Five praetors. Five visions of perfection. New Phyrexia was not a unified monolith, but a collection of rival factions, each led by a praetor with their own ambitions. Under Elesh Norn's leadership, these factions were forced to cooperate — but the fractures remained visible.
This episode explores the five praetors and their role in the coming invasion.
The Machine Orthodoxy — Elesh Norn
Elesh Norn ruled over the white territory of New Phyrexia. Her philosophy was simple: perfection through unity. All beings must be integrated into the great body of Phyrexia. Individuality was a flaw to be corrected.
She had subjugated the other praetors not through brute force, but through doctrine. Her Church of the Machine Orthodoxy had convinced the Phyrexian masses that expansion was a sacred duty.
The New Phyrexia
Under her leadership, New Phyrexia had been unified like never before. Conflicts between factions, once endemic, had been suppressed. All resources were directed toward a single goal: the invasion of the Multiverse.
The Progress — Jin-Gitaxias
Jin-Gitaxias ruled the blue territory, dedicated to experimentation and progress. To him, perfection was not a fixed state but an infinite process of improvement.
It was he who had discovered how to compleat planeswalkers. His laboratories had produced the first plane-traveling agents in service of Phyrexia — a breakthrough that shifted the entire balance of the Multiverse.
The Experiments
Jin-Gitaxias collected the knowledge of every plane. Each world visited by Phyrexian agents brought back new data: technologies, magics, biologies. Everything was cataloged, analyzed, and integrated into the great Phyrexian project.
The Pits — Sheoldred
Sheoldred ruled the black territory — the pits where failing Phyrexians were broken down and recycled. Her philosophy was survival through the elimination of the weak.
She had long plotted against Elesh Norn, seeking to usurp her position. But in the face of the imminent invasion, even her personal ambitions were set aside — temporarily.
The Infiltrating Agents
It was Sheoldred who had been sent to Dominaria to prepare the ground. Her infiltrating agents had corrupted entire organizations, paving the way for the day the Phyrexians would arrive in force.
The Furnace — Urabrask
Urabrask was the anomaly. The red praetor had always been the most independent, the least dogmatic. During the fall of Mirrodin, he had even sheltered Mirran survivors in his furnaces — an act of heresy according to the other praetors.
He did not believe in Elesh Norn's forced unity. To him, perfection came through individual forging — each being had to perfect themselves according to their own nature.
The Dissident
When the invasion was launched, Urabrask made a surprising choice: he aided the resistance. He provided information, allowed escapes, sabotaged certain operations. To him, Elesh Norn's invasion was not the true path of Phyrexia.
This betrayal would cost him dearly.
The Predation — Vorinclex
Vorinclex embodied the green vision of Phyrexia: pure predation. Only the strong deserved to survive. Only the most adapted deserved to be compleated.
It was he who had been sent to Kaldheim to steal the essence of the World Tree. His mission was a brutal success — he crushed all opposition through sheer force.
The Realmbreaker
The essence stolen from Kaldheim was used to create the Realmbreaker — the corrupted World Tree, capable of piercing the barriers between planes. It was the ultimate weapon of the Phyrexian invasion: a means to attack all planes simultaneously.
The Forced Unification
Despite their differences, the five praetors were forced to cooperate. Elesh Norn had achieved what no Phyrexian leader had accomplished since Yawgmoth himself: unifying Phyrexia under a single banner.
The armies were ready. The Realmbreaker was charged. The compleated planeswalkers awaited their orders.
The March of the Machine was about to begin.
In the next episode...
Episode 16: The Compleation of Heroes
The Phyrexian invasion does not merely destroy — it transforms. Beloved heroes fall under the yoke of Phyrexia. Ajani, Nissa, Nahiri... the defenders of the Multiverse become its greatest enemies. The list of allies dwindles, and every battle costs more than lives.
Sources
- MTG Wiki: Praetors — The five leaders of New Phyrexia
- MTG Wiki: Elesh Norn — The Mother of Machines
- Phyrexia: All Will Be One (Magic expansion, 2023)
Products related to this episode
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