Work. Geth himself is a big huge insect monster man with his head still firmly meat and protected, and you fight him- Geth has some incredible lines that remind you he used to be a big bad arc villain, and he just about ****ing kills you, but you manage to chop his head off and bury your thumbs in his eyes. Gruesome! Also awesome!

Then you get an idea. You take Belaxis to one of Norn's special torture machines, put Belaxis on it for preparation, then take him and Geth's remains and you build some kind of horrifying turbo scorpion, and present it to Atraxa, ripping off your own wings to assist in the creation. It's incredible and you know Atraxa will love it!

She does not. You try to argue for yourself, that you just thought- and in a moment calling back to Greven being killed back in the Rath cycle, Atraxa just interrupts with a "You THOUGHT???". You come to the realization that Phyrexia, as a machine, is not as perfect as you once thought, and that you've failed it and fallen into the cracks. Atraxa dismisses you, and in your despair Vishgath, the horrifying turbo scorpion you made, gives you a pat on the back and tells you it'll be okay, we can just go traitor them. You decline... for now, and escort him back to the Dross Pits, where he intends to take Geth's seat, because it really does feel like Geth's not actually dead in there. Good for him, the ****in' headmaster ass weirdo.

Anyway this story is amazing? It's really funny, it's got just the right level of phyrexian body horror, it's a nice reminder that the Phyrexians, are monolithic as Norn plays them, are not fully united even among their own colours. As with Xantcha so long ago, the yoke can slip. It's also a fascinating... end? Continuance? Of Geth.

It is also, not incidentally, the Magic Storyline taking my girlfriend Celeste by the shoulder and saying "don't worry, your Phyrexian OC is SUPER cannon compliant" because this entire story could be hers from top to bottom up to and including really liking Atraxa. It's oustanding.

Spoiler: Phyrexia MSQ1: Nahiri's Never Seen A Zombie Movie Before, Ironically Given Sorin

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Assault on Phyrexia, chapter 1: Uncontrolled Descent

We start off strong, with Kaito relaxing in the metal-powder beaches of Mirrodinn, wondering why everyone was so scared about this place... then he comes to his senses, and we see that Nahiri is engaged with an infector, Wanderer is flickering in and out like a bad radio signal, Kaito's got no weapon and no tanuki, and they're extremely not in the Furnace Layer as intended. Wanderer tells him through fits and starts the basics: They set up a planar barrier using OG Phyrexia tech and when the strike team walked in they all got ****ing scattered- the Wanderer specifically is just, completely incapable of staying on this plane as a result, unless she devotes 200% of her focus into doing so- and even then as we learn later she's barely able to hold on and it really was just her care for Kaito pushing her past her limits that allowed her to stay for even this long.

Nahiri kills the infector, and reveals she's wounded, but hey blood's still red I'm good I'm good. It's clear that the writer for this (Seanan MacGuire) loves Nahiri, and knows how to play her right, and it's very satisfying. She's a great writer. With the fighting done they begin marchin' off, hoping to find someone to assist... and find a Hederon mixed into the ground. Concerning. They also find Tyvar, all statue'd up in protection of himself. They wake him up, and it is clear that Tyvar is Very Excited to be here, fighting the good fight, and he puts such pomp and circumstances into his manner of speaking it is fantastic. He pronouns air quotes around lore terms because he's a nerd and I love him.

Then they met Melira! Hooray! She's alive, which means there is a VERY slight chance that if anyone gets infected, we won't be 100% positive they'll fall to the phyresis unless Wizards spoilers the cards that show them compleated right after the story was posted. Eye twitch. Melira takes them down from Mirrex, the layer of the plane they're on (more on that later) to the Furnace Layer proper... but not before we the audience get a tease that, the wound on Nahiri's neck is not so clean. She's been infected; but she'll keep this from the others. No use worrying them, and she'll fight it with every last bit of strength she has...

A very good story, that sets up the situation, reveals the twist of the barrier and how it's going to cause problems, and establishes the stakes; Nahiri was immediately infected, so don't think for even a second that this is going to end easy for our heroes.

This also (shuffles the Nahiri card Wizards revealed under the rug) POTENTIALLY puts my Deadpoll at 2/5. Nice.

Spoiler: Phyrexia MSQ2: Melira Co-Host's This Set's World Building Stream

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Assault on New Phyrexian chapter 2: Unstable Foundations

We open this one with Elspeth, experiencing the planar barrier, and having a real bad time of it. Thankfully she finds Kaya (who's got all of Kaito's equipment shunted over to her) and then they find Thrun, the Last Troll! He helps them down to the Furnace Layer like Melira did, and we meet up with the last of our heroes- and namely, reunites with her good friend Koth, who after all this time is still fighting the good fight, still determined to win, and still the great source of warmth he always has been. Koth kicks ****ing ass.

Jace then buts in, and explains the situation at hand... namely that the barrier shattered Jace's mental link to everyone, Vraska and Lukka are MIA, and that Nissa set off an Aether Vial trap that forcibly planes-walked her elsewhere (this is my theory on what the trap was that shunted her away because Memnarch still had a bunch of those left and I think it'd be a god reference if that was what happened). So those three are gone. Jace is having a normal time about his girlfriend being missing, but is able to focus on the mission- though is grumpy about Nahiri being here, for understandable reasons. Nahiri to her credit is fine with things- she doesn't hold a grudge once it's been repayed, and she actually shows a lot of respect for Nissa. She won't fall to Phyrexia so easily.

Melira then asks Nahiri to put together a scale model of the plane to teach everyone what, exactly, the plane is like now. They are as follows:

* The Mirrex, the barely there hollowed out shell, is the last remnants of Mirrodin pure left. It's a crumbling, decaying shell.
* Furnace Layer, where Urabrask lives, constructing his revolutionary army and letting the Mirrans exist- not in comfort, but safely.
* The Hunter's Maze, Daddy Vorebuck's and Glissa's personal garden of hell. They've taken the Tangle down here and reconstructed it into a hellish jungle maze.
* The Surgical Bay. Jin-Gitaxis's personal layer where all of his workers and experiments live. Most of Phyrexia's mad science happens here.
* The Dross Pits, home of the Seven Thanes, garbage dump of reality. They put all the Mephidross here to contain it and use it for storage. We learn in a later story four of the seven are joined up with Urabrask: Roxith, Geth, Vraan, and Sheoldred. Sheoldred girl plz you're traitoring NOW? Really???
* The Fair Basilicia. Norn's personal seat of power, a beautiful, glorious place. If you've ever played Code Vein and remember the really creepy white lattice area, it's like this (honestly a ****ing lot of Code Vein is like Phyrexia tbh).
* The Seedcore, where the Realmbreaker lives, and where we must go.

Thankfully, due to Urabrask's help, we can bypass all the way to the Basilica... though our travel will take us a bit through the Dross Pit. Urabrask's revolution will happen soon, and with luck the distractions from that will keep Norn and Atraxa busy enough for them to sneak in with the Filigree Sylex and blow everything kingdom-come... though Melira makes it very clear to Jace that if he wasn't forthright about the fact that this plane may just destroy Mirrodin as a plane completely, they wouldn't help. I'm glad Jace learned not to lie about important **** like this.

Also thankfully: Melira HAS seen zombie movies, and immediately pegged Nahiri as an infected. She confronts her, and makes it clear that at the level she is now... she can be saved. But it'd take up a lot of time. She wouldn't be available to fight this. Nahiri accepts the fact that this may mean she'll die, because they NEED her to do this... Melira accepts this, and simply notes that that means she better do this quick. It's possible- POSSIBLE, that they could beat this before Nahiri fully falls. It sure would be bad if Wizards- okay so, the card reveal thing. We need to talk about it.

Wizards revealing the cards of the walkers alongside the stories about them is good and makes sense. It does unfortunately have some spoilers to it. Nahiri's going to become fully compleat. Now, whether this means she's evil (she is red mana after all, she could resist Urabrask style, and they've established the yoke can be thrown of, AND established that the walker is still alive inside). I'm not... really sure how one would go about doing this? They HAVE to reveal the cards, HAVE to reveal the story, there's really no perfect way to get this done without weakening some aspect of it. It's an unfortunate reality of creation that advertising needs make this happen.

Also: They introduce Hexgold, a mixture of Blinkmoth serum and metal that gives a nice gold sheen to things and makes it more resiliant to oil and more capable of killing the oil. Tyver gets a bit of it to use with his Absorbing Man powers, and I'm so so sorry Seanan MacGuire, wonderful lady who wrote all the man story chapters I don't know if it was an editing fumble or mixing it up with darksteel or just a last minute change but the one time you describe hexgold you describe it as a black metal and I'm sorry but it's called ****ing hex GOLD. It's gold!!! ahahahaha!

Anyway; story really good! This one has a lot of intense build up to it, preparing for our next chapter... which is gonna be a doozy.

Spoiler: Phyrexia MSQ3: Specifically Targetted To Make Me Sad

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Assault on Phyrexia, chapter 2: Inconceivable Losses

*looks at the title* Is that good?

This one starts with everyone preparing the descent into the Dross Pits. Jace makes his mind links and sets up illusions to hide them from Phyrexians (who will be too busy infighting, as mentioned earlier half the Thanes are on our heroes side and they've got Urabrask's forces assisting). Everyone gears up, Elspeth passes around the angel juiceboxes for everyone since it might help them and... oh no. Jace drinks his and nearly collapses from pain. Everyone is very concerned, and Jace, in a very flustered panic, explains clearly and concisely; the barrier had ****ed up his mental powers a lot, and the juice finally cleared up his brainfog.

And now he can hear Vraska. Who is experiencing unimaginable hell.

Chaos ensues. Jace refuses to continue on, he needs to find her. Everyone has differing opinions on this, with the least inflammatory being "at least give us the ****ing Sylex before you run off to your death" but Jace is so disturbed that he just books it, the sylex still strapped to his back. And so our heroes pursue, wasting valuable time, energy, and spell-slots on fighting Phyrexians now that Jace's illusions aren't helping out. They arrive at Sheoldred's Phyrexian Arena, where we find Vraska surrounded by Phyrexians, some petrified, some alive, all trying to fight her to the death. A swarm of Mirrans surrounding her are also dead.

We fight, we kill, and Jace finally reunites with his girlfriend... and she tells him the bad news. She got got, and she got got bad. She does not think she's going to make it. Jace insists she will, she WILL, she will not die here... and makes it clear he intends to stay by her side, protecting her. The others are varying levels of annoyed by this, and Nahiri just snatches the sylex from him, hands it to Kaya, and says they're out. As they begin to leave Jace hugs Vraska, inserts an illusion of them having one last perfect day together... but before it can even start, Vraska kisses him, and he can taste the lies. She was compleat before he even got here. Her newly added scorpion tail stabs him in the arm, the illusion breaks, and the Phyrexian ambush happens.

Nahiri, looking at an infected Jace, a compleat Vraska, a swarm of black phyrexians and all of her little minions, and decides... **** it we ball. Do not waste my sacrifice. She gathers all her power and cleaves the arena- and the Dross layer- in ****ing half and they all fall into the Fair Basilica. The surviving strike team members (Koth, Kaya, Kaya, Elspeth, Jace but he's got a timer now) leave, a heavy weight on them.

Really really really good story. A sad, somber send off to Magic's favorite cishet romance, and if they really do have Jace get compleated here it is a WILD pull. They killed Magic's face. The guy people are obnoxiously annoying about because of his flavour text. The Main Character of Magic has been Compleated. Outstanding stuff.

Also with Vraska and now Jace my deathpool is at 3/5, with one confirmed wrong. Damn. Sorry for doubting you Kaya... and sorry to myself for not believing they'd absolutely target all my favorite characters. Oops!

Spoiler: ALL WILL BE SIDE STORY 3: Lukka Is The Actual Worst Character In Magic Sorry Okko You Don't Suck This Much Yet

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Phyrexia All Will Be One Side Story 3: Hard As Anger, Bright As Joy

We open with Lukka, the nastyman, in the Hunter's Maze. Bad day for him- but hey, he might find an animal to dominate here at least! After some exploring he meets up with Nissa, and Wanderer who is still trying to stay stable on the plane- but has managed to be able to fight at least. Good for h- oh she's gone again. Anyway, Nissa is less than thrilled to be hanging out with the nastyman, especially since his only real power set is controlling animals by binding his mind with them, and the only animals around are Phyrexian. H does manage to stop one from attacking Nissa from surprise, and even notes that it can lead them through the Maze, but Nissa... probably correctly, notes that this is going to ****ing do wonders to his brain, and they should kill it.

Lukka promises, however, that if he even begins to feel bad, he'll kill it. AFter all, he's dealt with monsters all his life, it's fine. He even makes a note of saying he's super trustworthy, which is definitely a thing a trustworthy person says. Fun fact if you didn't read the Ikoria novel; Lukka's big moment in the book is revealing he's a traitorous bastard who uses a peacetalk negotion to ambush and kill his former boss and also girlfriend's dad. Lukka is a nastyman. To her credit Nissa doesn't believe any of this **** and is keeping an eye on him.

During their traveling Lukka throws a lot of mental hate towards Nissa. Annoyed at how her boots dig into his beast's back (which he can feel due to the bond), annoyed at her lemon scented hair. He hates her he hates her he hates her- but he'll endure for the mission. He's a good and noble soldier who can easily do this. For those of you who haven't read the Ikoria novel the big threat of the novel was Lukka's inability to deal with the fact that he had a bonded monster friend, and his response was to use it as a tool. Also later on when doing some leaping from tree to tree he feels Nissa's face and decides he actually thinks she is hot. I ****ing hate Lukka. ****ing nastyman who truly thinks he is a good and correct and faultless person.

They then get attacked by a Phyrexian! Nissa gets knocked off, and Lukka mentally orders his beast to secure him so he won't fall, expecting it to like, adjust itself so he won't get thrown. Instead it shoots wires and cables up into his spines and guts, making him into a centuar monstrosity. Jesus christ this is horrifying but also I ****ing hate Lukka so much so this owns. Despite the very obvious... problems, with Lukka having machine bits wound up his spine and organs, he is able to save Nissa from falling to her death, and Nissa is kinda forced to associate with him for the remainder of the journey through the Hunter's Maze- all the while, Lukka is being compleated from within.

Small note: apparently the wires recede and heal up his skin so it doesn't look like it absolutely grabbed him by the spinal collemn to keep him steady. I choose to believe this is Lukka continuing to be a bad judge of his own status as the nastyman ****er.

At one point during there travels they reach a, quote, sphincter like opening, and ****ing- WHO LET THE WRITER OF THE ORIGINAL SCARS OF MIRRODIN BOOK BACK!?! ENOUGH WITH THE MEAT *******S! I was hoping we'd get through this without a callback to THAT, but here we gooooo!

Okay there we go- yeah Lukka does still have the cable-roots in him, he's just not noticing they're gone stealth mode. He's such a dumbass. I'm glad he's going to die but I'm upset that my favorite character is going to get compleated because of him.

Some further fighting ensues as they travel, Lukka getting injured and noticing the scabs are metallic underneath. He also reveals they're almost at the center of the Maze... when he was supposed to be leading them out, to the Furnace Layer. It's pretty clear to Nissa and the Wanderer what is going on... and Nissa knows she's likely doomed due to this, so they decide they'll at least kill Vorinclex while they're down here. He's likely at the center, after all...

The three of them meet Glissa- Lukka remarking to himself he's seen her before, knows her name. He doesn't even notice he shouldn't know this. Actually really good writing here! Glissa and Vorinclex are fighting to the (pretend) death, as is the way of bestial creatures. Play-fighting, adorable! Nissa also knows her name, which... doesn't make sense, but sure okay. Nissa is unsure they should fight given Glissa is here, but Lukka is like "naw it's good!" and charges, forcing their hand. He fights Glissa, Nissa fights Vorinclex.

During the fight, Glissa goes in for the kill on Lukka, and this forces Lukka's hand- he demands the creature join him to save him, and it does so, concluding his compleation. And unfortunately, while Nissa was putting up a good fight against the praetor... three against one isn't going to happen (and the Wanderer, who is flickering in and out, cannot really help). Nissa runs, and Lukka pursues, to capture her for compleation...

I do not like this story. Do not get me wrong, it is well written (though I'd actually like to apologize to Cinders, this is the least good one overall). But I hate being inside Lukka's head. He's a disgusting little creep **** and I hate him. He's a gross weirdo and I hate him. He's a meritocracy focused scumbag idiot who fell to Phyrexia super duper easily and I hate him.

And because of him my favorite character is going to be compleated. **** you Lukka I hope Chandra turns you into charcoal.

I'll note that if we get a story from Nissa's pov I'll be happier. I don't want the last thing Nissa does as a living, non phyrexian character is "to be **** on by Lukka's stupid idiot incel brain for an entire story", because he really just does not think highly of her in any way other than "her face is nice".

Also as of this episode we now know who is compleat and who is safe (assuming Jace getting got means he's Got got).

This means my deathpool is at... 3/5. I missed on Kaya and Tyver. Damn.

[Dienekes]

Spoiler

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Right, so I knew going in that this mission would end in failure. But I am actually impressed by how poorly planned all this seems to be.

Whose idea was it to bring Lukka? What does he add here? Nahiri also should have a reputation for violence and erratic self destructive behavior. But she’s at least a powerhouse to make up for it. Why bring the guy whose party trick is attach himself to creatures on a plane where all the creatures are essentially infection bombs?

I am not surprised at all Nahiri would be the person in a zombie movie to hide their bite.

Say what you will about Urza, but he at least planned for his party descending into stupidity and infighting.

Anyway, also 3/5. But my two runner ups were the two I missed. I probably should have expected all the new characters were safe. I don’t know why but I was weirdly attached to the idea of making the Wanderer and Kaito on different sides. Which is strange because I didn’t even read Kamigawa. I have not attachment to either character.

So now that the bet is over. Who wants to see who gets un-compleated by the end? Personally I kinda think introducing uncompleation is a bad idea. But Chandra kinda established the possibility in her rousing speech last set, and we’re getting potential ingredients to do so this one. So I think it’s going to happen.

[LaZodiac]

Spoiler

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Right, so I knew going in that this mission would end in failure. But I am actually impressed by how poorly planned all this seems to be.

Whose idea was it to bring Lukka? What does he add here? Nahiri also should have a reputation for violence and erratic self destructive behavior. But she’s at least a powerhouse to make up for it. Why bring the guy whose party trick is attach himself to creatures on a plane where all the creatures are essentially infection bombs?

I am not surprised at all Nahiri would be the person in a zombie movie to hide their bite.

Say what you will about Urza, but he at least planned for his party descending into stupidity and infighting.

Anyway, also 3/5. But my two runner ups were the two I missed. I probably should have expected all the new characters were safe. I don’t know why but I was weirdly attached to the idea of making the Wanderer and Kaito on different sides. Which is strange because I didn’t even read Kamigawa. I have not attachment to either character.

So now that the bet is over. Who wants to see who gets un-compleated by the end? Personally I kinda think introducing uncompleation is a bad idea. But Chandra kinda established the possibility in her rousing speech last set, and we’re getting potential ingredients to do so this one. So I think it’s going to happen.

Spoiler

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They actually had a pretty solid plan, they just hadn't considered they would have the ability to disrupt their arrival so compleatly.

Lukka was stated to be brought in (from Lukka's perspective) because of his military training. He'd have been able to organize the Mirran troops to help out better. The fact that he can bond his mind with a creature was not ever intended to be used, Lukka's just an idiot. Nahiri has a reputation (and Jace makes it clear he hates her during all this) but she's not erratic or self-destructive in any way.

Urza very explicitly DID intend that, that's why he hired The Silent Doom to be part of the Titans, so he'd kill someone to give him an excuse to use the Spark Bomb. Urza's plan was also really ****ing bad!

I don't think we're gonna get any one un-compleated. We might have some freedom to act, since we know from Tezzeret's story that all the walkers will still be inside themselves, but I don't think anyone is going to stop being a crazy mutilated robot zombie. I'm curious what ingrediants you're thinking, because aside from what Tezz noticed about Ajani, I don't think there's anything else.

[NeoVid]

I was catching up with one of the only MOBAs I can stand, Smite, and when looking through newer skins, I went, "Wait. Did Morgan Le Fey get a Phyrexian skin?" Then a few minutes later I learned there's official MtG/Smite crossover skins in the works. Not the greatest timing Smite could've had to link themselves with WotC, but I'm certain they'll turn out looking extremely cool, which is all I can really ask for.

[LaZodiac]

Yeah, the Smite/MTG crossover seems neat. Atraxa as Thanatos is a fun pull!

Anyway- hey the story concluded. Lets go over it.

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Spoiler: Phyrexia MSQ4: Last Save Point In An RPG Ass Vibes

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Assault on Phyrexia chapter 4: Impossible Odds

Our heroes march through the Fair Bailica, thinking and talking about the loss of Vraska, the sacrifice of Nahiri, and the looming threat over Jace. Elspeth wishes she could make the Phyrexians regret what they've done with righteous violence, but knows that these things will never know a shred of regret. True monsters, glad in porcelain, flayed to the tender meats, some even ossified in stone and metal due to Norn's affection for them- statues that watch eternally. The Fair Basilica is a ****ing nightmare reality, in more ways than any of the other layers.

After some traveling, they finally arrive: Realmbreaker in the distance, invasion ships waiting in the wings like overripe pure-white fruits ready to be plucked... and above the branches, the wavering veil of reality that accompanies Omenpaths. We are too late. The tree is already reaching through the Blind Eternities to other planes. This is bad, because when our heroes were discussing the possibility of the Sylex destroying Mirrodin as a plane, they noted that it's going to put to the torch EVERYTHING this phyrexian worldtree touches... and right now it is touching who knows how many planes.

Severely daunted by this, our heroes continue to the base of the tree, where we find poor, poor Karn. Completely vivisected. We knew only his head really remained, but now this is like, factually true. There is barely anything left to rebuild him with. He apologies to our heroes, saying that this should have been his responsibility. That he should be the one to die with this plane. He hates that others have to do it- and hates more that Elspeth has had to return here. It's a tragic moment, especially since I do like Karn. Melira and Koth break from the party to set additional charges near the tree, and to at least remove Karn from his current predicament when things start going explode-wise. The world gets heavier, the burden harder to carry, and our heroes descend.

The final stretch. A pristine white bridge leading to the Seedcore, the glowering, crimson-red soul of Argentum, of Mirrodin, of New Phyrexia. And before them, the compleated Ajani and Tibalt. Ajani in full Nornish regalia, pristine and smooth and horrifying. Tibalt with twisting twin scorpion tails and a metallic furnace-sheen to him. Elspeth and Tyvar face off against them, as the other three dip to get the Sylex planted. The final fight begins!

All in all a pretty good chapter! A bit transitory, but expected as it is branching between the last one and the finale. Speaking of...

Spoiler: PHYREXIA MSQ5: The How Of An Unavoidable What

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Assault on Phyrexia chapter 5: Inevitable Resolutions

I... is that good? Is that good?

This story opens with some sad observations from Kaya, that I really really like. First and foremost; Jace is like a cat, using illusions to hide his tiredness and wounds, never wanting to be acknowledged as being in pain... but now? Ever since Vraska he hasn't bothered. And he looks like an utter mess. It's... a lot. Second, Kaya has noticed that there just... is NO ghosts, in all of Phyrexia. She expected the place to be swarming with them given how brutal the plane is, but there just... isn't. Not even death frees you. Third: the impossible to deny realization that all of her friends are dead. She came down here because she knew Jace, trusted Jace. She knew Nissa, she trusted Nissa. She knew TYVAR, trusted Tyvar. She's part of Jace's Gatewatch, she knew these people, interacted with them. Now she's down here with the soon-to-be corpse of her friend, and a person she's never met, and it's up to them to save reality from Phyrexia's hell, and it is just too much to think about. There is this underlying feel of... admission that even if they succeed, Kaya's not sure they'll win. It does feel hopeless.

And then it happens. Doubt creeps in. They reach the spot where they need to use the Sylex, and doubt creeps in. The original Sylex, as Jace so put it back when they were ramping up to go down here, broke things they didn't know could be broken. It shattered time, it rent reality asunder, it linked twelve planes in such a way no one could enter or exit. It crushed Dominaria's soul such that if it weren't for the World Spell it would have died a frozen, endless death. And all of this when the plane was just that; a singular plane, containing the entire explosion. So the question is... what happens to the other planes the Realmbreaker touches? If the Sylex will eradicate everything Phyrexia touches, how will that ripple through the fabric? Hell, the tree needs to dip into the Eternities to reach those other planes- it may even be possible that the destruction will cascade through THAT- every planeswalker in transit will be torched, every plane will feel the burn.

Do you take that risk to stop something as evil as New Phyrexia?

Kaito falters. No, he can't. Kaya, thinking about the horrors of Phyrexia, about the pain they've been through, the loss and death... and sides with him. There must be another way.

A mix of machine taint and Jace's own personality just being like this leaves him... disappointed in them. He calls back to the first moment, the beginning of everything: we planeswalkers have a duty to help, a unique privilege to be the ones who CAN. To do otherwise is indolence. Stopping Phyrexia is worth the risk.

And maybe it is. Maybe it would be worth every risk, every sacrifice. Urza sure felt so, and as we know he was never wrong about the things he did in pursuit of stopping them. The Zendikar trio felt so- even as Nahiri's anger at them using Zendikar festered, even as Sorin's "**** you got mine" mentality led him to neglect his duties, even as Ugin's long-term thinking and ulterior motives led him to make what he believed was right moves, ignoring all others.

Jace thinks so. The others don't. A fight ensues.

Elspeth and Tyvar continue fighting their own battles- Tibalt turning away from the foe he is so taunting to slip his despair inducing magic into Elspeth in hopes of leaving her open to Ajani's blows. Tyvar solves that problem rather cleverly- if riskly, coating him with his hexgold through transmutation. It was established earlier that if you're being transmuted by Tyvar's magic, it kinda suppresses your own magic (can't cast through the shell of material he's putting over you). Doing this makes Elspeth kinda boomerang from pure despair to pure hope, and she explodes with angelic magic. She fells- as much as one can fell, anyway- Ajani, shattering his neck and sending him falling unconscious. She runs off to the others, Tyvar still brawling with Tibalt, though we see the conclusion: Tyvar grabbing Tibber's tails and impaling him in the heart with them, then pitching him off the bridge to shatter.

In the Seedcore, Kaya and Kaito fight Jace- but he knows them, and the compleation is making his morals loosen. He wins, and begins the spell, pouring all his trauma into the Sylex. The words don't matter, but he repeats Urza's for the symbolism.

AND THEN ELSPETH COMES IN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR Elspeth arrives, sees what is happening, and puts two and two together. She kills him, grabs the Sylex, and... with a burst of light, vanishes from existence. Tyvar arrives in time to see the aftermath of it... as it sinks in that all hope is, it seems, lost. Elspeth is gone, the sylex is gone, Jace is dead, and New Phyrexia is both alive and currently invading everywhere. Tyvar disagrees- he saw Elspeth glowing with holy magics. He saw hope literally coming from her. She's clearly not dead- and the Sylex is with her. Hope remains.

Then, the metallic footsteps of Mother.

Norn appears, flanked by the compleated Nahiri... and compleated Nissa, who they specifically targeted so they could better utilize the tree. Elesh Norn gives her big speech about Phyrexia being unstoppable and how they should kneel and embrace her love. All Will Be One.

Tyvar: "No >: ("
Kaito: "Yeah no I'm good."
Kaya: "**** off" "Go to hell"

And so our story ends.

I do think this story- and this ending in particular, is pretty damn good. An unfortunate reality of being a Vorthos- especially one who keeps up with the news for her friends, is that you are going to see the marketing. The unfortunate reality of story and card being intertwined, is that you're going to see the cards along with the story. The unfortunate reality is, there just isnt' a way to avoid that and also engage the story. So we knew, since we knew March of the Machines was going to happen, that Something would happen. We didn't know HOW, but we knew this would fail. Seeing it play out though, it was an enjoyable read.

Given all the traveling involved, all the fighting, all of that, I think the shorter story structure actually helped this story? There was much less time spent lingering on the inevitable deaths some of our characters were going to experience. It's good to draw stuff out sometimes, but too far and it becomes a slog of torment. Scars of Phyrexia was like that, sadly, so I'm glad they avoided it here. I do wish we got stories delving into the Surgical Bay a bit (we genuinely just don't know what this sphere looks like beyond the art), and I do think it'd be neat to see how Urabrask's rebellion went... but for me, the biggest sacrifice to the story structure was that we didn't get any scenes from Vraska and ESPECIALLY Nissa's perspective.

These are characters we love and cherish, and the last time we see them as themselves is... rough. Vraska gets it good- Seanan gave her an excellent send off. Nissa, the last time we see her as herself is from the perspective of Lukka, an insufferable **** **** who I hate with every fiber of my being- which, kudos, the story was intended to do this, and damn if they didn't succeed in doing this. I hate him (affectionate) and I hate him (derogatory). Nahiri and Jace got proper send offs too so it really is just my girl who got done a little dirty. Ah well, March of the Machines is absolutely going to have a Chandra vs Nissa story aspect to it, and that'll maybe soothe my heart... and maybe Nissa's being acknowledged by Emrakul will come up. Who knows!

I will note also; there are two side stories past this conclusion!

One is with everyone's favorite bastard Tezzy-boy, where he finally gets what he is owed; a darksteel body. He escapes Jin's lab and goes to Esper, finds a street-rat who reminds him of himself, gives him some etherium and tells him to **** off to Bant to warn Rafiq of the coming invasion- tell him a friend of Elspeth sent you, and bring the angels. I genuinely really like this but I have work so I don't have time to go over it beat for beat, but seeing Tezzeret stay true to his word of "**** the Phyrexian's I just want my body fixed" is good fun. This story has a lot of deep cuts- Tezzeret's hallucinations during surgery are reminiscent of Test of Metal, Baltrice is mentioned and implied to maybe be alive, Tezzeret almost gets his head shot off my Tamiyo's rat son who had seen him die once before and by **** he'll kill him again if he doesn't tell him where mom is. It's all really good set up for the future, concluding in Tezzeret finding his HQ back from Agents of Atrifice, and preparing to weather out the storm so he can restart the Infinite Consortium. This story has lore complications because of how it actually contradicts some stuff in War of the Spark Forsaken but I'm pretty sure that just means they're slowly shuffling that story out of our brains if they can help it.

Second is Teferi! We learn where he's gone: Zhalfir, within the phased out time. Months pass in the span of days, and it turns out Zhalfir has spent 400 years by their reckoning preparing to fight Yawgmoth. Norn is a bit more Girl than they probably expect, but once Teferi gets them out of here they're going to be a big help. There's a lot of really good pathos for Teferi here but again, work, I can't go into it yet, but it's truly excellent even if the story is a bit hard to follow at times prose wise. It ends with Teferi meeting the Wanderer, post Assault, who managed to clip into Zhalfir... Teferi thinks it is because the Realmbreaker is cutting into even the phased out space, linking it back into the multiverse as a sort of Domain of Dominaria, like how the various realms of Kaldheim work. It's neat!

[enderlord99]

Mono-blue mill is just blackless Dimir, and Eldrazi decks are greenless mono-green.

[Durazno]

The invasion is playing out a bit differently than I'd hoped, though it isn't the worst thing in the universe.

Much like the planeswalkers were powered down to make their struggles more compelling, I was kind of hoping that Realmbreaker would connect a defined set of planes (making March of the Machines a bit Origins-like), and the Phyrexians would encounter stiff resistance on each. Instead, we seem to be going with "the Phyrexians are an unstoppable wave rolling through plane after plane," which I find less interesting.

[LaZodiac]

Mono-blue mill is just blackless Dimir, and Eldrazi decks are greenless mono-green.

Yeah, and you can make your mono-red deck better at drawing by adding some blue cards.

The invasion is playing out a bit differently than I'd hoped, though it isn't the worst thing in the universe.

Much like the planeswalkers were powered down to make their struggles more compelling, I was kind of hoping that Realmbreaker would connect a defined set of planes (making March of the Machines a bit Origins-like), and the Phyrexians would encounter stiff resistance on each. Instead, we seem to be going with "the Phyrexians are an unstoppable wave rolling through plane after plane," which I find less interesting.

If it helps, all the planes they mentioned as falling are like... tiny ones, that were brought up as aside things in old novels and graphic comics. Not planes where we know the sort of force they're capable of putting forward- not ven the Dack Faydens of the planes, the "that one unnamed Viashino planeswalker that got got" of the multiverse.

I imagine the stronger push against them will be seen in next set.

[Amidus Drexel]

Yeah, and you can make your mono-red deck better at drawing by adding some blue cards.

Delver of secrets is basically lightning bolt every turn, and once you have that, you don't need to put as many burn spells in your deck, so you can play counterspells to deal with the stuff that burn struggles with and cantrips to smooth out your draws...

Hey look, an eternal format archetype!

[RandomPeasant]

If it helps, all the planes they mentioned as falling are like... tiny ones, that were brought up as aside things in old novels and graphic comics. Not planes where we know the sort of force they're capable of putting forward- not ven the Dack Faydens of the planes, the "that one unnamed Viashino planeswalker that got got" of the multiverse.

The Tezzert story seems to suggest that he thinks at least Bant will be able to stand against the Phyrexians to a meaningful degree. I do think it's sort of lazy and dumb if the secret to beating Phyrexians is just "have a bunch of angels around" though.