In early 2023, Magic: The Gathering continues its four-part Phyrexian storyline with the premier set Phyrexia: All Will Be One. If the name didn’t tip you off, in this set we’ll be taking a trip into the belly of the beast, to the sinister plane of New Phyrexia itself. Expect to see black wastelands of scrap, gleaming white spires, and rivers of molten slag in this inhospitable world of metal monsters.
Yes, Magic: The Gathering’s plot is headed to the Phyrexian homeworld. After the events of The Brother’s War, chances are good the set will include a raid by heroic planeswalkers to take the fight right to the source. Perhaps it’ll be a mission to rescue Karn, who was whisked off to the plane at the end of Dominaria United. Or perhaps we’re way off, and it’ll be a slice of life set, where we get to see how Elesh Norn puts her feet up on her days off.
Whatever the case may be, we can expect the set to feature plenty of artifacts, and an enormous helping of the Phyrexian creature type. From story to Phyrexia: All Will Be One’s release date, here’s everything we know about the upcoming release. Check out our MTG 2023 release schedule for details on the rest of the year’s MTG sets.
MTG Phyrexia: All Will Be One release date
We now have the precise release date for MTG Phyrexia All Will Be One. It’s coming out February 3rd, 2023. That’s the date of Phyrexia All Will Be One’s tabletop release. Before that there’ll be a week of prerelease events, running from February 3 – 9.
The set pretty much follows MTG’s regular cadence, with a week of spoilers running from January 17 to January 25. Wizards has announced that this set (and the next one) will be available in paper at prerelease events prior to its digital launch. That’s reflected in Phyrexia: All Will Be One’s MTG Arena launch date of February 7.
MTG Phyrexia: All Will Be One spoilers
On December 13 we saw our first official card previews for MTG Phyrexia: All Will Be One. First, and likely to be one of the most sought after cards from the set is Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines. This Phyrexian Praetor doubles all your ETB triggers, while negating all your opponents’ (ouch!). The wide variety of different gorgeous-yet-grim art variants also makes Elesh Norn pretty desireable (just look at the Junji Ito Elesh Norn art).
Then there’s Blue Sun’s Twilight. Obviously playing off the ‘Sun’s Zenith’ cards, this is part of a cycle, showing monuments to all of the Phyrexian Praetors. Jin-Gix’s spell here lets you seize control of another creature, and make a copy of it if you pay the price.
We’ve also seen one of the sets many planeswalkers, Koth, Fire of Resistance – a rare planeswalker who cares a great deal about Mountains. He’s one of the five planeswalkers in Phyrexia: All Will Be One that’s safe from compleation. Also on the heroes side, Boros creature Jor Kadeen can pump up and draw cards, if you’ve got enough MTG equipment.
On the bad guy’s side of the struggle, there’s a terrifying black reprint, Phyrexian Obliterator. Then, oh no! Poor Slobad’s been compleated, becoming Slobad, Iron Goblin, who can sacrifice artifacts to make mana, to create more artifacts.
MTG Phyrexia: All Will Be One story
We were perhaps a little coy to suggest Phyrexia: All Will Be One could be about anything at all. In the 2022 Wizards Presents showcase, it was stated that in the set “our villains grow ever stronger”. It’s pretty clear that this is the set where the Phyrexians plans come to fruition, before a massive showdown in March of the Machine marks the finale of the storyline.
What exactly are those plans? Well, you see those tentacle thingies at the bottom of the image above? Those are the ‘branches’ of what Phyrexia’s calling its ‘invasion tree’, Realmbreaker. From March of the Machine artwork, it seems in that set, Realmbreaker is going to go smashing into planes throughout the multiverse. It seems likely that Phyrexia: All Will Be One is where the heroes learn of this plan, and (presumably) fail to stop it.
In Episode 5 of the Dominaria United story, we meet Realmbreaker in sapling form, and are told its “pale limbs glistened with an iridescent sheen”, while “beads of oil hung from its twigs like buds.” It sounds simultaneously creepy, and almost cute.
It’s been a good decade since we visited New Phyrexia, and judging by Jay Annelli’s Magic: The Gathering Visual Guide, the plane’s changed quite a bit since last we came a-calling. Phyrexia: All Will Be One will have a whole new world to show us, with nine spheres to explore, from the “tangled copper wilderness” of the Hunter’s Maze to the spooky, cathedral-filled Fair Basilica.
One key, and worrying detail of the story, is that a grand total of five, yes five, planeswalkers will be compleated in MTG Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Check out the list of possible victims here.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One mechanics
Until spoilers (that aren’t discredited leaks) for Phyrexia: All Will Be One start to show up, we don’t know what mechanics the set will have. However, calling it right now, proliferate seems like a shoe-in for this set.
Not only is the proliferate keyword tied intrinsically to the Phyrexians, first appearing in Scars of Mirridon, there are counters all over the shop in Standard right now. Just think about it, we’ve got lots of sagas, and even a few new counter types like stun and shield.
Are we barking up the wrong tree? Perhaps we’re just indulging in some wishful thinking, as we really want to see a new card for one of our favourite, proliferate-loving MTG commanders, Atraxa!
Source: Wargamer
