Nevinyrral

Nevinyrral was a lich and necromancer from Urborg on Dominaria.

He controlled the City of Urborg, which was once at war with Bogardan. Little is known about the war, but legend states that he was outmaneuvered and the city was swallowed by a volcano that tore up from the ground directly beneath it. His last act was to use the powerful Nevinyrral's Disk to deny his enemies any of the magical trove that might survive the flames, destroying himself and most of Urborg in the process. He is also the author of the Necromancer's Handbook, the bible of necromancy.

Trivia

"Nevinyrral" is the name of science fiction author Larry Niven written backwards. He came up with the term "mana" to denote the amount of Magic as a nonrenewable resource tied to lands. In Niven's Magic Goes Away series, his protagonist The Warlock invented a spinning disc that depleted available mana in its vicinity to power its rotation as an experiment to investigate the mysterious appearance of areas where magic would grow weak or cease to function altogether. This disc inspired the designers of Alpha to create Nevinyrral's Disk.

In-game references

Represented in:

• Nevinyrral, Urborg Tyrant

Associated cards:

• Nevinyrral's Disk

Quoted or referred to:

• Dark Bargain (Dominaria)
• Demonic Lore
• Disentomb (Magic 2013)
• Drudge Skeletons (Fifth Edition)
• Ladies' Knight
• Magus of the Disk