Set Size - 318
Common - 120
Uncommon - 72
Rare - 74
Mythic - 22
Land Slot - 10
Basic Land - 20
Set Status 2022.07.01 - [Set Design]
Post Update Log:
2022.07.26 – Initial Design Outlay established
Phyrexian Incursion is the third in a tetralogy of sets set in the Antiquities timeline. This set didn't start design until after Industrial Revolution hit its current iteration of energy and artifacts matter. At that point a clearer picture where the tetralogy of sets would evolve took shape. Phyrexian Incursion is also not specifically an artifacts matter set like Industrial Revolution, but as the name implies "Phyrexian" comes with a heavy dose of artifacts built into the nature of the gameplay and the flavor.
Phyrexian Incursion took shape around the concept of war. This is the set that sets up the Brothers War, but not necessary in the expected form. I thought back on when the scars of mirrodin block released, and more specifically when Mirrodin Beseiged was releasing. At the time Faction packs were released with the pre-released that were seeded with either Mirran or Phyrexian faction cards. It was teased that player agency would play into who won this conflict (Spoiler alert, the phyrexians win, and this was pre-determined, there was no agency to affect that outcome.) Phryrexia is an underlying part of this story, and it's the Phyrexian invasion of Terisiare seen in the black color cards of Urza's saga as this is Urza's first fight against Phyrexia. I've moved around a few of the story beats in the timeline and wanted this set to be more about Terisiare vs the Phyrexians than just Urza.
The set is designed with a power level and mechanical eye intended for limited play in sealed/draft. Its comparison would be of a supplementary limited set direct to eternal formats.
Each set of the tetralogy represents a different era of technological advancement. The world of Phyrexian Incursion is intended to be a modern warfare take on the world of Terisiare. Machine guns, tanks, air support and magic, against a horde of killer robots from another world. The world of Phyrexian Incursion is gritty and grim, and has a bit of Terminator vibe where a prospering (but far from idyllic) world is suddenly exposed to a sinister plot to destroy it.
The world of Antiquities is a reimagining of the origin story leading up to the brother's war. The world of Phyrexian Incursion sees Mishra slip into the realm of Phyrexia. Here he comes face to face with Yawgmoth and loses himself in the process (quite literally). Yawgmoth's machinations have come to a grinding halt as Gix has all but betrayed him. Decoding Mishra's mind, Yawgmoth sees the opportunity to not only usurp Gix's empire on Teriisare with Mishra, but set up the perfect foil to oppose Terisiare's strongest artificer. The original slot for this set in the story was going to be 'Mishra's Odyssey', and even though Phyrexia is stealing the spotlight, Mishra's transformation into a Phyrexian is not entirely performed under duress.
Set size metrics were chosen for simplified ratio of randomization. The set size will host an 8 player sealed pool or 12 player draft environment. Packs include a set based common duel land in the land slot. Basic lands are not included in the packs, but are used for the basic land kit. Mythics have aprx a 1:5 ratio of appearance. A set pool consists of:
4x Common = 480 total pool size
2x Uncommon = 144 total pool size
1x Rare + 1x Mythic = 96 total pool size
5x Land slot common duel = 50 total pool size
10x each basic = 200 total pool size.
970 Total card pool size (including 200 basic lands)
Card File
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Set Teaser: Coming soon™
Visual Spoiler: Coming soon™
Card File: Coming soon™
The Tokens of Phyrexian Incursion: Coming soon™
The Places of Phyrexian Incursion
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–– The Terisian Coalition ––
The nature of Terisiare was changed irrevocably with the emergence of the Phyrexian horde. The irony being, that had they not shown up, Urza may have been locked in perpetual land battles, never escalating past leading a nation. But once it became clear how dangerous a threat the Phyrexians posed, Korlos and Argoth had no choice but to unite under a single banner to maintain the strength to oppose the Phyrexians.
At the time, no leader was more charismatic than Urza, and boy who had once been an unknown orphan, now leads an empire. All of the lands of the Eastern and south approach were under his command, uniting under the banner of the Terisian Coalition. This was no longer just a fight for conquest, or resources. It was a fight for their very lives.
–– The Phyrexian Horde ––
Gix was dead. But a new machine had taken his place to lead the mass of machines and men that had gathered under the Malpiri banner. Returned from Phyrexia itself, Misha was not the man who had entered that hell. With renewed purpose, Mishra used his skill along with knowledge implanted by Yawgmoth to create an even larger planar portal than the one in the Cave of Korlis. With massive killing machines at his back, Mishra sweaped through the Zegon desert and laid to waste the Fallaji that would not bow to him. The swamps and glaciers of the north, and vast Zegon desert under his command, Mishra quickly took control of the other half of the continent that the Coalition forces hadn't already secured.
The Players of Terisiare
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–– The Major Accomplices ––
Ashnod Karimotha – It takes a lot for someone so evil to have a change of heart, but bearing witness to Mishra's completion, Ashnod saw Phyrexia's true horror laid bare at last. It wasn't just the loss of individuality, but the death of passion as well was too much for Ashnod. She may not have had any ethics to her name, but she loved her work, and was never willing to give up that sensation to anyone. The Coalition would never tolerate the work she was desperate to complete, but as the war with the Phyrexian horde deadlocked, Ashnod knew she was going to have to make a play to create a clear winner, she just didn't know which side she was going to choose.
Barl – Barl's journey neither started nor ended where he ever would have suspected. The first wave of Phyrexians hit everywhere across Terisiare all at once. It was an ambush no one was expecting and had many casualites on the side of the Coalition. Barl was just one of those victims. Completed by the Phrexians, he was released back on Argoth to sow discord and destabilize the island from within. It's because of Barl that the Phyrexians gained not only a foothold on Argoth, but learned of it's immeasurable wealth to their cause.
Feldon Walliman – The Third Path had failed. Full scale war had erupted all across Terisiare and no amount of good will or intervention was going to stop that. Consigned to this fate, Feldon took it upon himself to enter the fray and make his mark on the world war. If he couldn't stop technology, then he would use it to his own ends.
Hurkyl Tribecca – Hurkyl had been abroad in Terisiare when the Phyrexian Incursion took place. She had left Drafna on Lat-Nam assuming he would be safest there, but unfortunately the Phyrexians had found their way to every corner of Terisiare. Drafna, already weak, was killed in the attack on the citadel. Hurkyl never forgave herself for not being there for Drafna. Her grief was too great to keep a clear head, and had she not met another unexpected traveler, who was going through a similar experience she might not have outlived her pain.
Loran – When the Phyrexian Incursion took place, there were many who fell victim to their ambush. Loran wasn't just killed in the attack, she was completed and his mission in the Third Path subverted. Loran was returned to spread the gospel of Phyrexia and bend the holdouts against technology to Yawgmoth's will.
Kayla Bin-Kroog – Just when Kayla thought that she had been relegated to obscurity, the Phyrexian Incursion happened and everything changed. With his brother back in the picture, Urza became completely occupied with his theatre of war. The police state that Yotia once was all but vanished, and in that vacuum, Kayla rose up to protect the people of the Terisian Coalition that couldn't protect themselves.
Mishra Erdeli – The man Mishra once was, is dead. The machine this Mishra now is, is a focused instrument of Urza's undoing. Having killed Gix, and coopting the whole of the Malpiri and Zegon forces, Mishra leads the Phyrexian Horde towards a single goal of destroying Urza and all of the coalition forces that rally behind him. Cold and calculating, somewhere inside of Mishra's programing a ghost still haunts those commands, fueled by rage, the flame of what Mishra was is not yet fully extinguished.
Tawnos Revella – Tawnos, Disgusted by Urza's war, wants nothing but to break away, but has nowhere to go. His beautiful creations that were once so pure to him, are now instruments of destruction that Urza wields so indiscriminately.
Verdansk Treeck – The world had changed so rapidly, Verdansk couldn't even recognize if the world he was trying to avenge was even still out there. Traveling the world to fight anyone dumb enough to stand against him. Verdansk met an unexpected ally in Hurkyl. Two lost souls looking to pick a fight with who ever they could, the two of them became one of the most famous vigilante duos in all of Terisiare. They didn't care who the opposed, Phyrexian or Coalition alike as long they got the fight they were looking for.
Yawgmoth – With Gix's demise at his newest creation's hand, Yawgmoth is finally ready to pull the trigger on his return to Terisiare. With Mishra leading the Phyrexian forces, Yawgmoth is confident that nothing can stand in his way of total conquest.
Urza Erdeli – It was hard to say just what fueled Urza's drive against Mishra, but it was deep, and it was a driving path of determination. Urza could have made the Coaltion's fight about defeating the Phyrexians, and about the survival of Terisiare's way of life, but he didn't waist time sugar coating his cold truth. This fight was about rivalry, and it was about defeating Mishra. Urza had the power stranglehold over the coalition and ironically, Mishra was the only one left on Terisiare that could even oppose him. In what would be Urza's darkest period, it was overtaken by his singular passion to be better than his brother, and acted without compassion or empathy for all the people of Terisiare he was dragging into that fight.
The mechanics of Phyrexian Incursion
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Allegiance
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Allegiance (When you cast this spell, declare your allegiance to Phyrexia or the Coalition. This permanent has all abilities of your current allegiance.)
Allegiance is the ability that the "decide the fate of mirrodin" wanted to be. Cards with Allegiance will have you declare your allegiance when you cast them, before the spell resolves. Each care with Allegiance has a Phyrexian component, and a Coalition component and depending on where you Allegiance lies, that spell or permanent will have those effects. But like a true war, allegiances can change, so each time you declare allegiance, your allegiance can change, and with it, your permanents with allegiance will change sides. Think of Night/Day in Innistrad: Midnight hunt, as permanents with allegiance have a dualistic nature. You have full control over your allegiance as do all players for their own allegiances. It's up to you which side of the battle you choose to fight for, and for how long.
The Image designs for Phyrexian incursion are still in early design, but here is the current iteration of the White Allegiance frame:
Wayfind
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Wayfind (Create a new waypoint map or claim a waypoint node. A new map overwrites your current map.)
Wayfind and Waypoint maps are the second component that gives Phyrexian Incursion a modern warfare spin on the gameplay. Once you wayfind and create a waypoint map, it goes into the command zone and is permanent unless you wayfind again and choose a new map. Depending on which waypoint map you choose, each has several waypoints that must be held. Some maps give you bonuses as you gain waypoints, but the ultimate goal of the waymap is the hold the final waypoint for a full turn. If you do, you win the game.
The Reminder text of waypoint map: (Whenever you deal combat damage to one or more players, claim the next waypoint node. Whenever you are dealt combat damage or a faction creature you control dies, you lose your last waypoint node.)
There are real costs and strategy to holding your waypoints and taking away waypoints from your opponents. The Wayfind mechanic is designed to create a playstyle loop that mimics FPS team based shooters.
The Waypoint map graphic designs have not yet been completed.
Faction Creatures
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It wouldn't be a war if there weren't creatures from each side of the trenches. Scattered throughout the set there are both [Coalition] and [Phyrexian] creatures, and many of those creatures come with bonuses if you are declared to their respective allegiance adding another layer of strategy to changing allegiance mid-battle. Maybe some of your other creatures will gain an advantage, but it could also weaken some of your faction creatures.
Reprocess
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Reprocess — {Event}, create a Metapod token. (It's a Phyrexian artifact with indestructible and "Sacrifice three Metapods: Create a 4/4 Phyrexian Golem creature token.")
Phyrexians always have a trick up their sleeve. When many phyrexians die their remains breakdown into a Metapod. Once you've assembled three metapods they can be reprocessed into a new Phyrexian Golem ready to resume the fight. There are other ways to create Metapods, and when broken down into their most basic nature, Metapods are nearly impossible to get rid of as they have indestructible.
Phyrexians by nature are typically weaker as artifacts, the Reprocess mechanic helps give the horde a sense of inevitability.
Enlist
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Enlist N (Create N 1/1 colorless Soldier creature tokens with Conscript that are your allegiance faction. Phyrexian and Coalition are allegiance factions.)
It wouldn't be a war without troops on the ground. The enlist mechanic gives you chance to recruit extra forces, and you're not hiring them for their thinking capacity either. The Conscript ability on Enlisted Soldiers ensures that no matter what allegiance faction you're declared to, they will follow and change their creature type to match.
Missions
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Missions are new enchantment type. Similar in design space to sagas, Missions represent a goal that your forces are trying to achieve. The name of the mission implies what is at stake. I went through a few iterations of how missions should trigger, but what made the most sense in a set about warfare was attacking. Missions trigger whenever you attack with one or more creatures. After all, how can you complete a mission if your troops aren't pressing forward.
Each time you trigger a mission you can claim an objective of that mission providing bonuses to combat and board state. Once a mission is completed you get a final bonus.
Rally to Treski
Enchantment – Mission C
(Whenever one or more creatures you control attacks, you may choose an objective that hasn't already been chosen. Then if all objectives have been chosen, complete this mission.)
• You gain 2 life.
• Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
• Untap target creature.
When this mission completes, sacrifice it. If you do, enlist 1. (Create a 1/1 colorless Soldier creature tokens with Conscript that is your allegiance faction. Phyrexian and Coalition are allegiance factions.)
Armored
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Armored (Equipped creature's toughness can't be reduced. If equipped creature would be destroyed, instead remove all damage from it and destroy this Equipment.)
Armored currently appears on a few pieces of equipment. Similar to totem armor, it's designed to assist against /-X effects in addition to damage representing being covered in body armor. It needs some testing to determine if it's too strong or if it has a place overall in a heavy mix of larger mechanics.
Returning Keywords/New Deciduous
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Phyrexian Mana
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Phyrexian Mana - It wouldn't be a war against Phyrexia if they weren't using every advantage available to them. Spells with Phyrexian mana return offering quick results in exchange for life.
I initially thought about using Phyrexian mana as the component for generic mana costs instead of colored mana, but decided to stick with the Phyrexian colored mana component instead.
The Phyrexian hordeburst is ferocious and fierce and with Phyrexian mana, fast out of the gates, the coalition is going to have to fight hard to survive the onslaught.
Hordeburst Communer
Artifact Creature – Phyrexian Ranger R
Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.
1/1
Vehicle
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Vehicle - Crew N (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power N or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
Vehicles make a triumphant return in Phyrexian incursion demonstrating the scale of the theatre of war happening across Terisiare. But since this is MTG, designs thread the needle in the nexus between modern warfare and the arcane.
Coalition Cloudblaster
Artifact – Vehicle R
Flying
~ enters the battlefield with three maneuver counters on it.
Remove a maneuver counter from ~: Choose one. Activate this ability only if ~ is attacking or blocking.
• ~ deals 1 damage to any target.
• Dogfight — If ~ is blocking or blocked, you may untap it and remove it from combat.
Crew 2
4/4
