MtG: Elesh Norn Explained – Mother Knows Best
Everyone says they want a girl with porcelain skin, but when MtG’s Elesh Norn shows up, she’s “too edgy” and “trying to subsume my consciousness.”
Greetings, Praetors and Planeswalkers! The Magic Multiverse has faced tons of terrible foes over the years, from the monstrous Eldrazi to the mad Elder Dragon Nicol Bolas. However, few foes are as deadly, insidious, and far-reaching as Phyrexia, the OG bad guys from back in the day.
Urza and his fellow planeswalkers thought they’d defeated Phyrexia when Yawgmoth fell, and it was many years before they made their return. However, it was the folly of Urza’s perfect creation, Karn, that brought them back.
Karn, the silver golem with a Planeswalker spark, sought to make a plane of his own, where metal was as common as flesh. His creation, Argentum, was perfect except for two things; Memnarch, the golem Karn left to watch over his plane, and the tiny trace of Phyrexian oil Karn still carried.
The oil corrupted Memnarch, who sought a spark of his own, and in his hubris, he began the process for the rebirth of Phyrexia. The five suns of Mirrodin each fueled the creation of a new Praetor, and when Karn returned, they took him hostage, worshipping him as the new Yawgmoth. Of the five, Elesh Norn was undoubtedly the greatest.
Elesh Norn: the Early Years
Born under the light of the White sun of Mirrodin, Elesh Norn absorbed the traits and attributes of the nearby Auriok tribes as well as Glissa and her Tel Jeliad Elves. She, like her brothers and sister, is an amalgamation of machinery and flesh. She is skinless, with her exposed organic parts showing sinew and bright red muscle.
In drastic contrast, her metallic parts are stark white, made of a material similar to porcelain. This gives her a terrifying flayed look and goes well with her possession as a religious demagogue and fanatic.
The leader of the White-aligned Machine Orthodoxy, Elesh Norn is fiercely devoted to the tenants of the “Father of Machines”. While this name was originally attributed to Yawgmoth, the Mirrodin Praetors use it to refer to Karn, their creator.
During the war for Mirrodin, Elesh Norn protected Karn from Jin-Gitaxis using him in experiments or Vorinclex devouring him. By the end of the war, she had grown to be the most powerful of the Praetors, and though Venser sacrificed his spark to free Karn, her work had already been done. Mirrodin was reclaimed as New Phyrexia and Elesh Norn has established herself as its de facto liege.
Her final act of supreme power was the creation of Atraxa, the Praetor’s voice. Atraxa was a Mirran angel who fought fiercely to protect her home. When the Mirrans were defeated, Norn chose not to kill her, admiring her warrior spirit and bestowing the “gift” of completion. She invited her fellow Praetors to share in the act, both to solidify her rule and unify the five Spheres of New Phyrexia.
All attended save Urabrask, the Red-aligned Praetor of the Great Furnace. Above all else, he represented free will and impulse, and shackling himself to Norn was anathema to him. With the Black, Green, White, and Blue Spheres united, however, Elesh Norn had all the power she needed. Next came her final mission; to bring the glory of New Phyrexia to the Multiverse.
The Invasion and Norn’s Fall
Elesh Norn had all the power she desired, but she couldn’t reach across the planes. Phyrexians could not develop Planeswalker sparks, and the Blind Eternities shredded their organic components. Trapped in their mechanical world, those who knew of their existence gave them little thought. They were, after all, unable to reach out from their home plane, so what threat were they?
The answer came in the form of Tezzeret, an augmented Planeswalker in the service of Nicol Bolas. Seeking solace from the damaged Planar Bridge in his chest, he sought a Darksteel body from Norn.
Norn agreed to help him, so long as he agreed to ferry her fellow Praetors to strategic locations across the Multiverse. He agreed and utilized his abilities to send Vorinclex to Kaldheim, Jin-Gitaxis to Kamigawa, and Sheoldred to Dominaria.
Using the pieces each Praetor brought back, including two completed Planeswalkers and the sap from the Kaldheim World Tree, Norn constructed Realmbreaker. This allowed her to safely traverse the Blind Eternities. With her new creation, she began a Multiverse-spanning invasion. Her goal was to unite all the planes under the Machine Orthodoxy, in glorious oneness.
Her hubris and arrogance proved her downfall, however. The Planeswalker Elspeth, granted a new angelic form by Serra, attacked and wounded her in her Grand Basilica. This allowed a strike team of Planeswalkers led by Wrenn and Chandra to wrest control of the Realmbreaker.
With her last burst of strength, Wrenn switched the Planar positions of New Phyrexia and the exiled plane of Zhalfir. Wounded and enraged, Elesh Norn tried to escape, only to be unmade by Karn, the Father she had so tried to impress.
How Does Elesh Norn Work?
That depends on which version you’re using. Elesh Norn has been reprinted three times, and each incarnation has slightly different abilities.
Grand Cenobite was her first incarnation, and it’s probably the most widely used. It’s a fairly simple card; it’s a 4/7 with vigilance that buffs your creatures while weakening your opponent’s. It is the enemy of token decks everywhere and is mostly used for mass removal rather than for the buff.
The Mother of Machines (or “Mommy”, if you’re degenerate) is the bane of ETB players and probably the most powerful of the three. It maintains its 4/7 stats as well as vigilance, but its secondary ability is where the thunder hits.
This Norn doubles all of your abilities that trigger when things hit the battlefield while turning them off for your opponent. It should be noted that she does NOT affect Planeswalkers since their counters are not triggered abilities. Even so, turning off your opponent’s cards is never a kind thing to do. But then, Norn never claimed to be kind.
Elesh Norn and her transformed side, the Argent Etchings, are an interesting addition. While she maintains vigilance, she’s lost a bit of her strength, likely due to extending herself across the Multiverse. She has some interesting damage deterrents, but her real strength is her reverse side. A Saga with three powerful abilities, you get an army of creatures, a powerful alpha strike, and then a massive board wipe. Elesh Norn does nothing by halves, and this version is no exception.
Is Elesh Norn a Good Commander?
That again depends on WHICH Elesh you’re going with. Each one will broadcast what kind of deck you’re playing, so you’ll need to make sure you’re careful with your tells. For my money, Mother of Machines is the best as a Commander, with the other two playing in the 99.
She combines the best of all three into a powerful board piece. And she’ll force your opponent to deal with her immediately. While that might seem counter-productive, it’s rarely Commanders that win Commander games.
Card Gallery
Elesh Norn has had some gorgeous alternate prints over the years. We’ve seen her in Phyrexian script to a piece by legendary artist Junji Ito. Thankfully, your friends at TCGPlayer can hook you up with whatever version you want. Just know you’ll have to pay a pretty penny for the really pretty ones.
