Victory is at hand, but at what cost?
A generous thank you to Wizards of the Coast for providing us with this preview card to celebrate the upcoming release of March of the Machine. The buildup to this endgame has been nothing short of remarkable. Also, a personal thanks from myself for turning Lukka into a chew toy during the Invasion of Ikoria — the Phyrexian cheese-grater honestly had it coming. What an ass.
March of the Machine marks the penultimate story of a tremendous journey beginning in Dominaria United, where the Phyrexians initiated their long-awaited invasion of the multiverse. Led by Elesh Norn, she promised the Phyrexians a pure and compleated future, aiming to evolve numerous planes such as Ravnica, Zendikar, and more into glistening oil and shimmering metal.
However, Legendary creatures encompassing the multiverse had other ideas, fighting to protect everything they hold dear. However, hope settles in the most unlikely of places, with Legendaries such as Surrak and Goreclaw, Ghalta and Mavren, and even Thalia and The Gitrog Monster teaming together to battle against the lifeless Phyrexians. Thalia, in particular, defends Innistrad with a Frog as her steed. Yes, you read that correctly — Frog. Steed.
But today, the multiverse takes another push towards defending their home as we reveal Invasion of Kaldheim from March of the Machine.
As March of the Machine takes place on numerous planes across Magic’s multiverse, there are a variety of Battle cards, a new double-faced card type in Magic: The Gathering, highlighting the conflict against the Phyrexians while also marrying a fight for resources when playing against other players. You may be curious, as Ralph Wiggum said to Principal Skinner in The Simpsons once — what’s a Battle?
https://www.vzmtgproxy.com/product/tarmogoyf-time-spiral-remastered-tsr-hologram-mtg-proxy-german-black-core-magic-cards-for-tournament-fnm-gp/No, it’s not about the rattling in the heating duct. Battles are cast during your main phase as you would with any non-Instant spell, where it enters play with a number of defense counters equal to the number in the lower right corner of the card, and this number is how much damage it takes to defeat it. When a Battle card is defeated, it transforms into a spell or permanent. For March of the Machine, Battle cards come with the Siege subtyping, with the likelihood of more appearing in future expansions with different subtypes. And for the lurking Modern player reading this — yes, Battle cards can beef up a Tarmogoyf, so there’s your justification to play an outdated Magic card. You’re welcome.
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When casting a Siege card, you choose an opponent to be the protector, then you (and other players if in a multiplayer setting) can attack it. When the card is defeated (has zero defense counters), it is then exiled, where the Battle’s controller cast the card transformed. With Invasion of Kaldheim, you exile all the cards in your hand and draw that many cards, and until your next turn, you may play the exiled cards. And when the card is defeated, Invasion of Kaldheim transforms into Pyre of the World Tree, where if you discard a Land card, you deal two damage to any target, and whenever you discard a Land card, you may exile the top card of your library where you may play the card this turn. Invasion of Kaldheim provides synergistic abilities for constructed and Commander, as Senior Designer at Wizards of the Coast Gavin Verhey explains the design of Invasion of Kaldheim and the background of the Battle cards.
“March of the Machine is a huge deal in Magic history as a set that doesn’t take place on one plane but across nearly every plane — a real interplanar war. We knew early on we’d want something to represent that. Planes from Planechase, but normal-sized cards were something pitched for a while. But eventually, the team ended up on Battles — showing off the many battles across the multiverse.”
Invasion of Kaldheim
March Of The Machine
“An unusual big Red draw effect in Invasion of Kaldheim, a sort of twist on wheel-ing. The back side is a mechanical reference to Seismic Assault, a card that saw plenty of play across Magic’s history. It’s pretty strong, dealing damage (that can target other Battle cards) and giving you cards in the process!”
Invasion of Kaldheim is an exciting card with plenty of resource value for constructed and Commander, especially the latter if you play Laelia, the Blade Reforged, Lord Windgrace, or maybe Quintorius, Loremaster from March of the Machine if you are after some flavor in the singleton format. From a story standpoint, The World Tree is, unfortunately, no more as the heroes of Kaldheim destroyed the binding element to save their home, with Esika mourning over the loss in the fantastically-designed card, Tribute to the World Tree. Defeating Battles can be achieved through combat damage or any burn spell that has the text “any target,” making Stoke the Flames and Pyre of the World Tree both exciting options for Standard, as these can defeat Battle cards.
March of the Machine drops on April 21, where you can grab your copies of Invasion of Kaldheim in Draft, Set, and Collector Boosters to purchase, with five Commander Precons, (including the return of Planechase!) available upon release.