March of the Machine will be the second Standard Magic: The Gathering set of 2023. March of the Machine is the decisive conflict that concludes the grand Phyrexian storyline that has spanned four series and features beloved characters from all corners of the multiverse.
Since the promotional art depicts Kaldheim gods and Strixhaven pupils standing shoulder to shoulder, it appears that these realms have somehow become intertwined. Mysterious!
We haven’t heard of any card spoilers yet because the set is still some time away. So here’s everything you need to know about the greatest MTG set of 2023, March of the Machine, from its release date to its plot.
To find out about everything else that will be released in the upcoming months, be sure to look at our MTG 2023 release calendar.
March of the Machine Release Date
The tabletop release of March of the Machine is April 21, thus after a week of prerelease activities from April 14 to 20, it will be completely accessible in the paper.
On April 18, the set will be made available digitally for Magic Arena (or Magic Online) users. While the major release dates are known to us, the beginning of the spoiler season for March of the Machine is still unknown.
Based on recent sets, we estimate that it will take a little under a month before the tabletop launch. As such, be sure to check back on March 10 since we’ll be updating with all the greatest cards as they’march’ in.
March of the Machine Spoilers
Although March of the Machine spoilers hasn’t yet surfaced, we’ll be sure to include them here once there are actual, trustworthy cards to look over.
The set symbols and booster packaging are the only parts of March of the Machine that is currently spoiled, other than the promo art.
The Commander set symbol is a giant nasty Elesh Norn, while the primary set symbol looks to be planeswalker Elspeth’s sword cutting through the Phyrexia sign.
Teferi and Chandra, MTG Planeswalkers, are prominently featured on the set’s packaging, along with figures from just about every other contemporary plane you can think of.
We now know a little bit more about the workings of MTG March of the Machine. The Atraxa card from All Will Be One appears to be the first example of a new card type called Battles.
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March of the Machine Plot
According to MTG head designer Mark Rosewater, March of the Machine will bring about significant modifications that will alter both the game’s gameplay and its plot.
To demonstrate how “the whole fabric of the multiverse has fundamentally shifted,” an entire mini set is planned. No matter what occurs in the battle—whether the Phyrexians take control of whole planes or are easily defeated—MTG March of the Machine won’t be your typical Magic set.
March of the Machine hasn’t been given many specific plot elements, but we have a lot of cryptic clues and artwork to keep us speculating.
The major plot points are almost certainly true: Realmbreaker, the Phyrexians’ adaptation of the Kaldheim world tree, will enable them to combine entire planes and assault the entire multiverse simultaneously at Elesh Norn’s command.
Yet, it appears that the good guys will also utilize these portals and unite to battle the Phyrexians as one massive army, making this a bigger Avengers Unite moment than War of the Spark.
Who will survive the conflict and whether the multiverse will stay connected afterward are the two current unknowns. (That appears to be possible.) Also, there is the new evil league of fully developed planeswalkers to be concerned about.
March of the Machine: The Aftermath Micro Set Required
The fact that March of the Machine has consequences is one aspect of this set that Wizards of the Coast wants to emphasize. There are so many implications that it appears that a distinct set of Standard-legal rules is required to address them all.
That is a “micro set” called March of the Machine: The Aftermath, which will be available on May 12, 2023. It will be offered in small epilogue boosters with only five cards and collector boosters.
The most important fact about this set is that it is smaller and only contains Uncommons, Rares, and Mythic cards instead of Common cards. Players will “Rebuild the Multiverse while building up your collection,” the WPN website cryptically teases.
March of the Machine Commander Decks
Even though we still don’t know much about March of the Machine’s commander decks, we do know that there will be exactly five of them, which is typical when a set has several different separate “tribes,” like Strixhaven’s five colleges or New Capenna’s five crime families.
