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10 best March of the Machine cards in Magic: The Gathering’s latest set

MOMmy, sorry.

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast/Billy Christian
Jason Coles avatar
Best Games by Jason Coles Contributor
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The best March of the Machine cards come from just about every colour and every card type, because this exciting Magic: The Gathering set is filled with a wealth of awesome monstrosities to control and battles to win. Seriously, there’s so much flavour in this latest release, and it’s reflected in the power of its cards.

Best March of the Machine cards MTG

It’s no surprise that there are some excellent creature cards in March of the Machine given that classic MTG characters are teaming up to combine abilities and appear on the same cards - not to mention the massive multiversal war that’s raging at the moment. We’ve gone ahead and picked out our favourites from amongst this interesting set, and it’s a wonderful mix.

Cover image for YouTube videoMarch of the Machine Official Cinematic – Magic: The Gathering
The cinematic trailer for March of the MachineWatch on YouTube

One of the hardest things about March of the Machine is figuring out how useful battles are going to be. Battles are a new card type that comes into play under your opponent’s control, and then have to be defeated to turn them into something else. They’re fascinating, and we couldn’t resist listing a few here.

1. Thalia and The Gitrog Monster

What a pair

Thalia and The Gitrog monster showcases March of the Machine's dual-legends cards, pulling from MTG history. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

We’re not sure anybody was expecting these two to team up, but what a team they are. This four-mana White, Black and Green 4/4 is sure to be a bomb in basically every format. It not only has first strike and deathtouch, which means it has to be blocked by five creatures just to damage it, but also has a wealth of innate abilities.

It causes both creatures and nonbasic lands opponents play to enter the battlefield tapped, allows you to play an extra land every turn, and makes it so that you have to sacrifice a creature or land when it attacks, and then draws you a card. It’s just silly really, and we couldn’t be happier.

2. Urabrask/The Great Work

Value town

Urabrask transforms from a 4/4 with first strike - plus the ability to generate damage and mana - to a saga that dishes out even more damage and creates treasure tokens. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Urabrask, and all of the praetors, are a sight to behold, but this Red 4/4 with first strike is our top pick of the bunch. Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery, it not only deals one damage to any opponent, but then also grants you one Red mana. Just play a deck filled with cantrips, and you’ve got a winning strategy. Not only that, but it can be transformed for one mana.

Once transformed it becomes a saga called The Great Work, which deals three damage to an opponent and every creature they control as it enters, then creates three treasure tokens after your next draw step, before allowing you to cast instant and sorcery spells from your graveyard the turn after that. Then it turns back into Urabrask. This thing is a beating in every possible way.

3. Pile On

Power of the people

Pile On lives up to its name with a powerful ability to destroy creatures and planeswalkers, along with the convoke keyword. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

This four-mana Black instant can destroy a target creature or planeswalker, and then allows the user to surveil 2 - which is where you look at the top two cards of your library, put any of them into the graveyard, then put them back on top of the library in any order.

What makes it really powerful is the fact that it has convoke, which allows the caster to tap creatures to help them make the casting cost, with each creature tapped being worth one mana. This means you can block all but one attacking creature, tap your blocking creatures and then kill off the real threat for cheap.

4. Zephyr Singer

Gives you wings

Zephyr Singer's power to grant your creatures flying as it enters the battlefield makes it a card to be reckoned with. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

While we’re talking about convoke, let’s discuss Zephyr Singer. This four-mana 3/4 not only has flying and vigilance, but also has convoke. There’s an especially big win here, because convoke isn’t just for reducing the mana cost but also upgrading your units.

When Zephyr Singer enters the battlefield, you get to put a flying counter on each creature that convoked it. While those creatures can’t attack straight away, because you tapped them, it allows for a potentially game-winning attack the next turn.

5. Invasion of Shandalar/Leyline Surge

First a fight, then free stuff

Destroying Invasion of Shandalar turns it into Leyline Surge, allowing you the chance to put a permanent onto the field during each upkeep - with no risk of being countered. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Here we have our first of March of the Machines’ new battle cards. Battles are unique, because they actually enter on the opponent’s side of the battlefield and you have to try and destroy them.

Invasion of Shandalar is a five-mana battle with four health. When it enters the battlefield, you get to return up to three permanent cards from your graveyard to your hand.

Once it’s destroyed, this turns into Leyline Surge, an enchantment that allows you to put a permanent from your hand onto the battlefield in each of your upkeeps. It’s not casting it, either - which means it can’t be countered.

6. Polukranos Reborn/Polukranos, Engine of Ruin

Hydras never die

True to its mythological inspiration, Polukranos Reborn allows your hydra creatures to split into two when killed. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Polukranos Reborn is a three-mana Green 4/5 with reach, so it can block flying creatures. It can be transformed for seven mana, but one of those mana can be paid with either a single White mana or two life.

Once transformed, it becomes Polukranos, Engine of Ruin, which is a 6/6 with reach and lifelink and reads: “Whenever Polukranos, Engine of Ruin or another nontoken Hydra you control dies, create a 3/3 green and white Phyrexian Hydra creature token with reach and a 3/3 green and white Phyrexian Hydra creature token with lifelink.”

Even without any other hydra creatures, the fact this card will split into two is amazing - but with some clever deckbuilding, it could make your deck unkillable.

7. Sunfall

Nearly everything is dead

Sunfall doesn't just wipe the board clean - it exiles creatures and then creates an Incubator token, letting you quickly launch a follow-up attack. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Board wipes are always worth paying attention to, because being able to clear away every pesky creature at once is essential in so many decks. This time around Sunfall is the best of the bunch, and this five-mana White sorcery actually does a fair bit more than just kill off some creatures.

For starters, it actually exiles all creatures, which is useful for stopping graveyard strategies. It then allows you to incubate X, where X is the number of creatures exiled with this card. This creates an Incubator token with X +1/+1 counters on it, which can then be turned into a creature for only two mana, and can potentially be a win condition all on its own.

8. Invasion of New Phyrexia/Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir

A surprise Teferi

Create Knight tokens with Invasion of New Phyrexia, before boosting their power with Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Our next battle is Invasion of New Phyrexia, which costs X and one White and one Blue. It has six health and when it enters, you get to create X 2/2 White and Blue Knight creature tokens, which is already pretty good.

Once defeated, though, it becomes Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir, a four-loyalty planeswalker that can add a loyalty to draw two cards and discard two cards, or just discard one creature card. You can pay two loyalty to get an emblem that gives all knights you control +1/+0 and ward one. Finally, you can pay three loyalty to tap X creatures you control to have a permanent your opponent controls with mana value X or less be shuffled back into their deck.

9. Sword of Once and Future

That’s quite the sword

This mighty sword lets you control your deck, cast for free and gives its wielder more attack and defence - not bad! | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Sword of Once and Future is a three-mana equipment that costs two mana to equip. It grants the equipped creature +2/+2 and protection from both Blue and Black, which stops a lot of targeted removal spells.

It also reads: “Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, surveil 2. Then you may cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value 2 or less from your graveyard without paying its mana cost. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead.”

Being able to not only control the top of your deck, but also potentially cast something for free, is a massive deal.

10. Invasion of Innistrad/Deluge of the Dead

Here be monsters

Innistrad's necromantic tendencies are resurrected on its March of the Machine battle card, as it spawns zombies and exiles cards from the graveyard. | Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

Our final battle card from March of the Machine is the Invasion of Innistrad, a four-mana Black battle with five health and flash. When it enters the battlefield, it gives a creature -13/-13 until the end of the turn, which is great.

It changes into Deluge of the Dead, which is an enchantment that creates two 2/2 zombie creatures as it enters. It can also be used to pay three mana to exile a card from any graveyard, and you can then create another 2/2 Black zombie creature if that card was a creature. These tokens don’t come in tapped either, so they can be used as emergency blockers.

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