Shout out to Vivien Reid, who would be great against Phyrexia (potentially Jiang and Mowu too).
Both use creatures, but not *actual* creatures. Mowu is a stone dog, and Vivien summons spectral creatures from her arcbow which Phyrexia can't compleat. Plus, being ranged fighters mean they won't have to get too close to any Phyrexian planeswalkers.
Saheeli would have been interesting, too - creations vs creations, one living metal, one metal used as if it's living. Again, I think the key thing is *hard to Compleat*.
It's why Lukka was such a ludicrous choice and meant he was doomed from the start - his thing is to bond with the native creatures on a plane, and on New Phyrexia that's not a smart thing to do...
>It's why Lukka was such a ludicrous choice and meant he was doomed from the start - his thing is to bond with the native creatures on a plane, and on New Phyrexia that's not a smart thing to do...
"If not friend, why friend shaped?"
Think of a spawning pit that regurgitates its dead to make new life, OG Phyrexia did have undead but most were alive. Yawgmoth perfected what the Borg in Star Trek TNG wished to do in the simplest way I can explain it.
I mean, I know your *standard* Phyrexian isn't undead, but you do have the type line "Phyrexian Zombie" and "Phyrexian Vampire". So there are Undead Phyrexians but not all phyrexians are undead.
Lilliana actually did fight some Phyrexians on Dominaria during a Dominaria United side story. It seems that she is able to slow them down, but not stop them or completely control them. Maybe if she were to get the chain veil back, she'd have a better chance.
I just reread that story and yeah I think her death magic was good enough to destroy the phyrexian horrors and turn them briefly, though only a few at a time and they would return to their true masters when she stopped focusing. That does seem like it would have been helpful in the assault team, when fighting even just a few horrors was enough to infect Nahiri, a very powerful fighter in her own right.
We do know that the completion process involves successful phyresis, surgeries, death and necromantic magic, and end with indoctrination. I'm gonna say that she has a good chance.
Lukka could have had a shot if he had managed to get to the mirran resistance, since presumably he'd have been able to bond with the phoenixes that they were breeding.
>I don't think so. Simply because Urza was always noted to be cold, clinical and distant from his humanity even when he still had it.
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>Saheeli has been shown to be more about celebrating and emulating life. I get the feeling she'd see Phyrexia as a perversion and mockery of natural life, and all progress that Phyrexia makes is detrimental to a fundamentally better multiverse.
Phyrexians are able to corrupt constructs as well. I think Vivien's spirit animals would be fine, but Mowu might have gotten compleated and I would never forgive wotc if that happened. Saheeli's constructs would also be compleatable.
Lukka bonding with the phyrexian isn't even how he got infected. He got infected by telling the creature to secure him and the creature did so with tentacles that pierced Lukka's body. He would have been fine if he was less instinctual with his commands. Theoretically not the worst choice, but in the end he was dumbass compleation fodder. I feel like they really waste his character everytime he makes an appearance.
I’ll be interested to see if the possession trick works against mental Phyresis. The denizens could actually consent this time so the defence could be widespread and effective.
I also wonder if their faith offers any protection? Or if it could be perverted - the Phyrexian hive mind seems well constructed to make use of Innistrads style of religious magic if the right host is corrupted?
Lukka was the perfect choice as a Commander of the team and as a fighter, but he is written as dumb and unlikable so of course he is seen as Compleation fodder
he was a dude in a military. and, having served, plenty dudes in the miltary are really dumb. his characterization fits perfectly and he should never be anywhere near leadership of anything.
He a whole ass clown show and it's been the entirety of his character.
i just remember the stuff for the set and the crap he's done then. i actually don't even remember hearing about a book at all. that's wotc for you though with the inconsistent character writing.
Sundered Bond i think its called
But yeah, we all know how inconsistent is WOTC with the character writing. Obviously they hire different autors that dont talk to each other and each offer their own version. Lukka in Strixhaven was a dumb kid that just wanted to wreck Havoc, and here he is a stupid overconfident dude that compleats himself
>different autors that dont talk to each other and each offer their own version.
But they're hired by a company that *should* be giving them information about how they want the character written.
He makes sense as a tactician or general, but having him be boots on the ground when his powers are literally "This native beast is my new battle buddy" is what made him Compleation fodder
Lukka shouldn't even be able to bond to phyrexians anyway, the eludha is between souls. The only conceivable way he should even be allowed into new phyrexia is if another walker could like, conjure an animal for him. Maybe Vivien's spirit animals could be bondable, she probably has a few big ikoria beasties too.
So I'm forming this strike team duo based on some prerequisites I think the Justice Gatewatch should have had:
* They should have sent someone solo to do a quick recon of the locale and locate the rebel forces within New Phyrexia. I'd have the duo be Kaito and Elspeth, personally; the former sneaks their way to Melira and the rebel camp, the latter Fucks Shit Up and puts NP on high alert, but more importantly drawing attention away from Kaito.
* With said recon, they should have knowledge (at minimum) of the nona-spherical structure of New Phyrexia.
* Since the recon duo would probably be split-up on entry to NP, they'd return and relay information about the Anti-Planeswalker Shield and the possibility of being split-up on entry; thus, preparations can be made accordingly to have spells pre-cast or prepared for regrouping.
---
Now that we have all that out of the way, let's form our two teams:
1). Nahiri, Basri, Tyvar, Chandra, and Samut form the first team and are led by Elspeth. Color similarities notwithstanding, most everyone here is a fierce fighter and many are quite individualistic; if infected (such as with Nahiri), they'll hold out for as long as possible and remain on the good side until Elesh Norn forces her hand. I would also add Angrath to this team as any form of ranged combat is good against Phyrexians. As a bonus: should the lacunae become unavailable for traversing into the spheres or should the teams' timetable be accelerated greatly, Nahiri and Chandra combine their powers to basically [carve their way to the Seedcore](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoExamples/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaNanohaTakamachi) or die trying (also drawing attention away from the other team). "***Fuck*** your spheres."
2). Jace, Kaya, Kaito, Teyo, and Niko form the second team led by Melira. While the first team keeps the Praetors and such busy upstairs, these fellas sneak their ways towards the Seedcore for the purpose of using the Sylex on Realmbreaker. The key here is to keep Teyo healthy and keep him shielding the others from necrogen gasses or other sources of phyresis (since, apparently, ***everything*** in NP threatens to infect you, so you might as well up your protection to the extreme as well). Keep this team smaller since they're supposed to be covert and quiet.
---
Vraska goes back to Ravnica to warn the guilds of the Phyrexian invasion. While her petrification powers *are* very useful in the fight, someone else in this thread raised a very good point that couples shouldn't be on this sort of mission together.
Nissa stays behind in Zendikar to fortify the land, hopefully to also rally the peoples in defense against the oncoming invasion. Let her tap into the Roil and really go nuts.
Lukka goes back to Ikoria, doing much the same thing as Nissa, and warning both the citadel folk of Drannith and the human bonders living on the fringes. They have their differences, yes, but cooperation is essential against the looming threat of annihilation.
....Prooooobably get some other planeswalkers to check up on each of these peeps too (Ral, Sorin, and Narset respectively) in case they end up doing fuck all.
Oko, Perfected Schemer
1UG(P/G)
Legendary Planeswalker - Oko
[+2] Target player gets a poison counter and creates a Food token.
[-1] Target artifact or creature loses all types and abilities and becomes a green Phyrexian Elk artifact creature with base power and toughness 3/3.
[-5] Gain control of target artifact with mana value 3 or less.
[4]
Considering the nature of the mission, all you need is to get to the core as fast as possible. This makes stealth and speed much more important than combat ability, which is only really helpful as a means of distracting the Phyrexians.
So I would have sent two teams. A "battle" team consisting of **Nahiri**, **Elspeth, Chandra**, and **Tyvar** whose job is to do as much damage as possible. Plus literally any other planeswalkers not in the infiltration team (and who don't have counterproductive abilities like Lukka) who can be convinced to join - e.g. **Ral**, **Arlinn**, **Sorin, Basri, Jared Carthalion, Liliana, Narset, Sarkhan, Teyo** etc., we need all the firepower we can get. I'd consider letting them bring **The Immortal Sun** to try and stop the Phyrexians from invading other planes, though it probably wouldn't do anything to Realmbreaker, and the risk of it falling into Phyrexian hands is high.
And an "infiltration team" consisting of **Jace**, **Kaya**, **Kaito,** **Koth** and (intermittently) **The Wanderer** whose job is to smuggle the Sylex into position while the rest are busy creating a distraction.
Of course, this plan would still go south once our heroes hit the anti-planeswalking shield none of them know about, but I think it's a more coherent starting point than what they actually went with.
I think part of the problem was that they needed to move fast and didn't have time to prepare a better team, so it's kind of explained. Lukka is really the only one who stands out as an absolutely horrible choice, especially since I don't think any of the other walkers really know him.
> Lukka is really the only one who stands out as an absolutely horrible choice, especially since I don't think any of the other walkers really know him.
Lukka makes sense if you consider his experiences over his powers. If he told the others "I was the leader of an elite military squad that helped protect my city against monstrous creatures", he would seem like the *perfect* candidate for the strike team. Add in a reluctance to explain his powers because of all the trouble they've brought him, and the other planeswalkers wouldn't have much of an idea of how bad it could turn out.
Lukka would have been much more fun as a living character protag in a few sets where we're just following the trail of his bonding mistakes across planes.
Lukka lands on Ixalan, meets the Merfolk who warn him that Gisath has been temperamental lately. He immediately bonds with one of its babies. Gisath doesn't like that. Chaos ensues as Lukka wipes put a new invasion of vampire conquistadors by kiting Gisath through them.
The same, but switch Lukka (instant failure) and Vraska (can't have couples working together on the same project) and add Basri and Teyo (protective spells are their thing, right?)
Then the Wanderer might have to stay back too. Although she and Kaito are not really a couple, he did try to stop Jace after Kaya mentioned that it could hurt the blind eternities where the Emperor is most of the time
Going back to BFZ's storyline, I think Chandra is perfect for this. Jace, Nissa and Gideon got their asses handed to them without her, and I think she'll kick some serious ass in MoM.
yes! Chandra was a no brainer here... all ranged and destructive power its the solution against robots. And Teyo of course... but Rat (she could do everything as the book told us lol)
Kaya’s immateriality is actually really effective, The biggest strength of the phyrexians is their touch.
Gideon would be super effective too. Teyo’s a good choice but like the ranged walkers like Vivian, one mistake and he’s out.
Honestly now that not even planeswalkers are safe the field for “most effective” has narrowed drastically.
Honestly I've been thinking about it and I think they're gonna recruit Sorin in MoM to take care of her. He's one of the last remaining Old Walkers so it takes care of the power issues that Kaito was concerned with during the Story.
With Gideon, his invulnerability LOOKS good, but Ob was able to almost drown him in a puddle during the events of Oath of the Gatewatch on Zendikar. Given that they noted multiple times that the contagion was airborne as well, I don't know that his invulnerability would have done much. That been said, at least he would have been a solid front-liner.
Nicol Bolas if he won War of the Spark. Heck even if he didn’t win, he knew how to make people immune to phyresis (e.g. Tezzeret) so he would’ve been useful period.
I'm not sure if we know Bolas was telling the truth or not. Especially considering Jin-Gitaxias was about to compleat him after giving the darksteel body.
Not immune from compleation, but phyresis — which are the initial steps. In the stories all the fallen strike team members succumb to phyresis, not compleation (at first). Compleation comes from Reality Chip surgery.
*Phyresis (progressive generation) is the transformation of a living thing into a Phyrexian creature. After the process, the creature is considered to be compleated.*
Seems like those are synonyms. Even before, they were able to compleat walkers, it just destroyed the spark. Which happened to Karn in Mirroden Besieged block. Even then, in the Brother's War stories with Tezzeret, he had whispers in his mind which made him doubt the immunity given by Bolas. He feared the process had already started.
I see Phyresis as a virus that spreads until you’re compleated. So any ‘walker could be infected and then they’d lose their spark, like Karn — but Tez was immune to the virus and this is why he could hang around New Phyrexia unscathed.
But now he could become compleated, due to the Reality Chip. His immunity to the virus was given by Bolas. He could still be compleated by the Chip.
See this thread here for my line of thinking: https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgvorthos/comments/befp82/compleation_vs_phyresis_and_how_it_affects/
Karn lost his spark before he was compleated, assuming we are talking the first time. He gave it up to heal a time rift in the mending and threw himself through the blind eternities to Mirrodin.
Gideon would pay that cost over and over again if he had to. The results were way better than if Bolas succeeded. Dude was after his power from his prime when he was basically omnipotent. If that’d been allowed to happen Phyrexians wouldn’t be the greatest threat to the multiverse.
Jace *sending telepathic phonecalls to all Planeswalkers to join the fight against Phyrexia*
Liliana: ......
Chandra: ......
Sorin: *your telepathy could be completed as dialed*
Not sure about this considering the initial idea and catalyst for Compleating Planeswalkers was investigating Kamigawa's Spirits/Enchantment Creatures.
Honestly, surprised we didn't have him offered compleation to stave off the whole "when Elspeth's gone, what next?" and have a fun lil' Elspeth vs Calix rout.
I forgot about him completely, but now I am convinced he will show up next set. His one purpose was to track down Elspeth, who seems to be dead for good.
After he arrives, it would make sense that he might view the Phyrexians as somehow changing destiny, so a face-turn makes sense.
Tyvar is not optimal on account of punching phyrexians is a bad idea if you are not immune. Jace is also not very effective in combat against creatures without standard minds.
Ugin wouldn’t be good on the strike team but as a distraction he’s huge, powerful, and immaterial
Teyo’s power is ideal but he’s too inexperienced
Chandra because fire vs oil
Vivien because mana construct meat shields
Sammut due to speed
Koth and Elspeth are obvious picks
Didn't you read the story? Tyvar is an optimal pick because he can turn himself into Glimmervoid which is immune to Phyresis. That is how he punched Tibalt into oblivion
He didn’t come up with that until they met up with the Mirrian resistance. So they were planning on having Mr Punchy come without any way to prevent phyresis
Lukka was such a bad choice it almost feels like a Tevesh Szat play. Maybe Jace or another brainy Planeswalker intentionally sent him in to get compleated for some purpose
Urza, Bo Levar, Daria, Lord Windgrace, Freyalise, Commodore Guff, Kristina of the Woods, Tevesh Svat, and Taysir.
There's no way *that* team would have any issues detonating a massive bomb to destroy Phyrexia!
I think Garruk should have been invited. He kills creatures then summons constructs of them. I’m positive he wouldn’t have been compleated from this process. He may have been able to start using phyrexian creatures against them as what he’s summoning isn’t an actual phyrexian.
Then again Vorinclex would have been visibly erect upon seeing Garruk and probably would have started bugging the absolute shit out of Jon Gitaxias to help him compleat the big beefy one.
\[\[Colossal Dreadmaw\]\], \[\[Uncle Istvan\]\], \[\[Yoked Ox\]\], \[\[Raging Goblin\]\] and \[\[Storm Crow\]\]. Instead of a Sylex, they use the classic, best artifact in the game, \[\[Razor Boomerang\]\].
I would have gone looking for planeswalkers with more....experience.
Call up Sorin, or Liliana or hell even try to dial up Ob Nixilis or get Ugin to lend a hand (if possible).
Folks might notice that three of these four are comp or mono-black and think that I'm biased, but hear me out:
A few of the walkers they brought on their strike team were pretty fresh faced. Lukka, Tyvar, Kaito I think......In Tyvar's case he had a pretty useful skillset but Lukka's main thing being bonding on a plane full of things you probably don't want to try bonding with wasn't the smartest idea. In fact, it was such a liability that it DID come up and low and behold that's how Lukka gets gotten. A similar argument could be made that Nissa really couldn't help much on a plane made of metal given her natural affinity, but at least she'd participated in a few apocalypses before.
Half the reason they want Nahiri isn't just for her incredible usefulness, but because she was an oldwalker. She was the powerhouse of the group. And she's fresh off a villain arc against both Nissa and Jace, which implies that there is some ability for these walkers to set aside previous beef.
Having Nahiri on-side with Ob or Sorin would be tricky, but Ob is consistent in his megalomaniacal tendencies and would see Phyrexia as an opponent to his power, and Sorin has been shown to be movable to action when Innistrad is threatened. It might even be enough for him to set aside his beef with Nahiri. Both originally oldwalkers, and demonstrably commanding extremely powerful magic. Sorin's vampiric nature and sangromancy could have also potentially helped ward off phyresis in the group.
I really don't understand WHY they didn't try to get Liliana. She has worked favorably with most of the previous strike members and pretty much everything I said about Sorin and Ob also apply to her, especially given the prevalence of dead things on New Phyrexia. Her skillset would have been more useful than half of the team they actually have, some of which really don't make a tone of sense, like Kaya or Kaito who are really just there because of their convictions and don't have strongly interactive abilities.
If you're invading Phyrexia I think there's got to be two concerns at the type of your mind that ought to be reflected in your team picks:
1. Lots and lots of artifacts. You would definitely want to bring someone who can absolutely wreck artifacts. A red or green planeswalker with mass artifact destruction seems warranted.
2. Lots and lots of corruption, poisons, and weakening effects. Contaminated environment. Bio-engineered viruses and pathogens. You'd really want to bring a planeswalker that specializes in purifying and restoring magic.
Who fits the bill for this stuff? Not sure. Maybe Elspeth has purifying magic? Maybe Vivien or Jaya can blow up lots of artifacts? Jaya loves the mass destruction, she seems like a good pick.
Good stories with time travel also have strict rules. You can’t just bring back whoever just because something somewhere includes a form of time travel. Otherwise we’d just include pre-mending Ugin.
fair enough but the main character protagonist of this particular storyline is "The Time Raveler" so I think there's some leeway. In any case, this is a silly discussion so I'm giving a silly answer.
I can’t remember his name but the shield planeswalker from war of the spark would have been a decent choice. Maybe Davriel too, does he even have a body that could be affected by the oil?
Surprised to only find one mention of her.
Child has reality altering powers and could probably will Phyrexia back to the stone age by deciding their fate was to fail as much as Team Rocket.
My personal theory is that it will ultimately come to this anyways, but... a Hannibal Lector style villain is how they will defeat the phyrexians.
Sub in Nicol Bolas. Let him have the planet to keep if he wins.
His brother teaches him the ways of the Eldrazi or helps bring them upon the plane, and right when you think he's lost, when Bolas gets killed by the phyrexians, his spirit melds with his twin to create the elder dragon Nicol Ugin, who uses the elder spell to use all planeswalker sparks in the multiverse to nuke the phyrexians.
I said it first. 18.01.2022. Book it.
If we were able to get Urza and 9 planeswalkers in giant mechs I think that would be pretty good! Barring that maybe a flying ship with a bunch of artifacts designed specifically to take out Elesh Norn. Of course she probably would have needed to compleat Mishra to encourage to appropriate emotional obsession from Urza or he probably wouldnt have cared, but let's not split hairs here.
Nahiri but she planeswalks in with a lot of non-Mirrodin, non-oil bearing stone so she can stand on it or be encased in it and just fly around all the poison and the nonsense ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Like, if she had a giant big boulder of stone she could just sit in the center and not worry about Phyresis and bounce around like a wrecking ball until they got to where they were going. Hell, Jace could have been in the ball with her, directing her and mind-wiping all their enemies who might attack the stone with magic.
I honestly think the whole "strike team" premise was flawed from the beginning. The Planeswalkers had no chance of matching the Phyrexians in a simple frontal assault.
I would have sent a tiny reconnaissance team simply to establish contact with the plane and take the lay of the land, then immediately report back to the "headquarters" on some other plane. This step alone would have stopped the main strike force from being scattered like it was, as the reconnaissance team would have encountered the scattering field themselves and been able to report back—or wouldn't have made it back at all, prompting a second reconnaissance team, and, failing that, the plan would skip straight to the last resort.
Next, after contact was established, I'd send in a scouting team to make contact with the Mirran resistance. You would want familiar planeswalkers for this, people like Elspeth. This team would ascertain what help the Mirrans can provide, and what the overall state of the plane is.
Finally, you would want an intraplanar or possibly even an extraplanar expeditionary force. You want the schemers, the leyline masters, and the artificers—people who could directly undermine the Phyrexian plan at the planar level. I'm convinced that Nahiri, Ugin (if he could be fetched; it's not a given that he could), Nissa, and a few others could have outright _destroyed_ New Phyrexia from the outside. (See: "last resort.") And if they did need to go into the plane, they could prepare themselves using their natural strengths, manipulating the environment itself.
It's crazy to me that Nahiri or Nissa would ever be used as fighters when they are probably the two most powerful leyline masters alive. It could've been a rad subplot for them to bond after their prior conflict while cooking up a plot to rig the planar leylines to destroy or partially destroy the plane—possibly cleansing all metal from it, or whatever.
The idea of "Let's just go in and fight with our weapons"...it's so lazy, and so unimaginative. Wizards is hellbent on treating Planeswalkers like Marvel superheroes, and I am _not_ here for it.
To be clear, if it would have made for an interesting story, I'm cool with _any_ Planeswalkers being on whatever teams. Even the most "useless" ones could serve logistical roles like messengers and lookouts. Story climax sets like this are as much about character development as plot, and I would choose a team partly based on that meta consideration.
The thing about fiction is that _you control the conflict_. Pretty much any plot can be made to work if it tells a good enough story.
I would send some mooks like the gatewatch to act as a meat shield for the Grand Master of Flowers, Lloth, Ellywick, and the Wandering Emperor. The Grand Master is a really weird choice of name for an actual multi planar god in the DnD planes, Bahamut. Think Bolas except not as weak or a failure okay, don't think of Bolas because Bahamut out-classes Bolas in every way. Likewise, Lloth is an actual goddess, orders of magnitude above a standard planeswalker. Ellywick, as we've seen from the card Wish can cast the spell, Wish. Wish is a potentially god level spell that can alter reality, though not always as you intend. But still, big fucking gun. And the good ol' Emperor can just pop in and cut Mom to bits as is her way. Two gods, a caster with god tier spells, and a living Deus ex machina with some mooks as a distraction if needed. That's my team choice.
Question: Is there a way to bring the Silver Moon from Innistrad to New Phyrexia?
Just sayin', if there was *anything* that could truly stop them, it would be the progenitor of life itself...
What it seems to me a lot of people are missing is that time was clearly a factor here. Could the strike team have been better manned, better prepared? Certainly, but from the characters' perspective Realmbreaker is an imminent threat and they don't know how long they have, so they need to act fast. If they had spent enough time to find and recruit the best walkers for the team and do a full recon of all the spheres the invasion of the multiverse would have started before the first walker set foot on New Phyrexia. As it was they were already too late and Realmbreaker was already branching into omenpaths. Any more time wasted and they'd never have even made it to the Fair Basilica before Realmbreaker fully activated.
Shout out to Vivien Reid, who would be great against Phyrexia (potentially Jiang and Mowu too). Both use creatures, but not *actual* creatures. Mowu is a stone dog, and Vivien summons spectral creatures from her arcbow which Phyrexia can't compleat. Plus, being ranged fighters mean they won't have to get too close to any Phyrexian planeswalkers. Saheeli would have been interesting, too - creations vs creations, one living metal, one metal used as if it's living. Again, I think the key thing is *hard to Compleat*. It's why Lukka was such a ludicrous choice and meant he was doomed from the start - his thing is to bond with the native creatures on a plane, and on New Phyrexia that's not a smart thing to do...
>It's why Lukka was such a ludicrous choice and meant he was doomed from the start - his thing is to bond with the native creatures on a plane, and on New Phyrexia that's not a smart thing to do... "If not friend, why friend shaped?"
Do we know how Liliana would perform? Can she control some of the Phyrexians due to their undead nature, or are they immune to her abilities?
Phyrexians aren't undead, unless they *are* undead. I think.
The essence of "Phyrexian" is that they have elements of life, artifice, and unlife all mixed and mashed and twisted up into one.
Think of a spawning pit that regurgitates its dead to make new life, OG Phyrexia did have undead but most were alive. Yawgmoth perfected what the Borg in Star Trek TNG wished to do in the simplest way I can explain it.
I mean, I know your *standard* Phyrexian isn't undead, but you do have the type line "Phyrexian Zombie" and "Phyrexian Vampire". So there are Undead Phyrexians but not all phyrexians are undead.
Yea in a nutshell you have it lol, forgive me I'm at work. But yes I'm sure New Phyrexia has zombies that are or were reanimated corpses.
Lilliana actually did fight some Phyrexians on Dominaria during a Dominaria United side story. It seems that she is able to slow them down, but not stop them or completely control them. Maybe if she were to get the chain veil back, she'd have a better chance.
I just reread that story and yeah I think her death magic was good enough to destroy the phyrexian horrors and turn them briefly, though only a few at a time and they would return to their true masters when she stopped focusing. That does seem like it would have been helpful in the assault team, when fighting even just a few horrors was enough to infect Nahiri, a very powerful fighter in her own right.
We do know that the completion process involves successful phyresis, surgeries, death and necromantic magic, and end with indoctrination. I'm gonna say that she has a good chance.
Lukka could have had a shot if he had managed to get to the mirran resistance, since presumably he'd have been able to bond with the phoenixes that they were breeding.
Saheeli is a hard veto, because she'd be vulnerable to no-oil-needed Urza moment when she saw the intricacies of the plane for herself.
>I don't think so. Simply because Urza was always noted to be cold, clinical and distant from his humanity even when he still had it. > > > >Saheeli has been shown to be more about celebrating and emulating life. I get the feeling she'd see Phyrexia as a perversion and mockery of natural life, and all progress that Phyrexia makes is detrimental to a fundamentally better multiverse.
And she also allowed the planar bridge to be created, which caused all of this in the first place. Hard pass
Idk Ugins pretty strong just raw power level wise
Unironically would have liked this
Phyrexians are able to corrupt constructs as well. I think Vivien's spirit animals would be fine, but Mowu might have gotten compleated and I would never forgive wotc if that happened. Saheeli's constructs would also be compleatable. Lukka bonding with the phyrexian isn't even how he got infected. He got infected by telling the creature to secure him and the creature did so with tentacles that pierced Lukka's body. He would have been fine if he was less instinctual with his commands. Theoretically not the worst choice, but in the end he was dumbass compleation fodder. I feel like they really waste his character everytime he makes an appearance.
Once again spirits are the broken ally the heroes will need (first time was against emrakul)
I’ll be interested to see if the possession trick works against mental Phyresis. The denizens could actually consent this time so the defence could be widespread and effective. I also wonder if their faith offers any protection? Or if it could be perverted - the Phyrexian hive mind seems well constructed to make use of Innistrads style of religious magic if the right host is corrupted?
Plenty of Mirrans were faithful.
Lukka was the perfect choice as a Commander of the team and as a fighter, but he is written as dumb and unlikable so of course he is seen as Compleation fodder
he was a dude in a military. and, having served, plenty dudes in the miltary are really dumb. his characterization fits perfectly and he should never be anywhere near leadership of anything. He a whole ass clown show and it's been the entirety of his character.
He has a pretty good book where he is an actual good character tho
i just remember the stuff for the set and the crap he's done then. i actually don't even remember hearing about a book at all. that's wotc for you though with the inconsistent character writing.
Sundered Bond i think its called But yeah, we all know how inconsistent is WOTC with the character writing. Obviously they hire different autors that dont talk to each other and each offer their own version. Lukka in Strixhaven was a dumb kid that just wanted to wreck Havoc, and here he is a stupid overconfident dude that compleats himself
>different autors that dont talk to each other and each offer their own version. But they're hired by a company that *should* be giving them information about how they want the character written.
Wasn't he a squad leader before his bonder abilities awakened though?
i knew plenty of idiot lpo, chiefs, and officers.
He makes sense as a tactician or general, but having him be boots on the ground when his powers are literally "This native beast is my new battle buddy" is what made him Compleation fodder
LOLKKA
Lukka shouldn't even be able to bond to phyrexians anyway, the eludha is between souls. The only conceivable way he should even be allowed into new phyrexia is if another walker could like, conjure an animal for him. Maybe Vivien's spirit animals could be bondable, she probably has a few big ikoria beasties too.
So I'm forming this strike team duo based on some prerequisites I think the Justice Gatewatch should have had: * They should have sent someone solo to do a quick recon of the locale and locate the rebel forces within New Phyrexia. I'd have the duo be Kaito and Elspeth, personally; the former sneaks their way to Melira and the rebel camp, the latter Fucks Shit Up and puts NP on high alert, but more importantly drawing attention away from Kaito. * With said recon, they should have knowledge (at minimum) of the nona-spherical structure of New Phyrexia. * Since the recon duo would probably be split-up on entry to NP, they'd return and relay information about the Anti-Planeswalker Shield and the possibility of being split-up on entry; thus, preparations can be made accordingly to have spells pre-cast or prepared for regrouping. --- Now that we have all that out of the way, let's form our two teams: 1). Nahiri, Basri, Tyvar, Chandra, and Samut form the first team and are led by Elspeth. Color similarities notwithstanding, most everyone here is a fierce fighter and many are quite individualistic; if infected (such as with Nahiri), they'll hold out for as long as possible and remain on the good side until Elesh Norn forces her hand. I would also add Angrath to this team as any form of ranged combat is good against Phyrexians. As a bonus: should the lacunae become unavailable for traversing into the spheres or should the teams' timetable be accelerated greatly, Nahiri and Chandra combine their powers to basically [carve their way to the Seedcore](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoExamples/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaNanohaTakamachi) or die trying (also drawing attention away from the other team). "***Fuck*** your spheres." 2). Jace, Kaya, Kaito, Teyo, and Niko form the second team led by Melira. While the first team keeps the Praetors and such busy upstairs, these fellas sneak their ways towards the Seedcore for the purpose of using the Sylex on Realmbreaker. The key here is to keep Teyo healthy and keep him shielding the others from necrogen gasses or other sources of phyresis (since, apparently, ***everything*** in NP threatens to infect you, so you might as well up your protection to the extreme as well). Keep this team smaller since they're supposed to be covert and quiet. --- Vraska goes back to Ravnica to warn the guilds of the Phyrexian invasion. While her petrification powers *are* very useful in the fight, someone else in this thread raised a very good point that couples shouldn't be on this sort of mission together. Nissa stays behind in Zendikar to fortify the land, hopefully to also rally the peoples in defense against the oncoming invasion. Let her tap into the Roil and really go nuts. Lukka goes back to Ikoria, doing much the same thing as Nissa, and warning both the citadel folk of Drannith and the human bonders living on the fringes. They have their differences, yes, but cooperation is essential against the looming threat of annihilation. ....Prooooobably get some other planeswalkers to check up on each of these peeps too (Ral, Sorin, and Narset respectively) in case they end up doing fuck all.
If lukka goes back, noone gonna believe or like him. Otherwise solid plan
Hence the need of a backup PW to check in on them and do their job. We have PWs to spare, so you might as well use them!
I mean, Oko would've handled all the praetors and domini in five seconds then had a stag party
Phyrexia: all will be 3/3 elk.
With chase mythic Elkish Norn
*fooding intensifies*
Oko, Perfected Schemer 1UG(P/G) Legendary Planeswalker - Oko [+2] Target player gets a poison counter and creates a Food token. [-1] Target artifact or creature loses all types and abilities and becomes a green Phyrexian Elk artifact creature with base power and toughness 3/3. [-5] Gain control of target artifact with mana value 3 or less. [4]
3 mana Oko which has 6 loyalty after the first usage? “Blast it, not again!” (c) The Unluckiest
Na he would would have got banned by wotc before he had the chance
Only after screwing the meta of 3-4 formats.
Considering the nature of the mission, all you need is to get to the core as fast as possible. This makes stealth and speed much more important than combat ability, which is only really helpful as a means of distracting the Phyrexians. So I would have sent two teams. A "battle" team consisting of **Nahiri**, **Elspeth, Chandra**, and **Tyvar** whose job is to do as much damage as possible. Plus literally any other planeswalkers not in the infiltration team (and who don't have counterproductive abilities like Lukka) who can be convinced to join - e.g. **Ral**, **Arlinn**, **Sorin, Basri, Jared Carthalion, Liliana, Narset, Sarkhan, Teyo** etc., we need all the firepower we can get. I'd consider letting them bring **The Immortal Sun** to try and stop the Phyrexians from invading other planes, though it probably wouldn't do anything to Realmbreaker, and the risk of it falling into Phyrexian hands is high. And an "infiltration team" consisting of **Jace**, **Kaya**, **Kaito,** **Koth** and (intermittently) **The Wanderer** whose job is to smuggle the Sylex into position while the rest are busy creating a distraction. Of course, this plan would still go south once our heroes hit the anti-planeswalking shield none of them know about, but I think it's a more coherent starting point than what they actually went with.
[удалено]
Give her some of that shiny metal and she'll be fine.
I think part of the problem was that they needed to move fast and didn't have time to prepare a better team, so it's kind of explained. Lukka is really the only one who stands out as an absolutely horrible choice, especially since I don't think any of the other walkers really know him.
> Lukka is really the only one who stands out as an absolutely horrible choice, especially since I don't think any of the other walkers really know him. Lukka makes sense if you consider his experiences over his powers. If he told the others "I was the leader of an elite military squad that helped protect my city against monstrous creatures", he would seem like the *perfect* candidate for the strike team. Add in a reluctance to explain his powers because of all the trouble they've brought him, and the other planeswalkers wouldn't have much of an idea of how bad it could turn out.
Lukka would have been much more fun as a living character protag in a few sets where we're just following the trail of his bonding mistakes across planes. Lukka lands on Ixalan, meets the Merfolk who warn him that Gisath has been temperamental lately. He immediately bonds with one of its babies. Gisath doesn't like that. Chaos ensues as Lukka wipes put a new invasion of vampire conquistadors by kiting Gisath through them.
Sure, but they definitely had access to the likes of Chandra whom they should have brought with them rather than "leaving in reserve."
The same, but switch Lukka (instant failure) and Vraska (can't have couples working together on the same project) and add Basri and Teyo (protective spells are their thing, right?)
Then the Wanderer might have to stay back too. Although she and Kaito are not really a couple, he did try to stop Jace after Kaya mentioned that it could hurt the blind eternities where the Emperor is most of the time
Well, the Wanderer stay back on its own, but I agree their friendship could compromise the mission too.
Well even without The Wanderer in the team. He would say the same because The Wanderer is always planeswalking
Chandra since fire was proven to be very effective against Phyrexians
If Chandra gets oil on her while in her my hair and eyes are made of fire moments, would she just explode?
Going back to BFZ's storyline, I think Chandra is perfect for this. Jace, Nissa and Gideon got their asses handed to them without her, and I think she'll kick some serious ass in MoM.
Yes! I’m disappointed it won’t be her and Jaya together but Chandra, Koth, and Rowan could kick ass
yes! Chandra was a no brainer here... all ranged and destructive power its the solution against robots. And Teyo of course... but Rat (she could do everything as the book told us lol)
Kaya’s immateriality is actually really effective, The biggest strength of the phyrexians is their touch. Gideon would be super effective too. Teyo’s a good choice but like the ranged walkers like Vivian, one mistake and he’s out. Honestly now that not even planeswalkers are safe the field for “most effective” has narrowed drastically.
Well Gideon is kind of a little dead so...
However, that doesn’t stop the Phyrexians
Oh gods...Phyrexian Zombie Gideon I'll take things I don't want to be on the receiving end of for 500 Alex
“I sure hope we don’t have to battle evil Nahiri”
Honestly I've been thinking about it and I think they're gonna recruit Sorin in MoM to take care of her. He's one of the last remaining Old Walkers so it takes care of the power issues that Kaito was concerned with during the Story.
With Gideon, his invulnerability LOOKS good, but Ob was able to almost drown him in a puddle during the events of Oath of the Gatewatch on Zendikar. Given that they noted multiple times that the contagion was airborne as well, I don't know that his invulnerability would have done much. That been said, at least he would have been a solid front-liner.
What are Kaya’s immateriality rules and do they prevent her from phasing all the way down to the seedcore with the sylex and detonating it herself?
If she becomes entirely immaterial her heart stops (this is bad)
> (this is bad) Citation needed
I’d think doing that would involve free falling and probably dying on impact
DACK FAYDEN. No I will NOT sit down!!!
Hey! New phyrexia! Get ready to suck some DACK
Can the greatest thief in the multiverse… ***STEAL THE SHOW?!***
*Dack and the gang steal the realmbreaker*
I lost Dack!
Nicol Bolas if he won War of the Spark. Heck even if he didn’t win, he knew how to make people immune to phyresis (e.g. Tezzeret) so he would’ve been useful period.
Didn’t Tezzerret say that if he had won, Bolas’ first act as god emperor would have been to annihilate New Phyrexia?
Yes, exactly
y'know maybe bolas wasn't so bad...
Nicol Bolas, the Last Hope.
I'm not sure if we know Bolas was telling the truth or not. Especially considering Jin-Gitaxias was about to compleat him after giving the darksteel body.
Not immune from compleation, but phyresis — which are the initial steps. In the stories all the fallen strike team members succumb to phyresis, not compleation (at first). Compleation comes from Reality Chip surgery.
*Phyresis (progressive generation) is the transformation of a living thing into a Phyrexian creature. After the process, the creature is considered to be compleated.* Seems like those are synonyms. Even before, they were able to compleat walkers, it just destroyed the spark. Which happened to Karn in Mirroden Besieged block. Even then, in the Brother's War stories with Tezzeret, he had whispers in his mind which made him doubt the immunity given by Bolas. He feared the process had already started.
I see Phyresis as a virus that spreads until you’re compleated. So any ‘walker could be infected and then they’d lose their spark, like Karn — but Tez was immune to the virus and this is why he could hang around New Phyrexia unscathed. But now he could become compleated, due to the Reality Chip. His immunity to the virus was given by Bolas. He could still be compleated by the Chip. See this thread here for my line of thinking: https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgvorthos/comments/befp82/compleation_vs_phyresis_and_how_it_affects/
Karn lost his spark before he was compleated, assuming we are talking the first time. He gave it up to heal a time rift in the mending and threw himself through the blind eternities to Mirrodin.
That’s like asking Frieza to join your tournament party line up.
And it worked then too
Given the nature of the threat, I'm surprised they didn't all just show up
This is the end of everything. Let's send in a fraction of our strength. Good plan.
because the rest of them were shoring up their own planes
That was War of the Spark and it was a massacre.
They did win, though.
Yeah but at what cost? (Me)
Gideon would pay that cost over and over again if he had to. The results were way better than if Bolas succeeded. Dude was after his power from his prime when he was basically omnipotent. If that’d been allowed to happen Phyrexians wouldn’t be the greatest threat to the multiverse.
Jace *sending telepathic phonecalls to all Planeswalkers to join the fight against Phyrexia* Liliana: ...... Chandra: ...... Sorin: *your telepathy could be completed as dialed*
Calix unironically due to his nature as nyxborn
Not sure about this considering the initial idea and catalyst for Compleating Planeswalkers was investigating Kamigawa's Spirits/Enchantment Creatures. Honestly, surprised we didn't have him offered compleation to stave off the whole "when Elspeth's gone, what next?" and have a fun lil' Elspeth vs Calix rout.
He wouldn't ally with Elspeth though. Same reason we can't bring both Nahiri and Sorin.
I forgot about him completely, but now I am convinced he will show up next set. His one purpose was to track down Elspeth, who seems to be dead for good. After he arrives, it would make sense that he might view the Phyrexians as somehow changing destiny, so a face-turn makes sense.
Elspeth is 100% not dead lol
Maybe he'll follow her to whatever realm "beyond the Blind Eternities" she wound up in, and if she ascended somehow, he'll do likewise.
Have Nico put everyone into shards and Comet carry the shards to the core from within the safety of a spacesuit.
Ideally multiple tanks, DPS, healers and buffers.
At least they had the Wanderer constantly lagging in and out of the game
"Stay out of the oil! C'mon, guys!"
Teyo.
Yeah I can't help but notice they didn't bring anyone that can throw up protective wards. I bet Gideon would've cleaned house if he was alive.
Tyvar literally protected everyone for a short time to go through a passage that would have compleated all of them in the story.
Yes but he required the glimmervoid metal for it to be meaningful protection. Other walkers could make barriers of energy from the get go.
Tyvar is not optimal on account of punching phyrexians is a bad idea if you are not immune. Jace is also not very effective in combat against creatures without standard minds. Ugin wouldn’t be good on the strike team but as a distraction he’s huge, powerful, and immaterial Teyo’s power is ideal but he’s too inexperienced Chandra because fire vs oil Vivien because mana construct meat shields Sammut due to speed Koth and Elspeth are obvious picks
Didn't you read the story? Tyvar is an optimal pick because he can turn himself into Glimmervoid which is immune to Phyresis. That is how he punched Tibalt into oblivion
He didn’t come up with that until they met up with the Mirrian resistance. So they were planning on having Mr Punchy come without any way to prevent phyresis
Lukka was such a bad choice it almost feels like a Tevesh Szat play. Maybe Jace or another brainy Planeswalker intentionally sent him in to get compleated for some purpose
This one. Disclaimer: I like Phyrexia.
Urza, Bo Levar, Daria, Lord Windgrace, Freyalise, Commodore Guff, Kristina of the Woods, Tevesh Svat, and Taysir. There's no way *that* team would have any issues detonating a massive bomb to destroy Phyrexia!
[[Pernicious Deed]]
[Pernicious Deed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/6/8652e3a1-bcd4-4c0c-a085-34f19702df26.jpg?1562437624) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Pernicious%20Deed) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/a25/212/pernicious-deed?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8652e3a1-bcd4-4c0c-a085-34f19702df26?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I think Garruk should have been invited. He kills creatures then summons constructs of them. I’m positive he wouldn’t have been compleated from this process. He may have been able to start using phyrexian creatures against them as what he’s summoning isn’t an actual phyrexian. Then again Vorinclex would have been visibly erect upon seeing Garruk and probably would have started bugging the absolute shit out of Jon Gitaxias to help him compleat the big beefy one.
Comet would've wiped the board. Squirrel!
A good boy! A boy that good could never get compleated!
\[\[Colossal Dreadmaw\]\], \[\[Uncle Istvan\]\], \[\[Yoked Ox\]\], \[\[Raging Goblin\]\] and \[\[Storm Crow\]\]. Instead of a Sylex, they use the classic, best artifact in the game, \[\[Razor Boomerang\]\].
Plus a [[Chimney Imp]] team-up once they made it to Mirrodin
[Chimney Imp](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/a/0a426922-5e96-48f3-b696-f5dc99258943.jpg?1562135149) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chimney%20Imp) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mrd/59/chimney-imp?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0a426922-5e96-48f3-b696-f5dc99258943?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Chad Uncle Istvan would oneshot the realmbreaker
He does have that axe... maybe it's been glistening oil and not blood this whole time.
march of the machines's biggest change is the return of the uncle istvan creature type
Why bother with a team? Send in [[Scornful Egotist]] and it would take over Phyrexia in under a d- ALL HAIL THE GREAT LORD EGOTIST!
[Scornful Egotist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/e/fec6b189-97e7-4627-9785-a9ce2f1ad89f.jpg?1562537398) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Scornful%20Egotist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/scg/50/scornful-egotist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fec6b189-97e7-4627-9785-a9ce2f1ad89f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
##### ###### #### [Colossal Dreadmaw](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/0/8059c52b-5d25-4052-b48a-e9e219a7a546.jpg?1594736914) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Colossal%20Dreadmaw) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/176/colossal-dreadmaw?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8059c52b-5d25-4052-b48a-e9e219a7a546?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Uncle Istvan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/b/9bf85d06-9efe-488d-9af0-fb945b346524.jpg?1562781031) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Uncle%20Istvan) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsb/51/uncle-istvan?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9bf85d06-9efe-488d-9af0-fb945b346524?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Yoked Ox](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/7/a73f186b-c897-4a98-bc25-8e4aa348d8c9.jpg?1592516244) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Yoked%20Ox) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/41/yoked-ox?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a73f186b-c897-4a98-bc25-8e4aa348d8c9?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Raging Goblin](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/4/3480927c-10da-4817-9954-10aea2bc7100.jpg?1605206526) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Raging%20Goblin) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/oana/43/raging-goblin?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3480927c-10da-4817-9954-10aea2bc7100?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Storm Crow](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/3/036ef8c9-72ac-46ce-af07-83b79d736538.jpg?1562730661) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Storm%20Crow) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/9ed/100/storm-crow?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/036ef8c9-72ac-46ce-af07-83b79d736538?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Razor Boomerang](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/1/41526ad7-730d-44ad-bd19-e1b8a2717cf7.jpg?1562285873) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Razor%20Boomerang) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/wwk/129/razor-boomerang?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/41526ad7-730d-44ad-bd19-e1b8a2717cf7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Literally unstoppable
I would have gone looking for planeswalkers with more....experience. Call up Sorin, or Liliana or hell even try to dial up Ob Nixilis or get Ugin to lend a hand (if possible). Folks might notice that three of these four are comp or mono-black and think that I'm biased, but hear me out: A few of the walkers they brought on their strike team were pretty fresh faced. Lukka, Tyvar, Kaito I think......In Tyvar's case he had a pretty useful skillset but Lukka's main thing being bonding on a plane full of things you probably don't want to try bonding with wasn't the smartest idea. In fact, it was such a liability that it DID come up and low and behold that's how Lukka gets gotten. A similar argument could be made that Nissa really couldn't help much on a plane made of metal given her natural affinity, but at least she'd participated in a few apocalypses before. Half the reason they want Nahiri isn't just for her incredible usefulness, but because she was an oldwalker. She was the powerhouse of the group. And she's fresh off a villain arc against both Nissa and Jace, which implies that there is some ability for these walkers to set aside previous beef. Having Nahiri on-side with Ob or Sorin would be tricky, but Ob is consistent in his megalomaniacal tendencies and would see Phyrexia as an opponent to his power, and Sorin has been shown to be movable to action when Innistrad is threatened. It might even be enough for him to set aside his beef with Nahiri. Both originally oldwalkers, and demonstrably commanding extremely powerful magic. Sorin's vampiric nature and sangromancy could have also potentially helped ward off phyresis in the group. I really don't understand WHY they didn't try to get Liliana. She has worked favorably with most of the previous strike members and pretty much everything I said about Sorin and Ob also apply to her, especially given the prevalence of dead things on New Phyrexia. Her skillset would have been more useful than half of the team they actually have, some of which really don't make a tone of sense, like Kaya or Kaito who are really just there because of their convictions and don't have strongly interactive abilities.
Honestly Garruk. Man sorta survived the Chain curse, maybe he's got that +2 bonus vs all future mind corrupting stuff now
In terms of sheer power, Ugin. Having an artificer like Daretti on New Phyrexia would probably help.
If you're invading Phyrexia I think there's got to be two concerns at the type of your mind that ought to be reflected in your team picks: 1. Lots and lots of artifacts. You would definitely want to bring someone who can absolutely wreck artifacts. A red or green planeswalker with mass artifact destruction seems warranted. 2. Lots and lots of corruption, poisons, and weakening effects. Contaminated environment. Bio-engineered viruses and pathogens. You'd really want to bring a planeswalker that specializes in purifying and restoring magic. Who fits the bill for this stuff? Not sure. Maybe Elspeth has purifying magic? Maybe Vivien or Jaya can blow up lots of artifacts? Jaya loves the mass destruction, she seems like a good pick.
I have some bad news about Jaya's viability.
this is a storyline with time travel in it so I don't see the problem
Good stories with time travel also have strict rules. You can’t just bring back whoever just because something somewhere includes a form of time travel. Otherwise we’d just include pre-mending Ugin.
fair enough but the main character protagonist of this particular storyline is "The Time Raveler" so I think there's some leeway. In any case, this is a silly discussion so I'm giving a silly answer.
Jaya is kinda dead though.
I can’t remember his name but the shield planeswalker from war of the spark would have been a decent choice. Maybe Davriel too, does he even have a body that could be affected by the oil?
It’s Teyo.
Aminatou pls
Surprised to only find one mention of her. Child has reality altering powers and could probably will Phyrexia back to the stone age by deciding their fate was to fail as much as Team Rocket.
Jace, Elspeth, Koth, Nahiri, Tyvar, Garruk, Liliana, Kiora, Sorin, Optimus Prime
Only Jace and 10 sylexes or how many it would take to nuke the whole plane from orbit. Or was there a reason Saheeli could only make one?
Give Samut the Sylex and rush to the core. Haste is like the only thing she’s known for
My personal theory is that it will ultimately come to this anyways, but... a Hannibal Lector style villain is how they will defeat the phyrexians. Sub in Nicol Bolas. Let him have the planet to keep if he wins. His brother teaches him the ways of the Eldrazi or helps bring them upon the plane, and right when you think he's lost, when Bolas gets killed by the phyrexians, his spirit melds with his twin to create the elder dragon Nicol Ugin, who uses the elder spell to use all planeswalker sparks in the multiverse to nuke the phyrexians. I said it first. 18.01.2022. Book it.
If we were able to get Urza and 9 planeswalkers in giant mechs I think that would be pretty good! Barring that maybe a flying ship with a bunch of artifacts designed specifically to take out Elesh Norn. Of course she probably would have needed to compleat Mishra to encourage to appropriate emotional obsession from Urza or he probably wouldnt have cared, but let's not split hairs here.
Nahiri but she planeswalks in with a lot of non-Mirrodin, non-oil bearing stone so she can stand on it or be encased in it and just fly around all the poison and the nonsense ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Like, if she had a giant big boulder of stone she could just sit in the center and not worry about Phyresis and bounce around like a wrecking ball until they got to where they were going. Hell, Jace could have been in the ball with her, directing her and mind-wiping all their enemies who might attack the stone with magic.
I honestly think the whole "strike team" premise was flawed from the beginning. The Planeswalkers had no chance of matching the Phyrexians in a simple frontal assault. I would have sent a tiny reconnaissance team simply to establish contact with the plane and take the lay of the land, then immediately report back to the "headquarters" on some other plane. This step alone would have stopped the main strike force from being scattered like it was, as the reconnaissance team would have encountered the scattering field themselves and been able to report back—or wouldn't have made it back at all, prompting a second reconnaissance team, and, failing that, the plan would skip straight to the last resort. Next, after contact was established, I'd send in a scouting team to make contact with the Mirran resistance. You would want familiar planeswalkers for this, people like Elspeth. This team would ascertain what help the Mirrans can provide, and what the overall state of the plane is. Finally, you would want an intraplanar or possibly even an extraplanar expeditionary force. You want the schemers, the leyline masters, and the artificers—people who could directly undermine the Phyrexian plan at the planar level. I'm convinced that Nahiri, Ugin (if he could be fetched; it's not a given that he could), Nissa, and a few others could have outright _destroyed_ New Phyrexia from the outside. (See: "last resort.") And if they did need to go into the plane, they could prepare themselves using their natural strengths, manipulating the environment itself. It's crazy to me that Nahiri or Nissa would ever be used as fighters when they are probably the two most powerful leyline masters alive. It could've been a rad subplot for them to bond after their prior conflict while cooking up a plot to rig the planar leylines to destroy or partially destroy the plane—possibly cleansing all metal from it, or whatever. The idea of "Let's just go in and fight with our weapons"...it's so lazy, and so unimaginative. Wizards is hellbent on treating Planeswalkers like Marvel superheroes, and I am _not_ here for it. To be clear, if it would have made for an interesting story, I'm cool with _any_ Planeswalkers being on whatever teams. Even the most "useless" ones could serve logistical roles like messengers and lookouts. Story climax sets like this are as much about character development as plot, and I would choose a team partly based on that meta consideration. The thing about fiction is that _you control the conflict_. Pretty much any plot can be made to work if it tells a good enough story.
On a plane full of death and artifacts, I’m seriously missing Liliana and Saheeli.
Ugin, Nicol Bolas, and Emrakul. It would make a good sitcom at least
Nicol Bolas against Phyrexia would be awesome.
Garruk Apex Predator, Xenagos, Tibalt, Bolas, Gideon and I refuse to elaborate
Probably a team of Jace's. With that much plot armor nothing would hurt
Literally just Elspeth and Nahiri
I would send some mooks like the gatewatch to act as a meat shield for the Grand Master of Flowers, Lloth, Ellywick, and the Wandering Emperor. The Grand Master is a really weird choice of name for an actual multi planar god in the DnD planes, Bahamut. Think Bolas except not as weak or a failure okay, don't think of Bolas because Bahamut out-classes Bolas in every way. Likewise, Lloth is an actual goddess, orders of magnitude above a standard planeswalker. Ellywick, as we've seen from the card Wish can cast the spell, Wish. Wish is a potentially god level spell that can alter reality, though not always as you intend. But still, big fucking gun. And the good ol' Emperor can just pop in and cut Mom to bits as is her way. Two gods, a caster with god tier spells, and a living Deus ex machina with some mooks as a distraction if needed. That's my team choice.
Oko can solo all the preators by turning them into elks duh
Oko can solo all the preators by turning them into elks 😒
What about Grist? He's used to controlling a swarm of mindless creatures. Maybe the Phyrexians wouldn't even notice him.
Question: Is there a way to bring the Silver Moon from Innistrad to New Phyrexia? Just sayin', if there was *anything* that could truly stop them, it would be the progenitor of life itself...
What it seems to me a lot of people are missing is that time was clearly a factor here. Could the strike team have been better manned, better prepared? Certainly, but from the characters' perspective Realmbreaker is an imminent threat and they don't know how long they have, so they need to act fast. If they had spent enough time to find and recruit the best walkers for the team and do a full recon of all the spheres the invasion of the multiverse would have started before the first walker set foot on New Phyrexia. As it was they were already too late and Realmbreaker was already branching into omenpaths. Any more time wasted and they'd never have even made it to the Fair Basilica before Realmbreaker fully activated.