#Serrated Biskelion

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Serrated Biskelion

"Whereas I was created to protect, the biskelion was created to destroy." —Karn, silver golem

Artist: Ron Spencer TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[serrarisen-blog]

History of Serra

The first mention of Serra actually predates her character; the famous and well-loved Serra Angel from Alpha. And in fact, according to an interview with a well-informed angel, it wasn’t a reference to anyone at all; it was supposed to be a serrated angel. As in, an angel wielding a serrated blade and not, as per Kirbster’s Gatherer comment, an angel with praying mantis arms.

Serra as a character is first referenced in-game on Cathedral of Serra from Legends, though there isn’t a lot to glean from the card itself and its sense of mystery is probably undermined by its lackluster ability. According to the Homelands comic (illustrated by the talented Rebecca Guay) the cathedral was built over Serra’s tomb on Dominaria. Poor Serra, dead before we even met her. Her story is suitably tragic from both a Vorthos and meta perspective.

Serra had the misfortune to be heavily featured in one of Magic’s early sets that while they may have been flavor successes were game-play failures. Though not quite earning the ignoble distinction of threatening Magic’s future like Fallen Empires, Homelands was perhaps even worse. Whereas Fallen Empires gave us some tribal support for well-liked creatures (goblins, thrulls, merfolk, and dwarves) and some playable cards, Homelands gave blue two more good cards while leaving everybody else with… Serrated Arrows (a callback perhaps?). 

Despite all that, the real travesty was how Serra was treated by Homeland’s storyline. Serra was married to a fellow planeswalker named Feroz (lover of didgeridoos) and together they protected a plane called Ulgrotha/the Homelands from planeswalker interference. Which was a noble cause considering the amount of destruction Dominaria has suffered due to various planeswalkers throughout the ages (and Dominaria is certainly not alone as Alara can attest). Though there were some vampire problems (another Alpha card given story significance), all was well on Ulgrotha until a very strange series of events happened. First Feroz and then Serra died. This was not an impossible occurrence, even for powerful planeswalkers before the Mend– what’s that? There was no epic planeswalker battle, no successful vampire apocalypse, no rending of worlds? How then did these godly beings then die?

A lab accident and the lethal one-two punch of a mugging and a broken heart. Yes, dear reader, you read that correctly. According to the comic, Feroz was experimenting on a fire elemental encased in ice. At some point this elemental exploded which gravely wounded Feroz who, despite being a nigh omnipotent being and married to the premiere healer/angelic creator Serra, then died. Not a great way to go but Feroz was made for Homelands and perhaps it was fitting that Homelands would take him out. Serra had a little more presence in Magic the Gathering and surely her debut wouldn’t also be her end. Alas.

Serra, after burying her husband, left Ulgrotha (much to the delight of Baron Sengir) and eventually ended up on Dominaria where she was accosted by a man who was very interested in her wedding ring. Not unusual for a mugger, even if that mugger sensed it was a magical artifact. What was unusual is that this mugger claimed to be a planeswalker! Serra was all ready to rain heavenly fury upon the man who would take the last reminder of her dead husband… until she decided she would rather die than live in a multiverse without Feroz. The mugger deals a fatal blow but then is surprisingly taken out by a random human who had recognized who Serra was in her fleeting moment of glory. He then takes care of her until she dies, raising the aforementioned Cathedral on her tomb.

So much potential wasted (I’m not bitter or anything), which is probably what the Magic Creative team thought. Outside of two cards printed in Weatherlight (if you count Serrated Biskelion which we will), Serra and her angels reappeared in the Urza Block, albeit in the past as Homelands happens after the events in the Urza Block. Serra lived in an artificial plane she had created, a sanctuary from the multiverse where she ran a matriarchal utopia of sorts. She healed Urza Planeswalker after one of his failed attempts to destroy Phyrexia; an action that would lead to tragedy as interacting with Urza so often did. Though it took him five years to recover, it was not long after Urza left that the Phyrexians came to Serra’s Realm and though they were defeated, they had irrevocably tainted the world she had made. It was at this point that Serra abandons the plane, taking with her anyone who would come with her (probably to Ulgrotha), leaving the rest under the charge of her head angel, Radiant.

This was, unfortunately, an even worse decision than it seems on its surface. Putting aside that eventually the plane itself would be destroyed without Serra working to maintain it and thus killing the remaining inhabitants, Radiant soon became (or perhaps had already been) corrupted/mislead by Phyrexia and lead ever more destructive raids on the mortal inhabitants of Serra’s Realm to “weed out the Phyrexian taint”. When Urza returned to Serra’s Realm (to use it to power his planeswalking ship the Weatherlight) he saved who he could and collapsed the corrupted plane into an orb to power the ship.

After this point, aside from a questionable appearance in a questionable novel during the Onslaught block where Karona, the False God may or may not have met several important lore characters or weird simulacra of them, Serra disappears from the story. Serra’s name does pop up from time to time on the cards themselves. Time Spiral block saw a few new Serra themed cards with the latest new card being Serra Ascendant in M11. The latest appearance was Serra Angel in Origins and FTV: Angels, showing the staying power of the most iconic (if retroactive) creation of Serra.

Whether Serra’s demise will be glossed over and make a return is unlikely due to several factors. With some notable exceptions (Karn and Nicol Bolas) most oldwalkers have been shelved due to death, loss of planeswalker spark, or have simply been forgotten (like Sandruu, another Ulgrothan planeswalker). This is coupled with the creative focus on the neowalkers that have been created with the Magic brand more in mind. Serra is also tied to Homelands which, in addition to being poorly received thus making most story hooks from this set unlikely to return (sorry Baron)  appears to have been thematically replaced by Innistrad.

Still, with the Commander 14 creation of planeswalker cards of Teferi and Freyalise, it isn’t impossible that Serra might make an appearance in a future supplemental set, assuming she doesn’t suffer from Urza syndrome ie that whatever card would come to represent her would never live up to her reputation.

And that is the history of Serra.

Information taken from my own memory, the Homelands comic, and supplemented by the MTG Salvation Wiki.

[peculiarflavor]

Rejected Flavor Text:

“Oh, screw you, Karn, I know how to protect. Here, somebody hand me that baby over there. Where are you all going? Guys?” –Biskelion