Currently the Magic the Gathering multiverse is suffering by another emergence of Phyrexians. Yes, these “compleated” creatures pose a valid threat in their quest to extinguish all living things and perfect life through mechanical means. But how is this looming, this creeping disaster in the world of MTG translated to the game of MTG. Do the Phyrexians pose a threat to the game?
I think there is at least an attempt to make these otherworldly foes affect the game, otherwise I wouldn’t have come up with the idea to this article. I want to look at the Praetors – the leaders of the Phyrexians – in both their iterations and determine why they should be as horrible to the game as they are in the story. There is one Praetor still waiting for his second appearance – Elesh Norn. For fun, I’ll try to come up with a possible design for her, based on what I learn from the others.
Arrival
While I wasn’t into MTG when they first were introduced, I think it awesome how they creeped back into the Magic story. One after the other Praetor was introduced, out of context in other sets, since Kaldheim. At the beginning they were but apparent side characters in the story being told and their card did not seem to fit into the setting of the set. Kaldheim was based on northern mythology and yet there was this weird mechanical bestiality, we learn to be Vorinclex. Much later on, in Kamigawa Neon Dynasty the theme of the set is close to the theme surrounding the Phyrexians – technological progress versus emotional traditions – but Jin-Gataxias still seemed like an abomination, especially compared to the beautiful cards of the set. Urobrask too seemed in the wrong place in an Art Deco New Capenna. So, their weirdness made them stand out, and them trickling into the game slowly opened questions and mysteries, as well as it created anticipation that something big is going to happen. Only in the new Dominaria Set other Phyrexian cards appeared besides Sheoldred and the threat only hinted at until now, became real.
Change
How did the Preators develop since their last appearance? One noticeable change are their casting costs. They became cheaper. This probably makes sense due to the power creep in the game since the last time they came out (I’m not much of a numbers guy, so I can’t get deep into balancing issues). But also, narratively it makes a lot more sense to be cheap for them. They are supposed to be perfected beings. Efficiency is their key feature. Of course, to pose a threat their abilities have to have a huge impact on the game, and an increase in impact is accompanied by a raise of costs. An expensive creature thus seems more threatening. Yet their terror can be shown from a different angle, as well. Their mechanics are characterized by giving both, an advantage to their owner, and a disadvantage to their opponent. This is true for both iterations, as we shall see in more detail below. The new iteration however, I want to argue, affects base mechanics of the game of MTG. Let’s look at each of the Praetors on their own.
Comparisons
Vorinclex
Vorinclex has lost two mana in casting costs but only one point in his power, and even gained haste to his trample. He’s definitely become more efficient, although it’s still a quite casting cost. Considering he is in green, that makes perfect sense though. The older version of Vorinclex leans heavy on his colour identity, since he brings the mana out of balance. The newer Vorinclex has this curious ability of manipulating counters. This seems fringe at first, but besides just strengthening your creatures, when you put some counters on them, he also messes with Planeswalkers and Sagas, rendering those of the opponent useless as long as he stays on the battlefield. Still the older Vorinclex’s ability was definitely more powerful. But the new ability seems like nothing one has ever seen in Magic and thus fits to the otherworldly feeling of the Phyrexian Praetor. Also, while the old Vorinclex is more powerful its ability does not change the way the game is played. It just makes it more difficult for the opponent and easier for you, while the new one encourages you to play Sagas or Planeswalkers, by making them more efficient, it discourages the opponent to spend his turn playing them. This is what I mean by posing a threat to the game. The Praetors change the way it’s played.
Jin Gitaxias
Jin-Gitaxias has become cheaper as well, although he’s still quite expensive. There is that thing with expensive but powerful creatures in blue, I don’t quite get. Anyhow, again, the old ability seems insanely strong and disturbs the balance, but it’s not very efficient and doesn’t affect the gameplay. All the opponent has to do is to remove Jin-Gitaxias. The newer version however makes that more difficult, since the first attempt at removing it is countered. The opponent is forced to waste a spell, so that he can remove Jin-Gitaxias in his second attempt. Meanwhile, you get double the value out of your spells.
Urabrask
Urabrask’s cost and power stay the same. When it comes to his ability, I would actually argue the older Urabrask is quite a bit more efficient than his newer version. After all you want to be aggressive in a red deck and old Urabrask helps you with that by giving all your creatures haste and tapping the opponent’s creature, so that they can’t block on their first turn. Although the new ability has again that otherworldly weirdness to it, it doesn’t really change the way the game is played and similarly to the old versions only gives a advantage to you and a disadvantage to the opponent. You get to draw 2 cards every turn, but at least one of them you have to cast that very turn, while the opponent has to cast every card he gets, since they can’t hold it longer than a turn in their hands. It doesn’t discourage or encourage them to play in a specific way, they just can’t do anything about it.
Sheoldred
Similar to Jin-Gitaxias and Vorinclex, old Sheoldred is expensive and extremely powerful. The newer version is much more compact. With only four mana the 4/5 power level is extremely efficient, as is the deathtouch added to the mix. The gain and drain of two life based on card draw doesn’t seem much at the first glance, and sadly is kind of a boring ability, yet it has proven to be quite a threat. Again, it discourages the opponent from drawing cards. In a game where “draw” is the best possible word written on a card. The ability does not necessarily have that otherworldly flair to it, but whenever the new Sheoldred enters the battlefield, she inflicts at least a little bit sense of despair to the opponent.
Elesh Norn
Elesh Norn is extremely expensive for a white creature. Her ability has a great impact on the battlefield as it changes the power drastically. Since the new version of Elesh Norn is not published yet, I will attempt to create my own new version of her. I would decrease her cost immensely. In fact, I noticed a pattern in the new Praetors. Their costs range from 7, to 6, 5 and 4. So, I hope they make a 1WW Mana Elesh Norn. Her power is probably slightly above rate, so I venture out to say she’s gonna be a 3/4. Finally, her ability has to discourage the opponent to play a certain way. We already have discouraged playing non-creatures and drawing cards. What if we discourage playing creatures now? The thing is, that is not very powerful, since there can be lots of control-decks that already don’t really play creatures. To make it work we have to twist it around a bit. This is what I came up with: Whenever an opponent casts their first creature spell per turn, until their next turn, my spells cost 1 less to cast. And the other way around; whenever I cast my first creature spell per turn, until my next turn, opponent’s spells cost 1 more to cast.