Throughout recent years, despite the prevalence of a pesky global pandemic, MTG has been growing more popular than ever before. This is thanks in large part to the Commander format, which has exploded in popularity. Considering that the format is arguably one of the most creative and diverse in all of MTG, this isn’t really a major surprise. Regardless of what characters you like or which mechanics you adore, it’s usually easy to build a themed deck around them. While there are hundreds if not thousands of different themes to build around, unsurprisingly, a few decks are fan favorites. The Planeswalker-centric Superfriends deck, however, isn’t one of those. Luckily for players of this EDH deck, however, it’s nevertheless getting some upgrades in March of the Machine!
Superfriends Get Even More Super
During the recent Weekly MTG Livestream, host Blake Rasmussen revealed several new and enticing Commander cards. Appearing within March of the Machine Set Boosters, many of these recent spoilers support pre-existing fan-favorite EDH decks. As you may have guessed from the intro, one of these lucky decks receiving additional support is Superfriends. Somewhat remarkably, this isn’t the first time that this archetype is getting new, seemingly purpose-built cards recently. As, in Phyrexia: All Will Be One, Wizards of the Coast printed
Ichormoon Gauntlet
Ichormoon Gauntlet
Planeswalkers you control have "[0]: Proliferate" and "[−12]: Take an extra turn after this one."
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, choose a counter on target permanent. Put an additional counter of that kind on that permanent.
.
If you’re unfamiliar with this card, Ichormoon Gauntlet gives all your Planeswalkers a pair of new abilities. One of these is a simple yet effective Proliferate ability, while the other loyalty ability allows you to take an extra turn. Thanks to this ability, with enough Planeswalkers, Ichormoon Gauntlet can become a game-ending treat. Subsequently, it was no surprise players were excited to get their hands on this incredibly powerful and useful card. Despite all the excitement, however, it was unclear how, or even if, Wizards was going to innovate upon this Planeswalker-centric mechanic going forward.
Thankfully curious players haven’t had to wait long to find out what Wizards had up their sleeves. As, during the recent Livestream, Rasmussen revealed a cycle of Planeswalker Enchantments for March of the Machine. Similar to Ichormoon Gauntlet, this newly spoiled cycle of “Talent” cards adds a loyalty ability to the Planeswalker they enchant. Alongside this, each Talent card also features an additional effect to make the enchanted Planeswalker even more powerful. Somewhat bizarrely, however, these brand new purpose-built cards aren’t actually all too good.
A Talented Bunch
Out of the five Talent cards, each named after a different Planeswalker, it isn’t easy to pick an outright winner. Unfortunately, however, the same cannot be said when picking a loser as
Vivien’s Talent
Vivien’s Talent
Enchant planeswalker
Enchanted planeswalker has "[+1]: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a creature or land card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order."
Whenever a nontoken creature you control enters, put a loyalty counter on enchanted planeswalker.
lags behind the competition. That being said, while they’re not the strongest, Vivien’s Talent is still a decent card in its own right. After all, the ability to gain loyalty on the enchanted Planeswalker from playing creatures is great in go-wide decks. Alongside this, the +1 ability Vivien’s Talent grants to search the top four cards if your library isn’t absolutely awful. That being said, it’s hardly the most powerful effect outside of games of Forgetful Fish.
Thankfully, while Vivien’s Talent may be a bit of a letdown, the rest of the cards are somewhat better.
Elspeth’s Talent
Elspeth’s Talent
Enchant planeswalker
Enchanted planeswalker has "[+1]: Create three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens."
Whenever you activate a loyalty ability of enchanted planeswalker, creatures you control get +2/+2 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
, for instance, can turn any Planeswalker into a mini
Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
+1: Create three 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens.
−3: Destroy all creatures with power 4 or greater.
−7: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control get +2/+2 and have flying."
. Alongside this ability that can give some much-needed protection Elspeth’s Talent also makes buffing your board a breeze.
Similarly, offering protection alongside a powerful effect is
Liliana’s Talent
Liliana’s Talent
Enchant planeswalker
Enchanted planeswalker has "[−8]: Put all creature cards from all graveyards onto the battlefield under your control."
Whenever a creature deals damage to enchanted planeswalker, destroy that creature.
. This time around, however, that devastating ability costs -8 loyalty and resurrects all creatures from all graveyards. Thanks to the -8 loyalty cost, playing this ability won’t be easy, however, when paired with a Planeswalker such as
Karn Liberated
Karn Liberated
+4: Target player exiles a card from their hand.
−3: Exile target permanent.
−14: Restart the game, leaving in exile all non-Aura permanent cards exiled with Karn. Then put those cards onto the battlefield under your control.
, it’s much more feasible. The same is true for
Teferi’s Talent
Teferi’s Talent
Enchant planeswalker
Enchanted planeswalker has "[−12]: You get an emblem with 'You may activate loyalty abilities of planeswalkers you control on any player's turn any time you could cast an instant.'"
Whenever you draw a card, put a loyalty counter on enchanted planeswalker.
, which has a -12 ability that turns loyalty abilities into instants.
Last, and certainly by no means least, there’s
Rowan’s Talent
Rowan’s Talent
Enchant planeswalker
Enchanted planeswalker has "[+1]: Up to one target creature gets +2/+0 and gains first strike and trample until end of turn."
Whenever you activate a loyalty ability of enchanted planeswalker, copy that ability. You may choose new targets for the copy.
. While their additional loyalty ability, which grants First Strike, is nothing to write home about, their other effect certainly is. Allowing you to copy any activated loyalty ability from the enchanted Planeswalker, this effect certainly has players excited.
The Will of the Planeswalkers
Alongside the new Planeswalker enchantments that obviously suit Superfriends EDH decks, March of the Machine Commander has another Planeswalker adjacent mechanic. Admittedly, however, to even call this mechanic Planeswalker adjacent is a stretch, as they’re connected in name only. First teased by MTG’s Principal Designer, Gavin Verhey, we’ve not had the “Will of the Planeswalkers” mechanic properly spoiled. As players predicted following Verhey’s hint, Will of the Planeswalkers is a voting mechanic, similar to Will of the Council.
Unlike Will of the Council, which had a variety of effects, however, Will of the Planeswalkers only does one thing. This thing revolves around the returning Planechase cards, allowing players to vote on either Planeswalking or letting chaos ensue. Appearing on just five cards so far, it’s unclear how useful the cards in this cycle will be. Ultimately, while each card has its own effects, the real value of these cards will depend on the current Plane in play. That being said, even having a good Plane in play isn’t a guaranteed success, as you’ll also have to win the vote. Subsequently, it seems likely that these cards will be little more than a fun novelty that rarely gets played outside of themed casual decks.
Read More: March of the Machine Brings Back a 24-Year-Old Mechanic