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Vorinclex
Vorinclex-voice-of-hunger
Details
Race Phyrexian
Birthplace Mirrodin
Lifetime Mending Era; deceased (see below)

Vorinclex (Phyrexian: lornScs, IPA: [vornχlx]), called The Voice of Hunger, was the Green-aligned praetor of New Phyrexia.[1]

Description[ | ]

Vorinclex stood twelve feet tall and his body was a raw pinkish-red color.[2] Across his shoulders he had a ruff of patchy fur in a dozen different hues swirled together. Vorinclex's long and muscular arms ended in massive, curving talons with and two additional spindly arms extending from his chest. His bone-colored head was a skull-like face flanked by razor tusks and broad, spined antlers.

A social Darwinist, he wished to make New Phyrexia a place hostile to sentience, which he despised, and based solely on the roles of predator and prey, of which only the strongest will survive. He ruled the Vicious Swarm as its apex predator. Although he was relatively intelligent, he preferred making decisions with primal instinct and solving issues with brute strength and sharp fangs.[3]

History[ | ]

Vorinclex created new varieties of predators to infest the Tangle, and compleated many elves — Glissa among them — and turned them into predatory creatures. Beyond this, however, he didn't care for anything else except for his next meal, and, unlike the other praetors who plotted against each other and Karn, Vorinclex appeared to be satisfied. Being the most content of the praetors, Elesh Norn was able to manipulate him easily once she took over New Phyrexia.

Kaldheim[ | ]

Vorinclex was sent to Kaldheim through the Planar Bridge on Norn's orders.[4] The process he undertook destroyed his organic components, leaving a corpse of metal and bone; a curious stag sniffed it, allowing him to rebuild himself.[5] To undermine or take over the plane, he ambushed the planeswalker Tibalt and infected him, forcing him to cause "a distraction" in exchange for an antidote, much to the sadistic pain mage's delight as he had already been planning to cause some chaos on Kaldheim anyway.[6] He stalked the woods of Bretagard where he compleated people and animals until Kaya and the Omenseekers fought him. The god Alrund revealed himself, too disgusted at Vorinclex, and the praetor fled, melting into some oil-suffused metal and escaping, possibly to another of Kaldheim's realms.[7]

In the cover of the chaos Tibalt brought to Kaldheim, Vorinclex invaded the sanctum of Esika and mauled her to near death. Taking a tyrite sample, he concluded his mission, and a portal to New Phyrexia opened, welcoming him once more.[8] He returned to New Phyrexia in Norn's throne room in a similar state to how he arrived on Kaldheim. The sample was later used to seed Realmbreaker, the New Phyrexian Invasion Tree.[9]

Phyrexia: All Will be One[ | ]

Vorinclex now delegates most of his responsibilities to the compleated elf Glissa. She was an indispensable help when designing the Hunter Maze.[3]

When a contingency of planeswalkers led an assault on New Phyrexia, a healed Vorinclex was found playfully sparring with Glissa in the Hunter Maze. Their fight was interrupted by Lukka and Nissa, who attacked them. Vorinclex was severely wounded by Nissa, but a compleated Lukka put Nissa on the run, and Glissa ordered Lukka to capture the elf and compleat her for Norn's plans.[2]

Invasion of the Multiverse[ | ]

Vorinclex's Copper Host invaded the Multiverse along with the other Phyrexians, while he stayed back with the other praetors to supervise Realmbreaker. When Elspeth Tirel arrived to help Koth, Chandra, and Wrenn in their attack, Elesh Norn in despair broke off one of Vorinclex's horns to throw it at the archangel planeswalker.[10]

Possible death[ | ]

When Zhalfir was switched with New Phyrexia, Vorinclex met the invading force head-on, forcibly dismounted Teferi before he was decapitated by either Elspeth Tirel or Shella, an Askari knight.[11] However, due to being able to regrow his body (as shown by recovering from his near-destruction using the Planar Bridge to Kaldheim), his ultimate fate remains to be seen.[12]

Trivia[ | ]

  • Less dexterous than the other praetors, Vorniclex wrote Phyrexian star-shaped secondary radicals like the diacritic seen on s as spirals, similar to old Phyrexians.[13]
  • Of all the New Phyrexian praetors, Vorinclex is the only one to be consistently depicted with eyes.

Planes visited[ | ]

Despite Vorinclex not being a planeswalker, Vorinclex could travel between planes using the planar bridge, though at the cost of his organic components being destroyed.

Gallery[ | ]

Story appearances[ | ]

Title Author Publishing date Set Setting (plane) Featuring
Episode 1: Travelers Roy Graham with contributions by Jenna Helland 2021-01-07 Kaldheim Kaldheim Kaya, Inga, Alrund, Hakka, Vorinclex
Episode 5: The Battle for Kaldheim Roy Graham with contributions by Jenna Helland 2021-02-03 Kaldheim Kaldheim Kaya, Tyvar Kell, Arni, Fynn, Inga, Sigrid, Alrund, Hakka, Varragoth, Cosima, Harald, Halvar, Koma, Niko Aris, Esika, Vorinclex
Phyrexia: All Will Be One - Hard as Anger, Bright as Joy Langley Hyde 2023-01-14 Phyrexia: All Will Be One New Phyrexia Nissa Revane, The Wanderer, Lukka, Rothga, Vorinclex, Glissa Sunseeker
March of the Machine - Episode 7: Divine Intervention K. Arsenault Rivera 2023-03-24 March of the Machine New Phyrexia Karn, Elesh Norn, Koth of the Hammer, Jin-Gitaxias, Chandra Nalaar, Melira, Elspeth Tirel, Vorinclex, Wrenn
March of the Machine - Episode 9: The Old Sins of New Phyrexia K. Arsenault Rivera 2023-03-28 March of the Machine Capenna, New Phyrexia, Zhalfir, Theros Giada, Atraxa, Heliod, Kaya Cassir, Ajani Goldmane, Elspeth Tirel, Teferi Akosa, Koth of the Hammer, Chandra Nalaar, Elesh Norn, Vorinclex, Jin-Gitaxias, Melira, Nissa Revane, Karn, Wrenn, Eight

In-game references[ | ]

Represented in:
Associated cards:
Depicted in:
Quoted or referred to:
^† Scryfall does not record flavor text for digital cards. See Alchemy: Phyrexia/Flavor text

References[ | ]

  1. Savor the Flavor (May 11, 2011). "Getting to Know the Praetors". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. a b Langley Hyde (January 14, 2023). "Hard as Anger, Bright as Joy". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  3. a b Grace Fong (January 31, 2023). "Planeswalker's Guide to Phyrexia: All Will Be One". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. First Look at March of the Machine (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (February 19, 2023).
  5. Ari Zirulnik and Jenna Helland (January 21, 2021). "The Legends of Kaldheim". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Roy Graham (January 20, 2021). "Kaldheim Episode 3: The Saga of Tibalt". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. Roy Graham (January 7, 2021). "Episode 1: Travelers". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. Roy Graham (February 03, 2021). "Episode 5: The Battle for Kaldheim". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. Reinhardt Suarez (October 25, 2022). "The Brothers' War - Chapter 3: Nemesis". Magicthegathering.com.
  10. K. Arsenault Rivera (March 23, 2023). "March of the Machine - Episode 7: Divine Intervention". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  11. K. Arsenault Rivera (March 28, 2023). "March of the Machine - Episode 9: The Old Sins of New Phyrexia". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  12. No Sparks Allowed – Aftermath Lore ft Rhystic Studies (Video). YouTube.
  13. Phyrexian Phylology in Phylly (Video). Magic: the Gathering. YouTube (February 17, 2023).
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