As the framing structure to countless premier sets, there’s no doubting the importance of story in MTG. Providing a villain to fight or some tantalizing lore, a well-rounded story can define a set, or a block’s success. Since moving away from a block-focused set design strategy, the story in MTG has taken a bit of a backseat. By jumping to a new plane for each set, Wizards has understandably struggled to tell a complete story so quickly. This left several visits to recent planes feeling underwhelming, as some of their most interesting details were ultimately left unexplored. Thankfully, while the story took a back seat for a few sets, Wizards has recently brought it back in full force. Following the Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria in Dominaria United, the aptly named Phyrexian Arc is now in full swing.
Troubling Times
While there’s no doubt that many MTG players love a good bit of story, Magic has been facing a number of other problems recently. Between Universes Beyond, product fatigue, and the growing collectability of MTG, many players have been turned away by Hasbro’s antics. Thankfully, following a worrying silence, some of these issues may soon be addressed and fixes finally put in place. While this should renew faith in the franchise and help MTG survive in the long run, the Phyrexian Arc is still bearing the brunt of these problems. Releasing at the worst possible time, many players have been taking out their frustrations on the most recently released sets. This just so happens to the Dominaria United and The Brothers’ War, the first two major Phyrexian Arc sets.
Subsequently, it would appear that many players are vehemently against the Phyrexian Arc and all that it stands for. In reality, however, this prognosis may be rather wide from the mark, as the story is actually incredibly engaging. Pointing this out, Tumblr user Thomler recently highlighted this issue to Mark Rosewater via Blogatog. In their post, Thomler pointed out a stark difference between the “excitement and joy of the Bolas arc vs the ‘couldn’t care less’ and fatigue Phrexia arc.” Rather than this being due to haphazard storytelling, however, Thomler stated “the story is for sure not the problem…”
After receiving this frank assessment of the Phyrexian Arc’s current appeal, Mark Rosewater turned this question back on the community. Stating “I’ve not been getting that sense, but I’m curious if that’s how people feel,” Rosewater proceeded to ask players their thoughts. “A) Did you enjoy the Bolas Arc? B) Are you enjoying the Phyrexian Arc (so far)?”
Sublime Storytelling
As usual, MTG players on both Tumblr and Reddit were quick to answer Mark Rosewater’s call for community feedback. Somewhat unexpectedly due to the problems currently plaguing MTG, much of this feedback was surprisingly positive of the Phyrexian Arc. Commending both its handling and storytelling, many players, such as Lovelymimic on Tumblr, highlighted how much they’re enjoying this arc. “I care significantly more about this arc than I did about the Bolas arc.” Adding to this point, Tumblr user 404computerhamstersnotfound named and shamed the Bolas arc’s lackluster end as a point of comparison. “I actually quit the game around War of the Spark. The end of the Bolas arc was very disappointing, especially when the web fiction stopped. But I am LOVING the Phyrexian arc so far, especially Brothers War, and I’m beyond hyped for the new story!!”
To show off just how much MTG players were enjoying the current Phyrexian arc, Tumblr user Arixordragc collated many of the player responses. While admittedly nothing that they “had to make some judgment calls regarding strong vs regular likes/dislikes,” this data paints a positive picture of player reception. Interestingly, the opinions towards both the Bolas and Phyrexian arcs are surprisingly similar, with many categories almost equal in votes. Overall, however, this limited data suggest that the Phyrexian Arc is being significantly better received by the MTG community. Below is the data that Arixordragc collected. For their work, Mark Rosewater simply said “thanks for the tally.”
Arixordragc
- Strongly liked Bolas: 10
- Strongly liking Phyrexia: 22
- Liked Bolas: 39
- Liking Phyrexia: 37
- Disliked Bolas: 27
- Disliking Phyrexia: 23
- Strongly disliked Bolas: 17
- Strongly disliking Phyrexia: 17
- Actively ignored Bolas: 7
- Actively ignoring Phyrexia: 14
Pacing Problems
Understandably, and as you might expect from the above data, not everyone is happy with the Phyrexian Arc. Obviously, as Thomler pointed out before, not all of this is due to any lack of storytelling talent from Wizards. Instead, in their comments, many players pointed out that “product fatigue” is a major factor that’s driving players away currently. Tumblr user Squigglesthemysterious stated that they “liked the Bolas arc. It felt very climactic. With the Phyrexians, I feel that attention and impact in the story is being lessened by product fatigue for me at least.”
Alongside product fatigue pushing people away, players also shared their concerns with the length of major MTG story arcs. Running for 11 sets, from Kaladesh to War of the Spark, the Bolas Arc is by no means short. The Phyrexian arc, in comparison, was merely teased in Theros Beyond Death, before picking up in Kaldheim. Even after picking up, this storyline would be dropped again until Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, where Phyrexians Compleated their first Planeswalker. Alongside Streets of New Capenna, this preamble led to the somewhat surprise invasion of Dominaria in Dominaria United. Despite the teases and lead-up to the full-blown Phyrexian arc, many players still aren’t happy with its pacing.
On Reddit, for instance, u/BorderlineUsefull noted how much of the action has happened off-screen due to the arc’s pace. “I really hate how hand-wavy everything in Dominaria has been. […] And the Ajani stuff felt jank too. He’s an experienced Planeswalker [that has] been fighting Phyrexians for years, then gets captured off-screen. And we go from it not being possible to Compleat a Planeswalker to being able to do it without the target even knowing in no time flat.” Similarly, u/planeforger highlighted this same issue. “This invasion happened off-screen with no real build-up, had minimal consequences, and now we’re launching straight into the finale over the next two sets. It’s too much too soon, with no real stakes.”
The Story Continues
For better or worse, the Phyrexian Arc isn’t over just yet. With two more premier sets, and whatever March of the Machine: The Aftermath is, still to go, there’s a lot more story to be told. Subsequently, it’s highly likely that opinions about the latest MTG story arc are subject to change. If Wizards pulls it out of the bag, and Hasbro gets their act together, the Phyrexian arc could be heralded as MTG at its best. However, should WotC fumble the ending, many players may consider the Phyrexian arc to just be another missed opportunity. Unfortunately, since we don’t possess a time machine, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Who knows, maybe if the Phyrexian arc is successful, blocks and multi-set stories won’t be dead after all.
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