Yawgmoth and the Rise of Phyrexia | Magic: The Gathering | MTG Lore 

Heh. "Fleshed-out". Hehe...

Stuff like this, makes cenobites look tame… and I hope to never see it happen.

I can empathize, but like 10 lines later, Mishra says something like, "Urza! Yawgmoth has said he will permit you to take me from this place. Please, planeswalk me away and let me die in peace," to which Urza basically says,"I see your test, Yawgmoth, and feel nothing! Goodbye, Brother." Then he walks away to the sound of Mishra screaming. So.... yeah, I know he felt guilt, but he chose knowledge over mercy.

@@Bloodian was that really mishra?

​​@@elijahhayter3026 Likewise. Had Urza planeswalked away with him, the scourge caused by Karn would have started long before anyone could have stopped it. Urza unknowingly saved the planes with this singular action.

Ahhh the good old days back in apocalypse and invasion,urzas block..

Nicol Bolas is kind of like a Saturday Morning Cartoon. Yawgmoth is a well written villain, IMO.

@@refundreplay ☝️💯 and Yawgmoth's attrocities are somewhat realistic and kinda applicable in a real world sense. And he's comparable to real life historical monsters such as dr. mengele and da head doc from unit 731, just cranked up to 11. Which makes him even more scarier compared to bolas

I agree with you there. Always loved his lore and phyrexian lore in general.

Same. The Thran novel is so good too, it's almost like Yawgmoth is manipulating the reader along with everyone else in the book.

@@refundreplay tbh the most impressive part of bolas was his plans but as soon as you see the dragon behind it all it's kinda... Underwhelming

Thanks, happy to hear the video is worthy of The Ineffable

Yawgmoth has always been my favorite too. His rise to power in the thran book was amazing.

He is Mine too and I play Golgari yawgmoth in modern 😋

Yawgmoth, Niv Mizzet, and Bolas are my favorites. I will admit I have a special place for Bolas, as he was the first card given to me by my dad

Spice8rack has a great video on Yawgmoth as well.

Twice. The second was Urza's Apocalypse unleashed by the Golgothian Sylex.

@@refundreplay Three times actually, there's also the whole mess around the mending, and time breaking. (As seen in time spiral block)

@@simonteesdale9752 In the near future it might be four times, depending on how the next sets play out (Brother's War and Phyrexia, One Will Be all). The moral of the story is don't live on Dominaria

You all somehow missed the most obvious one… 4205

Add ice age as well.

So am I and thank you!

Urabrask has been undermining Norn's plans nearly since the beginning (by hiding Mirran rebels)... I also dont think he wishes to lead New Phyrexia, but rather just embodies the chaos of red mana

I want Elesh to destroy atleast a couple of planes before she goes down

@@kyddkreature9801 If I understand Urabrask right, I would imagine he embodies the Phyrexian desire to exist in its most primal way. To simply exist is to be an example of Phyrexian glory. There is no need to expand their numbers via dark evangelising, for those worthy will join as they desire. There is no need to cull the weak from within to ensure the strong advance, for those worthy of it will do so as they desire. There is no need to enforce or guide the blessed perfection, for those worthy of it will do so by simply existing as they desire. There is no need to do anything but Exist to the Red Phyrexians. It is not Chaos, but Certainty that guides the red mana that flows within them. They are certain that they need not do anything other than be themselves, and that will be enough to personify the glory of Phyrexia. To that end, If Urabrask gets his wish, we could see perhaps a more.......tolerant Phyrexia, if such a term can exist. They will still be horrific monsters of flesh and artifice, but it will be a chosen change. Not one that is forced upon the unwilling. They won't be passive as such, of course. But the threat of Red Phyrexia will be dependant on the individual in question. They will act as a perfect wild card, a neutral faction that can change the path of destiny as befits their instinct in the face of the problem at hand.

@@DaemonKeido Agreed. I think Urabrask really embodies the Freedom aspect of the color Red. He believes in achieving perfection but values the freedom to make that choice. This would make him the Foil of other Phyrexians and placing him at the head of New Phyrexia would be a way to neutralize the threat in lieu of actually defeating it. I still want to see Phyrexians vs Eldrazi cage match though. (hint hint wink wink Tamiyo make it happen plz)

One of the best books. Second only to the gathering dark imo

Iirc it's also an audio book if that's more you're thing. But yeah. It's a really good book

i restarted playing magic and read the thran as coincidentally BRO came out....MTG might be the most underrated IP with respect to entertainment around

A guy made an excellent audiobook version of The Thran novel, and it's right here on RU-vid! Check out Card Bazaar's channel, I really loved his voice and acting. He gives Yawgmoth a deep strong voice. It's also an excellent novel, the author is really good.

yes the well known racist eugenicist hp Lovecraft would probably like the racist eugenicist that is yawgmoth. I agree interesting villian but I think HP would like him for other reasons, if you didn't know now you know. that was a bad choice of a comparison if unintentional and even worse if intentional. also theres a hp monster called yog shothoth, no idea if thats related to the creation of yawgmoth because I've never read Lovecraft works but maybe someone else can answer that.

@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305 While I do appreciate you taking the time to "educate" me regarding Lovecraft's darker inclinations, I think perhaps you should avoid being so literal. I never compared Lovecraft to Yawgmoth. That being said, do you believe that art should be enjoyed outside of the confines of its connection to the artist responsible for creating it?

@@RC-lw5lw you said Lovecraft would enjoy yagmoth, thats what I commented on. and also while I don't think its relevant to this discussion I am actually against the "separate art from artist" line. take HP for instance, celebrating his works in literature (which are filled with racism) regardless of him being a racist sends the cultural message that him being a garbage person is less important than the fact that he wrote some books. liking a piece of work while acknowledging its problematic elements is fine as long as the problem elements aren't why you like said thing, ignoring the problematic elements of creators or works to enjoy them is not okay. so I guess the answer to your question is "it depends"

@@RC-lw5lw oh and why the "dark inclinations" line? call a spade a spade, he was a eugenicist.

@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305 Thanks for the clarification regarding the initial portion of your original reply, but I'm far more fascinated by your answer to my previous question exploring "the death of the artist". Being that you seem to believe--and feel free to correct me, should I be off base--that an artist's actions in his/her life should determine the transcendent value of the art they produced, wouldn't that mean that most (perhaps all) art is "trash". Or are some imorale actions that artists commit more admissable than others, so we can pick and choose? Travelling that road leads to very dark places. Maybe darker still than HP's own imagination. I hesitate to think what, if any, art would remain should we value it based upon the moral quality of the lives of their creators. I couldn't imagine a world without the Greek Classics...given that nearly all of them kept slaves of some degree. I appreciate the conversation, Wesley. Considering the censorious nature of these times we are in, conversations of substance are becoming more and more scarce by the day.

Compleation isn't something one "reverses." In a process akin to an accelerated version of the ship of Theseus, compleation sequentially replaces the majority of the subject's organic components with mechanical replacements such that consciousness is no longer bound to the original organic body, but to the new mechanical form. We see this most prominently with Vorinclex's arrival on Kaldheim. His organic components destroyed, Vorinclex rebuilt himself using Kaldheim's fauna whilst maintaining his memory and consciousness. Barring a deus ex machina, the most you could hope reverse compleation would be to break their instinctual loyalty to Phyrexi/Phyrexians and restore their original personality. And even then l, they've still got Phyrexian oil pumping through their bodies leaving every compleated walker a time bomb threatening to create another New Phyrexia internationally or not.

@@violeth2255 I hope not and frankly, I hope that Phyrexia wins for a change.

@@victoraguirre7486 they already did on mirrodin aka new phyrexia

Yawgmoth's plans were far more far reaching then any know. Even with new phyrexia, I would not be surprise to see Yawgmoth some how survived

@@Youmama187 na, he's dead. His power was connected to the Phyrexia. With the plane destroyed he lost connection to his power.

*Me, a contrarian (though your reference is still a neat one):* Apart, we are Broken. But united, we are God.

It’s actually Nurgle who corrupted Yawgmoth in the beginning. It’s all part of the Great Game 🤯

It's actually coming. Transhumanism is the future, one I embrace fully.

Thank you for the kind words and support! Welcome to the channel, I hope to deliver more content you enjoy

actually i am 4 minutes in and the phyrexian in the art is crovax and not yawgmoth!

Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the suggestion! The Weatherlight story will be on the horizon

I appreciate the kind words, glad you enjoyed!

he's definitely super interesting, I found out about him from the spice8rack video and now I'm on a lore binge lol.

If he obtained planeswalking powers, the multiverse would be doomed, even though his powers weaken outside of Phyrexia itself.

As a card he has always been disappointing....such a great adversary and always such a shit card....you know when urza makes karn specifically to stand against yawgdog and every copy of karn is OP for its time yet yawgdag gets done dirty......I feel like he should have been a 3/3 for 4 that has a draw ability or reanimated ability and when sent to graveyard wrath of gods and for each creature you get a 1/1 phyrexian spawn

Appreciate it, glad you enjoy the stories!

You bet, so glad you enjoy the content!

I came here looking for this comment hah

We will all be one😍😂

You will be rewarded in the Machine Orthodoxy

All we be one, my brother

Same, phyrexia is… enjoyable.

Of course, glad to create content you enjoy

Hope you enjoyed

@@TheLorebrarians I did, its awesome to learn about this stuff

You bet, appreciate it!

Appreciate it, glad you enjoyed!

As a part of the firing of the Leagcy weapon and Karn becoming a planeswalker, Karn ended up with Phyrexian oil in his heart. As he planeswalked, he unintentionally left traces of it on various planes in the multiverse. Each instance having the potential to give rise to their own independent lineage of Phyrexians. Prior to that, we know Yawgmoth had Phyrexians pursue Urza and company across many planes leaving who knows how much Phyrexian oil or troops behind on each one to establish their own Phyrexian lineages. That said, Elesh Norn and the other praetors of new Phyrexia are a super recent development relatively speaking and have only just gained the capacity to travel and communicate between planes. Given Norn also had to wage a war to gain sole dominion over New Phyrexia's Phyrexians, it's a pretty safe conclusion that she does not yet and hasn't previously ever been in command of New Capenna's Phyrexians.

I wonder about time lines. Are the phyrexians there ones that existed before new phyrexia?

@@Youmama187 Elspeth was one of the planeswalkers that rescued Karn from the Praetors of New Phyrexia, which happened not terribly long after Mirrodin became New Phyrexia. Her spark ignited quite a while before New Phyrexia existed, so the Phyrexians on New Capenna definitely originated from the first Phyrexia or from Karn tracking oil during his travels after Yawgmoth's death.

@@violeth2255 thank you, I just realize that the stories told on each world are not always in chronological orderder. Such as the first time to Kawagama was in the far past to where the mainline plot was

@@violeth2255 I knew about karn's spark, and the oil.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I've not read the book, I've watched the spice8rack video on it and this video though and that was enough information to know that yawgmoths other actions should be more than enough proof for the reader that he did indeed do that and that no he is emphatically not "the best there ever was" but a monster the entire time. its genuinely concerning if someone thinks anything he did was good or justifiable in anyway.

@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305, oh he's most definitely not heroic as the Father of Machines and he does do several dark things throughout the book. The book just makes sure to never actually have any of his accusers actually present proof. So all of the dark deeds we see can be framed as purely retaliatory. Which is important for characters like Rebbec, Urza, Glacyon and even Gerrard down the road. He definitely attacks Dysfed when she tries to remove his godhood. He leaves the power stones in Glacyon when he threatens to kick him out once he's cured. He uses WMDs on armies and is even willing to sacrifice his own army. But the book also makes a clear point in the fact that many of his detractors have their own nefarious agendas and therefore since no one is ever actually able to bring forth any proof against him the book hangs the point of whether he started off evil or was pushed into it. One of the closing lines is very clear that Rebbec abandoning him and declaring him a monster is what kills his humanity. Not at all something to emulate, don't misunderstand me, ubermincht are not real humans and it is always very clear that he 'could be and most probably is' a monster from the go. It's just neat how the book is written so as not to actually declare it.

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Thank you and I appreciate the feedback

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Hope you enjoyed!

You bet, glad you enjoyed!

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Glad you enjoyed!

I think its something to do with his eyes/the stones having a connection to yagmoth but yeah that seems really out of left field in this recap and in the urza lore recap video. I was hoping for more information in this one maybe.

@@wesleywyndam-pryce5305 It was actually out of no where in the books as well. This, and many of the other books written by MTG authors, is why it's terrible fanfic to me.

Weird things happen when one writes the story into a corner but one wants to ensure the setting (Dominaria) can be used (abused) in the future. Literal soil monsters made of dead tissue, undead Keldons rampaging on their Naglfar, etc., is 100% cataclysmic but the heroes must prevail even if it involves an unhealthy amount of ***pulling. The build up over so many books ruined by the final one in the Invasion block is a tragedy.

Glad you enjoyed

I dont think you can come back from being devoured pure mana of the opposite color....yawgmoth was as black mana as you can get....and he was destroyed by massive quantities of pure white....his essence, his soul were destroyed....he didnt have a physical body anymore

@@dxdraiba7604 whos to say they're not gonna drop a rewrite bomb on us? wouldnt be the first time lol

I would say it is similar to Morgoth from Tolkien's writings, where every drop of glistening oil contains the essence of Yawgmoth, meaning even in death he isn't truly gone as even a drop remains.

@@adamhopkins5119 that was what I was hinting at lol

@@yokaiwolfcreations3076 Great minds :3

cause he's not actually the genuis he believes he is. he's just an evil bastard with a lot of ambition and no morals.

Yeah that doesn't check out at all

You mean durning the Brother's war? Well it's not really that he couldn't defeat them. If he decided to just go with an all out invasion, both Mishra and Urza would have been screwed. It's just that Yawgmoth had some kinda fetish for manipulating and turning his foes against one another, even when his victory was all but assured, hence the whole Gix epsionage plot. And might I add that everything was going perfectly according to his plan, before Urza pulled the Sylex bullshit and nuked the world. After that well, Urza became the most powerful planeswalker of mtg to this date, and he was pretty much the sole reason Dominaria survived Yawgmoth's 100 attempts at conquering it. In short, Urza OP.

It all has to do with Pre-mending planeswalkers and planar travel. The Mending Fundamentally altered the nature of the spark and travel between the planes.

Do you WotC will return us to ixalan someday?

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Thanks so much and I really appreciate the feedback. I've been working with the editor on testing out various graphics/assets, so I'll keep this in mind moving forward

Came down here wondering if someone else thought the same about the off-topic cards and Baldur's Gate stuff. Glad I'm not the only one. It especially threw me when New Phyrexian art showed up, which has quite a different aesthetic (especially Norn-related porcelain stuff). I agree with your conclusion on when to show art and when to show whole cards. I think that's a good line to draw.

Happy to hear you enjoy

Thanks!

@@TheLorebrarians no thank you for your time and heartblood 👍😊

Solving it would remove the greatest villain in MtG's history. In 30 years there will be new-new-new-new-new Phyrexians because there will be another 2 generations of people buying into card games

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Hmm, not sure on that front but I'm happy you found it

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