(Wrenn and Realmbreaker | Art by Cristi Balanescu)

White | Blue | Black | Red | Green | Artifacts/Lands | Gold I | Gold II | Reprints | cEDH| Battles

Forces of Phyrexia Vs. The Forces of Nature

Welcome to the latest installment of the March of the Machine Set Review! I’m Josh, and I'll take you through this tour of duty across the multiverse. Whether you’re a veteran Commander player or you’re a little green, let’s dive behind enemy lines. As with each new set, there are lots of new mechanics to be aware of, so be sure to familiarize yourself here.

Let’s do what green does best: fight with all its might as we deal with the root of the Phyrexian invasion!

Mythics

Vorinclex//The Grand Evolution

Where better to start our reconnaissance of the enemy than with one of their leaders? Compared to the other Praetors in this set, Vorinclex boasts a relatively tame front side. This isn’t a bad thing; he’s not a magnet for removal like some of the other Praetors, after all. Now, five mana for 6/6 with two relevant keywords is definitely above rate. His enter-the-battlefield ability notably gets us Forests rather than basic lands, which is always great and can help Vorinclex earn a place in multicolor decklists tutoring up some shock lands and Triomes for late-game fixing.

All the Praetors in this set bring an absolutely insane Saga when they transform, and Vorinclex is no different. Transforming into The Grand Evolution will cost us eight mana, which is a ton, but we’re immediately rewarded by the first chapter. Milling ten cards and getting back two creatures will absolutely be worth the mana we spent to flip Vorinclex over. The following turn, we’ve got a huge enabler, distributing seven +1/+1 counters onto our creatures. This sets us up for bigger attacks, and better yet, the final chapter of The Grand Evolution is reminiscent of Ezuri's Predation. Our devotion to invading the multiverse is rewarded with a pseudo-board wipe letting us clear the path to victory.

Vorinclex isn't quite as busted as a bunch of the other Praetors we see. Green has no shortage of cool mythics to bash face with in stomy aggro decks and to get incremental value over time. This is a fun design without being broken, so it may not draw a huge audience, but I hope it shows up in flavorful Phyrexian lists or other stompy decks that run Elder Gargaroth, Titan of Industry, Ancient Silverback, and other value-engine beefsticks.

Invasion of Shandalar//Leyline Surge

This Invasion boasts a fairly innocuous front side, entering the battlefield and acting as a turbo Nature's Spiral. However, it should be high on our priority list to defeat, because when we do, we get Leyline Surge, which is a huge, allowing us to put any permanent from our hand onto the battlefield every turn. Since the front half filled our hand, that's a very exciting prospect.

I feel like this card is a cautionary tale. While there are some battles we can cast and just be happy with the ETB ability, we really want to defeat this battle to get that back half. I worry that judging a battle based on its back half is a little bit like judging a planeswalker based on its ultimate ability. Ultimately, this card ends up feeling a lot like Vorinclex//The Grand Evolution above, primarily of interest to very stompy midrange aggro decks that always seek to have a substantial board presence.

Wrenn and Realmbreaker

Alright, let’s turn up the heat with Wrenn and Realmbreaker. Planeswalkers with static effects are always nice since we know we'll constantly get value before we’ve even looked at any loyalty abilities. Chromatic Lantern with a whole planeswalker attached to it is pretty neat.

Her +1 ability protects her, which is always great to see, although notably, it doesn’t protect her on turn three, as the land isn’t untapped from this ability. Looking at Wrenn’s -2 ability, we’re able to mill three and return a permanent from the milled cards to our hand. This is... okay. The limitation of ‘from among the milled cards’ doesn’t really impress me too much. Unless we’re running some kind of top-deck manipulation, like Augur of Autumn, and we know one of the cards we're going to mill, I don't like it that much. Putting Wrenn to two loyalty without protection is a bit risky, too. Her emblem is really good if we can get there, acting like a mini Muldrotha, the Gravetide, but as I’m sure you’ll be aware, it’s not often we see planeswalkers ultimate in games unless the whole deck is built around the Superfriends archetype, and this is hardly a Superfriends-friendly planeswalker.

Wrenn is a tricky card to evaluate. Upon first glance, she looks great, but I’m concerned that she’s lacking a couple of extra clauses to make her an all-star. I wish she untapped the land with her +1 ability, like Nissa, Who Shakes the World. I wish she had maybe a little more range on the -2, like Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler (who admittedly can only target creatures, but has the whole range of your graveyard to choose from), and I wish we could rely upon hitting that ultimate, but I don't think we can. Would I run Wrenn instead of Chromatic Lantern? Probably. Would I run Dryad of the Ilysian Grove instead of Wrenn? Definitely, because it's less likely to get removed.

Rares

Deeproot Wayfinder

This is bringing a lot to the table for a two-mana creature. Casting this card early could provide you with some filtering and mana advantage, so long as you’re moving to combat while the other players at the table are still developing their boards and playing out their mana artifacts. This is almost exclusively a plant for Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca decks, but I think those players are pretty happy about it! Make it unblockable and bring in the value!

Doomskar Warrior

Backup has arrived! This is a really flexible mechanic, allowing us to either give its abilities to another creature for a turn or pump itself up to ensure it has better combat potential in the future.

As far as this effect goes, Doomskar Warrior is... fairly middling. Only one +1/+1 counter doesn't do much for +1/+1 counter strategies, though I suppose slamming with a huge Managorger Hydra means you'd get to sift through a lot of cards. I think you'd need to care about the creature types to get the most bang for your buck here, or if you're playing a deck that uses Unnatural Growth, Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus, or any other power-maximizing ability to help deal more damage and dig even deeper. I think Samut, Voice of Dissent is most intrigued since it has natural double strike and could get that digging ability to trigger twice!

Glistening Dawn

It’s good practice to evaluate cards based on their floor rather than their ceiling. If we cast this card on turn four, we’re getting two Incubator tokens, which we could turn into 4/4s for four more mana. These can transform for two more mana each, so that's eight mana for two 4/4s. Not superb. If we play it much later in the game, then it can be much better - we could get two 8/8s for eight mana, for instance - but the floor here doesn't impress much.

Since this card says "token" on it, I think a lot of players will be tempted to try it in token decks, but I can't imagine that's worth it. These can't be Populated until they're creatures, and even then, they're base 0/0s, so copying the token won't get you the +1/+1 counters. instead, let's evaluate this card for its other aspects: do you have lots of lands, or do you like +1/+1 counters? Lands decks don't tend to care about individually beefy creatures. Crash of Rhino Beetles barely shows up in 5,000 decks, for example. Meanwhile, +1/+1 counters decks might theoretically enjoy this huge deployment of counters onto the field. However, most counter-manipulating cards would not synergize with this effect, since stuff like Corpsejack Menace only doubles counters that get placed onto creatures specifically, and these tokens don't enter as creatures. Even green decks that care about artifacts probably have better ways to produce lots of artifact tokens, like Treasures or Clues.

I tried, y'all, but I don't think this one has one it takes. Overall, this ends up as an exciting-looking dud.

Invasion of Ikoria//Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria

As I mentioned, it's best to evaluate battles based on their front side, since achieving their back half isn't reliable. Luckily, the front half of this Invasion is totally worth it. This card tutors a creature directly onto the battlefield! Practically Green Sun's Zenith for one more mana, and that shows up in over 91,000 decks. Now, we're specifically tutoring for non-Human creatures, but that’s not that big a downside. Just think about how many impactful creatures at every mana cost we can get, from a classic Devoted Druid to combo off, to Glint-Horn Buccaneer to, well, combo off. You can even grab a Dryad Arbor if X = 0!

Any card I can look at as being a slightly worse version of Finale of Devastation is still being compared to Finale of Devastation, a Commander haymaker that shows up in 97,000 decks, and if you are able to flip the battle, then Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria will let your newly entered non-Human deal combat damage even if it’s blocked, which, just like Zilortha, is huge. One of my absolute favorite new cards from this set.

Invasion of Ixalan//Belligerent Regisaur

This Invasion lets us dig five deep into our library and allows us to put any permanent into our hand. If this card seems familiar, then it is. It's very reminiscent of cards like Commune with the Gods.

This is a little more flexible than cards in our typical ‘Commune with’ effects. None of the previous versions of this ability let you grab any permanent, so you’re way more likely to get something off this trigger, and I feel the flexibility makes it worth the cost. If we flip it, then we’ve got Belligerent Regisaur, a nice above-rate body with a conditional indestructible effect, which we're likely to trigger pretty dang reliably. This battle is fairly tame, but it's a good opportunity to try this new card type in place of some of our old tried and tested cards, like the 'Commune with' cycle.

Ozolith, the Shattered Spire

Our latest incarnation of The Ozolith looks no worse for wear despite the vandalism caused by the invasion. No longer acting as a repository for counters of any kind, this new version acts as yet another copy of Hardened Scales. While limited to artifacts and creatures, we get a slight upside of being able to pay two mana to put a single counter (becoming two) onto an artifact or creature we control, though unfortunately at sorcery speed.

I think the inclusion of Cycling here is quite key, and we don’t want to overlook it. This is because we’re getting so many copies of this effect (like Kami of Whispered Hopes later on in this very article) that we may start to hit redundancy and crave something else instead. If we already have plenty of this kind of effect on board, I like the ability to cycle this away and dig deeper into our library for a more impactful card. Hardened Scales appears in 64,000 decks, 6% of all decks eligible to play it, and it's one of the most famous cards in the entire +1/+1 counter archetype. The redundancy is very welcome.

Surrak and Goreclaw

What happens when you combine the right to bear arms with huge bear arms? You get Surrak and Goreclaw.

This commander ties together a lot of very relevant themes from March of the Machine in one neat little package. Lots of +1/+1 counter help, lots of midrange aggro, lots of help defeating battles. The creatures we play even get haste? That's just neat.

We know this will show up in Ayula, Queen Among Bears decks for sure, but I expect a lot of players looking for a six-mana pump effect will stick with Pathbreaker Ibex and Thunderfoot Baloth instead since those can pump up token creatures. I think this will make for a hilariously cool mono-green commander, though. Not the most popular or powerful deck int he world, but a classic, raucously good time.

Tribute to the World Tree

Oh, wow. What a solid card. An Elemental Bond or a source of counters if your creature doesn’t quite make the cut? The triple-pip casting cost is tough, but the effect is huge! Elemental Bond shows up in 72,000 decks, and for good reason. Omnath, Locus of Rage, Koma, Cosmos Serpent, Titania, Nature's Force, heck, just about any mono-green deck is very intrigued by this awesome card. It's hard to splash, but it's a massive payoff. Watch out for this one, it's a big deal.

Uncommons & Commons

Atraxa's Fall

I never thought this is how Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, maybe the most ubiquitous and omnipresent commander, would go down. Don't mess with Henzie "Toolbox" Torre, I guess.

Broken Wings shows up in a surprising 8,000+ decks. This is less mana, but sorcery speed. If battles become a big thing at your tables, then I can see this card being worth it, but if what you care about is removal, I think the flexibility of instant speed matters a lot more in EDH.

Blighted Burgeoning

Blighted Burgeoning comes next in a long line of three-mana land Auras, similar to Grafted Growth (about 4,000 decks) and Weirding Wood (about 5,000 decks). This is probably of interest to commanders like Estrid, the Masked to untap more lands, budget Enchantress decks in general, or a modification commander like Chishiro, the Shattered Blade.

Invasion of Muraganda//Primordial Plasm

This Invasion leaves a lot to be desired for our format. Would you pay five mana to put a +1/+1 counter on a creature and then make it fight another creature, all while your opponents are deploying stuff like Doubling Season? Leave this one in Limited.

Invasion of Zendikar//Awakened Skyclave

Well, if you're still playing Explosive Vegetation (and according to EDHREC, 50,000 of you still are), here's yet another card with more upside than that classic spell. There are tons of better cards than ol' Veggies, from Circuitous Route helping to fix colors with Gates, to Migration Path with backup Cycling, and even the new Path of the Animist, which I suppose could have gotten a bigger section somewhere up above, but we all know that one's for Planechase players and that's about it. This new Invasion card brings a new upside, a 4/4 Elemental if we defeat the battle.

This card seems built for Omnath, Locus of Rage. Get some Elemental tokens, and if they die, ping the battle for three damage and get another Elemental on the back half, and maybe even get another Landfall trigger! Not every lands-based deck will want this, but if you're still using Explosive Vegetation, then switch it out for this thing, or for Migration Path, or any of the other cooler four-mana land-searchers out there these days.

Kami of Whispered Hopes

Another Hardened Scales! Another Pir, Imaginative Rascal! And it taps for mana, so it's also kind of a Gyre Sage!? And it's just an uncommon!?!? This rules. It does two very relevant things for +1/+1 counter decks, and as far as I'm concerned, it's a snap inclusion for any of those strategies. It's even fun for the rare green-inclusive Spirit decks out there. What a fantastic card, it's an absolute smash.

Storm the Seedcore

I had to include this card on this list if for no other reason than to draw attention to Jason Rainville’s amazing art. This card is gorgeous, and I think it’s playable, too. Overrun effects are a classic way to close out a game of Commander or move to an impactful combat step on that decisive turn. They also all seem to climb up a bit in price - Overwhelming Stampede always seems to cost a few bucks, for instance - so I’m happy to see these kinds of cards when they pop up in new sets. At its floor, this gives a small boost to break through a board state, but don't overlook those keywords! Vigilance is very relevant here to help encourage a healthy attack without leaving defenses down. Read closely, too, cuz it's not just the creatures that get counters who gain those keywords.

Storm the Seedcore is going to do its best work in a +1/+1 counters or Modified deck, so things like Kodama of the East Tree or Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion + Master Chef are very excited, and even more so if you have one of the many new Hardened Scales effects floating around in this set. Even if you're just putting four counters onto a Skullbriar, the Walking Grave or Hallar, the Firefletcher, that's awesome, too! Don't overlook this card, it's legit.

Tandem Takedown

Very reminiscent of Band Together, Tandem Takedown is going to cost us a little more green but gives us a little more power in return, with the additional flexibility of targeting battles and planeswalkers. It’s a harmless replacement if you ask me, though barely 2,700 players were even using Band Together in the first place, so I doubt this makes much of a splash. I think Gargos, Vicious Watcher is the most interested party here, and even then, it's more of a passing fancy than a real need, but that extra +1/+0 is pretty neat.

Tangled Skyline

Seven total mana to get the full benefit off of this card is just not worth it for the vast majority of players, even Phyrexian theme decks, but I'll shout this card out for the Willowdusk, Essence Seer players out there who like to gain life in big chunks. If 40% of those decks are playing Verdant Sun's Avatar, then it's possible they'll want to make use of this thing, too. Not hugely likely, but still possible!

Return to Nature

Overall, I'm impressed with the suite of cards that MOM has brought us. +1/+1 counters decks are eating phenomenally well with new potential staples at multiple rarities. I feel like we're going to get as much out of battles as we put in, and I'm eager to try out battles that act as replacements for some older EDH staples. Give them a go! Try out Invasion of Zendikar instead of Explosive Vegetation, or try out Invasion of Ikoria instead of Green Sun's Zenith. It can be easy to reach for old, reliable cards, but variety is the spice of life, and it's fun to embrace change and move forward into the aftermath.

What do you think? Any cards I've missed the mark on? You know I'd love to hear it. You can let me know what you think in the replies, or you can chat cards with me on Twitter. See you at the prerelease!

Joshua Clough

Joshua is a Medical Researcher from the UK. He's played Magic since Dragons of Tarkir and loves all things Commander, the more colours the better! When not playing Commander, he can be found insisting Jund is still a viable deck in Modern and painting tiny plastic miniatures on Twitter @PrinceofBielTan