Hello! Welcome to my set review of March of the Machine, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them.
Given that March of the Machine (aka MOM) also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite new cards from there in another article.
I’m not going to lie, I’m a little low on the blue cards this set. There are a few that are pretty stellar, but the amount blue cards that I’m going to include in decks is lower than I initially thought and hoped. Without further ado, here are my favourite Blue cards!
Again, the Praetors are all pretty fantastic with maybe Vorinclex being the most disappointing. Jin-Gitaxias has protection built in and rewards you by making all 3-plus mana value noncreature spells cantrips. Adding Teferi’s Ageless Insight and Alhammarret’s Archive to a deck helmed by Jin makes the transformation much more likely. The first Saga chapter doubles your hand size which is already amazing. Bouncing all non-Phyrexian creatures almost makes me want to not play other Phyrexians in this deck because the third chapter lets you cast them all over again. The third chapter being a turn long Omniscience and then flipping to Jin-Gitaxias again means that your hand is going to keep filling up as long as you’re casting 3-plus mana value noncreature spells. I really like Jin for my clones list and spellslnger lists. Maybe even a wheels list. This card is pretty wild.
Yuta Takahashi’s World Champion invitational card design is pretty solid. I know he wanted it to be a 1/3, but he has a killer card to his name. Two mana with flash in a format where players often draw multiple cards, you’ll be drawing a ton of cards. In a wheel deck, you’ll draw an extra three cards. For 3U, you can give a group hug deck a try. Making this maybe even a wincon. I love this card! It’s going to see tons of play in the format.
Are you playing a noncreature spell-focused strategy that makes creature tokens here or there? Maybe an Izzet burn deck that loves making Dragon Fodder? Or an enchantress list that wants to turn your Mesa Enchantress into a mana dork?
Caetus, Sea Tyrant of Segovia is a card I’ve been hoping gets made for a long time. Untapping four creatures at your end step doesn’t mean that you have to have them for convoke! Maybe you’ve already got a Circle of Dreams Druid or a Mike, the Dungeon Master. There’s lots to like about this card. I’m going to mess with it in a few lists like Zaffai, Thunder Conductor.
This is the first time we’ve seen “This spell can’t be copied” on a card. We’ve finally hit critical mass of copying effects that require this.
This is also a copy spell that copies spells on the stack as well as creatures. I think it’s incredible. Eight or more cards in a graveyard is not difficult at all. Getting to copy a spell and then a creature is huge. There’s not much to say about this card beyond “hey, this is good and applies to many situations.” Put this everywhere.
The Locust God just pulled up and said “Get in, we’re going tapping.” You’ll be able to not only draw a ton of a cards but create more flying Insects to keep the pummelling going.
Do you have a Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver deck? Congrats on your new favourite draw spell. You’ll need four blue mana to pay the UUUU, but turning all your Zombies into card draw at instant speed is fantastic. Distant Melody is stronger in tribal decks for sure, but this is a solid draw spell. Decks focused on X spells like Magus Lucea Kane or Zaxara, the Exemplary are also getting a nice addition to the their draw suite.
Honourable Mentions
- Chrome Host Seedshark – Shark Typhoon for Incubate tokens. Great if you have a Reckless Fireweaver type of effect, but otherwise, you better have mana to flip these things.
- Complete the Circuit – This can be a surprise, but also copying a spell twice – that’s spicy.
- Interdisciplinary Mascot – Vial Smasher and Yuriko are stoked to see this. ETB selecting one of the top four is solid and Ward 3 is tough to get through. Blink and reanimate decks.
- Invasion of Arcavios // Invocation of the Founders – I’m not high on tutors, but this can also recur stuff. It’s a five mana battle with seven defence, so it’s not going to be easy to flip. Blink it to keep tutoring, but you’ll want to flip it because it’s Swarm Intelligence on the backside.
- Zephyr Singer – Convoke this out and give creatures flying while costing little. More of a 60-card format card, but it’s also a Pirate! Eyes open for this one.
- Invasion of Vryn // Overloaded Mage-Ring – ETB draw three and discard one for four is not great. But flipping this over means you can pay an extra one to any spell to get a copy.
- Oracle of Tragedy – ETB and death trigger to put a card back into your library is whatever, but a loot on it is solid. Araumi of the Dead Tide loves it.
- Moment of Truth – Instant speed to take the top three cards and do what you want with them. Don’t ignore this.
- Saiba Cryptomancer – Instant speed hexproof trick on a creature that’s also a ninja is fun.
- Stasis Field – New Darksteel Mutation is alright! It’s like Sorceress Queen / Serendib Sorcerer on an Aura.
Get all your board game news from The Bag of Loot! www.thebagofloot.com
Get all your board game needs from Three Kings Loot! www.threekingsloot.com
