#archfiend of the dross

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Archfiend of the Dross

Artist: Sidharth Chaturvedi TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Archfiend of the Dross (Showcase Ver) by Sidharth Chaturvedi

[almostlookedhuman]

[anemptyaquarium]

Thank you caustic bronco for dealing 11 damage to my opponent by turn 4, you are the best snake horse and I’m so glad they made you

[thecollectibles]

Archfiend of the Dross by lie setiawan

[littjara-mirrorlake]

Daily Life in the Phyrexian Spheres (Dross to Seedcore)

Previous: Facade to Furnace, Maze to Bays

The Dross Pits, much like its previous incarnation in the Mephidross of Mirrodin's surface, is a sphere rife with intrigue, double-crossing, and back-alley deals. The social structure is feudal, with lords ruling over masses of serfs and slaves, and thanes make up the top of the social pyramid. Dark, towering citadels of flesh and bone rise out of the necrogen mists, which bathe the entire layer in an eerie green glow. Large swathes of territory are controlled by thanes, lords, and magical creatures such as blight dragons and archfiends.

This sphere is densely populated, with the vast majority of its inhabitants making up the servant classes that live and die under feudal lords. Compleated Mirrans begin at the very bottom and most have little hope of ever ascending past this station, as the Steel Thanes' obsession with Phyrexian purity leads to heavy discrimination against those who are not Phyrexian-born. This obsession extends to a scrutiny of every Phyrexian's pedigree--the further removed a person is from their last non-core-born ancestor, the purer their bloodline is considered, leading to a higher chance of social advancement. As such, first-generation core-born Phyrexians (born to compleated Mirrans) are only barely considered truly Phyrexian and share their parents' meager social standing. As Phyrexians are immortal and have no need for heirs, faction members produce scions to serve their own advancement, not to eventually succeed them. Of course, said scions are rarely happy with this arrangement, seeking to usurp their parents and seize their assets instead.

Magically and technologically, the inhabitants of the Dross Pits largely focus on emulating Yawgmoth-era techniques gleaned from scrying the glistening oil. Due to the heavy emphasis on ichor magic and intrigue, glistening oil from individuals of interest--and the intelligence it contains--is an invaluable commodity in the Dross Pits. Bloodsuckers like necrosquitoes and pistid swarms are often employed to this end, fueling an illicit trade of stolen bodily fluids.

Much like the Furnace, the Dross Pits do not have an overarching system of governance or standard of law, and political allegiances vary widely. Pockets of the Dross Pits are strongholds of the Phyrexian rebellion, though they are severely handicapped by the loyalist spheres blocking them both above and below. Every thane has at least nominally allied with either Elesh Norn or the rebellion, though they are ultimately beholden only to themselves and care little for the ideals of either side.

The Fair Basilica is the innermost inhabited sphere and the de facto capital of New Phyrexia, where Elesh Norn rules from her palace and the majority of the Phyrexian military is housed. In the heart of Norn's empire, every aspect of daily life is carefully regimented and monitored; people are marched in orderly rows down alabaster bridges, flanked constantly by armed enforcers and their swarms of patrol mites. Flights of angels keep constant watch in the skies. Staggering acts of brutality are committed against any who display signs of deviance, and commoners are all too used to keeping their heads down and trying not to watch as their peers' oil is scrubbed from the streets.

Every resident of the Fair Basilica is expected to devote a significant portion of their time to worship, and the rest to assigned duties like patrolling or working the flesh-vats. Those who need to sleep do so on strict schedules under the watchful eyes of supervisors. Newts are raised by the state, rigorously educated on the Orthodoxy's religious tenets, and often apprentice under cenobites, which continues after their compleation; Mirran aspirants commonly join them.

Though it relies heavily on other spheres for commodities like raw material and technology, the Fair Basilica is at least self-sufficient in growing its own porcelain metal, which spreads in a fungus-like manner on recently dead flesh. It is mass-produced in giant growth vats, alongside Basilica inhabitants' germ offspring and seedpod centurions for the invasion (often bodies without minds, hollow for puppeting via ichor magic).

Rebellion is most difficult in the Basilica due to its oppressive environment and authorities' vested interest in controlling the flow of information--and oil--into and out of the sphere. The news fed to residents is tightly curated, requiring workarounds to even hear of the rebellion's presence at all. That said, dissident spies have managed to infiltrate even the innermost of the loyalist spheres.

The Mycosynth Gardens form a natural barrier between the populated Phyrexian spheres and the Seedcore, and passage through them is controlled exclusively by Elesh Norn herself. The Gardens themselves are uninhabited by sapient Phyrexians, though fauna like inkmoths and skitterlings roam the silent lattices, and the mycosynth itself is known to create lures or other, more cryptic structures that mimic passersby.

The Seedcore, the innermost layer of New Phyrexia, is the domain of Elesh Norn alone, where she keeps the World Tree sapling Realmbreaker imprisoned and firmly subjugated under layers of mind-altering magic. Very rarely, Norn holds the most confidential of her audiences here with her inner circle or other crucial allies. The sphere is heavily warded against incoming divination, telepathy, and any other possible interference with Norn's plans, but here lays Norn's crucial oversight: there are no such protections against communication going out, allowing Realmbreaker's telepathic distress call to pass through into the Multiverse.

And that's it for overviews of the nine Phyrexian spheres, from the perspective of a far more average commoner Phyrexian than we're used to hearing about. There's always more to be said about each of them, of course, and I hope this helps get people started thinking about their own expansions, headcanon, or additions!

[fhtagn-and-tentacles]

ARCHFIEND OF THE DROSS 

by Lie Setiawan

[evasthesis]

ok ppl who play mtg i have some dandan lists to share

please feel free to build and tweak them, they're budget and i built them all in a span of like 3 hours without playtesting any of them bc i am losing my mind, so i'm sure they are not exactly polished. but please please please tell me what you think yall

High on Morphing (flickerwisp dandan)

Realizing You Are Not Original (creeping dread dandan)

Greasy Scamps and Big Lads (archfiend of the dross dandan)

Self-Made Land (high tide dandan)

Bolts and Birds (fire//ice dandan)

i'll eventually make primers on the interactions between the cards for all of them, but i'm exhausted after making 5 of these things and i'm gonna go crash for a while

[pathfinderunlocked]

Writhing Sludge Demon - CR19 Demon

A high level demon based on a Magic: The Gathering card.

Artwork by Lie Setiawan on ArtStation.  From Magic: The Gathering, copyright Wizards of the Coast.

This creature is based on the artwork from the MtG card Archfiend of the Dross, but Magic cards don’t really have enough abilities for a high level demon.  Despite the card’s name, I didn’t actually make this an archfiend in Pathfinder terms, since creating CR 28 stat blocks for demigods sounds pointless and exhausting to me.  Also it’s only a 6/6 creature, not that I really made any attempt to accurately replicate the MtG creature here.  I just wanted to take some ideas from it in order to make a useful and interesting high level demon.

Writhing sludge demons come from layers of the Abyss full of hazardous chemicals, toxic waste, swamplands, and filth.  They are among the most powerful demons, and fly high over these foul lands, watching them from afar.  They descend when they see other creatures trying to escape from the caustic muck, whether those creatures are demons, unfortunate souls forced to spend their afterlife in that layer of the Abyss, or invaders from elsewhere.  Anyone trying to escape the horrid quagmires is forced back down into the acidic swamps by the writhing sludge demons, after which they return to their lofty oversight from the skies.  It’s good to be on top.

The Greater Blighted Critical feat inflicts a random major spellblight on a successful crit.  The table of random major spell spellblights is here.

Between the unbound ability, summonstriker ability, and ability to cast Banishment, summoners would be advised to have as little to do with writhing sludge demons as possible.  Honestly, though, so would everyone else.  These things are nasty.

Writhing Sludge Demon - CR 19

Two massive wings made from what look like ragged muscle tendons hold an almost humanoid-shaped creature aloft, though no one could mistake this misproportioned, skinless, corpse-like figure covered in a blackened carapace for a living person.  Dozens of thin, red, writhing tentacles spread downward from its massive shoulders.

XP 204,800 CE Large outsider (aquatic, chaotic, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +10 Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, murksight, true seeing; Perception +36 Aura sludge aura (100 ft., DC 29)

DEFENSE

AC 36, touch 24, flat-footed 29 (+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural, +8 profane, -1 size) hp 332 (19d10+228); fast healing 15 Fort +22, Ref +17, Will +18 Defensive Abilities horrible recovery, rusting acid armor, unbound DR 15/cold iron and good Immune acid, death effects, disease, electricity, poison Resist cold 10, fire 10 SR 30

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., fly 90 ft. (perfect), swim 40 ft. Melee 2 claws +27 (2d8+8/19-20 plus 4d8 acid plus infection), 6 tentacles +24 (1d8+4 plus grab) Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with tentacles) Special Attacks infection, summonstriker

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 19th; concentration +29)     Constant—true seeing     At will—arcane eye, greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), rusting grasp (touch +26), touch of slime (touch +26, DC 24)     3/day—banishment (DC 26), reach rusting grasp (ranged touch +24), summon (level 9, 1d2 fiendish bog scums 75%, see text)     1/day—cursed earth, mass suffocation (DC 29)

STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 23, Con 35, Int 19, Wis 25, Cha 31 Base Atk +19; CMB +28 (+32 grapple); CMD 53 Feats Blighted Critical, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Greater Blighted Critical, Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Mobility, Multiattack, Reach Spell-like Ability (rusting grasp), Weapon Focus (claw) Skills Fly +34, Intimidate +29, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +23, Knowledge (planes) +26, Perception +28, Spellcraft +23, Stealth +24, Survival +26, Swim +37, Use Magic Device +29 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic; telepathy 100 ft. SQ amphibious

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Horrible Recovery (Su) If a writhing sludge demon is subjected to ability damage or ability drain, it recovers 1 point per round.  It chooses each round which ability score to recover, and whether to recover damage or drain.

If a writhing sludge demon is subjected to any harmful condition, at the start of its turn, it can lower its spell resistance by 5 points for 24 hours in order to end the condition.  This is a standard action, but a writhing sludge demon can do this even if subjected to a condition that would normally prevent it from taking standard actions.

Infection (Ex) A writhing sludge demon’s claws inflict a disease against targets they hit.  A target that dies while affected by a writhing sludge demon’s infection transforms into a bog scum with the fiendish template, and cannot be resurrected except with a Wish spell.  The save DC is Constitution-based.

Writhing Sludge Infection: disease — claw;  save Fort DC 31;  onset immediate;  frequency 1/day;  effect 1d3 Str and 1d3 Dex, target cannot recover hit points while disease persists;  cure 2 saves.

Murksight (Ex) A writhing sludge demon can see through natural and magical fog, mist, and rain without penalty, ignoring any concealment bonuses gained from such effects.  This ability functions underwater as well, allowing a writhing sludge demon to see in murky water as though it were clear.

Rusting Acid Armor (Su) A writhing sludge demon gains a +8 profane bonus to armor class and a +4 profane bonus to Fortitude saves; these bonuses are already included in its statistics.

Additionally, creatures that strike a writhing sludge demon with an unarmed or natural weapon attack must succeed on a DC 31 Reflex save or take 4d8 acid damage.  Creatures that strike a writhing sludge demon with a manufactured weapon must succeed on a DC 31 Reflex save or the weapon takes 4d8 acid damage, and if made of metal, is immediately destroyed by a rust effect.  The save DC is Constitution-based.

Sludge Aura (Su) Creatures within 100 feet of a writhing sludge demon must succeed on a DC 29 Reflex save each round at the start of their turns, or be coated in thick sludge, affecting them as though with the Slowing Mud spell with a caster level of 19.  The save DC is Charisma-based.

Summon (Sp) When a writhing sludge demon uses the Summon universal monster ability, it has a range of long (typically 1160 feet) instead of short.

Summonstriker (Su) Any time a writhing sludge demon deals damage to a summoned or called creature, the caster of the summoning or calling spell takes half as much damage.  Damage in excess of a summoned/called target’s remaining hit points is not transferred to the caster.

Unbound (Su) If a writhing sludge demon is bound using a calling or summoning spell, it is only bound to the caster’s service for 1 minute, after which it receives a Will saving throw each round to break free (even if the spell does not normally allow for a saving throw).  If it breaks free, it turns against the caster, and can choose to return to its home plane and end the calling or summoning spell early at any time as a free action.

[mtgdays]

Single Scoop: Demonic Alteration is the New Hotness

Archfiend of the Dross is popping up in Pioneer so naturally, we’re going to try it in Explorer! Source: MTG GOLD FISH

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Archfiend of the Dross

Artist: Sidharth Chaturvedi TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Archfiend of the Dross by Lie Setiawan

[mtgdays]

Against the Odds: Harmless Demons (Explorer)

What are the odds of winning with Archfiend of the Dross…by giving it to the opponent with Harmless Offering? Let’s find out! Source: MTG GOLD FISH

[mtgdays]

Single Scoop: Archfiend of the Dross is Cracked! (Phyrexia Standard)

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a four mana 6/6 demon this good! Source: MTG GOLD FISH