What are "Epilogue Boosters"? March of the Machine: Aftermath explained!

The latest Magic: The Gathering set is definitely a weird one. Unlike any other set released by Wizards of the Coast, March of the Machine: Aftermath was described first as a "mini-set", then it contained "Epilogue Boosters" and then Mark Rosewater compared it to a "Marvel post credit scene". Just what exactly is this set, and what makes it different from other MTG sets?

Well, to start, it is intrinsically connected to the previous set released before it: March of the Machine. March of the Machine came to completely alter Magic's lore as we know it, and progress the story in a way never seen before. MaRo himself claimed in a recent article that "March of the Machine was going to fundamentally change Magic., something we can reasonably say it did, considering how the Planeswalkers "desparked" and seemingly lost much of what made them Planeswalkers.

From a Lore-focused perspective, MOM really did change Magic, and many questions were still unanswered by the time the last card reveals from that set came out. The overall feeling after reading and consuming that chapter in Magic's lore was that it felt incomplete, somehow. And that's where The Aftermath comes in.

The Aftermath of The March of the Machine is a set that in its conception was made to show the consequences and everything that happened after the Phyrexian war. According to MaRo, "They fundamentally altered the lives of almost every character and plane. We felt it was important to convey the events of the war and the impact it had on the Multiverse.".

Eventually, they thought it was best to focus on the war itself for the main March of the Machine set, and then show the following developments in a 'subset' of it, which turned out to be March of the Machine: The Aftermath.

The idea behind this set is at its core lore-motivated, so, much of the decisions regarding its traits, which types of cards to include and how many, were made based on that too. To show changes such as major character deaths and life alterations, changes to several planes, and the way non-Planeswalkers can now travel between planes (Omenpaths), they decided to build this "mini-set" in an entirely different way than they did other sets.

A few of the main traits regarding Aftermath are:

> "Cards in Epilogue Boosters are Standard legal and were designed to help reinforce different decks in Standard, with a number boosting strategies that Play Design felt needed help."

> Cards show the fate of certain characters, and were designed based on that.*

> Cards show the fate of certain planes after the war, and were designed based on that.

> Some "desparked" Planeswalkers were shown changed, now as Legendary creatures.

> Some Legendary creatures themselves were featured more, particularly their developments after the war.

> Progress the story as to "hint at future storylines".

> Designers also added a few cards here that couldn't make it into the main set, despite how cool they were.

> Showcase the bright new toy: Omenpaths.

> There are only 50 cards in this set.

> There are no commons in this set.

> All ten mythic rare slots are legendary creatures who were once planeswalkers.

> As Limited wasn't an issue, there are also more rare legendary creature cards than normal.

> Similar to Commander decks, Epilogue cards are "allowed to mention one of the named nonevergreen mechanics".

> This set replaced March of the Machine's Alchemy set in MTG Arena. Instead of Alchemy cards, the Aftermath comes into the store.

Details about each card type included in the Boosters

There are 15 uncommons, 25 rares, and 10 mythic rare cards in the 50 card "mini-set". There is a Booster Fun version for each card, and the frames are the same as March of the Machine's frames, based on what plane they depict. On Zhalfir, they refer using a "retro frame".

For alternative art and foil lovers, there are foils for each normal and Booster Fun versions, but there are also additional versions included in Collector Boosters. Foil-etched versions, Halo Foil versions and extended-art versions are also available.

Check out product details below:

Normal Epilogue Booster

(Five cards and an ad card/token)

> Slot 1: Non-foil uncommon with normal art

> Slot 2: Non-foil uncommon with normal art

> Slot 3: Non-foil rare or mythic rare with normal art

> Slot 4: Booster Fun card of any rarity (can be traditional foil or non-foil)

> Slot 5: Traditional foil card of any rarity with normal art

> Slot 6: Ad card/token

Collector Epilogue Booster

(Six cards and a traditional foil token)

> Slot 1: Traditional foil Booster Fun uncommon

> Slot 2: Foil-etched uncommon

> Slot 3: Traditional foil rare or mythic rare with normal art

> Slot 4: Extended-art rare or mythic rare (can be traditional foil or non-foil)

> Slot 5: Booster Fun rare or mythic rare (can be traditional foil or Halo foil)

> Slot 6: Foil-etched rare or mythic rare

> Slot 7: Traditional foil token

So, far, Mark Rosewater mentions they'll "wait and see" if Aftermath is received well. From what it seems, they'll be considering what most players think of the set, and take that into account when considering making more "epilogue boosters".

For a full schedule of MTG's planned 2023 releases, click here.