In the wake of the M-Pox crisis, Magneto became despondent. With the rage that had always driven him failing him, Magneto roamed the wilderness, desperately searching for a reason to fight. He found that reason when Archangel suddenly fell from the sky. His last words before losing consciousness were "ensure mutants survive." Magneto, being reminded of his purpose, found reason to live again, and vowed to find others to stand at their side.^[2] He gathered a team of X-Men willing to do whatever necessary to ensure the survival of the mutant species: M, Psylocke and Sabretooth.^[3] Fantomex and Mystique were also Magneto's operatives, but worked in the shadows.^[4]

Dark Riders[]

Magneto and his X-Men first began investigating Someday Enterprises, a company that put mutants who were tired of living in a world that hated and feared them into suspended animation, waiting to be awakened in better times. Magneto suspected the company of being up to no good, and began attacking their transports, denying the mutants who wanted to escape reality their wish.^[3] The team was quickly side-tracked however by a conflict with the Dark Riders, who had begun tracking down and killing mutant healers. The Riders believed that the extinction of mutants due to the Terrigen Mists was part of the natural order, and that mutants with the power to heal the ill were hindering natural selection.^[5]

The X-Men failed to protect Elixir, who was killed by the Riders, but succeeded in securing Triage, and set a trap for the Riders. The Riders were left dead or dying on Genosha, which Magneto proceeded to detonate, sinking the island into the sea and killing the remaining Riders.^[6]

Becuase of the nature of his powers, Elixir didn't remain dead for a long time, and was eventually found resurrected by Magneto's X-Men in the ruins of Genosha, but having become emotionally unstable. Elixir then accepted to be taken to Xorn's retreat in Tibet.^[7]

Apocalypse Wars[]

Shortly after the X-Men moved to their new base, the War Room X in the Savage Land, Archangel, who had mysteriously become a mindless drone when Magneto found him, alerted Pyslocke about an incoming catastrophe that would befall the town of Green Ridge.^[8] While investigating Green Ridge, Magneto and Psylocke discovered the Clan Akkaba had the real Warren Worthington in their possession,^[2] and were periodically harvesting his wings to create an army of mindless drones named Death-Flight, as it turned out, the Archangel member of Magneto's X-Men was one of these clones who had escaped. With the help of Mystique and Fantomex, Magneto and Psylocke broke free from Genocide's grasp after having been captured.^[9] When Psylock summoned the Archangel on her team to their aid, she unwittingly triggered the Death-Flight.^[10] While the X-Men were fending off the Death-Flight, Warren willingly merged with the last remaining Archangel clone, having realized that his Archangel persona needed an anchor of humanity, and both became one once again.^[11]

Concurrently, M and Sabretooth heeded a call for help from Callisto,^[8] who informed them the Morlocks were dying again of a mysterious illness different from the M-Pox.^[2] M discovered the ill Morlocks were actually under the influence of her brother Emplate.^[9] After tracking down Emplate, M tried to get him to stop endangering the Morlocks, initially proposing to exchange their freedom for hers.^[10] Before fading away, Emplate managed to possess M, forcing her to live with his curse.^[11]

Hellfire Club[]

As part of his plan to ensure mutantkind's survival, Magneto joined forces with the Hellfire Club, becoming their White King once again.^[1] Their alliance was eventually revealed to Psylocke by M after noticing her disgruntlement over Erik keeping his involvement with Fantomex and Mystique from her.^[12] Together, the Hellfire and the X-Men continued investigating Someday Enterprises, and discovered some of the company's resources had been taken over by Exodus, including a group of the mutant Sleepers, whom Exodus controlled telepathically.^[13] Magneto tracked down Exodus and defeated him, stopping him from using the Sleepers to attack an anti-mutant rally as part of his plan to stoke the fires of the growing anti-mutant hysteria. The Sleepers, now freed from Exodus, were taken to Xorn.

Following Exodus' defeat, Psylocke broke her partnership with Magneto, having become fed up with Erik's constant schemings and secret alliances. She vowed to kill Magneto if he ever did something she believed put at risk the lives of mutants, which included weaponizing the Sleepers under his protection.^[14]

Disbandment[]

Magneto's enterprise eventually fell apart. While keeping an eye on Psylocke, Mystique had her personality stabilized telepathically, dampening her and prompting her to leave Magneto's side.^[15] In the middle of a conflict between X-Men and Inhumans, Fantomex implanted himself in The World^[16] and Sabretooth ran away with M to help keep her condition a secret and find a way to cure her from Emplate's possession.^[17] After accidentally killing two Sleepers during a scuffle against Inhumans,^[18] Xorn exiled himself to the Moon, with Archangel taking his place as the Sleepers' shepherd.

Following Magneto's involvement in the war against the Inhumans, which included working in secret with Emma Frost, Psylocke returned to War Room X to fulfill her word. Following an arduous battle, she managed to fatally injury Erik and left him for dead. Before succumbing to his injuries, Magneto was found by Elixir and Exodus. The former used his powers on Erik and brought him back to life. Magneto subsequently refused Exodus' offer to join his side, and decided to continue his crusade alone.^[19]

Blackbird

• While part of Storm's X-Men, Logan considered Magneto's X-Men to be akin to an X-Force strike team.^[20]