Best of March of the Machine – Legendary Gold Cards!

Magic: The Gathering, Magic: The Gathering Products, TCGs

Comments

Mike Carrozza - April 17, 2023

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 will not be counting the legends I’ve already written about in A Seat at the Table toward the top 5 despite Ayara, Thalia and The Gitrog Monster, and Zimone and Dina are definitely at the top of my list, personally. I know the internet agrees about Z&D and Froggy Thalia, but Ayara is my Queen and I can’t wait for her!

Without further ado, here are my favourite legendary multicolour cards from the main set!

Quintorius, Loremaster

I am very into Quintorius, Loremaster. Whether as a themed spell commander like instant or sorcery or enchantment or artifact or planeswalker… or battle! Quint does it all! Expensive spells cost three and a Spirit now. There are lots of ways to make Spirits in white and being able to bottom the spell instead of exile it is also an upside. Also no timing restriction!

With Magewright’s Stone and Thousand-Year Elixir there are ways to untap Quintorius and get some extra value before the big boy gets sniped. Vigilance also means that you don’t have to spare him from the red zone. Loving this version of him before he’s a planeswalker! Will this be my next Boros commander? Very possible.

Rona, Herald of Invasion // Rona, Tolarian Obliterator

Hot damn, a 1/3 Merfolk Looter in the command zone is already pretty cool. We’ve seen Vohar do a bunch of work, but the added upside of untapping when you cast a legendary spell? That’s next level. In the right deck, this goes through cards like crazy. Jodah, the Unifier obviously loves this card but I foresee Rona leading a ton of decks because the backside is absurd.

Sure it costs 6 mana or 5 mana and two life to flip her over, but you get a crazy version of Phyrexian Obliterator! A 5/5 trampler that dares your opponents to block her, Rona gets to exile cards at random from players’ hands when they damage her. That means you too! Why is that a good thing? Because if it’s a land, you ramp (untapped by the way), and if it’s a spell, you can cast it for free! Pestilence and Pestilence Demon, it’s time to ride again! Is this the first viable Dimir Lure commander? I am in love with this card.

Omnath, Locus of All

Omnath is finally five colours. We’ve seen mono green Omnath, Locus of Mana, red green Omnath, Locus of Rage, red green blue Omnath, Locus of the Roil, red green blue white Omnath, Locus of Creation, and finally five colour Omnath, Locus of All.

Five colour Omnath is really cool but seems a little directionless, which is not a trend I’ve missed in five colour commanders. You can basically build it however you want, but to truly optimize it, you should build with cards that have three or more coloured pips in their casting cost. This is the first Omnath that is not lands focused but it does have a mana retention ability that is a sort of mana sink as well. I am excited to see how people build this.

Inga and Esika

Acting as a restricted Cryptolith Rite in the command zone, Inga and Esika has the capability to be a total snowball commander. I would personally pack a ton of flash creatures or a Leyline of Anticipation / Vedalken Orrery since your creatures have vigilance and can swing, hold back on defence and then slam a Hornet Queen, an already great card that now replaces itself and now is ramp. Tendershoot Dryad and other token strategies that cost three or more are great additions to this deck. Maybe this is a Trinisphere deck to make even your two mana creatures cantrippers.

In the 99, Inga and Esika can be in a ton of decks and add to it without even trying. Keep an eye on your creature’s mana costs because you’re going to miss a lot more draw triggers than you think!

Kroxa and Kunoros

I love Kroxa and I love reanimating. I think that exiling five cards is tough, but to trigger reanimation on ETB and attack, that perks up my ears!

There’s already an infinite combo with Kroxa on ETB where you can use Altar of Dementia to mill yourself six cards, then exile five of them to bring back K&K and repeat the loop. This basically can empty your deck into your graveyard and pair that with Warstorm Surge or Stalking Vengeance and you’ve got a win going. They’re such a big beater that can make a difference in the red zone. Panharmonicon and Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines, let’s go.

Honourable Mentions

Heliod, the Radiant Dawn // Heliod, the Warped Eclipse – Love him, wrote about him here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-heliod-the-radiant-dawn-heliod-the warped-eclipse
Ayara, Widow of the Realm // Ayara, Furnace Queen – one of my favourite commanders from the set. Wrote about her here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-ayara-widow-of-the-realm/
Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness – I’m very mad that I can’t play the front side of this in Prosper, Tome-Bound. The backside is basically a Blightsteel Colossus in the command zone and that rips for people who love this!
Polukranos Reborn // Polukranos, Engine of Ruin – Huge stats for three mana. The backside is one of the coolest Hydra commanders we’ve ever seen and the first of its colours. The craziest part is that if you play a Hydra that enters without any counters, you’ll get the two tokens! What!
Baral and Kari Zev – One of the coolest Izzet legends out there. Three mana for a 2/3 menace first strike? Wow. Being able to semi-cascade from your hand into the same type of card, and if you don’t, you get a Ragavan. The monkey comes whether you want him or not if you don’t have another instant or sorcery, so be ready for that death when it comes!
Borborygmos and Fblthp – This needs so many lands in the 99. This design confuses me. Is this the first Temur Stuffy Doll commander?
Djeru and Hazoret – While Quintorius, Loremaster cares about noncreatures, Djeru and Hazoret only want legendary creatures and reward you by letting you cast them for free. Interesting commander but definitely going to be in Dihada, Binder of Wills and Jodah, the Unifier.
Drana and Linvala – Sweet stax legend and I wrote about them here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-drana-and-linvala
Errant and Giada – Cool concept, but don’t know how to break this. I tried to write an article and just gave up. If it allowed you to cast flyers with flash then that’d have been insane but worth it!
Ghalta and Mavren – Big beefy commander I wrote about here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-ghalta-and-mavren
Glissa, Herald of Predation – Glissa’s never been more evil. This is a Phyrexian commander… in the wrong colour combo!
Hidetsugu and Kairi – Brainstorm on ETB and then you get a Vial-Smasher trigger when it dies and can cast the instant or sorcery it exiles without paying. This is going to get toyed with in older formats.
Kogla and Yidaro – Play it for the lolz but honestly I don’t see it beyond a beatdown commander or a tribal commander. K&Y’s ability leaves it to the 99 in my opinion.
Rankle and Torbran – These two are cute and allow for a lot of politics. Interesting commander but does not sing to me the way I hoped it might.
Thalia and The Gitrog Monster – These guys have potential to be one of the best legends from the set. They’d be at the top if I hadn’t already written about them here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-thalia-and-the-gitrog-monster
Yargle and Multani – The biggest vanilla creature every printed promises to be a fun commander – check it here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-yargle-and-multani
Zimone and Dina – The most powerful commander of the set. Get this card if you ever thought about building Sultai. It’s insane. I wrote about them here: https://www.thebagofloot.com/a-seat-at-the-table-zimone-and-dina
Zurgo and Ojutai – Excellent protection on a leader and spreads the Ojutai ability to all your Dragons while also allowing you to bounce a Dragon back to trigger an ETB. This might be a solid Maskwood Nexus/Arcane Adaptation deck!