The Praetors of New Phyrexia and Their Factions

Unlike their previous incarnation where Phyrexia fed on colorless artifact mana and the black mana of decay and death, this time the Phyrexians infiltrated all five colors of mana and thus brought war to all the peoples of Mirrodin. However, this created Phyrexian factions based on their color alignment and each alignment got a Praetor to lead then.

For years the Phyrexian praetors planned to dominate the surface of Mirrodin, started with the brutal attack of the Vicious Swarm, the green faction led by Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger, the green praetor of the hunt.

Unlike the other factions, Vorinclex and his right arm Glissa believed that, instead of waiting for the right moment to attack, they should attack immediately. Through a selection that believes more in the survival of the fittest, they killed those who were considered weak and strengthen the great predators of Mirrodin. They have created a fearsome legion of Phyrexian predators and sent some of these animals to conquer Tel-Jilad and, when the rest of the factions appeared, the forest was already conquered. In the Vicious Swarm, Vorinclex wants to create a world in which the strongest beings dominate.

The green-lined Phyrexians were the first to attack the Mirrans, quickly dominating the Tangle and, like all Phyrexians, the Swarm members believe that the flesh is weak. But unlike the other Phyrexians they believe that the New Phyrexia should progress on a more natural way, based on the roles of predation, allowing the strong to triumph over the weak. They believe that artificial engineering must be restricted to make predators more efficient, and that sensitivity and wisdom are inadequate curses when compared to the raw power of instinct. In the absence of any kind of organization, they are just a huge variety of creatures that kill themselves for the purpose of selecting the strongest.

The black-aligned faction is The Seven Steel Ore, which was led by Sheoldred, the Whispering One, the black slave of slavery. She was the most traditional leader of the Phyrexian ideals, believing in control by subjugation or death.

Mirrodin's Phyrexian invasion began at Mephidross. Over the years the Phyrexians grew in size and power in this area until they were able to spread. They managed to stay hidden thanks to Geth and now each of the Thanes has moved to different parts of the Mephidross. The Thanes, also called Lords of Metal, learned truths about their roles in the plane. These truths are that Phyrexians are the only beings who can survive a Phyrexian world, there can be only one Father of Machines. Sheoldred and the other Thanes clashed with each other for the purpose of supreme power. Sheoldred won the brutal battle and became the leader of the faction.

The Phyrexians, aligned with black, are made by absolute corruption, they are all fighting a war of succession to be named "Father of the Machines". However, Sheoldred's territory was dominated by Elesh Norn and the whereabouts of the black praetor are unknown.

The Mechanism of Progress is the blue-aligned faction led by Jin-Gitaxias. They invaded the seas of mercury. The first part of his invasion plan was to pump shiny oil into the Mercury Sea. This would allow the Phyrexian infection to spread faster than other means. Gitaxias conquered the city of Lumengrid and made it his base of operations and laboratory. He created weaker Phyrexian beings in this laboratory and supervised all Phyrexian projects. Most of the other buildings in Lumengrid were reused as slaughterhouses and small Phyrexian laboratories. In order to achieve true perfection, Jin-Gitxaias plunged into the realms of the occult and divine.

Blue-aligned Phyrexians remain at a greater degree of perfection than other factions, and seek what they call "The Great Synthesis". They carry out experiments in several laboratories spread over the Sea of mercury, described as "slaughterhouses", creating new forms of life and technology. They are the most organized group, with at least ten outposts. One of his great experiments is the fusion network, in which the wells of knowledge are filled with the brains of hundreds of sentient beings, connecting all in one.

Urabrask, The Hidden is the red praetor of the industry. His faction is The Silent Furnace, he likes to build monstrosities and ever greater artificial weapons. The red mana's streak of independence makes this faction less like the original Phyrexia composition.

Phyrexians aligned with this color built gigantic furnaces in Mirrodin, based on similar layers of ancient Phyrexia, where the machines were born. Its main function was to take care of the forges, building weapons and recycling the Phyrexians and Mirrans.

Red Phyrexians differ from everyone else since they have strong emotions and individuality, and as such have developed empathy for Mirrans. While still brutal creatures, their empathy proved to be strong enough to allow Mirrodin's survivors to remain in their territory, treating them as if they did not exist. To hide this secret, as well as to avoid having to deal with other factions, Urabrask demanded that all access to the Furnace Layer be sealed from the other factions, isolating himself and his servers. The Phyrexians in the mountains serve as guardians of the entrances of the Furnace Layer.

For that kindness, the Silent Furnace became the target of Elesh Norn who destroyed the place. She does not know if Urabrask is still lives, but he gave time for resistance to flee the place, out of Norn's reach.

Speaking of Elesh Norn, she is the leader of the Orthodoxy of Machines and the greatest threat of New Phyrexia.

During Elesh Norn's invasion, she sent her troops to the razor fields and quickly controlled them, massacring the people of that place. Eventually, the strength of their armies was enough to invade Mirrodin's prairies in a short period of time, easily capturing many of them and infecting the strongest, mutilating and physically reorganizing low-level members of Orthodoxy and transforming their infrastructure into new temples. Only the 'Bladehold' fortress was able to withstand the Phyrexian threat, yet an isolated group with no hope of victory.

White-lined Phyrexians are guided by scriptures called Argentum Engravings, but are divided into smaller sects. Three of the most prominent sects include The Singularity of the Flesh, The Porcelain Legion, and Karn's disciples.

The Singularity of the Flesh tries to achieve total unity by literally skinning the creatures that inhabit the land and sewing them together. The Porcelain Legion reuses and adapts creatures by implanting white metal plates on their bodies. And the Karn's Disciples held Karn hostage, hoping to push him into insanity, so that he could become a leader, the Father of Machines.

Karn was freed thanks to Venser's sacrifice, but for Elesh Norn it was a great opportunity to be the prophet with the greatest influence of Phyrexia, dominating the territories of Sheoldred and Urabrask. As she likes to say, "I still have a lot of work to do. Everything will be one."

And now everything indicates that we are going back to New Phyrexia. In Theros, Ashiok looked at Elspeth's nightmares and was fascinated by the Phyrexians and went to meet them. Elspeth herself escaped from the world of the dead; she still thinks about her companion Koth who is imprisoned at the place. Karn has obtained a Clexus in Dominaria and is ready to destroy the Phyrexian threat, Ajani and Teferi are with him on this mission and Tezzeret is free from the clutches of Bolas, ready to put his own plans into action.

New Phyrexia has potential to be the next great Magic saga.