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After MagicCon Philadelphia gave players a preview of what was to come, Wizards Of The Coast has shared more details for March Of The Machine–the next expansion for Magic: The Gathering–including new cards, new mechanics, and more.
March Of The Machine marks the end of the New Phyrexia storyline, with the set portraying the final battle between the malevolent machine force and the multiple planes resisting them. The official MTG website has shared chapters of the story for the past two weeks–the last of which was posted yesterday–but these cards are being seen for the first time.
Magic The Gathering March Of The Machine main set reveals
The official livestream revealed cards from the main set, commander decks, and Multiversal Legends subset with multiple reprints. Some of the main set cards revealed during the livestream include:
Borborygmos and Fblthp (Legendary Creature)6 power/5 toughness creature card costing one green mana, one blue mana, one red mana, and two extra mana of any color.Ability 1: Whenever Borborygmos and Fblthp enters the battlefield or attacks, draw a card, then you may discard any number of land cards. When you discard one or more cards this way, Borborygmos and Fblthp deals twice that much damage to target creature.Ability 2: Pay 1 blue mana and 1 mana of any color to put Borborygmos and Fblthp into its owner’s library third from the top.Elspeth’s Smite (Instant)Costs 1 white mana.Elspeth’s Smite deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature. If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead.Mirrodin Avenged (Instant)Costs 1 black mana.Destroy one target creature that was dealt damage this turn and draw a card.Realmbreaker, The Invasion Tree (Legendary Artifact)Costs three mana of any color.Ability 1: Pay two generic mana, then tap Realmbreaker to force an opponent to discard the top three cards from their library. You can then add one land card from that player’s graveyard to your battlefield tapped under your control. If or when this land leaves the battlefield, it must be exiled.Ability 2: Pay 10 generic mana, then tap Realmbreaker and sacrifice it to search your library for any number of Praetor cards, then add them to the battlefield and shuffle.Sword of Once And Future (Artifact – Equipment)Costs 3 mana of any color.Costs 2 more mana of any color to equip a creature.Equipped creature gets +2/+2 and has protection from all blue and black cards.Whenever the creature equipped with this sword attacks, you may surveil two cards (look at the top two cards of your library and either put them either back on top of your library or in your graveyard. Then, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell that costs 2 or less mana for free from your graveyard. That spell must be exiled after use.
Magic The Gathering March Of The Machine new mechanics
March Of The Machine isn’t just bringing new cards to Magic, but will also introduce multiple new card mechanics to the game upon release. The three most impactful mechanics are Backup, Incubate, and the brand-new card type Battle.
Battle cards are the most significant change coming with March Of The Machine, as they allow a player to attack their own cards on the battlefield for the first time ever. Each battle card comes into play with an ability and a number of defense counters on it as designated on the card itself.The player that casts the battle chooses an opponent to become its defender, and then every other player in the game can attack the battle.Once the Battle card’s defense counters have been depleted, the card is exiled, and then returns to the battlefield transformed under the control of whoever first casted it. The Invasion of New Phyrexia battle card, for instance, transforms into the legendary Planeswalker Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir.The Backup mechanic lets an incoming creature make one of your other creatures more powerful via a designated amount of +1/+1 counters and a new special ability that can be accessed until the end of the turn. Archpriest of Shadows’s card says “Backup 1,” which means only one +1/+1 counter can be assigned. If another creature that isn’t Archpriest of Shadows receives the counter, that creature also gains deathtouch and “whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player or battle, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.Cards with the Incubate feature create tokens with a number of +1/+1 counters on them, as well as the ability “Pay two mana of any color to transform this artifact.” When the two mana is paid, the token will transform into a 0 power, 0 toughness creature with the counters remaining. Glissa, Herald of Predation has the ability to “Incubate 2 twice,” which will create two tokens, each with two +1/+1 counters on them.
Magic The Gathering March Of The Machine Commander reveals
Along with cards from the main set, the March Of The Machine reveal also unveiled the five legendary creature cards that will serve as the commanders for the special Commander decks that will be released with the set. The five creatures are as follows:
Brimaz, Blight of OreskosGimbal, Gremlin ProdigyKasla, The Broken HaloSidar Jabari of ZhalfirBright-Palm, Soul Awakener
Each of these five cards will be included in the March Of The Machine Commander decks, which will also mark the return of the Planechase mechanic. Planechase cards allow each player to receive a sort of perk, while the special “chaos” perks can be activated at any time. The four planes revealed so far for the Commander Planechase decks are Esper, Jund, Nyx, and Panopticon.
Magic The Gathering March Of The Machine Multiverse Legends
March Of The Machine will also contain a subset of cards known as Multiversal Legends, which will feature previously released cards with brand-new looks. These cards will be included randomly in booster packs a la the Mystical Archive cards in Strixhaven, and they will each feature a special unique art style.
Cards revealed for Multiverse Legends include the following:
Elesh Norn, Grand CenobiteEmry, Lurker Of The LochNiv-Mizzet RebornSheoldred, Whispering OneSkythiryx, The Blight Dragon
All of the cards seen here will be available when March Of The Machine launches in local game stores on April 21. Multiple prerelease events, both physically in-store and online via Magic The Gathering Arena, will be happening leading up to the set’s launch date.
