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An important part of Ixhel's story is that it paints Phyrexia under Elesh Norn's rule as a self-defeating machine. The Machine Orthodoxy promises every one a purpose in an unified singularity, but its only purpose is spreading Phyrexia's perfection towards the multiverse. The question that breaks Ixhel throughly is simple yet effective: _"And then what?"._ After perfection is achieved, what purpose is left? What will happen with all those created to spread Phyrexia's glory, when there's nothing left to compleat?
This reminds me of Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach. He said to an opponent, who claimed to have achieved perfection, something like this : "I hate perfection, because once you've achieved it, then you can't get any better, you have nothing left to enhance, nothing left to do"
The side story with Lukka turned him from a character I was totally indifferent about, to a character I love to see fail by his own pride time and again. The fact that he bonded with the phyrexian after being told that it was an explicitly bad idea because it reminded him of being bullied as a child and no one could tell *him* what to do anymore, was one of the most (probably unintentionally) funniest character arcs I've seen. And the degradation of his mental state as the oil spoke into him was the most in depth we actually got to see of what it was probably like for the others who were slowly corrupted.
I think one part you glossed over is how lukka slowly starts hearing the phyrexia language, how it shifts to how pretty the plane was, instead of gross. Lukka's story is vital world building on how phyrexia slowly changes you until you are full phyrexian. It helps understand what Jace and nihiri are going through. Should also be mentioned that they were trying to get out of the maze and lukka was leading them to the center because he forgot they meant to get out of it. Showing, again, how his mind and priorities are shifting. Furthermore, the wanderer comes back and talks them into going to the center and taking out vorenklex 3 vs 1 only to find out they are 3v2 and then wanderer unwillingly planeswalks out. 2vs2 become 3v1, rip nissa.
Lukka deserve to win the Darwin award, but the best character remains Tezzeret: he condamned all the multiverse to the Phyrexian plague by helping them with his planar bridge, just to have his damn new body, and in the end he turned Sheoldred against Elesh Norn, tricked Jin Ghitaxis and planeswalked away with his trophy... umiliated Nashy on Kamigawa, saved a boy on Alara and prepared them against the invasion... then hided himself, whaiting to see who will be the winner, probably planning to appear again sayng «good job sis!... Hey, it's me, Tezzeret... your old friend!»
If he can take out the Phyrexian leadership (If all does become one) he’ll be at the head of a multiverse reborn into metal. If the hero’s win then he practically has a get out of jail free card for all his crimes
@@rennac3152 Tezzeret can't control phyrexians just because they're part metal. Even if the praetors got taken out of the picture (which Tezz himself definetly doesn't have the power to make happen), New Phyrexia has a complex enough power structure that othes would step up (especially now with all the compleated walkers). It's also very unlikely that he'd be in good terms with any of the surviving walkers, as both Kaito and the Wanderer have reasons to kill him on sight for Kamigawa (even if everyone forgets about the War of the Spark stuff). He's definetly being set up as a future antagonist, but he will have to do some major rebuilding offscreen first.
@@VoidArchon A true Survivor till the end who I’m rooting for. And I’m aware he’d have no direct control over most zombie or synthetic altered foot soldiers and or their lesser command structure. But he has affinity for communicating with drones and basic constructs. I can see many types of opportunist such as himself thriving in a multiverse littered with assets. What a fun game of command and control it would be over all worlds
Hear Hear! Nissa getting compleated off screen is the itch I just can't reach to scratch "at least tell us her final moments" is something I'd want to say to the author
I feel like we should had a side story about the Urabrask rebelion... It wasn't only side it by the main story as a simple distraction for the heroes to reach realm breaker, it was only comented in Tezzeret story... I feel like they hype it a little the event with the side story of New Cappena an then simply put it away... It's like "Oh no, the Phyrexians are invading the multivers... While they are fighting an open war with each other". I dunno I want justice for my boy Urabrask
Same, they just sort of say "hey Urabrask ain't like his siblings" and leave it there. It would have been nice for him to get a compleated walker, or semi compleated walker turn up in the forge and for them to join him rather than Norn.
I kinda wish we had gotten to know how things are on Ravnica. Like... how are things there after the War of the Spark? Would Ravnica be prepared when the Phyrexian Invasion comes to their doorstep? Or are they gonna be blindsided by it because of reconstruction efforts from the War of the Spark's aftermath?
Since Jace and Vraska lived on Ravnica, i imagine some number of important Ravnicans were let in on the potential of an invasion, such as Ral (or, in his sneaky ways, Lazav).
It is explicitly stated that various planes are being prepped for the invasion with Sorin being mentioned as leading the effort on Innistrad so I assume similar for Ravnica and other places deeply connected to other parts of the multiverse. Though as a side note, we actually have gotten a story that takes place on Ravnica after War of the Spark but it was a side story written up for Secret Lair: Pride Across the Multiverse that had a meet cute between Saheeli and Huatli that just happened to take place on Ravnica
A couple of my thoughts on all of this: I like the story with Lukka because it highlighted how he didn't change physically at first but mentally. Tezzeret going back to Alara and telling the boy to go seek Rafiq had my heart swell (Love Alara, I want to go back T.T) I want to understand Urbrask's rebellion a little more. It just felt like "......oh yeah that thing is happening to i guess, but look Jace!" I feel it should've been mentioned that Elesh Norn wanted Geth gone because while he was phyrexian for the most part, he refused to change his head and face and it was seen as a blemish and a oversight or something like that. Also Geth was talking heavy to Ixhal which I thought was like a "you dont know who you are do you?" kinda talk. Teferi being back on Zhalfir was also a super cool moment but seeing The Wanderer there made me question, where exactly is Zhalfir? Like it always seemed like Zhalfir was phased out but if The Wanderer was able to planeswalk there, then that means the entire island must've been planes-walked which is just bonkers to think about. So other than NIssa going from, oh she is lost to oh she's in trouble to she's phyrexian now (which is B.S. btw), I really enjoyed all the side stories. and on the topic of time travel undoing things, I got to say, I know that there should be consequences for our heroes and all but I dont think NIssa deserved to be compleated. Its not a noble way to go for her character I think. Also, WHERE IS MY PHYREXIAN TIBOLT CARD!?!
So Ixhel story is basically about a child that showed her mom a craft/pet to make her and her grandma proud but instead was told she was a spoiled brat and to take that thing out of the house.
Having a story team is not inherently a negative. It spreads out the work load, lessens burnout, helps prevent writer's block from bogging everything down, and allows for a wider range of creative ideas and styles. The issue is that a team needs strong leadership and direction and *that* is either dropping the ball or, more likely given all things recent with Hasbro, getting meddled with and overridden by execs further up the chain.
@@SvenTSexgore Exactly that. There was a simpsons episode showcasing lone wolf writers vs teams and as someone who worked in both environments, they were spot on!
I don't think the many different writers is the problem, War of the sad spark, also written by one dude who know nothing about MTG and don't even bother do enough research on it, thats why Forsaken is such a shit show and nobody want to talk about its existence. The problem imop they dont have enough chapter to fill and prolly need a stronger direction. So a lot of time, they have to leave it as "oh it happen off screen"
The fact that Teferi is still around and they keep coming back to him to me pretty clearly sets up some timey-wimey nonsense to undo all the bad things the Phyrexians have done. Once time travel is part of your story, its very hard to have meaningful consequences for your heroes.
I thought of this too. I really don't need this to get all comic-book-y with alternate universes and such. Or worse, we're going to delve into what the blind eternities really is and it's going to get really confusing.
They made a really big deal about Teferi not messing with timeliness, and that even going back and observing was a massive deal that took a lot of effort and set up
@@ChemistGeometric that's true, but I can't help but think that now the timetravel door is open in this way, we're not going to get more. I know it was done in the past with Karn and Tolaria and such, but this feels like bigger stakes now that we have compleated walkers.
If they just reverse time and un-compleat characters, the players would riot. There's no way they'll mess with anything time-related to undo these huge stories they set up
@Kokonutzlz I think the best Big Damn Hero moment from Teferi would be if he just reversed time for Realmbreaker itself. None of the soldiers, none of the planeswalkers, just the tree. Taking his lessons from Midnight Hunt to heart about the undoing of spells and all that
I think I enjoyed Ixhel's story the most. This is mostly due to more backstory of what's going on in phyrexian society. I would have really liked something along these lines for each sphere. Give me the slice of life stories like we got back on Ravnica. Phyrexians are my favorite race, so I'm a bit biased here. Lukka's descent into madness (being compleated) felt very cosmic horror. It was a person hearing whispers in their head, more and more, until they finally gave in and embraced the transformation. I agree Nissa being compleated outside the story is a HUGE miss here. I can't help but feel her being compleated lets Hasbro put the Nissa/Chandra relationship to rest. Though that would be great incentive for Chandra to go full Dark Pheonix here and burn everything down. Also, being a fan of Glissa, I wish she played more of a role in the story. Teferi's story was probably my least favorite. It felt like a slog to get through and I only got through to finish the stories. I'm hoping we get more of each Praetor in MotM, because their absence is felt here and I want more.
I think the writer who did the Alone story (Miguel Lopez) did a really good job. Out of all the stories, it's the only one that has any hope in it. A whole nation of people waiting for war that will arrive, but not the same war they expect. I'm interested in how the queen knows it's been 360 something years while they've only gone through 10 or so. Wonder if Mangara/Kaervek will be part of the story at all; as far as I can tell, they're the only returning characters from cards in that story? I don't know who was responsible for the weird choices of the Lukka story with all the really weird and dumb decisions - whether that was the writer or whoever was asking the writer to hit certain story beats.. The internal dialogue getting corrupted was superb. Ixhel's story gave some good insights into Phyrexia just like Teferi's story with Zhalfir, However, I have doubts that Vishgraz will have any meaningful impact. Might just be a hint that "not all Phyrexians work together/like Elesh Norn's plan" more than anything specific
March of Machines is currently in preview season (literally a week after ONE's release, I know), and there's a _lot_ of crazy shit going on in it! Chandra/Nissa have a story spotlight, and it's heartbreaking, to say the least.
@@amberhernandez I watched the video today, I'm amazed at how much was already previewed. I imagine the Invasion arts we saw of different planes will be the "battle" type we saw on Atraxa. Easy way to show all the planes without too much investment card wise
When you mentioned knowing how it feels to have something you worked hard on go unappreciated, were you talking about the story for the lore behind Dragon Shield? I honestly loved it, and I wish there was more than little tidbits on the backs of sleeve boxes.
@@MagicArcanum Oh, I love the stories on the boxes of dragon shield sleeves! It feels like such a nice addition that wasn't strictly neccessary but really adds depth to a product. Didn't know that Ryan was involved in that but that's awesome!
7:54 Everything you said about Ixhel's story is exactly why it might just be slowly becoming my favorite story out of all of them (although my initial impression was that Lukka's was my favorite just for really great insight into what it feels like to be gradually compleated). Ixhel's undeniably evil nature, the phyrexian-ized biblical theme of having your creation judged by your creator, and the tough questions we ask ourselves after feeling sympathy for a character who is inherently cancerous to all life as well as our morals. It leaves us feeling conflicted intentionally, forcing us to reckon with these questions and reevaluate what we know. If the time is taken to gather our thoughts and settle this conflict in us, we'll likely return to one universal truth anyway: that phyrexians are evil and do need to be wiped out. But how do we reconcile the idea that we felt sympathy for one? My feeling is that phyrexians may resemble us in many ways if we look closely, and this story does a very good job of giving us the most intimate close look imaginable. But nothing overrides consideration of the greater evil within them. You can pity Ixhel, but that doesn't mean you should root for them or wait on a redemption arc.
How long has it been since we've had even a mention of Alara in the story? Glad the plane got some attention here and hopefully it's an indication that it will be important going forward. Alara has always been one of my favorite blocks.
I really liked the Tezzeret story and look forward to a "Tezzeret Darksteel" card in the future. Also, I might be misremembering, but didn't the invasion actively start while Tezzeret was on Alara, which is why he sent the kid off to find Rafiq and started jumping between safehouses?
The Tezzeret story was one of my favorite; love an anti-villain with "chronic backstabbing compulsion" & it did such a great job of complicating him w/o making him fully "sympathetic." With the Esper knights precon in MOM, it sounds like his actions might'vs had some effect on Alara. I'm betting we get cards representing that plane's stand against Phyrexia.
I completely forgot about the stories coming out until the previews had already started for the set. Unfortunately, I saw that Nissa had been completed and read through the main story first to understand what was going on. After finishing the main story, and not being satisfied for how Nissa got compleated, I turned to the side stories. They were overall great for this set. That is, until I got to the side story for Lukka and Nissa. At this point, I already knew Lukka had been compleated too. So the entire time I was reading through it, anything that he did that was clearly actions causing him to become compleated just make me say out loud "You idiot!" Then I reached the climax finale of the story with the full compleation of Lukka and the inevitable fall of Nissa off-screen. As agreed upon, it wasn't the greatest of stories and kind of did Nissa dirty putting her compleation in a side story and then not even explaining how. You just assume she was captured by Lukka and overpowered somehow.
I understand Lukka as a character who embodies the parts of red opposed to white, but without the outright malice of Tibalt. He abhors pretty much any authority structure, which he views as stifling, and he also doesn't like how those structures can allow the weak to determine the fates of those stronger than them. This mindset probably has something to do with the events leading up to the ignition of his spark on Ikoria. He also thinks of himself as "the strongest" in many situations, which leads to him sometimes overestimating his abilities, such as thinking he could handle bonding with a Phyrexian despite how emphatically others told him of their danger, or not realizing that a bonded Phyrexian would still attempt to compleat him.
Writing this before I get to the part in the video, but I absolutely loved the tezzeret side story. This is truly the first time we see him actually be independent and he seemed so badass. I hope they don't kill him off now!
I went back and watched any videos in the playlist that I had missed. Thanks for the these videos! I really enjoy listening to this comprehensive story.
March of the Machines is going to quite literally be the climax of Avengers: Endgame with Teferi and the Zhalfirins playing the part of the Wakandan army. Can't wait to see who all shows up in the biggest magic crossover that's likely ever going to happen.
@@edgarventura7497 War of the Spark was the Captain America: Civil War of the franchise lmao. We all thought it was the Endgame comparison but we were so wrong.
I'd like to imagine any angel can be used to make halo, but something something demon magic, something something unique sacrifice angels don't think to make. Capenna felt clunky, even though I loved it
I’m back in the physical game and played a pre-release draft 2 weeks ago. I got the foil Elesh Norn oiled foil card. I’m loving this story. I’m also making a commander deck. Been trying to find a commander I like at the moment. I have a few I’ve been trying. Thinking of buying one of the All Will be One commander deck. I’ll modify it a bit with my older cards.
The trope of the wanderer "losing her grip on the plane" is feeling extremely contrived. I understand it's a major part of her character, that her spark is flickering her through the multiverse, but it consistently seems to be the only way to end her part in stories.
She’s not a real planeswalker. She’s an avatar for something far more powerful than a Planeswalker. Her role is to seek out threats to life across the multiverse. It’s easier to obscure it with an unstable spark than to say it outright
in my opinion is just feels like the end of her part in stories because we don't see the stories from her point of view, but when she planeswalked away from lukka and nissa, she presumably arrived at teferi's, so the former wasn't the end of her part in the story.
Thank you so much for such a detailed overview! I’ve never played MTG but I have loved ones that have it as their favorite hobby. Listening to your overviews helps me ask them questions and keep track of who is who! Looking forward to seeing more! Thanks again!
Yay! I was looking forward to your review of the side stories. Am I the only one who really liked Lukka's story? I actually recommended it to friends and everything.. but afterwards I saw people mostly disliked that story in particular. I really enjoyed reading Lukka's inner monologues, and hearing the voice of Phyrexia trying to win him over. Lukka does have a chip on his shoulder, but I see his character more tragic than "big and dumb." Also I dreaded the entire time for Nissa as well.. so for me it was a tense and tragic story that I enjoyed. Regardless, thank you for the great recap/telling of the stories!
I liked Lukka's story as well! I thought it was nice to get to see his thoughts and the body/mind horror of Phyrexia taking him over, but the entire story is kinda just soured by the fact we didn't get to see anything with Nissa really. Especially when it felt like they were setting her up to be this major proponent of wiping Phyrexia off the face of the multiverse again once she spoke with Gaea on Dominaria
First of all. Thanks for all the summarys of the MTG-storyline! I am very interested to see how this multiverse-war is going to turn out. Are we now going to see plane after plane during the same time? Fighting against the Phyrexian invasion? Is something going to happen before they can even reach other planes? It is damn interesting and I hope it keeps on going because it would be pretty sad to me if after Bolas was imprisoned and no one knows what currently is up with the eldrazi the 3rd and last major enemy in the MTG-lore (as far as I know) would be done for in the next sets. Also I hope this war draws in some new interesting characters: Like Davriel having to fight for a new safespot (and maybe using his power again, attacting his shadows of the past) or returning to Ashiok and see what happened to him after he plagued Elesh Norn with nightmares. And I personally like the thought of Chandra building up a new guildwatch to protect the multiverse with Liliana as a mentor and helping hand behind the scenes (because c'mon she is way to strong now with Gideons immortality). Anyway love your content and I look forward to the new storys we can enjoy.
I’m curious to see what will happen with Tezzeret. I also feel that his escape from New Phyrexia will play into my theory that what’s left of the Gatewatch will reignite Nicol Bolas’ spark, feeling he is the most powerful planeswalker they know of who may be able to stop the spread of Phyrexia. I read the Time Spiral trilogy, and it was assumed that Zhalfir was lost while he and others were sealing the rifts in Dominaria.
Always great content! I’ve heard that Atraxa was designed from the art of Sunblast Angel but the art of the Kaladesh Inventions Platinum Angel look spot on too.
I wish we had gotten to see a bit more of Alara. I have been DYING to see what the fractured plane looks like now that the world is whole again. In particular, I'd love to see what the denizens of the shards will do now that they have gotten used to the two colors of mana that they previously did not have.
I really enjoyed Neyali's story, it really added a air of despair to the story . I really wish they had given nissa more screen time, especially when the card, all will be one, seems to suggest that Elesh Norn used Nissa to help grow Realmbreakrt which maybe why it was much larger then the planeswalkers expected when they got to it
I really hope you will go into History of each set and block prior to Eldraine, I would really like to know more about Alara block, and then old Ravnica blocks, Theros, old Kamigawa
I've tried doing that, most recently with looks back at original Innistrad before we had Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow, and those videos never seem to get quite the number of views needed to justify the work put into making them. I'm open to trying again, but I have to find a way to make them more compelling. (It also doesn't help that nobody is searching for "what happens in old ravnica" most days right now)
A thought just occurred to me, with Worldbreaker spreading across the multiverse, what's going to happen when it reaches the original Phyrexia? To my knowledge, old Phyrexia wasn't destroyed but "severely damaged" so I see it being possible that Worldbreaker could connect to old Phyrexia.
Some interesting food for thought going forward is how almost everyone involved in Emrakul imprisoning herself in Inistrad's moon has now been completed. As is the only entity in the multiverse outside the meditation plane who knows that Nicol Bolas is still alive and where he is.
I really enjoyed the Tezzeret story. I felt it gave his character depth and I liked the trip to his home so we could see a glimpse of what made him who he is. But... why would Jin-Gitaxias make him stronger THEN turn him? How about recruiting first then beefing up the new guy since he's on your side rather than enhancing an enemy then letting them escape? Also I hope Lukka follows in the footsteps of Gideon so they can both be super dead. We got to hear all about Dr. Dolittle instead of Nissa's tragic transformation??? Lukka, you suck, nobody likes your character or cards so I hope the Gatewatch erases you in the next set.
@MagicArcanum Ryan, this is why you're a famous guy on RUclips and I'm just some dude. 🤣 If the magical table keeps him there, lure him in with the promise of a new body then double cross him! If it's good enough for Tezzeret it's good enough for Jin, right? Lol
Here are my predictions for March of the Machines 1- March of the Machines (which I'm honestly hoping it gets shortened to MOM, that would be really funny) will be a multi-realm war on the Phyrexian invasion where we will see characters and creatures from several planes, as evidenced not only by the Realmbreaker and the end of the main story but also by Tezzeret going to various places. Likely we will see representation from the places Tezzeret went through, but also Dominaria by the looks of the Teferi story and New Capenna because there are hanging threads from the end of the set's story 2- Elspeth will come back ascended as an angel, as this is one of the threads left from the New Capenna story, we still haven't seen her truly shine in this main story as it has been continuously teased. From hearing the angel statues, to Elesh Norn fearing her for some reason we still don't know for sure and the cliffhanger of her simply vanishing with the sylex activated. 3- The end of the war will result in the multiverse becoming connected by more ways than just the planeswalkers going between places, as they said the March of the Machines Aftermath will change the multiverse, likely because of something happening with the Realmbreaker. Either it stays active because it's dangerous to destroy it or its destruction will leave some scars like maybe rifts/portals where non-planeswalkers can pass through, giving us opportunities to see the planes crossing over in future sets.
Tezzeret pays for his actions. He has no allies, no acquaintances, nothing to show for all the things he has done. He’s alone and helpless to do anything to take control of his own fate. He’s a tragic character that will always be looking for a home that doesn’t exist.
@@caseysmith7283 Thats the bare minimum though. He still got his shiny new Darksteel body. He still has the Planar Bridge. How exactly is he tragic? He’s pathetic. Of course Norn knew he would betray her because that’s his only character trait.
@@eighteentwilight8547 that’s just how the game is played, and tezzert looks after himself. He’s had his mind broken, his own crime syndicate destroyed, forced to be subservient to taco bolas, which lead to the planar bridge to eat away at him. Which forced him to risk it all to save himself. Man deserves to finally be free and be in control of his life again
The Gatewatch likes to just let the bad guys get away all the time. We saw it with Dovin on Kaladesh (before he died that it), Ob Nixilis on New Capena, Oko on Eldraine, literally every Praetor in every story in which they've appeared recently, Nicol Bolas when he was world hopping, etc. The Gatewatch kinda sucks at their job, but every now and then, they kinda dumb luck into a solution and win.
That's kind of a general problem with planeswalker antagonists, though - it's very hard to hold them accountable for anything at all (at least until the multiverse gets Realmbreaker'd).
Slobad and Glissa were very important characters in the beginning of mirrodin. Glissa even had a spark which I don´t remember what happened to it. They´ve won the battle against Memnark, which is the progenitors of the current Phyrexians. But both of them fell, in the end. Glissa was already compleated in New Phyrexia, some years ago, but I didn´t know about Slobad destiny till now.
@@LordOfDarkness8296 in the last Mirrodin Block, some 10 years ago, there is somewhere her history. But after that is my Curiosity. Something happened with Slobad as well, but I don´t recall and he, in the other hand, doesn´t have a card in that block. Did u see Vencer has a card in this new set? He sacrificed himself to save Karn on that period, but sudenly his remains are Phyrexian now. In the end, my curiosity with this people is try to find or remember what happened to them between Mirrodin and "All will be One"
I kind of liked the side story for tezzeret. It might give us an idea of what’s to come after the phyrexians have done their thing. And I’m glad I got to know more about what teferi was up to. However, I felt the Nissa and Lukka story was lacking. We don’t even see what exactly compleated her without assumptions.
He’s going to be such a player now, indestructible planes walker cards. His “Ally” lazav on ravnica, former bolas assets and servants now at his disposal
Coming back here after March of the machines really makes me wish phyrexians weren’t just basically removed from existence. We never really find out what happens with Urabrask whether he died or not, or if ixhel joined his rebellion. She honestly seems like a pretty cool character I hope we see more of. I know this is crazy but what if when atraxa shot her down her spark ignited? Just a fun idea for a phyrexian planeswalker rather than a completed one. Also we should have had Belaxis in the precon.
I kind of feel like you could sympathize with some of these new phyrexians that are against Eleshnorn. I get that the phyrexians can corrupt essentially any plane, but they can't control that since it's their blood. They may not be good characters but they aren't strictly evil more like anti heroes like Deadpool in marvel. Hope this makes sense
Disagree. Even if they are rebelling against Elesh Norn, they are not rebelling against phyrexian nature - just the present faction leader. If she ends up removed from power, characters like Urabrask and Sheoldred and even Ixhel will still feel compelled to spread their glistening oil, which threatens the entire multiverse. In the main story, Kaya even entertains this idea: she wonders briefly what it would be like if they left some phyrexians alone, rather than destroy them all, and she reasons that the presence of any phyrexian eventually leads to an entirely phyrexian multiverse. They don't exist in harmony with anyone else. They are truly a virus, and their existence is a threat to all known life (aside from Melira, I guess, but even she isn't immune from being ripped apart)
@@MagicArcanum ah I see, I had the idea that Urabrask being a red aligned Prator(red being the color most associated with freedom) could potentially break from this cycle of corrupting other planes of existence and would be fine living free in phyrexia so thanks for that. I would still like the idea of a phyrexian who doesn't follow this formula traveling the multiverse without corrupting it.
Feel like it's worth mentioning that Tezzeret didn't just tell Nashi off and leave, he first mashed up a large number of Okiba into a ball with their own bikes, yikes
I actually think the biblical element of Ixhel's story was strongest when they mentioned that part of Ixhel's body was used to make Vishgraz, giving big Adam and Eve vibes.
Don't forget that Nashi and Greasefang were brutally crushed together with their motorcycles Magneto-style before Tezzy planewalked away. They didn't explicitly die but I think they're probably not going to get any more cards in the future
From reading the Lukka story myself I gotta disagree a bit with the sentiment that he bonded with the phyrexian out of cokiness. The situation they found themselves in, being lost in a maze, that's near impossible to move in by foot and teeming with phyrexian threats certainly did seem dire enough to justify the means to me. Because although risky, the alternative of trying to get out by foot didn't seem much more promising.
I think the cockiness was on display after the bonding, when Nissa told him to destroy the creature, and he assured her he was in complete control, and if things started to go badly he would sever the bond. At that moment he truly thought he was more powerful than the phyrexians, and that's before their oil got to him and compelled him to integrate himself with the creature entirely.
So I really only have two questions about the recent stories. Does tezzeret still have the planar bridge or was that "lost" when switching bodies? If he still has it I feel like it might be sneakily used in the counter offensive we will see. Second, can compleated planeswalkers still planeswalk? Or was that ability lost since they aren't themselves anymore and are basically dead versions of themselves?
Tezzeret's new body does not contain the bridge, but the story doesn't really say what happened to its pieces. It is unclear if it is still in usable condition, or if Jin Gitaxias can salvage anything from it. Compleated walkers can planeswalk. That was the major breakthrough with Tamiyo - they managed to compleat her without destroying the part of her soul that contained her spark.
I'm a bit confused about the time dilation within Zhalfir. At first, it seemed like time is slowed there because 400 years passed in the real world compared to the 10 that have passed in Zhalfir. That much makes sense; however, a couple of months pass during Teferi's stay here, but only a couple of days have passed in real-world time. Those two timelines seem to directly conflict with one another. I'm also not a fan of how they approached Zhalfir here. The way they have made it seem in the past is that Teferi poofed Zhalfir away, but didn't know where it was, ir how to bring it back. In this story though, after some messed up time shenanigans, he end up there as well. It would make sense for him to be trapped there on that world in some kind of pocket in time. If the Wanderer could just pop in and say hi, why could Teferi not find this world himself? Why couldn't he leave Zhalfir to go help the rest of the Gatewatch on Phyrexia? Did I miss something?
The story (probably deliberately) doesn't tell us. We are just as confused as Teferi, and all he can figure is that it has something to do with his use of the Temporal Anchor while it was being powered by a stone containing Serra's Realm. Zhalfir was initially phased out of existence entirely, but now something has changed. Time moves irregularly (both too fast and too slow at the same time) and it may now exist in such a fashion that outsiders (like Teferi and the Wanderer) can reach it again, though fishermen still can't sail out too far, and climbers can't go to the tops of the mountains, which tells us the land hasn't been physically rejoined to Dominaria just yet. So it is a bit of a puzzle but I think WotC will explain things in the future. We just have to be patient.
So what happens to the planar bridge? Does it not serve a purpose and therefore disposed? If Jin knows about the rebellion, does norn also know tezz is playing both sides or is Jin keeping it close to the chest for his own gain?
The story doesn't tell us what happens to the bridge, unfortunately. We can assume Jin Gitaxias kept it, or at least its pieces, but I don't know how useful it is in that state. Regardless, the phyrexians believe they have Realmbreaker now, so they can travel the multiverse as they please without needing the bridge. Tezzeret figures Jin is going to make his own play for "the throne," and that's why he wants to convert Tezzeret's new body to blightsteel (and in turn, make him a phyrexian agent) We can assume this process would make Tezzeret loyal to Jin Gitaxias, and that would be a powerful piece to use in the war against Elesh Norn (or whoever takes over if and when she falls from power herself)
Great vid. In addition to the lore i enjoy hearing your thoughts on it. Also while I personally dont like nissa i feel like she deserved a bit more respect lol. At least compleat her onscreen
I think Teferi will try to, thanks to his time manipulation, create a new legacy weapon, bloodline project and maybe metathrans. In the end he was a Urza's and Barrin student and this time he is too committed...
I'm pretty sure Dovin Baan is assimil... I mean compleated; There's notes that "all the valdalkens are compleat" and everyone keeps pointing out prepared & well planned the Phrexians were. I also think it's worth pointing out the kinda radical nature of the Phrexian story: We are often the results of the systems we live under, and to break free of that (without outside help) is difficult. The fact this being that been created, raised, and surrounded by the systemic pressures of Phyrexia still found a way to question that is a pretty big deal.
I wish they had more stories in general for the magic lore, especially for an arc like this. Lukka's side story definitely could've been a main story, we don't need 5 main and 5 side. I am tired of Planeswalkers getting compleated offscreen. Ajani, Tibalt (for the most part), Nissa, Vraska... Also... Why did Jin Gitaxias say "hey I know you betrayed us so I'm gonna compleat you now lol" instead of just putting Tezzeret's head in a blightsteel body?
I feel like Chandra will fight Nissa in the March of the Mashines and it won´t be pleasent, also I kinda wish that all corrupted planeswalker have an intense fight with former firends/important people from their story Niss v Chandra; Lukka/Vivien; Jace/Lilliana; Vraska/Ral (or Kaya); Nahiri/Sorin; Ajani/Elspeth and Tamiyo either Narset or Kaito
I'm actually totally fine with how Lukka turned out. He just follows his whims and makes grabs for power but at the most surface level possible and I think that's just great. The whole situation also makes Jace look like more of an idiot which is a solid perk for me.
Tezzeret thinks about this in one of the earlier stories, and concludes that either the oil has become a new formula that he's not protected against, or that Bolas's plan was to regularly re-vaccinate Tezzeret. Now that Bolas is unable to do that, Tezzeret is not confident his protection remains.
Now I wonder if the Eldrazi will play a role in the upcoming stories cause they are still around just lurking in the shadows or has the creators of the MTG storyline forgotten about them
Wondering still what is going on with ashiok who is last we knew testing the emotional impact of fear on phyrexians even elesh norn we know they are there from a in between story from last year so what is that nightmare doing at this point
Wait, the Temporal Anchor had the Serra's Realm core powering it? Why did they never put the thing back into the Weatherlight when it was rebuilt? That was the reason it could planeswalk in the first place.
They did put it in the rebuilt Weatherlight, and then when that became corrupted, Slimefoot yanked it out as they abandoned the ship. That freed it up to be used in the Anchor.
I think the better example that halo may be plane specific is the realm of serra. It was literally a plane of pure white mana and it was corrupted and fell to phyrexia
@@donb7519 Much like Luka and to a lesser degree Vivian, Nico didn't really seem to hit the spot with the fans, either attached to a set with an inconsistent story, no meta Impact in their cards or they didn't break the market the way wizards wanted them to(jiang yangu anyone?) these planeswalkers are at best meh and more likely to get shelved for characters that fit the pretty narrow overlap between what wotc want to push what people actually like, like Teferi and Kaya.
This a question I have since I started in Scars of Mirrodin, how did glissa become a phyrexian zombie? I later found out that at the end of the original mirrodin story that she was put into a healing pod to recover from the fight with memnarch, which in turn was used with phyrexian oil that slowly turned her into the zombie phyrexian we have now. What i would like to have more story about is the original heroes of mirrodin, we learn about slobad and see from the artwork that he was compleated with bosh, the iron golem, so more of a who's alive form og mirrodin, and what happened to them since
Glissa gets compleated a little later. After the final fight with Memnarch, she returns to the surface with Slobad, but unfortunately a horde of panicked goblins tramples and separates them. Glissa is then carried back into the Radix by Memnites and left in stasis. That´s when the oil seeps in and seals her fate. As for the OGs, most of them were ejected from Mirrodin via the Vanishing, the event that sent back many of the inhabitants kidnapped by Memnarch to their original planes when the Soul Traps got busted. Raksha and Bruenna, for example, are gone because of it.
@@jatabo1574 for the OG's I was not refering to the inhabitants that memnarch dragged to mirrodin, I was talking about any other named character's from the first mirrodin and scars of mirrodin block that shoed up in stories or as named cards
This might be a stupid question, but where do you find the story for these sets? Is it a comic book or something, I’ve never seen/heard of any MTG story books being advertised
I feel like Lukka is kind of fascinating. I do like his story and how naive he is. He also has reason not to trust anyone else because of his past on Strixhaven and Ikoria. Still think he was being very dumb.
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An important part of Ixhel's story is that it paints Phyrexia under Elesh Norn's rule as a self-defeating machine. The Machine Orthodoxy promises every one a purpose in an unified singularity, but its only purpose is spreading Phyrexia's perfection towards the multiverse.
The question that breaks Ixhel throughly is simple yet effective: _"And then what?"._ After perfection is achieved, what purpose is left? What will happen with all those created to spread Phyrexia's glory, when there's nothing left to compleat?
This reminds me of Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach. He said to an opponent, who claimed to have achieved perfection, something like this : "I hate perfection, because once you've achieved it, then you can't get any better, you have nothing left to enhance, nothing left to do"
@@ludovicdisson3668 Before enlightenment chop wood, gather water. After enlightenment chop wood, gather water.
The side story with Lukka turned him from a character I was totally indifferent about, to a character I love to see fail by his own pride time and again. The fact that he bonded with the phyrexian after being told that it was an explicitly bad idea because it reminded him of being bullied as a child and no one could tell *him* what to do anymore, was one of the most (probably unintentionally) funniest character arcs I've seen. And the degradation of his mental state as the oil spoke into him was the most in depth we actually got to see of what it was probably like for the others who were slowly corrupted.
It's weird but I actually found it endearing and like Lukka way more than I should now.
@@haxangrav Me too. I really related to him here.
I think one part you glossed over is how lukka slowly starts hearing the phyrexia language, how it shifts to how pretty the plane was, instead of gross. Lukka's story is vital world building on how phyrexia slowly changes you until you are full phyrexian. It helps understand what Jace and nihiri are going through. Should also be mentioned that they were trying to get out of the maze and lukka was leading them to the center because he forgot they meant to get out of it. Showing, again, how his mind and priorities are shifting. Furthermore, the wanderer comes back and talks them into going to the center and taking out vorenklex 3 vs 1 only to find out they are 3v2 and then wanderer unwillingly planeswalks out. 2vs2 become 3v1, rip nissa.
lukka being a dumb piece of shit is actually awesome. we need more characters who are just stupid and suffer consequences. comedy
Lukka deserve to win the Darwin award, but the best character remains Tezzeret: he condamned all the multiverse to the Phyrexian plague by helping them with his planar bridge, just to have his damn new body, and in the end he turned Sheoldred against Elesh Norn, tricked Jin Ghitaxis and planeswalked away with his trophy... umiliated Nashy on Kamigawa, saved a boy on Alara and prepared them against the invasion... then hided himself, whaiting to see who will be the winner, probably planning to appear again sayng «good job sis!... Hey, it's me, Tezzeret... your old friend!»
If he can take out the Phyrexian leadership (If all does become one) he’ll be at the head of a multiverse reborn into metal. If the hero’s win then he practically has a get out of jail free card for all his crimes
@@rennac3152 Tezzeret can't control phyrexians just because they're part metal. Even if the praetors got taken out of the picture (which Tezz himself definetly doesn't have the power to make happen), New Phyrexia has a complex enough power structure that othes would step up (especially now with all the compleated walkers).
It's also very unlikely that he'd be in good terms with any of the surviving walkers, as both Kaito and the Wanderer have reasons to kill him on sight for Kamigawa (even if everyone forgets about the War of the Spark stuff).
He's definetly being set up as a future antagonist, but he will have to do some major rebuilding offscreen first.
@@VoidArchon A true Survivor till the end who I’m rooting for. And I’m aware he’d have no direct control over most zombie or synthetic altered foot soldiers and or their lesser command structure. But he has affinity for communicating with drones and basic constructs. I can see many types of opportunist such as himself thriving in a multiverse littered with assets. What a fun game of command and control it would be over all worlds
@@rennac3152 don't forget about the Myr....
@@Hysube ah yes, the servants and thralls of new Phyrexia. I kind of feel bad for the little guys sometimes
Hear Hear!
Nissa getting compleated off screen is the itch I just can't reach to scratch
"at least tell us her final moments" is something I'd want to say to the author
Teferi has to be the undisputed champion of getting himself trapped in various locations by his own design
I feel like we should had a side story about the Urabrask rebelion... It wasn't only side it by the main story as a simple distraction for the heroes to reach realm breaker, it was only comented in Tezzeret story... I feel like they hype it a little the event with the side story of New Cappena an then simply put it away... It's like "Oh no, the Phyrexians are invading the multivers... While they are fighting an open war with each other". I dunno I want justice for my boy Urabrask
Same, they just sort of say "hey Urabrask ain't like his siblings" and leave it there. It would have been nice for him to get a compleated walker, or semi compleated walker turn up in the forge and for them to join him rather than Norn.
I think that might come up more in March of the Machine.
Urabrask's rebellion felt like "Oh no! Anyway"
I kinda wish we had gotten to know how things are on Ravnica. Like... how are things there after the War of the Spark? Would Ravnica be prepared when the Phyrexian Invasion comes to their doorstep? Or are they gonna be blindsided by it because of reconstruction efforts from the War of the Spark's aftermath?
Totally agree. Maybe MotM will be stories like that, like in Teferi's story. Get a glimpse of the plane right as the invasion start.
Since Jace and Vraska lived on Ravnica, i imagine some number of important Ravnicans were let in on the potential of an invasion, such as Ral (or, in his sneaky ways, Lazav).
I'm sure we'll go back for the return to the return to the return to ravnica
It is explicitly stated that various planes are being prepped for the invasion with Sorin being mentioned as leading the effort on Innistrad so I assume similar for Ravnica and other places deeply connected to other parts of the multiverse.
Though as a side note, we actually have gotten a story that takes place on Ravnica after War of the Spark but it was a side story written up for Secret Lair: Pride Across the Multiverse that had a meet cute between Saheeli and Huatli that just happened to take place on Ravnica
I’m running a DND campaign exploring the aftermath of the War of the Spark on Ravnica and preparations to defend against the Phyrexians
A couple of my thoughts on all of this:
I like the story with Lukka because it highlighted how he didn't change physically at first but mentally.
Tezzeret going back to Alara and telling the boy to go seek Rafiq had my heart swell (Love Alara, I want to go back T.T)
I want to understand Urbrask's rebellion a little more. It just felt like "......oh yeah that thing is happening to i guess, but look Jace!"
I feel it should've been mentioned that Elesh Norn wanted Geth gone because while he was phyrexian for the most part, he refused to change his head and face and it was seen as a blemish and a oversight or something like that. Also Geth was talking heavy to Ixhal which I thought was like a "you dont know who you are do you?" kinda talk.
Teferi being back on Zhalfir was also a super cool moment but seeing The Wanderer there made me question, where exactly is Zhalfir? Like it always seemed like Zhalfir was phased out but if The Wanderer was able to planeswalk there, then that means the entire island must've been planes-walked which is just bonkers to think about.
So other than NIssa going from, oh she is lost to oh she's in trouble to she's phyrexian now (which is B.S. btw), I really enjoyed all the side stories. and on the topic of time travel undoing things, I got to say, I know that there should be consequences for our heroes and all but I dont think NIssa deserved to be compleated. Its not a noble way to go for her character I think.
Also, WHERE IS MY PHYREXIAN TIBOLT CARD!?!
eh 1. nissa has been far from noble many times and 2. they just dont know what to do with her so now she dies to have vivien be the green face walker
@Don B it's hard to be a mainly green planeswalker these days.
So Ixhel story is basically about a child that showed her mom a craft/pet to make her and her grandma proud but instead was told she was a spoiled brat and to take that thing out of the house.
The real question is why each parts of the main story is written by a different writer rather than have one person create a good and cohesive story
Because all will be one...
Having a story team is not inherently a negative. It spreads out the work load, lessens burnout, helps prevent writer's block from bogging everything down, and allows for a wider range of creative ideas and styles.
The issue is that a team needs strong leadership and direction and *that* is either dropping the ball or, more likely given all things recent with Hasbro, getting meddled with and overridden by execs further up the chain.
@@SvenTSexgore Exactly that. There was a simpsons episode showcasing lone wolf writers vs teams and as someone who worked in both environments, they were spot on!
I don't think the many different writers is the problem, War of the sad spark, also written by one dude who know nothing about MTG and don't even bother do enough research on it, thats why Forsaken is such a shit show and nobody want to talk about its existence. The problem imop they dont have enough chapter to fill and prolly need a stronger direction. So a lot of time, they have to leave it as "oh it happen off screen"
They just need one single good team leader and one single good continuity editor. Then as many writers as thet want. They have the money.
The fact that Teferi is still around and they keep coming back to him to me pretty clearly sets up some timey-wimey nonsense to undo all the bad things the Phyrexians have done. Once time travel is part of your story, its very hard to have meaningful consequences for your heroes.
I thought of this too. I really don't need this to get all comic-book-y with alternate universes and such. Or worse, we're going to delve into what the blind eternities really is and it's going to get really confusing.
They made a really big deal about Teferi not messing with timeliness, and that even going back and observing was a massive deal that took a lot of effort and set up
@@ChemistGeometric that's true, but I can't help but think that now the timetravel door is open in this way, we're not going to get more. I know it was done in the past with Karn and Tolaria and such, but this feels like bigger stakes now that we have compleated walkers.
If they just reverse time and un-compleat characters, the players would riot. There's no way they'll mess with anything time-related to undo these huge stories they set up
@Kokonutzlz I think the best Big Damn Hero moment from Teferi would be if he just reversed time for Realmbreaker itself. None of the soldiers, none of the planeswalkers, just the tree. Taking his lessons from Midnight Hunt to heart about the undoing of spells and all that
Hope Tamiyo's kids have some importance later down the line. Nashi in particular has suffered so much, the poor rat boy!
Intro: 0:00
Neyali: 2:11
Ixhel: 4:18
Lukka: 8:31
Tezzeret: 12:15
Teferi: 17:42
Neyali = I was
Lukka = Luke
Tezzeret = Tessered
(According to RUclips's translations, at least :P)
I think I enjoyed Ixhel's story the most. This is mostly due to more backstory of what's going on in phyrexian society. I would have really liked something along these lines for each sphere. Give me the slice of life stories like we got back on Ravnica. Phyrexians are my favorite race, so I'm a bit biased here.
Lukka's descent into madness (being compleated) felt very cosmic horror. It was a person hearing whispers in their head, more and more, until they finally gave in and embraced the transformation. I agree Nissa being compleated outside the story is a HUGE miss here. I can't help but feel her being compleated lets Hasbro put the Nissa/Chandra relationship to rest. Though that would be great incentive for Chandra to go full Dark Pheonix here and burn everything down. Also, being a fan of Glissa, I wish she played more of a role in the story.
Teferi's story was probably my least favorite. It felt like a slog to get through and I only got through to finish the stories.
I'm hoping we get more of each Praetor in MotM, because their absence is felt here and I want more.
I think the writer who did the Alone story (Miguel Lopez) did a really good job. Out of all the stories, it's the only one that has any hope in it. A whole nation of people waiting for war that will arrive, but not the same war they expect. I'm interested in how the queen knows it's been 360 something years while they've only gone through 10 or so. Wonder if Mangara/Kaervek will be part of the story at all; as far as I can tell, they're the only returning characters from cards in that story?
I don't know who was responsible for the weird choices of the Lukka story with all the really weird and dumb decisions - whether that was the writer or whoever was asking the writer to hit certain story beats.. The internal dialogue getting corrupted was superb.
Ixhel's story gave some good insights into Phyrexia just like Teferi's story with Zhalfir, However, I have doubts that Vishgraz will have any meaningful impact. Might just be a hint that "not all Phyrexians work together/like Elesh Norn's plan" more than anything specific
March of Machines is currently in preview season (literally a week after ONE's release, I know), and there's a _lot_ of crazy shit going on in it! Chandra/Nissa have a story spotlight, and it's heartbreaking, to say the least.
@@amberhernandez I watched the video today, I'm amazed at how much was already previewed. I imagine the Invasion arts we saw of different planes will be the "battle" type we saw on Atraxa. Easy way to show all the planes without too much investment card wise
When you mentioned knowing how it feels to have something you worked hard on go unappreciated, were you talking about the story for the lore behind Dragon Shield? I honestly loved it, and I wish there was more than little tidbits on the backs of sleeve boxes.
I don't know if I meant that specifically, but it is a good example, yes! 😅
@@MagicArcanum Oh, I love the stories on the boxes of dragon shield sleeves! It feels like such a nice addition that wasn't strictly neccessary but really adds depth to a product. Didn't know that Ryan was involved in that but that's awesome!
7:54 Everything you said about Ixhel's story is exactly why it might just be slowly becoming my favorite story out of all of them (although my initial impression was that Lukka's was my favorite just for really great insight into what it feels like to be gradually compleated). Ixhel's undeniably evil nature, the phyrexian-ized biblical theme of having your creation judged by your creator, and the tough questions we ask ourselves after feeling sympathy for a character who is inherently cancerous to all life as well as our morals. It leaves us feeling conflicted intentionally, forcing us to reckon with these questions and reevaluate what we know. If the time is taken to gather our thoughts and settle this conflict in us, we'll likely return to one universal truth anyway: that phyrexians are evil and do need to be wiped out. But how do we reconcile the idea that we felt sympathy for one? My feeling is that phyrexians may resemble us in many ways if we look closely, and this story does a very good job of giving us the most intimate close look imaginable. But nothing overrides consideration of the greater evil within them. You can pity Ixhel, but that doesn't mean you should root for them or wait on a redemption arc.
How long has it been since we've had even a mention of Alara in the story? Glad the plane got some attention here and hopefully it's an indication that it will be important going forward. Alara has always been one of my favorite blocks.
Always a pleasure to start my morning with a bowl of lore~
Do you put the Lore first then the milk, or first the milk then the Lore?
@@adner232 Milk first, microwave, and then lore for crisp and warm my feels
I really liked the Tezzeret story and look forward to a "Tezzeret Darksteel" card in the future. Also, I might be misremembering, but didn't the invasion actively start while Tezzeret was on Alara, which is why he sent the kid off to find Rafiq and started jumping between safehouses?
The Tezzeret story was one of my favorite; love an anti-villain with "chronic backstabbing compulsion" & it did such a great job of complicating him w/o making him fully "sympathetic."
With the Esper knights precon in MOM, it sounds like his actions might'vs had some effect on Alara. I'm betting we get cards representing that plane's stand against Phyrexia.
I completely forgot about the stories coming out until the previews had already started for the set. Unfortunately, I saw that Nissa had been completed and read through the main story first to understand what was going on. After finishing the main story, and not being satisfied for how Nissa got compleated, I turned to the side stories. They were overall great for this set. That is, until I got to the side story for Lukka and Nissa. At this point, I already knew Lukka had been compleated too. So the entire time I was reading through it, anything that he did that was clearly actions causing him to become compleated just make me say out loud "You idiot!" Then I reached the climax finale of the story with the full compleation of Lukka and the inevitable fall of Nissa off-screen. As agreed upon, it wasn't the greatest of stories and kind of did Nissa dirty putting her compleation in a side story and then not even explaining how. You just assume she was captured by Lukka and overpowered somehow.
I understand Lukka as a character who embodies the parts of red opposed to white, but without the outright malice of Tibalt. He abhors pretty much any authority structure, which he views as stifling, and he also doesn't like how those structures can allow the weak to determine the fates of those stronger than them. This mindset probably has something to do with the events leading up to the ignition of his spark on Ikoria. He also thinks of himself as "the strongest" in many situations, which leads to him sometimes overestimating his abilities, such as thinking he could handle bonding with a Phyrexian despite how emphatically others told him of their danger, or not realizing that a bonded Phyrexian would still attempt to compleat him.
Writing this before I get to the part in the video, but I absolutely loved the tezzeret side story. This is truly the first time we see him actually be independent and he seemed so badass. I hope they don't kill him off now!
I went back and watched any videos in the playlist that I had missed. Thanks for the these videos! I really enjoy listening to this comprehensive story.
Glad you like them!
March of the Machines is going to quite literally be the climax of Avengers: Endgame with Teferi and the Zhalfirins playing the part of the Wakandan army. Can't wait to see who all shows up in the biggest magic crossover that's likely ever going to happen.
Looks at War of the Spark in disapointment
@@edgarventura7497 lol big same
@@edgarventura7497 uuugh don’t remind me of that continued failure 😅
@@edgarventura7497 War of the Spark was the Captain America: Civil War of the franchise lmao. We all thought it was the Endgame comparison but we were so wrong.
I'd like to imagine any angel can be used to make halo, but something something demon magic, something something unique sacrifice angels don't think to make. Capenna felt clunky, even though I loved it
I’m back in the physical game and played a pre-release draft 2 weeks ago. I got the foil Elesh Norn oiled foil card. I’m loving this story. I’m also making a commander deck. Been trying to find a commander I like at the moment. I have a few I’ve been trying. Thinking of buying one of the All Will be One commander deck. I’ll modify it a bit with my older cards.
The trope of the wanderer "losing her grip on the plane" is feeling extremely contrived. I understand it's a major part of her character, that her spark is flickering her through the multiverse, but it consistently seems to be the only way to end her part in stories.
She’s not a real planeswalker. She’s an avatar for something far more powerful than a Planeswalker. Her role is to seek out threats to life across the multiverse. It’s easier to obscure it with an unstable spark than to say it outright
Kaito knew her since childhood, so I'm pretty sure she's a real human. Her spark acts differently because of how it ignited.
It happens more here because of the planar shield on New Phyrexia.
in my opinion is just feels like the end of her part in stories because we don't see the stories from her point of view, but when she planeswalked away from lukka and nissa, she presumably arrived at teferi's, so the former wasn't the end of her part in the story.
Thank you so much for such a detailed overview! I’ve never played MTG but I have loved ones that have it as their favorite hobby. Listening to your overviews helps me ask them questions and keep track of who is who! Looking forward to seeing more! Thanks again!
Wow that's really cool! Thanks for watching!
Yay! I was looking forward to your review of the side stories. Am I the only one who really liked Lukka's story? I actually recommended it to friends and everything.. but afterwards I saw people mostly disliked that story in particular.
I really enjoyed reading Lukka's inner monologues, and hearing the voice of Phyrexia trying to win him over. Lukka does have a chip on his shoulder, but I see his character more tragic than "big and dumb." Also I dreaded the entire time for Nissa as well.. so for me it was a tense and tragic story that I enjoyed.
Regardless, thank you for the great recap/telling of the stories!
I liked Lukka's story as well! I thought it was nice to get to see his thoughts and the body/mind horror of Phyrexia taking him over, but the entire story is kinda just soured by the fact we didn't get to see anything with Nissa really. Especially when it felt like they were setting her up to be this major proponent of wiping Phyrexia off the face of the multiverse again once she spoke with Gaea on Dominaria
I'm really glad to see a small part for Nashi and I hope he gets another card in March of the Machines!
Love story time!! And this story is crazy... it's been the craziest since Amonkhet/War of the Spark!!
First of all. Thanks for all the summarys of the MTG-storyline!
I am very interested to see how this multiverse-war is going to turn out. Are we now going to see plane after plane during the same time? Fighting against the Phyrexian invasion?
Is something going to happen before they can even reach other planes? It is damn interesting and I hope it keeps on going because it would be pretty sad to me if after Bolas was imprisoned and no one knows what currently is up with the eldrazi the 3rd and last major enemy in the MTG-lore (as far as I know) would be done for in the next sets.
Also I hope this war draws in some new interesting characters:
Like Davriel having to fight for a new safespot (and maybe using his power again, attacting his shadows of the past) or returning to Ashiok and see what happened to him after he plagued Elesh Norn with nightmares.
And I personally like the thought of Chandra building up a new guildwatch to protect the multiverse with Liliana as a mentor and helping hand behind the scenes (because c'mon she is way to strong now with Gideons immortality).
Anyway love your content and I look forward to the new storys we can enjoy.
15:40 OOF!! That's a good line.
i would love to learn more about Urtet and the remaining myr, they have always been super cool to me.
I’m curious to see what will happen with Tezzeret. I also feel that his escape from New Phyrexia will play into my theory that what’s left of the Gatewatch will reignite Nicol Bolas’ spark, feeling he is the most powerful planeswalker they know of who may be able to stop the spread of Phyrexia.
I read the Time Spiral trilogy, and it was assumed that Zhalfir was lost while he and others were sealing the rifts in Dominaria.
I really appreciate that this exists
Always great content! I’ve heard that Atraxa was designed from the art of Sunblast Angel but the art of the Kaladesh Inventions Platinum Angel look spot on too.
I wish we had gotten to see a bit more of Alara. I have been DYING to see what the fractured plane looks like now that the world is whole again. In particular, I'd love to see what the denizens of the shards will do now that they have gotten used to the two colors of mana that they previously did not have.
I really enjoyed Neyali's story, it really added a air of despair to the story .
I really wish they had given nissa more screen time, especially when the card, all will be one, seems to suggest that Elesh Norn used Nissa to help grow Realmbreakrt which maybe why it was much larger then the planeswalkers expected when they got to it
I really hope you will go into History of each set and block prior to Eldraine, I would really like to know more about Alara block, and then old Ravnica blocks, Theros, old Kamigawa
I've tried doing that, most recently with looks back at original Innistrad before we had Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow, and those videos never seem to get quite the number of views needed to justify the work put into making them. I'm open to trying again, but I have to find a way to make them more compelling. (It also doesn't help that nobody is searching for "what happens in old ravnica" most days right now)
1:53 Hah! I said the same thing just before you did. Wonderful.
A thought just occurred to me, with Worldbreaker spreading across the multiverse, what's going to happen when it reaches the original Phyrexia? To my knowledge, old Phyrexia wasn't destroyed but "severely damaged" so I see it being possible that Worldbreaker could connect to old Phyrexia.
Didn't like that Nissa got Compleated offscreen
Sometimes the writing team just don't think clearly on a good coherent story
The fact that we might get a set back on Alara, that's the best part for me🤩
Some interesting food for thought going forward is how almost everyone involved in Emrakul imprisoning herself in Inistrad's moon has now been completed. As is the only entity in the multiverse outside the meditation plane who knows that Nicol Bolas is still alive and where he is.
I adore Ixhel's story poor gal just wanted her baby acknowledged by her mom.
I really enjoyed the Tezzeret story. I felt it gave his character depth and I liked the trip to his home so we could see a glimpse of what made him who he is. But... why would Jin-Gitaxias make him stronger THEN turn him? How about recruiting first then beefing up the new guy since he's on your side rather than enhancing an enemy then letting them escape?
Also I hope Lukka follows in the footsteps of Gideon so they can both be super dead. We got to hear all about Dr. Dolittle instead of Nissa's tragic transformation??? Lukka, you suck, nobody likes your character or cards so I hope the Gatewatch erases you in the next set.
How would Jin get Tezzeret to willingly sit still for surgery without giving him the new body first? He would have planeswalked away.
@MagicArcanum Ryan, this is why you're a famous guy on RUclips and I'm just some dude. 🤣
If the magical table keeps him there, lure him in with the promise of a new body then double cross him! If it's good enough for Tezzeret it's good enough for Jin, right? Lol
I wonder how early they knew they were separating the side stories into 5 color pairs (rw, rg, gb, ub, wu).
Here are my predictions for March of the Machines
1- March of the Machines (which I'm honestly hoping it gets shortened to MOM, that would be really funny) will be a multi-realm war on the Phyrexian invasion where we will see characters and creatures from several planes, as evidenced not only by the Realmbreaker and the end of the main story but also by Tezzeret going to various places. Likely we will see representation from the places Tezzeret went through, but also Dominaria by the looks of the Teferi story and New Capenna because there are hanging threads from the end of the set's story
2- Elspeth will come back ascended as an angel, as this is one of the threads left from the New Capenna story, we still haven't seen her truly shine in this main story as it has been continuously teased. From hearing the angel statues, to Elesh Norn fearing her for some reason we still don't know for sure and the cliffhanger of her simply vanishing with the sylex activated.
3- The end of the war will result in the multiverse becoming connected by more ways than just the planeswalkers going between places, as they said the March of the Machines Aftermath will change the multiverse, likely because of something happening with the Realmbreaker. Either it stays active because it's dangerous to destroy it or its destruction will leave some scars like maybe rifts/portals where non-planeswalkers can pass through, giving us opportunities to see the planes crossing over in future sets.
Finally! Feels life forever until this was relased. Thank you Ryan and Nicole!
Can't wait to see indestructible Tezzeret show up soon.
I’m just so tired of Tezzeret just, getting away. Always. Never having to be held accountable for his actions.
Tezzeret pays for his actions. He has no allies, no acquaintances, nothing to show for all the things he has done. He’s alone and helpless to do anything to take control of his own fate. He’s a tragic character that will always be looking for a home that doesn’t exist.
@@caseysmith7283 Thats the bare minimum though. He still got his shiny new Darksteel body. He still has the Planar Bridge. How exactly is he tragic? He’s pathetic. Of course Norn knew he would betray her because that’s his only character trait.
@@eighteentwilight8547 that’s just how the game is played, and tezzert looks after himself. He’s had his mind broken, his own crime syndicate destroyed, forced to be subservient to taco bolas, which lead to the planar bridge to eat away at him. Which forced him to risk it all to save himself. Man deserves to finally be free and be in control of his life again
The Gatewatch likes to just let the bad guys get away all the time. We saw it with Dovin on Kaladesh (before he died that it), Ob Nixilis on New Capena, Oko on Eldraine, literally every Praetor in every story in which they've appeared recently, Nicol Bolas when he was world hopping, etc. The Gatewatch kinda sucks at their job, but every now and then, they kinda dumb luck into a solution and win.
That's kind of a general problem with planeswalker antagonists, though - it's very hard to hold them accountable for anything at all (at least until the multiverse gets Realmbreaker'd).
Slobad and Glissa were very important characters in the beginning of mirrodin. Glissa even had a spark which I don´t remember what happened to it. They´ve won the battle against Memnark, which is the progenitors of the current Phyrexians. But both of them fell, in the end. Glissa was already compleated in New Phyrexia, some years ago, but I didn´t know about Slobad destiny till now.
Well seeing as Glissa is now a Phyrexian Zombie Elf, chances are that she died and was compleated. Very similar to Venser.
@@LordOfDarkness8296 in the last Mirrodin Block, some 10 years ago, there is somewhere her history. But after that is my Curiosity.
Something happened with Slobad as well, but I don´t recall and he, in the other hand, doesn´t have a card in that block.
Did u see Vencer has a card in this new set? He sacrificed himself to save Karn on that period, but sudenly his remains are Phyrexian now.
In the end, my curiosity with this people is try to find or remember what happened to them between Mirrodin and "All will be One"
I kind of liked the side story for tezzeret. It might give us an idea of what’s to come after the phyrexians have done their thing. And I’m glad I got to know more about what teferi was up to.
However, I felt the Nissa and Lukka story was lacking. We don’t even see what exactly compleated her without assumptions.
He’s going to be such a player now, indestructible planes walker cards. His “Ally” lazav on ravnica, former bolas assets and servants now at his disposal
Coming back here after March of the machines really makes me wish phyrexians weren’t just basically removed from existence. We never really find out what happens with Urabrask whether he died or not, or if ixhel joined his rebellion. She honestly seems like a pretty cool character I hope we see more of. I know this is crazy but what if when atraxa shot her down her spark ignited? Just a fun idea for a phyrexian planeswalker rather than a completed one. Also we should have had Belaxis in the precon.
Nissa is my jam, would love to know how Lukka compleated her
I kind of feel like you could sympathize with some of these new phyrexians that are against Eleshnorn. I get that the phyrexians can corrupt essentially any plane, but they can't control that since it's their blood. They may not be good characters but they aren't strictly evil more like anti heroes like Deadpool in marvel. Hope this makes sense
Disagree. Even if they are rebelling against Elesh Norn, they are not rebelling against phyrexian nature - just the present faction leader. If she ends up removed from power, characters like Urabrask and Sheoldred and even Ixhel will still feel compelled to spread their glistening oil, which threatens the entire multiverse.
In the main story, Kaya even entertains this idea: she wonders briefly what it would be like if they left some phyrexians alone, rather than destroy them all, and she reasons that the presence of any phyrexian eventually leads to an entirely phyrexian multiverse. They don't exist in harmony with anyone else. They are truly a virus, and their existence is a threat to all known life (aside from Melira, I guess, but even she isn't immune from being ripped apart)
@@MagicArcanum ah I see, I had the idea that Urabrask being a red aligned Prator(red being the color most associated with freedom) could potentially break from this cycle of corrupting other planes of existence and would be fine living free in phyrexia so thanks for that. I would still like the idea of a phyrexian who doesn't follow this formula traveling the multiverse without corrupting it.
I always thought that Atraxa was the Sun Blast Angel, outhough there isn't any official announce about it
Feel like it's worth mentioning that Tezzeret didn't just tell Nashi off and leave, he first mashed up a large number of Okiba into a ball with their own bikes, yikes
Let's go! Part II!
I really thought the story from Midnight Hunt with Teferi and Wrenn would come into play allowing Teferi to bring back Zhalfir.
I actually think the biblical element of Ixhel's story was strongest when they mentioned that part of Ixhel's body was used to make Vishgraz, giving big Adam and Eve vibes.
It feels nice to know that Teferi is safe in his home but I'm kinda sad knowing that his wife died without seeing it one more time :'(
Don't forget that Nashi and Greasefang were brutally crushed together with their motorcycles Magneto-style before Tezzy planewalked away. They didn't explicitly die but I think they're probably not going to get any more cards in the future
From reading the Lukka story myself I gotta disagree a bit with the sentiment that he bonded with the phyrexian out of cokiness. The situation they found themselves in, being lost in a maze, that's near impossible to move in by foot and teeming with phyrexian threats certainly did seem dire enough to justify the means to me. Because although risky, the alternative of trying to get out by foot didn't seem much more promising.
I think the cockiness was on display after the bonding, when Nissa told him to destroy the creature, and he assured her he was in complete control, and if things started to go badly he would sever the bond. At that moment he truly thought he was more powerful than the phyrexians, and that's before their oil got to him and compelled him to integrate himself with the creature entirely.
I wish we had gotten a story that explains Urtet.
So I really only have two questions about the recent stories. Does tezzeret still have the planar bridge or was that "lost" when switching bodies? If he still has it I feel like it might be sneakily used in the counter offensive we will see.
Second, can compleated planeswalkers still planeswalk? Or was that ability lost since they aren't themselves anymore and are basically dead versions of themselves?
Tezzeret's new body does not contain the bridge, but the story doesn't really say what happened to its pieces. It is unclear if it is still in usable condition, or if Jin Gitaxias can salvage anything from it.
Compleated walkers can planeswalk. That was the major breakthrough with Tamiyo - they managed to compleat her without destroying the part of her soul that contained her spark.
I'm a bit confused about the time dilation within Zhalfir. At first, it seemed like time is slowed there because 400 years passed in the real world compared to the 10 that have passed in Zhalfir. That much makes sense; however, a couple of months pass during Teferi's stay here, but only a couple of days have passed in real-world time. Those two timelines seem to directly conflict with one another.
I'm also not a fan of how they approached Zhalfir here. The way they have made it seem in the past is that Teferi poofed Zhalfir away, but didn't know where it was, ir how to bring it back. In this story though, after some messed up time shenanigans, he end up there as well. It would make sense for him to be trapped there on that world in some kind of pocket in time. If the Wanderer could just pop in and say hi, why could Teferi not find this world himself? Why couldn't he leave Zhalfir to go help the rest of the Gatewatch on Phyrexia? Did I miss something?
The story (probably deliberately) doesn't tell us. We are just as confused as Teferi, and all he can figure is that it has something to do with his use of the Temporal Anchor while it was being powered by a stone containing Serra's Realm. Zhalfir was initially phased out of existence entirely, but now something has changed. Time moves irregularly (both too fast and too slow at the same time) and it may now exist in such a fashion that outsiders (like Teferi and the Wanderer) can reach it again, though fishermen still can't sail out too far, and climbers can't go to the tops of the mountains, which tells us the land hasn't been physically rejoined to Dominaria just yet.
So it is a bit of a puzzle but I think WotC will explain things in the future. We just have to be patient.
So what happens to the planar bridge? Does it not serve a purpose and therefore disposed? If Jin knows about the rebellion, does norn also know tezz is playing both sides or is Jin keeping it close to the chest for his own gain?
The story doesn't tell us what happens to the bridge, unfortunately. We can assume Jin Gitaxias kept it, or at least its pieces, but I don't know how useful it is in that state. Regardless, the phyrexians believe they have Realmbreaker now, so they can travel the multiverse as they please without needing the bridge.
Tezzeret figures Jin is going to make his own play for "the throne," and that's why he wants to convert Tezzeret's new body to blightsteel (and in turn, make him a phyrexian agent) We can assume this process would make Tezzeret loyal to Jin Gitaxias, and that would be a powerful piece to use in the war against Elesh Norn (or whoever takes over if and when she falls from power herself)
Jin doesn't share all his knowledge. It's his defining identity, so it would be filling of him to not hold on to some secrets.
@MagicArcanum I think they will replace the praetors with a dark gatewatch of compleated walkers.
Great vid. In addition to the lore i enjoy hearing your thoughts on it.
Also while I personally dont like nissa i feel like she deserved a bit more respect lol. At least compleat her onscreen
I think Teferi will try to, thanks to his time manipulation, create a new legacy weapon, bloodline project and maybe metathrans. In the end he was a Urza's and Barrin student and this time he is too committed...
Dang i was hoping to hear about Skrelv, Defector Mite
Yeah unfortunately they appear in neither the main story nor the sides. Sorry!
I'm pretty sure Dovin Baan is assimil... I mean compleated; There's notes that "all the valdalkens are compleat" and everyone keeps pointing out prepared & well planned the Phrexians were.
I also think it's worth pointing out the kinda radical nature of the Phrexian story: We are often the results of the systems we live under, and to break free of that (without outside help) is difficult. The fact this being that been created, raised, and surrounded by the systemic pressures of Phyrexia still found a way to question that is a pretty big deal.
Hate to break it to you but Dovin has been dead since the conclusion of War of the Spark 😬
@@MagicArcanum ooooh. I thought he got away. Oops.
I wish they had more stories in general for the magic lore, especially for an arc like this. Lukka's side story definitely could've been a main story, we don't need 5 main and 5 side.
I am tired of Planeswalkers getting compleated offscreen. Ajani, Tibalt (for the most part), Nissa, Vraska...
Also... Why did Jin Gitaxias say "hey I know you betrayed us so I'm gonna compleat you now lol" instead of just putting Tezzeret's head in a blightsteel body?
I feel like Chandra will fight Nissa in the March of the Mashines and it won´t be pleasent, also I kinda wish that all corrupted planeswalker have an intense fight with former firends/important people from their story Niss v Chandra; Lukka/Vivien; Jace/Lilliana; Vraska/Ral (or Kaya); Nahiri/Sorin; Ajani/Elspeth and Tamiyo either Narset or Kaito
I'm actually totally fine with how Lukka turned out. He just follows his whims and makes grabs for power but at the most surface level possible and I think that's just great. The whole situation also makes Jace look like more of an idiot which is a solid perk for me.
Didn't Nicol Bolas give Tezerret immunity to phyresis way back in the Scars of Mirradin block? I wonder if that carried over to the new body?
Tezzeret thinks about this in one of the earlier stories, and concludes that either the oil has become a new formula that he's not protected against, or that Bolas's plan was to regularly re-vaccinate Tezzeret. Now that Bolas is unable to do that, Tezzeret is not confident his protection remains.
Now I wonder if the Eldrazi will play a role in the upcoming stories cause they are still around just lurking in the shadows or has the creators of the MTG storyline forgotten about them
Jace *picks Lukka as a strategist
Lukka *completes himself out of stupidity
...
...
...
Jace, next time, please pick LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE!
Of course, the most important question is: does Tezz have a darksteel dingus now?
Tezzy surviving is the best thing about the side stories.
Look at how they did our boy Slobad justice!
Wondering still what is going on with ashiok who is last we knew testing the emotional impact of fear on phyrexians even elesh norn we know they are there from a in between story from last year so what is that nightmare doing at this point
Wait, the Temporal Anchor had the Serra's Realm core powering it? Why did they never put the thing back into the Weatherlight when it was rebuilt? That was the reason it could planeswalk in the first place.
They did put it in the rebuilt Weatherlight, and then when that became corrupted, Slimefoot yanked it out as they abandoned the ship. That freed it up to be used in the Anchor.
Ahh that would explain it. I missed a lot of the buildup and only got into listening to you recently.
To be fair, new capenna is the only plane we know of that was putting angels in blenders to get halo.
Really love the 'stache and eloquent voice ^_^
My question is, what's Chandra gonna do once she finds out Nissa's been compleated. Scorched earth anyone?
I think the better example that halo may be plane specific is the realm of serra. It was literally a plane of pure white mana and it was corrupted and fell to phyrexia
It probably doesn't help people get a feel for Lukka's character that they DIDN'T WRITE STORIES TO INTRODUCE IKORIA.
That is so deeply messed up. This angel that fought so hard fighting Phyrexia becomes one of their strongest.
I feel like Nissa and Luka have been problems and were mandated out, sort of like how we're not going to see Nico Aris again.
who says we wont its only been a year since they premiered and they may show up in march
@@donb7519 Much like Luka and to a lesser degree Vivian, Nico didn't really seem to hit the spot with the fans, either attached to a set with an inconsistent story, no meta Impact in their cards or they didn't break the market the way wizards wanted them to(jiang yangu anyone?) these planeswalkers are at best meh and more likely to get shelved for characters that fit the pretty narrow overlap between what wotc want to push what people actually like, like Teferi and Kaya.
@@saitamagotchi44 eh plenty of people dont like kaya though she just has cards good enough to play if the next niko was better itd be the same thing
This a question I have since I started in Scars of Mirrodin, how did glissa become a phyrexian zombie? I later found out that at the end of the original mirrodin story that she was put into a healing pod to recover from the fight with memnarch, which in turn was used with phyrexian oil that slowly turned her into the zombie phyrexian we have now. What i would like to have more story about is the original heroes of mirrodin, we learn about slobad and see from the artwork that he was compleated with bosh, the iron golem, so more of a who's alive form og mirrodin, and what happened to them since
Glissa gets compleated a little later. After the final fight with Memnarch, she returns to the surface with Slobad, but unfortunately a horde of panicked goblins tramples and separates them. Glissa is then carried back into the Radix by Memnites and left in stasis. That´s when the oil seeps in and seals her fate.
As for the OGs, most of them were ejected from Mirrodin via the Vanishing, the event that sent back many of the inhabitants kidnapped by Memnarch to their original planes when the Soul Traps got busted. Raksha and Bruenna, for example, are gone because of it.
@@jatabo1574 for the OG's I was not refering to the inhabitants that memnarch dragged to mirrodin, I was talking about any other named character's from the first mirrodin and scars of mirrodin block that shoed up in stories or as named cards
@@KnightShadowXZ Oh, those. Just my two cents, but pretty sure they are all dead. Or worse.
@@jatabo1574 most likely at this point
This might be a stupid question, but where do you find the story for these sets? Is it a comic book or something, I’ve never seen/heard of any MTG story books being advertised
MTG use to have novels. But they switched over to putting the chapters up, for free, on their official website.
@@LordOfDarkness8296 thanks I’ll check it out!
There is a link to the official story page in the description of this video :-)
thank you!
Calling it now. ELDRAZI VS. PHYREXIA!
i thought nissa had a small nick on her hand or something before running off
I feel like Lukka is kind of fascinating. I do like his story and how naive he is. He also has reason not to trust anyone else because of his past on Strixhaven and Ikoria. Still think he was being very dumb.