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Phyrexians? In My City?

Are pesky Phyrexians getting you down? Well, you can try out these new black cards to deal with any nasty invaders on your doorstep.

Welcome to the black set review for March of the Machine. How's your favorite plane holding up? I hope [insert favorite character here] is doing all right and hasn't been compleated. Maybe it'll all work out in the end. Either way, let's check out what new black cards are coming our way this time.

Mythics

Infernal Sovereign

Skipping your draw step is hardly a downside when everything you're doing draws you a card. This will be an all-star in decks that want to chain together multiple cheap spells a turn, either to generate a high Storm count or to dig through their deck until they finally win, and all on a 6/6 body with flying and trample, by the way!

However, I don't see this making that big of a splash outside of synergies such as Raphael, Fiendish Savior, where giving the Demon lifelink will mitigate the life loss. I see this getting removed on the spot, if not removed after just one turn. 

Invasion of Innistrad//Deluge of the Dead

As far as four-mana removal spells, Invasion of Innistrad is one of the better ways to get rid of creatures, as the -13/-13 can remove annoying indestructible creatures. Normally, I wouldn't think too highly of this, Deluge of the Dead gives you have an enchantment that makes Zombies on ETB and acts as targeted graveyard hate.

This battle is perfect for any Zombie deck, mechanically and flavor-wise. It won't be difficult for a token deck to remove the five defense counters. Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver and friends are very excited.

Sheoldred//The True Scriptures

Sheoldred as your commander is going to be brutal. Edict effects in small doses are fine at most tables, but they become problematic when your deck is built around them. This commander will want to include cards like Gisa, Glorious Resurrector, Lorcan, Warlock Collector, and of course, Tergrid, God of Fright, which will generate a ton of value.

However, you can't rely solely on what your opponents are playing to win, so I think Sheoldred will be best in a self-mill strategy where we want to be putting terrifying creatures of our own in the graveyard. The True Scriptures looks like it'll take a long time to get to that final chapter since we have to spend ten mana in total and make sure an opponent has at least eight cards in their graveyard, but with the new influx of Proliferate tech, I don't think it'll take three turns to reanimate everything.

I'd also include cards like Conjurer's Closet and Sword of Hearth and Home to ensure we're controlling the board and filling our opponents' graveyards. Truly a terrifying new commander.

Rares

Archpriest of Shadows

Five mana to return a creature to the battlefield is on-rate for this type of effect - see Drana, the Last Bloodchief - and not only is this repeatable, it also functionally has haste, since you can temporarily give its abilities to another one of your creatures on the turn it enters play. The only condition is that the creature has to connect, but the deathtouch means your opponents will have some tough decisions to make. The only problem will be chump blockers. Since Archpriest of Shadows doesn't have any evasion, she'll be better in decks that already run creatures with natural evasion, and even better with commanders that have evasion.

Satoru Umezawa comes to mind, since that deck is full both of Triton Shorestalker-y creatures and of huge creatures that you might want to revive later on in the game. Plus, Ninjutsu-ing this creature into play is a pretty great play. Kelsien, the Plague decks will welcome another way to give him deathtouch, and any aggro commander that reliably deals lots of combat damage could run this to bring back their scariest creatures.

Blight Titan

Our first Incubate card on this list! I'll be honest, I'm not sure what to make of Incubator tokens yet. They seem great for ensuring a future board state since they won't get removed by creature-based sweepers, but do you want to transform the token as soon as you can, or wait to transform all of them to swing out of nowhere?

Blight Titan takes the stats of Grave Titan but adds mill to the ETB and attack triggers in order to enable how many counters will be put onto your Incubator tokens. Graveyard-based strategies will want Blight Titan, as it'll help fill the graveyard and provide large beaters on later turns. Old Stickfingers, for instance, will probably appreciate the backup threat that the tokens represent. I could see this being a huge threat in Henzie "Toolbox" Torre decks, too, as he can Blitz out Blight Titan, get two (presumably large) Incubator tokens, and swing out next turn with them.

Bloated Processor

Pretty niche card. Since it can only sacrifice another Phyrexian, it's limited to where it can be played. Maybe if you're running an Incubate theme deck it would be interesting, but unless you have other ways to put counters onto Bloated Processor, I don't see this card being played outside of Phyrexian-specific decks.

Breach the Multiverse

Okay, seven mana is a lot, but this is wild. In some ways, it's better than Sepulchral Primordial, since it can return a creature from our graveyard as well, and it mills everyone for ten, almost guaranteeing that we hit a juicy target from every single player. Then again, Sepulchral Primordial is often played in blink and reanimation decks that can abuse the fact that it's a creature.

The versatility is just huge, though. Self-mill decks will love it, because milling ourselves for 10 is awesome. Over 12,000 people are still trying to make Deadbridge Chant work, and that's a much less reliable card. Enemy mill decks are happy, because even if 10 cards is a low number for seven mana, getting four creatures into play can have a truly wild impact on the board state. Captain N'ghathrod loves all the theft and mill, Tasha, the Witch Queen loves filling enemy 'yards, Kathril, Aspect Warper loves accumulating creatures and filling its own 'yard, and Syr Konrad, the Grim is ecstatic about the potential for 40 cards to hit the graveyard all at once. If Sepulchral Primordial is currently showing up in 35,000+ decks, and this spell arguably has some upsides in comparison, then I think we have a real winner on our hands.

Exsanguinator Cavalry

Knights have gotten a huge boost from this set, and I think Exsanguinator Cavalry will be a solid inclusion in those decks. Obviously, making your creatures bigger will be good all on its own, but don't discount Blood tokens, especially when you can make multiple a turn. Blood tokens give you a way to not only fill your graveyard but to trash unwanted cards in hand for something better.

Blood tokens are great with the new Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir since Sidar brings Knights back onto the battlefield, so paying one mana to discard a powerful Knight and then recur it with Sidar sounds amazing.

Grafted Butcher

Obviously this only goes into Phyrexian theme decks, so it'll be a niche card that we probably all forget about in a few months. It'll be a player in those decks, though. With how big you can make those Incubator tokens, a Phyrexian lord that can give them all menace is pretty strong. It's only on ETB, but it has an activated ability to bring itself back, so this'll be difficult to get rid of, too. Niche but nice.

Hoarding Broodlord

This is a fun design. You'd need to be playing an exile deck that could make enough creatures for this to not be an eight-mana Demonic Tutor, but if you can make this stick, being able to cast exiled spells with Convoke instead of its full cost is really strong.

I don't know if Prosper, Tome-Bound need this, but if you're running enough creatures, this would be a solid inclusion. Other 'Exile Matters' commanders in black include Evelyn, the Covetous, which could take advantage of this by tapping down Vampires to cast opponents' spells.

Invasion of Fiora//Marchesa, Resolute Monarch

I like that you can choose both options if need be, but I think this will really only work in a 'Legendary Matters' deck. That being said, it seems easy to flip. Just give the battle to an opponent that doesn't control a legendary creature and swing with four damage. In decks full of legendary powerhouses, four damage is easy. The back side, Marchesa, Resolute Monarch, will at least draw you a card on your upkeep since you've wiped the board. Plus, unless one of your opponents has a legendary flier, Marchesa acts as a pretty decent blocker!

This will be great in Dihada, Binder of Wills decks as a one-sided board wipe. Sure, it's six mana, and it's not a legendary permanent itself, but 38% of those decks are currently using Kaya's Wrath, and I think this is a significantly better replacement.

Liliana's Talent

I'm excited to see more planeswalker Auras in the future. Not only does it let you add loyalty abilities to any planeswalker, but they also have additional effects that either protect the 'walker, add loyalty, or in the case of Liliana's Talent, incentivize you not to attack it. If anything, it's planeswalker protection at two mana, but if you have a planeswalker with eight loyalty, then you just enchant it and activate the -8 right away.

These talents are particularly exciting if your commander is a planeswalker. This is an all-star in Dihada, Binder of Wills decks that want to fill their graveyard. Even if you're not looking to activate the -8, I think it's still worth the inclusion in decks with a planeswalker commander just for the protection.

Locthwain Lancer

Very similar to Midnight Reaper, except instead of you taking the damage, you're causing your opponents to lose life whenever a Knight you control dies. Five mana's high for a draw spell, but it'll find homes in Knight decks of course. I daresay it's good insurance for any Changeling decks out there, too. If you're playing Maskwood Nexus, this is a good way to deter your opponents from wiping your board since you'll just refill your hand and hurt them all anyway!

Path of the Schemer

As part of the new set of Commander precons, we have our first card that cares about Planechase. The reanimation is fine, but unremarkable; we already have Extract from Darkness, and I'd argue that's on the low end of good reanimator spells out there. We're really looking to use this to either planeswalk to another plane or to let chaos ensue. This cycle of cards won't see play outside of Planechase games, but it's exciting to see them be made.

Pile On

Among black removal spells with Convoke, there's also Lethal Scheme, which is actually pretty good. Pile On doesn't let your creatures Connive, but it's still another free removal spell if you tap four creatures. Surveil 2 will be relevant for decks that want to fill their graveyard or manipulate the top of their deck.

If your deck already runs Lethal Scheme, then I think Pile On will slot in nicely as a redundant effect. Any commander generating tokens can easily turn this into free removal. Lethal Scheme hasn't really caught on in a lot of decks yet, but more effects of this type might encourage players to give them a shot, which I highly recommend. Yes, these removal spells require you to have a board state to operate at 100% effectiveness, but they're very surprising and very fun in token decks.

Terror of Towashi

Repeatable reanimation is always nice, but this is slow and mana-intensive. Archpriest of Shadows is five mana, but if you give the ability to another creature with evasion, then you'll get that effect right away. Compare that to the one-turn delay and eight-mana investment of Terror of Towashi. While we don't need to guarantee that we deal combat damage, we would still have to pay four each time to reanimate something. If we need that creature to be a Phyrexian, then I'm sure Terror will find a home there, but I don't think many decks will be eager to add him.

Uncommons & Commons

Collective Nightmare

The same points as Pile On apply here, but obviously, this isn't nearly as strong. Maybe budget decks would like it, but I'd say you should just avoid it.

Render Inert

Tom Bombadill and Glissa Sunslayer, eat your heart out! Saga decks have new ways to reset some of their favorite enchantments, and it's even a cantrip! The Mirari Conjecture keeps bringing this thing back, which is especially heinous. If you're really annoyed at a planeswalker across the field, it even has potential upside there, too, and Kathril, Aspect Warper decks will be really mad at you.

Seer of Stolen Sight

Do you play aristocrats? Do you enjoy cracking Treasures? Do you also like filling your graveyard? Well then, do I have the uncommon for you. This Warlock doesn't seem like much, but I believe it'll ensure you're always drawing the card you seek and binning anything you'd like to reanimate. Aristocrats is a super crowded field that famously doesn't have a lot of room for newcomers, but I bet the people who give this one a shot will enjoy it a lot and will make excellent use of a super-full graveyard. The fact that this triggers off of each individual Treasure token we sacrifice (because they're cracked one at a time!) is especially noteworthy.

Gift of Compleation

This card is pretty bad, but our EDHREC Editor Joey Schultz loves his Baba Lysaga, Night Witch deck, and I'll bet he gives this card a look for that list. Two card types, potentially three if your transform the token? Seems right up that commander's alley. There are a lot of enchantment creatures and a lot of artifact creatures out there, but not a ton of cards that give you an enchantment and an artifact to play around with, so this fills in a gap that deck could use more of. Sac the token with some random Fang of Shigeki and later sac the enchantment itself along with a stray Memnite, and I think the Night Witch will be pretty darn happy.

Corrupted Conviction

Babe, wake up, new Village Rites just dropped.

In all seriousness, Village Rites currently appears in over 128,000 decks. That's 11% inclusion amongst all decks eligible to play it. And now there's a NEW one! This type of redundancy is very exciting for the decks that use it. I think Extus, Oriq Overlord is possibly the most excited. It's nothing we haven't seen before, but when we get a new version of a card that appears in 11% of eligible decks, it's worth sitting up and taking notice.

Back for More

Wow, there are a ton of new ways to reanimate creatures. About six or seven of these cards bring creatures back to the battlefield (depending on whether you count Grafted Butcher). If you think you've seen the last of the Phyrexians, think again. Personally, I'm a fan of the new Backup cards. Giving abilities to other creatures looks like a lot of fun, and I can't wait to put these abilities on my commander!

What do you think of this set? Are you excited to be jamming the new Battle cards? Let me know in the comments below!

Joshua Wood

Josh is a creative writer that started playing Magic when Throne of Eldraine was released. He loves entering combat and pressuring life totals, and to him, commander damage is always relevant. Outside of brewing many commander decks, he can be found prepping his D&D campaigns with a cat purring in his lap.