Magic the Gathering Liliana Vess Action Figure

Presenting a Liliana Vess Action Figure from the Legacy Collection Toyline of Magic the Gathering.

Liliana Vess, AKA Lili; Liliana of the Veil; Liliana of the Dark Realms, or; A Villainess (Though writer Brady Dommermuth claims this anagram of her name is purely coincidental.)

We won't pretend that we know much about Magic: The Gathering since we as former Dungeons and Dragons players some of us kinda saw Magic as a lazy man's D&D.

In a nutshell though, Magic: the Gathering has an underlying storyline that you can follow on the cards that are produced. The storyline was later reinforced by the various Magic the Gathering novels and comic books that followed.


Liliana Vess is a planeswalker (Another term for wizard) who specializes in Necromancy. She gained her "spark" after having been tricked into using Necromancy to attain a cure to heal her dying brother. The cure went awry and she had to use even more Necromancy to kill her now insane brother. She eventually ended up in Innistrad where she mastered her Necromancy - studying under vampires and liches.

Later on she would trade her soul to four demons in exchange for eternal youth and power. While Liliana Vess may look 20, she's closer to a century old. One of the demons, Kothophed covered her body with runic tattoos. When she would later challenge and kill (?) Kothophed while empowered by the Chain Veil, her tattoos started to bleed. She would be saved only by the intercession of the same man who tricked her into killing her own brother.

Armed with the veil and a new costume, Liliana would go on to slay another of her demon debtors: Griselbrand. Later on however she would find out that the veil contained the spirits of the entire Onakke civilization. She was now beset by the constant whispering of a million voices and she could not rid herself of it. Supposedly with continuous use, the veil will eventually transform her into a demon.

What's to like about the Magic: The Gathering Legacy Collection Liliana Vess?

FIRST: Definitely the detailing. And we're not just talking about Liliana Vess' tattoos. You don't see this kind of detailing in Marvel Legends figures. We love the ribbons extending from her back to her arms; we love how tattered her half-cape and skirt are. It actually almost looks like you could remove her top and skirt - check out that belt (They actually took the time to make that belt an individual piece instead of molding it into her skirt).

SECOND: Her design! The Legacy Collection is a fine representation of what Liliana Vess would look like if she were not using her magic - because if she used her magic... well she kinda glows. Here's what she looks like in the eyes of Aleksi Briclot and Terese Nielsen:

We should probably note that we're not sure who to thank for this level of detailing. At the back of the package it says that the figure is "Powered by  Gentle Giant Studios" but the package also bears the Funko logo on both sides.

THIRD: The high level of articulation. The only thing Liliana Vess cant do is individually move her fingers. There are some articulation problems thanks to her design, but it is still excellent:

Yes, the Legacy Collection Magic the Gathering Liliana Vess can kneel:

What's NOT to like about the Magic: The Gathering Legacy Collection Liliana Vess?

FIRST: You can tell that Hasbro had a hand in your creation when you come with an expressionless, dead face.

Which we suppose is ironic since Liliana Vess is a Necromancer.

Go through all the photos and really, her expressionless face is the only thing that bothers us. We're actually considering whiting out her eyes - which we're sure will make her look more ominous rather than dead.

Another problem has to do with that huge shock of hair that she has. It prevents most of her upper body articulation from working - from her neck to the ball joint in her upper torso. She should be able to cant her upper torso and neck back but because of how solid and heavy her hair is, Liliana Vess cannot.

SECOND: There's a certain fragility to her construction. Halfway through this shoot two of her ribbons came loose. the one on her right bicep, we simply just hid under her sleeve, but the ribbon on her right forearm had to be glued back on.

Our particular Liliana Vess also came with a frozen left  knee joint. Only one of the two joints in the double joint moved.

Still one of the bet designed and articulated action figures in our collection.

The Necromancer Liliana Vess is available on Amazon for US$ 21.20 (Roughly PhP 1,000 plus shipping)

Now put all creature cards in all graveyards into play under your control.