Goblins of the Multiverse: Mirrodin and New Phyrexia

(Disclaimer: While each issue of Goblins of the Multiverse involves a healthy amount of speculation, Mirrodin involves more than usual. There’s a lot of incomplete information about the goblins, and there are major changes that received no in-universe explanation.)





While most of the multiverse’s worlds are visited in snapshots, a few stand out as having a true history. Dominaria, of course, is well documented, and we know of a few distinct ages of Zendikar, all characterized by the interactions of the Eldrazi, but only one plane has had so many distinct changes that it’s officially known by three different names. This world is Argentum, Mirrodin, New Phyrexia, and just as it has changed and evolved, so have its goblins.





Goblin Replica by Carl Critchlow



Argentum (meaning ‘Silver’) was created when the planeswalker Karn discovered an empty plane and chose to create a peaceful meditation spot for himself. He crafted an artificial world, composed entirely of metal, over the course of many years. Argentum was a model, and while it lacked true life, Karn populated it with many golems and constructs of varying intelligence. After many years, Karn met a young planeswalker named Jeska and decided to take her around the multiverse. During this time, he left Memnarch, his most intelligent golem, in charge as the plane’s caretaker. The story of the goblins begins during Memnarch’s rule.





Goblin Cavaliers by DiTerlizzi



Abduction of the Calimani: While Karn enjoyed the solitude of his wholly artificial world, Memnarch felt it was incomplete and set about gathering specimens from among the multiverse. Though there are no specific accounts of where he attained his goblins from, their sharp features and affinity for complex tools strongly suggest the Calimani goblins from the plane of Dominaria. These goblins quickly thrived in their new environment, able to make good use of the plane’s abundance of metal, and settled around Kuldotha, a mountain whose geological activity regularly released molten metal rather than lava. Memnarch renamed the world as Mirrodin, no longer lifeless silver, but now a reflection of the worlds he was trying to replicate.





Krark-Clan Grunt by Thomas M. Braxa



The Mycosynth Infection: Due to Karn’s multiversal traveling, a small amount of Phyrexian oil found its way to Mirrodin. This oil resulted in the Mycosynth, a fungus that was both metal and biological at the same time, and that grew rapidly. Memnarch, not understanding the threat but recognizing it as a problem, regularly worked to keep the Mycosynth at bay, but some of it still passed into the food chain. Over time, Mycosynth worked its way into nearly every creature of Mirrodin, altering physiologies to combine metal to their flesh. Though none understood the cause, this was considered a boon among the goblins. Over the years, these goblins developed a partial exoskeleton, hard metal plates that grew to cover various parts of their bodies and protect them from harm, with some also developing sharp metal spikes.





Spikeshot Elder by Izzy



The True Mirrans: When Memnarch was slain by the elf Glissa, the Mycosynth was free to grow wild, and it became a more regular part of the world. Many began to change further, though the rapid life cycle of goblins meant the change was more pronounced in them. As generations passed, the new goblins were no longer recognizable as part metal, part Calimani, but were instead a new race with rounder bodies that were both fully metal and fully flesh in their entirety rather than a blend of the two. They turned from green to a color more similar to rust, they grew stronger skin, and they gained durable skeletons.





Artillerize by Johann Bodin



New Phyrexian Squealstokes: Without anyone recognizing the Mycosynth as a threat, it’s growth and spread gradually transformed many members of Mirrodin’s various species into a new breed of Phyrexians. While this transformation twisted minds, unified creatures, and transformed many into monsters, its effects on the goblins were minimal. Goblins which had been ‘compleated,’ or fully transformed into Phyrexians, were still excitable, inventive, and often willful. Appearing as a metal goblin skeleton with an internal fire, this source of red mana keeps their minds from fully falling to Phyrexian unity. These goblins, called Squealstokes, spent years working for the Phyrexian leader Urabrask in Kuldotha, though the recent fall of Urabrask’s forces to Elesh Norn leave the current fate of the Squealstokes entirely unknown.





Krark-Clan Ironworks by Tim Hildebrant



Society: From the Calimani to the Squealstokes, most goblin society on Mirrodin or New Phyrexia revolves around collecting and repurposing metal. They act as scavengers and inventors, and once metal is no longer useful- including the metal flesh of fallen friends and foes- it’s thrown into Kuldotha to melt down and be reused. The Calimani and the True Mirrans did not understand the full nature of Kuldotha. They referred to the planet as the “Steel Mother” and understood that she provided metal for sacrifices, as well as believing that the fallen who joined her would be reincarnated. The Squealstokes kept up the tradition, though it was because Urabrask began harvesting metal at accelerated rates and had to ensure that no matter what projects he undertook, Kuldotha did not run so low that it would grow cold.





Oxidda Daredevil by Pete Venters





The next time we lay eyes on the world that was once Argentum, it’s possible a whole new type of goblin will arise. With Elesh Norn trying to control the world, both the True Mirrans and the Squealstokes fighting against her, and Karn actively trying to fix his world, there’s no telling what’s going to happen next.

