March of the Machine Set Review - Allied Colors and Shards

(Rankle and Torbran | {Viko Menezes)

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

Strange Bedfellows

Every stranger is just a legendary team-up you haven't met yet.

I'm Nick. I'm currently writing Commander Canvas, in which I chat with a Magic artist about the Commander decks they play, which is the evolution of Aesthetic Consultation, a series where I chat with artists about, well, other stuff.

Today, I didn't talk to anyone. In fact, I've been staring at the allied/shard-colored cards from March of the Machine all day trying to figure out which ones are good. As it turns out, most of them are. They're also almost exclusively legendary creatures.

Let's get going, we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Mythics

Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener

First up is also our first instance of Backup, which sees creatures featuring the keyword loaning all its abilities to a neighbor, like hedge-trimmers. Unlike my hedge-trimmers, however, the abilities are returned at the end of the turn. Brian, if you're reading this, my hedges are a mess and it's your fault.

Anyway, Bright-Palm is suited with its Backup ability to decks that care about +1/+1 counters, a common and strong strategy in Naya colors already. It's not exactly the flashiest or most interesting commander to surface from the collective MOM/MOC suite of cards, but with a little massaging, we can find something to do with the Fox Shaman. Since Backup is an ability, it can be copied with the right picks.

Similar to Zada, Hedron Grinder decks, we want to use abilities that are pretty good targeting one thing, but really good targeting your whole team, like Bright-Palm's. Cards like Agrus Kos, Eternal Soldier, Wyll's Reversal, Radiant Performer, newcomer Mirror-Shield Hoplite, and even Lithoform Engine and Strionic Resonator are great at turning the capitalist single target into a communist collective of targets.

As for the Backup ability itself, having a potentially massive stat boost and evasion in the command zone is also something to tinker with. Naturally, Naya's already got a ton of synergy with +1/+1 counters, but there really isn't a commander in Naya that focuses specifically on that strategy outside of tangentially related legends, like Phabine, Boss's Confidant or Marath, Will of the Wild, so nothing's stopping us from looking at the 99s of decks in our colors, like Chishiro, the Shattered Blade, Hamza, Guardian of Arashin, or Kodama of the West Tree. All of that is a really long-winded way of saying you're probably going to need a Hardened Scales and Rhythm of the Wild.

Elenda and Azor

Last time we saw Azor, he featured a Sphinx's Revelation on-demand, and he's nothing if not consistent here. By teaming up with Elenda, we're combining the sphinxly card drawing with the creation of a bunch of Vampires, and this time around Elenda doesn't even have to die.

This particular team-up is one of those commanders that shoehorn you into a synergy that sets pretty rigid deckbuilding parameters. That's not a bad thing, mind you, as there's plenty of room for both linear and nonlinear commanders. This one just happens to be pretty dang linear. You want to draw cards, pay four life, make a bunch of Vampires, and, I dunno, attack I guess. Think Queza, Augur of Agonies with extra steps. But again, that's not a knock: extra steps are great for your calves.

There are plenty of already good cards that remain good in an Elenda and Azor list, and many will have already gravitated toward picks like Windfall, Skullclamp, and Necropotence. A collection of aristocrats-style cards are also a first draft inclusion, with Zulaport Cutthroat and Blood Artist enjoying the influx of expendable Vampires. Just don't leave out your Fanatical Devotion.

And if you want to add a third wheel to your Vampire/Sphinx doubledate, adding Raffine, Scheming Seer or Marneus Calgar will spawn more Vampires than a Twilight convention.

Goro-Goro and Satoru

Goro-Goro wants to go fast, and Satoru's along for the ride. This team-up is much more Goblin than Human, with the Ninjutsu of the Human half nonexistent. Instead, we're all about haste and making Dragon Spirits, which are very much in Goro-Goro's wheelhouse.

The first thing to notice is that you're incentivized to attack multiple opponents with hasty creatures, since you'll get a Dragon Spirit for each opponent bonked each turn. Another aspect of that ability is it works well with double-strikers, so if you're getting greedy with keywords and have a creature with both double strike and haste, you'll get two Dragon Spirits if it connects. And despite what I just said about there being no obvious Ninjutsu enabling, it's worth noting that if you do plop down a Ninja during combat, that'll make a Dragon too.

There are a number of interesting ways you can go with Goro-Goro and Satoru. Maybe you want to lean in on Dash creatures, with Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury doubling as a solid finisher. Also worth inclusion might be Flamerush Rider, Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and new option Death-Greeter's Champion, and if you're really aiming to Dash it up, don't forget Warbringer.

That's one way, but probably not the best way. Instead, you can try to seek a balance between haste-givers, like Anger, Akroma's Memorial, Fervor, or Purphoros and his hammer, with creatures that have built-in evasion to ensure you're always triggering the Dragon summoning, like Gudul Lurker and Invisible Stalker. If you go that route, you'll want a way to bounce your little hasty friends to your hand to reset their ability to make a Dragon, which'll lead you to that Ninjutsu that we've talked about, or personal favorites Cavern Harpy, Part the Veil, or Barrin, Tolarian Archmage.

There's also what's likely to be the most fun way, which is Sneak Attack. Why fiddle with all those moving parts from the previous iteration of the deck when you can just make a superfluous Dragon with a sneaked-in Denizen of the Deep?

Katilda and Lier

Have you ever looked at a Bant Humans deck and thought to yourself, "That it's fun and all, but what if it also turned every Abbey Matron into a Snapcaster Mage?" First of all, I appreciate your dedication to Humans that you're playing Abbey Matron. Second of all, the one thing that most Humans don't have that Snapcaster Mage does have is flash. We need to give everybody flash.

The other thing we need to nail down is which instants and sorceries we want to be getting a second go-around, and the best bet is likely just good ol', no-nonsense, boring "good" cards. Use your white for Swords to Plowshares, your blue for Counterspell, and your green for Farseek. You're playing a Human deck, after all, so think of it as role-play. Choosing to play Humans in fantasy games is the equivalent of majoring in General Studies.

So jam your Vivien, Champion of the Wilds into the list for the flash, play a bunch of annoying stax-y or value-y Humans, like Esper Sentinel or Noble Hierarch, and roll over your friends' complicated Married...With Children blue-collar theme deck.

Or, have fun instead and play Abbey Matron.

Shalai and Hallar

The first thing I did when I saw Shalai and Hallar revealed was check the Oracle text for Phyrexian Devourer.

Of all the legendary creatures coming to us this week, Shalai and Hallar are likely the most oppressive out of the gate. It's a combo machine, ending the game in a hurry with a number of options, like Heliod, Sun-Crowned, The Red Terror, War Elemental, Archangel of Thune, and yes, Phyrexian Devourer.

The only real question is how deep you want to go, as several of the cards that combo with Shalai and Hallar also feature combos with other cards, and if you're not careful you can end up spiraling down into combo rabbit-holes and playing Scurry Oak. You're already playing Heliod, Sun-Crowned, so you might as well play Walking Ballista and Triskelion and Spike Feeder. Rocking The Red Terror? I guess you're also sleeving up All Will Be One, which also conveniently combos with War Elemental. And if you've got Phyrexian Devourer, why not also play an Assault Suit and just draw every game in a one-person campaign against fun?

Shalai and Hallar are (is?) even more suited for +1/+1 counter strategies than fellow precon legend Bright-Paws, and a less combo-heavy build can utilize synergistic options like Outlast creatures (Abzan Battle Priest) or just add white to pre-existing Halana and Alena, Partners lists. No matter what direction you go, however, it's likely that opponents will assume you've got the combos and thus try to murder you quickly, unless you manage to convince them otherwise in a pre-game discussion.

And if you'd like more insight into how to take Shalai and Hallar from terror of the casual tables to, dare I say, competitive, check out our very own Jake FitzSimons's cEDH review of MOM. 

Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir

With Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir, we welcome back the first new instance of Eminence since the face commanders from Commander 2017. Also, now's as good a time as any to remind people that "Sidar" is a title, not a name, so don't assume Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa and Sidar Jabari are just two guys named Sidar.

It's pretty widely understood that that first go-around of Eminence was supremely powerful, perhaps too much so, but its previous usage being limited to only four cards means there's plenty of room to explore other ways to design around the ability. When it comes to Jabari, it's clear that it's not exactly at the same level of an Edgar Markov, Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, Arahbo, Roar of the World, or The Ur-Dragon, and that's probably a good thing.

That doesn't mean Jabari's not powerful, though. Eminence by definition is an ability that is ever-present and nearly impossible to interact with, which means it's got inherent power simply by existing. Like previous Eminence commanders, Jabari is all about a specific creature type and is the first Esper commander to care about Knights. Whenever you attack with a Knight, loot. Simple, but will likely be very effective, especially if you're looking to take advantage of both draw and discard. There's already been plenty of discussion around the frustratingly specific Haakon, Stromgald Scourge going from difficult-to-use to indispensable in a Sidar Jabari deck, and at the end of the day isn't that what Commander's about?

As for the focus on Knights, look to existing lists for Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale or Aryel, Knight of Windgrace. But, you know, ignore the red from the former, and add blue to the latter. What does blue get you when it comes to a Knight deck? Well, there are the obvious support cards, to start: Kindred Discovery, Distant Melody, Void Rend, Reflections of Littjara, or Military Intelligence.

Plus, blue has its share of Knights as well, like Thistledown Liege and Glen Elendra Liege, Syr Elenora, the Discerning, Sister of Silence, Cavalier of Gales, new Knights Marshal of Zhalfir and Herald of Hoofbeats, and one of my favorites, Sky Hussar.

Slimefoot and Squee

Like Shalai and Hallar, Slimefoot and Squee are all about those sweet, sweet combos. At first glance (and most subsequent glances, as well as longing stares), this is immediately a premier Jund Reanimator commander, acting as a kind of "fixed" Recurring Nightmare.

As per our friends at Commander Spellbook, Slimefoot and Squee already have 22 combos listed that provide some infinite effect, most of which can be pulled off with little difficulty. Slimefoot and Squee + Pitiless Plunderer/Dockside Extortionist + Phyrexian Altar/Ashnod's Altar is probably the most obvious, but I'm partial to Slimefoot and Squee + Breath of Fury + Fervor, if only because it's more alliterative. All it takes is to get Slimefoot and Squee from the command zone to the graveyard, which likely won't be that hard, especially if you want to use stuff like Campfire or Command Beacon to avoid the off-chance someone can steal it from the battlefield.

If you were hoping for a Jund Saproling commander, tough luck. Stick to Slimefoot, the Stowaway and be happy you've got that, and if you were hoping like me that this was finally going to be the set we were getting the Jund -1/-1 counters commander we deserve, take solace in knowing our despair is shared.

Rares

Ayara, Widow of the Realm

Here we've got our first example of a flippy legend, to exemplify the effects of compleation on various characters from throughout the Multiverse. Sadly, it seems that Ayara succumbed to the oil and is now a badass robot lady.

As a commander, Ayara is a bit more linear than her original version but provides a second color to play with. Where the first one was open-ended, only asking you to play a glut of black creatures (or stuff that makes black creature tokens), the face-side of the new version broadens the parameters of her ability to include artifacts, but adds the caveat that she wants them to have a thick mana value. Unlike the Throne of Eldraine Ayara, though, we don't get any card advantage for sacrificing something, only damage and life.

That's where the flipside comes in. If you want to pay six mana (or realistically what you'll actually do 99.9% of the time, five mana and two life), you get a Dawn of the Dead in the command zone that doesn't have the annoying exile clause, meaning you can sacrifice and reanimate the same giant monsters over and over again.

Is it different enough from other Rakdos Reanimator decks, like Olivia, Crimson Bride? That's hard to say. No matter what, new Ayara will be finding its way right into the 99 of my Vial Smasher the Fierce/Gilanra, Caller of Wirewood deck.

Errant and Giada

There's something deep in the lizard brain of all Magic players that demands looking at the top of their library, so it's always nice when a card tells you that doing so is okay and not literal cheating. At least, that's how I am. I used to play Lantern of Insight not for any combos or information gathering, but to simply prevent myself from succumbing to the temptation of sneaking a peek at the top card of my library. I can't help it. It's a compulsion.

Anyway, Errant and Giada. We've got ribbons and a paint gun, two "weapons" that feel more at home in a pile of unused Overwatch character concept sketches.

The archetype of an Azorius flyers deck has been around since roughly 1993, and Errant and Giada have it tough if they want to dislodge the current rulers of the blue/white skies, Kangee, Sky Warden and Inniaz, the Gale Force. Where those two don't have any inherent card advantage, however, Errant and Giada do. Whether you opt to put Errant and Giada in charge of the 99 of your blue/white flyers deck or stick with Kangee or Inniaz is a bit of a "six of one, half-dozen of the other" situation, as largely a deck under any of them will be mostly the same.

And if you'd rather ignore the flying part and stick to the flash, you're operating at a disadvantage. On one hand, you don't get to use the most interesting "flash matters" card in Slitherwisp, and on the other, Ephara, God of the Polis is likely a much better bet. Maybe just build a Chromium, the Mutable flash deck and include all three in the 99?

Etali, Primal Conqueror

It seems Etali is down with the sickness, which is sad news for fans of the elder spinosaur.

But in fitting with the dinosauriness of it all, what we get when Etali is crossed with the Glistening Oil is one of the best pure Timmy/Tammy commanders in recent memory. On its front, it's a 7/7 with trample that eats the top card of everyone's library to cast for free, which could mean GIANT CREATURES but in practice will likely be something boring and blue like Rhystic Study. On transforming, though, it's a Blightsteel Colossus, so that's neat.

At first blush, you'd be forgiven if you think compleated Etali wants to come down, cast some free stuff, then start weaponizing its rhinovirus following a transformation. But really, I think what we should be focusing on is trying to repeat that enters-the-battlefield effect as best as we can. Once we've got Etali out and have triggered the ability once, let's just make a bunch of copies of it to do it again and again. Toss in stuff like Twinflame, Heat Shimmer, Blade of Selves, Splinter Twin, or Rionya, Fire Dancer. Blink it with Conjurer's Closet or Voyager Staff. Squeeze extra value out of the fact that you're casting everyone's cards from exile with Nalfeshnee or Keeper of Secrets. Just ignore the mana costs of everything I've mentioned.

As an entry into the 99 of other decks, it's likely Etali will find a quick home in anything from Atla Palani, Nest Tender to Henzie "Toolbox" Torre, and, of course, anything that's using Sneak Attack.

Ghalta and Mavren

Speaking of Dinosaurs, this one's got a Vampire riding it, which is a sentence I didn't think I would ever have to type until the rumored Tammy and the T-Rex/30 Days of Night crossover film comes out.

As much as I liked the first version of Etali, I liked the first iteration of Ghalta even more, so it's nice to see at least one of them isn't dead in the story. As for the card, there's always been one major question that your deck has to answer when it comes to winning through combat: do you want to go tall or do you want to go wide? Meaning, do you want to bludgeon opponents to death with one massive creature, or tear them limb from limb with an army of little guys? In other words, would you rather fight one Godzilla-sized Minilla or 100 Minilla-sized Godzillas?

With Ghalta and Mavren, you don't have to pick. You can do both, changing your strategy based on the context of the game, or just, you know, vibes. Either way, you're in Selesnya colors, which just so happen to be the colors that love tokens, so whether you're making big dinos or tiny vamps, you've got plenty of options for support, though many of those options might push you more toward the dino side than the vamp side. Token doublers like Anointed Procession, Parallel Lives and Doubling Season are all better when you're going tall, as are Populate cards like Rootborn Defenses or Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. If you'd rather just make a ton of Vampires, it's all about the anthems and Skullclamp, which notably don't work together so well. But who cares, your commander is a Vampire riding a dinosaur, logic has no place here.

Also, don't forget, the trigger to make tokens doesn't happen when Ghalta and Mavren attack, it happens when you attack. Anything can trigger the ability, so despite Ghalta and Mavren not having haste, you can still get at least one instance of the ability on the turn you first play them as long as you have something to attack with, even a Birds of Paradise. That's a good thing for a commander that costs seven mana.

Heliod, the Radiant Dawn

It's fitting that Heliod ended up a pawn of Phyrexia since he's always been kind of a jerk. Nobody likes the sun anyway.

On its front half, Heliod's a more expensive Auramancer with twice the power and toughness, which is not very exciting by most standards. It's the flip side where things get interesting, as robo-Heliod becomes a Vedalken Orrery that also makes things cheaper depending on how many cards your opponents have drawn. Which, if you've been around for any length of time in Commanderland, means one thing: Windfall.

Okay, it actually means a few things. Let's say you've got a flipped-over Heliod and cast a Vision Skeins. Three opponents each draw two cards, meaning your next spell costs six generic mana fewer. You tap one Island and cast Prosperity, at instant speed of course, and everyone draws six more cards. Three opponents, six cards each, plus the already existing discount; that means your spells for the rest of the turn are now 24 generic mana cheaper. What you do with that discount is up to you, but there are several directions you can go. Maybe you want to play a Psychosis Crawler and keep casting X-cost draw spells like Skyscribing. Maybe you want to just cast an instant-speed Kozilek, the Great Distortion and start countering everything with a grip full of cards. In a lot of ways, the deck will play like an Azorius-flavored Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck.

Just make sure you do something with it and don't fall into the common blue/white trap of forgetting to include a win condition.

Hidetsugu and Kairi

How long will it be until developers start officially creating more keywords based on existing classic cards? We've already seen mill go from common parlance to keyword, when will Hidetsugu and Kairi be errata'd to simply say, "when H and K enters the battlefield, Brainstorm"?

Unrelated introductory rambling aside, Hidetsugu and Kairi do two things very well, and the trick is figuring out to do both things in quick succession and to do them repeatedly. We want to manipulate the top of our deck with things like the built-in Brainstorm as well as Sensei's Divining Top, Viscera Seer and friends, and we want to have big, splashy instants/sorceries to play for free, like Mnemonic Deluge or Time Stretch. Mission one, check.

Next, we want to get H and K both coming and going, which in Dimir means lots and lots of clone effects. This of course is a bit of dealer's choice, as anything from Cackling Counterpart to Mirage Mockery will do, but it's probably prudent to keep them in the realm of instant/sorcery clone effects in order to ensure you can keep a loop going with H and K's effect.

And if you want your loops to be infinite (and who doesn't?), you can do so with Corpse Dance and Ashnod's Altar. If Corpse Dance is on the top of your library, sacrifice H and K to the altar, float your two generic mana, and cast Corpse Dance for free (using the two floating from the Altar to pay for Buyback). H and K return, you brainstorm to put Corpse Dance back on top of your library, sacrifice to the Altar again, and repeat, all the while netting an extra draw from the brainstorm trigger.

Whatever you do, though, please don't play Rise of the Dark Realms or Clone Legion. I just did my taxes, I don't want to have to make another spreadsheet for enter-the-battlefield triggers.

Kogla and Yidaro

Back in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths days, I decided early on that among the legendary creatures that were also giant monsters, Kogla was my favorite and Yidaro was my least favorite. Of course, they team up here.

Forget what I said about the new Etali being the quintessential Txmmy creature, that slot is now taken up by Kogla and Yidaro. Trample, haste and fight are three of Txmmy's favorite words in all of Magic outside of "Dragon."

As for being a commander, I don't think Kogla and Yidaro are particularly interesting. There's not much about the card that suggests a cohesive strategy outside of big monkey/turtle team punch things, which to be fair is a pretty good combo in Mario Party. In a lot of ways, it's basically just Decimate but even harder to pull off, which is saying a lot.

In practice, you'll probably see Kogla and Yidaro most as a part of the 99 of other commanders like Neyith of the Dire Hunt (for fighting), Hans Eriksson (for big things doing big damage) or Gishath, Sun's Avatar (for Dinosaurs, which thanks to Yidaro, this is).

Also, remind me to ask Chris Rahn if he was inspired by 1994 arcade fighting game Primal Rage when he painted this card.

Mistmeadow Vanisher

This is the first card to review today that isn't a legendary creature, breaking a streak of 14 straight to start this article. I think I've forgotten what it means if a creature doesn't have the word legendary affixed to its typeline.

This particular card is a gift to anyone who enjoys blink strategies, acting as a once-a-turn Flicker at worst. But we're not here to talk about cards at their worst, we're here to pretend that every contrived scenario we can imagine comes true exactly the way we want it to. In that case, may I recommend Vehicles? That's probably not very good, but it's funny to imagine a Kithkin Wizard accidentally making the car disappear every time she tries to turn the key.

Likely, this card will be most frequently discussed in context to its references to Lorwyn, a plane we sadly don't see much from these days, but I can certainly see its inclusion in decks that are already doing what Mistmeadow Vanisher wants to do -- anything from Roon of the Hidden Realm to Yorion, Sky Nomad will make room in the 99 for a new take on Mistmeadow Witch.

Polukranos Reborn

Anyway, back to the legends.

One half is a three-mana 4/5 Hydra with reach, which is about as good as slightly taller Leatherback Baloth. The Baloth, however, can't turn into a Wurmcoil Engine on command for six mana and two life, which is what Polukranos Reborn promises when it transforms into the Polukranos, Engine of Ruin. It's also got the added effect of not only becoming one of the most iconic creatures from Scars of Mirrodin, but it gifts that ability to split off into two tokens onto all hydras you've got.

Sure, we trade deathtouch for reach, which is not a trade in our favor, but that's not that big of a deal. As far as what a Polukranos Reborn deck would look like, I would imagine that it'd look very green and not very white due to the fact that Polukranos, Engine of Ruin is one of two even partly white Hydras in existence (in paper, anyway). Will it convince people to convert their Gargos, Vicious Watcher, Zaxara, the Exemplary, Grakmaw, Skyclave Ravager, Rosheen Meanderer, or even Progenitus Hydra decks into Polukranos Reborn decks? Probably not, but maybe.

The one perk that Polukranos does offer, though, is the ability to cast Hydras as 0/0 creatures just to watch them die immediately and split off into two 3/3 token Hydras. Even still, I'll probably stick to just casting a giant Lifeblood Hydra with Gargos or Zaxara, thanks.

Rankle and Torbran

Rankle, Master of Prankles teams up with Torbjorn to exact some vengeance on both the marauding Phyrexians and newer players that don't pay close enough attention to sequencing.

A lot of players in March of the Machine Limited will get got by watching R and T connect with its first strike, thus triggering each of its abilities, including the last one, before other creatures have a chance to deal damage. Don't be one of those players. Your carefully calculated combat math won't mean squat if every creature hits you for an extra two damage thanks to first strike timing.

As for its applications in Commander, I'm a big fan of the Faerie Dwarf. It's got an interesting suite of abilities but doesn't railroad you into a particularly streamlined build. What we know is we want to be hitting opponents with it every turn, that much is clear. What we do with the Treasure tokens and how we unbalance the symmetry of the sacrifice ability is largely up to personal preference, but it's that last ability that really gets things moving. What if every Swamp fed into a Pestilence is a Lightning Bolt? And what if that means every Swamp becomes a Blightning if you've got a Pain Magnification in play?

A Rankle and Torbran deck will probably manifest itself as a group slug deck in the vein of Mogis, God of Slaughter for those who prefer to be a little proactive in their slugging. It'll also obviously fit right in among the 99 of those decks, as well as other black/red decks that like Treasures and sacrificing, like Juri, Master of the Revue.

Rona, Herald of Invasion

As has already been pointed out many, many times, Rona's finally got her wish to get all oily and become part robot, something she's been trying to accomplish since she was fangirling for Gix.

On the front, Rona's an excellent looter, promising at least one draw/discard a turn, though in a deck suited for it, likely multiple. On the back, she gets all slithery and the real fun starts. If Rankle and Torbran like Pestilence, then Rona loves Pestilence -- and Withering Wisps, Hecatomb, Plague Spitter, Thrashing Wumpus, and even Festering Evil, why not. Every time you ping Rona for one, you can cast a random spell in your hand for free. Usually, when you see the words "cast a spell for free," most people actually read it as "Eldrazi and Archon of Cruelty if we're feeling generous, Expropriate if we're not."

Whether you go the Pestilence route or perhaps a route that features a bunch of pingers like Prodigal Sorcerer with Intruder Alarm, it's going to be most advantageous for you to start doing the damage to Rona yourself instead of waiting for an opponent to do it. So get pinging.

Jake went into much more detail about Rona's more powerful interactions, and the card's cEDH implications, here. He tried explaining it to me, but as soon as he started naming cards like Isochron Scepter and Doomsday, my eyes glazed over and I had to count Craw Wurms in my mind until he left me alone.

Vodalian Wave-Knight

This is not a seahorse, it's a hippocampus. Seahorses aren't horses of the sea, but hippocampi are. But hippocampi aren't hippos, nor are they universities.

None of that matters of course, but when you're casting this in your new Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir Knight deck or your old Sygg, River Guide merfolk deck, don't call it a seahorse.

Uncommons & Commons

Botanical Brawler

This is not Juniper Order Ranger. It's not even a plant.

Halo Forager

If you've ever had an Ancestral Vision burning a hole in your graveyard, now you've got a cheap Faerie Rogue who can cast it for you for free. And if you've ever been sitting there with an Ancestral Vision burning a hole in an opponent's graveyard, now you've got a cheap Faerie Rogue who can cast that for free, too.

This will likely make a bigger mark stealing removal and ramp spells from opponents' graveyards, and will fit nicely in decks with a theft theme, like Nihiloor, Sen Triplets or Dragonlord Silumgar.

March of the Machine features 35 new legendary creatures, which is a lot; in fact, it's fourth all-time in the highest number of new legends for a Standard-legal set, behind Legends (55), Champions of Kamigawa (46), Dominaria (44), and Dominaria United (41). I don't really have a point I'm trying to make with that statistic, I just think it's interesting. And if you add the new legendary creatures from MOM's Commander decks, it bumps that number to 48.

It's a lot easier to digest all those new commander-eligible creatures in bite-sized color-specific set review chunks, huh. Today, we covered 17 of those 48 new legends. So which is your favorite? Which one are you already sleeving up in anticipation? Let me know here or on Twitter. If you have a disagreement with anything you've read here today, you can also let me know on Twitter.