The Rise of New Phyrexia 

Do you miss Mirrodin or do you prefer the compleat edition?

5:14 "a tiny piece of a puzzle, $2000 to complete" So very true for magic

To wiseass further under a 2 hour video: For each color there's a mana generating Myr. Each color is represented by a different metal e.g. red is copper. The same metals were used by Yawgmoth and Xod in The Thran to find out what mana is and that it has 5 colors. I'm sure the device they used was a Thran Lens, where you also see the 5 metals, except it filters mana from them into colorless, not vice versa. Like a prism.

This video made me really invested in the wellbeing of the myr.

And now just a few days later, we’ve got Urtet, the 5c legendary myr who’s hauling the mirari around on his back (either that or a new hand has touched Meridia’s Beacon)

I am now completely in love. Myr and Mirran solidarity forever! ❤

Considering Wizards called the Glistening oil an unperfected weaponization of Old Phyrexia, I like to imagine it was Yawgmoth's unrealized opus magnum. After all, what greater weapon could there be in the mind of the epitome of narcissists than one that turns his enemies into himself? What greater work could the Great Work be than to turn all of the cosmos into reflections of him? In that vein, I like to think of each of the Praetors as fragmentations of his outsized personality, arising separately due to the imperfection of oil and the influence of Mirran mana. All of Phyrexia itself was already geared toward this project, whether by mental manipulation via tampered Heartstones, severe religious indoctrination and physical conditioning, or luring in like minded and bring out the worst of them like what happened with Urza, and the Glistening Oil seems meant to be the ultimate realization of this goal that could be applied on a multiversal scale. For example, Gitaxias is Yawgmoth's obsession with knowledge and its acquisition via experimentation unbounded by moral or ethical limitations. Sheoldred exemplifies his will to power and Machiavellian/Demonic talent for manipulation and coercion. Vorinclex represents his Darwinian obsession with conflict, war, and growth through violence, as well as his brutality, barely hidden under a veneer his civilized and erudite veneer, meant to feed his sense of superiority and justify his base instincts. Urabrask is a lesser realized aspect we see within Yawgmoth that is contrary to his typical narcissism; his competing desire to go his own way and tinker with whatever fascinates or occupies him. We see this more independent side/ self-absorbed side when he is exiled by the Thran or in isolated experimentation in Glacian's labs or on Phyrexia after he first "acquires" it. Urabrask is a manifestation of his compulsive min maxing fetish that he indulges in, where he loses sight of else beyond his focal point, even somehow forgetting himself. Lastly, Mama Elesh is his intense, religious, self-deification; his complete narcissism and dogmatic need for control over everything and everyone one made manifest. That overpowering aspect of himself that made his more Urabrasky nature so rare to manifest and set him on a path to nurture and spread all his worst qualities. I think the Praetor's create a kind of poetry to the legacy of Yawgmoth, and this conception of the Glistening Oil really ties brings home the warning his tale has of pure, unrestrained narcissism and the repeating nature of trauma and abuse. The cherry on top is how the Praetor's, being his spawn, shsring his devastating ego, are unable to see Yawgmoth in themselves. Instead, they mark him as a failure that set something far greater into motion that only they have the true competency to complete. They are all too blind to see that they are him writ small, failings and all, and that will likely be their doom.

I love this video SO SO much and it's exactly how I've felt about leonin -- and just how WOTC treats their nonhuman races in general. Mirrodin wasn't terrible, but we didn't get anything from the leonin. Everything you say about Scars of Mirrodin is true. The turning point for me was in Theros Beyond Death's story, when we not only didn't get Ajani, but we didn't check in with the leonin at all despite both being critical to the whole premise of the plot. Back to Mirrodin though it still looks like they're ignoring leonin at every turn. Not a single card featuring a group of Mirrans has a single leonin on it. Meanwhile, I'm still desperately waiting on a Ghalma card. She's the whole reason the resistance managed to initially survive! What you say about the Myr is all true, but Myr have the added distinction of only existing on the single plane so far, so every missed opportunity it stings even more. The reveal of a legendary Myr (as well as a handful of Myr cards) does help, but we don't get them in stories or anything. Classic WOTC, always taking one step forward and two steps back in anything and everything creative, and patting themselves on the back for it. Ugh, now I'm pissed off about how they handled werewolves in Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow all over again.

Return of the king. Always worth the wait for these.

"Um, actually": Phyrexia _did_ eventually make some of their own portals; they couldn't have chased around Urza as well as they did without doing so. The process was still ultimately costly, and Rath was created to provide an avenue thru which to take over Dominaria in a foul swoop rather than spend millennia more in infiltration. On the subject of the heartstone's oil, my thought was that it was inert (given Xantcha was long-dead) until Karn sparked, waking it up. And even then, it was still the _tiniest_ bit of it, and didn't become a problem until both many years later and Karn gave up his spark. Hate that retcon so godsdamned much. I just assume that the soul traps kept SOME OG trappees present, and they kept coming back in a kind of reincarnation matrix, and "the Vanished" were when they were finally gone. In my headcanon, "millennia" was still how much time in the intervening time before Karn showed up again, Memnarch's tinkering warping time onto the plane on its own. (Yes, yes, this begs the question why Karn couldn't get back in given he was made of silver specfically due to its temporal resilience; this is the best I've got.) Bosh existed in a state that Slobad could repair; I'm sure there were other golems around. And it had been ~60 years; plenty of time for a handful to be reanimated. You can get a spark...by teleporting a heart. Over a decade later, it's still so damn dumb. Everything Yawgmoth, Memnarch, and many more had ever done to become 'walkers themselves...so pointless, this is telling us. Still haven't headcanoned any of that, but GODS is it dumb. I would like to see that timeline video; too much of MtG's timeline - especially where Mirrodin is concerned - is far too murky. Yes, Mirrodin was/is small. One of the smallest planes we specifically focus on, if not the smallest. Rest assured, if the Sylex were set off as presented in the Brothers' War, Mirrodin would splinter into dust.

My head Canon is that Urabrask is none other than the first completed Myr to reach full consciousness and independence. Only thing i am certain of, is that he's always been my favourite praetor (Sheoldred being the second) and my stance has only solidified with the new cards.

I never comment on youtube but i HAD to go out my way and say that it is absolutely the best magic lore video I've ever watched. Thanks you so so much for all this work, this is just so good !!!

Long time magic player here. I just wanted to let you know that I think your channel is one of the best magic content channels around and I really can’t wait for it to gain more traction. Keep up the great work!

Mirrodin is small (there's dimensions somewhere, but its much smaller than Earth and you're probably right about it being smaller than the moon), but also, Dominaria is *big*. It's *huge* compared to Earth, and it was even bigger (I think 9x Earth? Like surround a world map with another world map on each side/diagonal) before it got retconned at some point to be "only" a good bit bigger than earth. I'm not sure where that retcon fits with the other impact of the Sylex Blast. My point being that the Sylex devastated Dominaria, which is bigger (and goodness-knows hardier) than Earth, while Mirrodin is smaller (and frankly, being made of hollow spheres can't be the best thing structural-integrity-wise). Unfortunately I'm too lazy to go find exact numbers/sources rn. ...not that any of this will be considered when it comes to the impact of mysterious magic superweapons (that have been rebuilt by entirely different people) on fictional magical planes in the lore of a game that can hardly keep events and characters straight, let alone planetary diameters.

It has been a long time since I found a new channel that is still small like this one with content this well made. Absolutely a diamond in the rough!

I hadn't realized how much nostaglia I had for Mirrodin before watching this. Some of the first cards I saw where beautiful little Myr. Thank you so much for the healthy dose of nostalgia.

I'm glad to hear at the end that you're happy with the final product that is this video, even if it ballooned beyond what you were originally planning. My favorite thing on RU-vid is watching long-form discussions/rants/dissertations on things that their creators are excited about. You've become one of the creators whose videos I most anticipate, in the same vein as folks like Spice8Rack and Noah Caldwell-Gervais. And long live the Myr! I've always wanted to make a Myr commander, but none of the options seemed right. Brudiclad as an honorary myr might've been fine, but his color restrictions were too narrow for it. I'm looking forward to Urtet, and would love to see a short or something from you about how you feel about our new Myr Overlord.

I like the way you tell stories. Not annoying. Earned a sub. Imma binge your other vids.

I love that half of this is about phyrexia and the other is about how much you love myrs😂

Oh god I hope my giant metal dommy mommy ends up ruling the multiverse.

This is the first video of yours that's ever been suggested to me. Who knew I'd be blessed with an absolute bearded vision who'd awaken a love for myrs I never knew I had.

Mirrodin was my first plane. Ne and some friends played MtG around this time, even though we barely knew how to play. I full-on identify with how he describes the arts of cards making you feel like you were peeking into some grand, unknown story. Unfortunately, my cards were stolen a little after Scars set, and I didn't play again until about a year or two ago. Now it's all heading back to Mirrodin, and I finally have a real incentive to build that Myr deck I joked about from time to time.

Awww a happy ending! Great video again! P.S. Would love if there were two of you as well.

I'm glad you got your five color myr commander who still carries the mirari on his back

Awesome cant wait for guildless part 3. Your the best source for dnd material out there.

Oh lord. The beard swap part way into the video tho 😍😍😍

Late here, but I have started with Mirrodin. It's my favorite plane, and I loved the story of the block. New Phyrexia has become the one thing of Magic's Lore that I DESPISE!!! They have taken my favorite characters, first Glissa, then my beloved plane, then Tamiyo, then Jace and Slobad. I seriously want to see New Phyrexia be utterly destroyed, but I would begrudgingly accept Urabrask taking over but with Elesh Norn and the other Praetors murdered. I love that Urabrask is revolting, it gives me hope that the Mirrans can reclaim their home. I would love to see a Myr become a planeswalker.

Wish this dude came back. Best videos for a new player like me. He's so good at distilling info

Great video as always my man.

Today I finally learned that "older" Mtg lore, and the only thing I am disappointed by now - I want MORE videos.

Ya not going to lie that card story timeline idea sounds awesome. Like I keep pausing/rewinding this video to read the flavor text on quite literally every card that has any for a very similar reason. a hellva time sink to watch and certainly a greater one of you to make, but I'd definitely enjoy it. Hell, I've only just found your channel this past week and am watching em in order. Gotta say, I am loving every video so far and I'm looking forward to more, bother in the video posted after this one from yesterday, and the ones that follow. Also I completely understand on the cant quite let go of your "home" plane like you talked about. as someone who joined right before the original Theros block, and someone who loves mythology in general, I still can't let go of that world of gods and monsters. sure, we got Theros beyond death and i was happy for the return, but it was still only a short visit and like you with the myr and the war, my favorite bits were sidelined for WoTC's story they wanted to tell in their limited number of short stories.

I kinda want a scenario where when all hope is lost, Emrakul finally emerges to combat the Phyrexians in a sort of "Force of Nature" vs "Unnatural Force" style showdown. Extremely wishful thinking, but I think it'd be awesome given she's still residing in the moon on innistrad waiting for the perfect time.

Absolutely loved that extensive rundown! As a new player getting into Mtg lore it's been a pretty daunting/discouraging experience to hear about all of the inconsistencies/retcons etc. This could not have been a better combination of all of the important details + a note here and there about the content that is worth skipping. Looking forward to future vids!

1:10:10 You actually make a really good point here. Maybe Karn has been affected by the Praetors after all and whispers of violence are driving his actions subconsciously.

Great job covering that long twisted story about phyrexian (and the Myr's!) storyline connected to the released sets. That helped me a lot to understand what's going on right now. WotC should be more concerned publishing their own lore, though that players can emotionally participate into the cards they like and play.

Saw a comment on another video that can explain Urobrasks motives a bit better "Plot Twist: Urabrask is the biggest and most devout believer in the perfection that is compleation, because he has so much faith in its superiority and virtue that everyone will willingly choose compleation, in time. He understands that if you have to forcefully impose compleation on others, it's an implicit admission in its shortcomings and undesirable nature."

This was a fantastic compilation of information that would otherwise take hours/days to uncover in the correct chronological order. Thanks man, great vid

I have no doubt that Mirrodin was at least slightly inspired by LEGO's Bionicle a few years prior, which is good, because both are awesome.

I don't know who this handsome man is but I'm glad I found his channel.

The myr are by far my favorite tribe as well, and there's a card leak with a legendary myr! It's Urtet, remains of memnarch. If it's real... It's a perfect home run imo. If not... I'm gonna proxy it!

I'm so happy this video exists. I came into MTG in mid-2023, and if Phyrexia didn't exist in any way, I wouldn't have started playing at all. I didn't know about the history of Mirrodin/Scars of Mirrodin/New Phyrexia until months after I had started with All Will Be One and March of the Machine, and I share your enthusiasm for the sci-fi of everything to do with Mirrodin and New Phyrexia.

Fantastic work you fantastic Myr

this video deserves so much more recognition! you do an amazing job at storytelling!

Thanks for the hour long rant about your love of Myr. It's nice to have a condensed thing of a full plane of Magic. MtG being a hodgepodge of multiple authors and game designers means there's a lot of moving parts going around in the background.

I am so happy I found this in my recommended list. The algorithm works. Lmao. But seriously great fucking job on this video. Can't wait to dive in to the rest of your content!

Yessss! I thought I was the only one that got really excited to hear Taimyo's story and the acknowledgement of Myrs after years of nothing!

I’m a MtG lore newbie and your style of presentation has been a great aid! Showing cards on the left is also amazingly helpful as most of the time I don’t know what you are talking about.

good work dude. you made learning this part of the lore fun and easy. thanks a lot. also, you look great with the thicker beard.

5:25 Oh god, I remember that starter box and it's CD. I may be nostalgia but I remember it being shocking well made as a digital tutorial for the game.

Amazing video ^_^ Thanks for making this. I hope you make many more. I enjoy the way you navigate the stories and your editing style.

Found you yesterday from your Sorin video and have been loving your content! Can't wait for more! You've earned a sub ❤

Loved watching this video right before the lore stream, great pre-show!

Silver Myr returned and now we have a WUBRG Myr commander. Coincidence? Yes, and the best one!

New comer to your channel, and after this video, new subscriber, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this. Happy to have stumbled upon your channel and I look forward to your new videos and perusing your older ones. Also, I very much enjoy both the longer beard and your voice. You're very entertaining 😊

Excellent videos! Thank you for taking the time to do this

My favorite myr is silver ❤

So glad I youtube showed me this video and your channel. Great content. I love it. My start with magic was similar to yours. Mirrodin was my first block and even in the long stretches of my life in wich mtg had no part in, mirrodin never really left me. The world and creature design imprinted me. I also share your love for the myr. They are just great and kev walkers original cycle will alway be under my favorite mtg artworks. Thank you for the great content.

This video is super well made! Very rarely do I sit down for such a long time and not lose engagement at all! Great stuff man, keep it coming 👍👍

I should've known that if there was anyone to do the deep dive on my favorite tribe, it had to be the guy who's part of it

Good, easy to understand, lore and can feel your passion for the story and game. Good content. 👍

I love how much you love the Myr !!! The entire reason I play magic is because I saw a kid in 6th or 7th grade getting bullied -some kids tore a card of his in half- and I went over afterwards to see if he was okay/talk to him so he didn't feel lonely. He showed me the rest of his cards and I just adored his Myr, Golden Myr, Iron Myr (Personal favorite of the og manamyr), my favorites Alpha and Omega Myr, he even gave me two of them! (I still have those Alpha and Omega Myr nearly 16 years later!) I made a friend and fell in love with mtg and the Myr all on the same day (: All this to say this video was really well made and massively cathartic as a fellow long time Myr lover C: you had me smiling the whole time, I can't wait to watch more of your videos !! 😁 I'm gonna go be a Myr today

One of the best MtG lore videos I've ever watched. Looking forward to seeing this channel grow!

first Video I saw from you and I'm deeply impressed. It's so nice to see someone talking about the flavour of the game instead of just the technical aspect, especially with that passion. But it was not only a great summary of Mirrodin's past (with a good chunk of humor) but also a very cool philosophical analysis of the Myr and artifical life and their purpose in that world out of nowhere. Great Video!

Thanks for this. On my list of D&D campaigns I eventually want to run, playing one on original Mirrodin is definitely on that. Currently dming a Ravnica campaign, so I couldn't be happier with the content of this channel so far. Love both the content as well as the presentation. Funny, heartfelt and utterly entertaining. Looking forward to the next one!

Just noticed the Cracked shirt. I love it. Some good memories in that diner.

I’m so glad I found your channel. This is top notch content. Thanks for making this

Great video dude, keep up the good work! I certainly do not mind waiting if this is the amount and quality we are getting in each video.

"I am weak, Make me ideal" its so freaking flavory, its my fav magic theme

Great video! Thank you for great amount of work you put in.

Thank you for this video! After countless hours trying to find the right video to understand phyrexia i stumbled on yours and it is so well put together, i love how the focus on one "species" that is original from that plane shaped your narrative! I knew of the myr and did not know them well, but they fascinated me eversince i started playing with my big brother. I seldom write comments, but you really have done a terrific job, thank you again.

This video is just a treat to watch! :) Go Myr!

Hi! New to your channel. Tried to listen while doing something else, but got hooked. Ended up religiously watching your whole video! I already read all books and stories, but the way you told the story was captivating. I love your long in-depth format. I'm also very intrigued by your Guildless video, I'll check out your channel. Thanks! :)

This is fascinating. Mirrodin was also my first Plane, but in the Scars of Mirrodin set. I had bounced off Magic several times before, but Scars was the first time I really latched on. I always felt like there was more before Scars, but never knew how to look for it or if it would matter. Some friends were big into the previous Zendikar block, but I could tell at a glance that was something very different. Also, I think the Myr ball is a reference to a recurring Castlevania boss called Legion (or Granfaloon). It's a big ball of corpses, and as you damage it the corpses fall away revealing a core that controls the corpses.

Binging all your videos. Love how you narrate the Lore. Passionate but critical.

Loved the video. And although you sold me on the Myr... you can not quell my excitement for the return of New Phyrexia. Story wise, I have always sided with Urabrask... That being said, I am a Black player at my core, and rarely diverge game play wise... Here comes Phyrexian Obliterator... 😊

The Legend!

I don't play magic (or any tcgs tbh) idk how I found this channel but I love it

Finally got around to watching this and just today a legendary Myr was revealed for ONE! Brilliant coincidence, and another great vid!! :D

God this was long but so worth it. I really enjoyed this. I started playing during Scars of Mirrodin. I adore the myr and am super excited for the new Myr Commander. Urtent, Remnant of Memnarch will bring purpose to our little non robot, robot buddies.

OOO I love the content man, someone whos energetic, uses great amount of different art and cards to explain the lore? Sign me up!

Wow, this is an awesome video! Subbed and looking forward to more!

I hope you do one of these for every new set that comes out. I love to hear about the lore!

Discovered this video today while looking for videos to hype myself up for the new set. Loved the presentation of the lore, and you certainly earned my sub

Just made it before the story releases. Great job, sir!

2:38 damn thats relatable

i have become OBSESSED with your videos !!!!!!!! incredibly well done you are incredibly good at this, I feel like I am learning more than I have in 13 years of playing the game lmao P.S I had a Myr tribal deck in highschool and it was my pride and joy, Myr Battlesphere forever

AWBO leaks showed us a confirmed Commander Myr bro. Congratulations!!!

Thank you for all the effort! As someone who just started playing, this really gave me a new appreciation for the game! LOVE IT!

Oh my god this is the channel I've been looking for. Just lore about Magic! This is awesome

Yo this is a super cool video! Very glad to have stumbled across this channel. Love me some Myr. I have strong feelings for Myr Superion from back when I was first seriously playing Standard. The eventual Heartless Summoning/Superion deck it developed into is still one of my favorite constructed lists, though it’s not actually you know, good, or anything.

Bro, make more videos, wtf. This is great stuff. The whole novel series with Phage and Ixidor was epic. What storyline is that even? Its not brother's war, its the whole thing with Akroma? IF ONLY SOME AWESOME RU-vidR WOULD MAKE AN AWESOME, HOUR LONG VIDEO ABOUT IT. Ahem, sorry, had something stuck in my throat =) Great videos.

I like your passion for the Lore! It would be helpful to break these long form videos down to 20-30 minute episodes, like part 1-4 or something. I watch A LOT of mtg content everyday, but 100 minutes is a bit too long to digest under one setting. Anyways, just a suggestion, keep up the good job!! I will subscribe.

I just want more of your videos!! Found the One on Sorin, loved it!!! And have since then seen Them all, they are Great! I joined at Ixalan so it is Great to hear what came before!

So many memories ! I started when the set invasion came out, thanks for the video handsome !

GREAT! Video, Thank you for the IMMENSE work you put into this, and to be honest, I wasn't a Myr fan prior to this, but after... I'm A FRIGGIN MYR!!!! lol, Thanks Man.

Great video, I'm grateful you made the ultimate sacrifice of reading the published content to share the sweet lore. Just wanted to say, I thought the beard looked good at both lengths

“I wish there was 3 of me”….lol 😂 I wasn’t expecting that joke lmfao

A timeline of Mirran resistance sounds wonderful. A detailed history of uncompleat failures is a sacred duty.

I'm delighted to know that I share kinship with SilverMyr of his love of Myr. They're so wonderful. I spent all of middle school trying to design as many as I could.

babe wake up new silver myr video just dropped