Legacy Set Review - March of the Machine: The Aftermath

Greetings my friends!! As Wizards never tires of coming up with new ways to sell more cards to players, we now have the mini-set March of the Machine: The Aftermath, an expansion with just 50 cards!

With such a small number of cards, the chance of something being relevant to Legacy is smaller, but we're going to dig here what the former Planeswalkers have to offer us!

Coppercoat Vanguard

While not the most acclaimed tribe in Legacy, Humans is a very viable deck in the format. Vanguard offers a new Lord to them, one that trades the point of toughness for more resilience against removal.

The deck has enough disruption tools but not enough to buff full boards, and this can make this Lord gain space.

Metropolis Reformer

One more for the arsenal of “hatebears” (even if not exactly a Bear – 2 mana 2/2) that White has at its disposal in Legacy. It's an option for formats with a lot of Burn decks, which can't throw their damage cards in your face and have to see gain some life when they kill your angel.

Spark Rupture

It's like a Humility for Planeswalkers. We've had a period of great presence in the past from decks like Super Friends and a myriad of Planeswalkers, but that's not the case now. But it's a valid alternative to dealing with several of these permanents at once if this kind of strategy shows up again.

Filter Out

You can think of Filter Out as a broader version of Hurkyl's Recall, a card that appears in sideboards occasionally to deal with artifact decks.

This card is much more comprehensive, but the mana cost is more restrictive. I see it as a possibility for Cunning Wish decks to solve any problem, or even for combo decks to tackle a variety of problematic permanents that decks like Red Prison or Boros Initiative can put on the board.

Vesuvan Drifter

Drifter opens up the possibility of a One-Hit Kill by combining Phage the Untouchable with Worldly Tutor (or any way to put a card on top of your deck - like, for example, Brainstorm). It's probably not consistent enough to see play at a high competitive level, but that's not to say it won't be tested.

Reckless Handling

This spell is a worse Gamble, but some decks, like Birgi Storm, for example, might be interested in a fifth or sixth Gamble, even if limited to finding cards like Lion's Eye Diamond.

Narset, Enlightened Exile

As I often say, 4 mana is a lot of mana for Legacy, but it's hard not to look at a pumped version of a banned card, in this case the dreaded Dreadhorde Arcanist.

Narset puts on absurd pressure, if you connect even a single attack, she puts you way ahead, that is if you don't end the game directly. Does anyone want to risk it on Jeskai Stoneblade?

Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin

There is a lot of hype over the demonic ex-Planeswalker in formats where there are Fetch Lands, as he would generate value on top of them. In practice, we have a 4 mana card that dies for Lightning Bolt. I don't think it will be this time that Ob will finally see play in Legacy.

Jirina, Dauntless General

I mentioned the Humans deck above, and here's another addition to the deck. Jirina relies too heavily on the presence of Aether Vial to gain sheer value, but even when played in the traditional way, it provides protection for your most problematic humans, whether from direct removal or sweepers.

Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival

It is mentioned here that Chandra's mother offers an alternative kill for the Food Chain + Misthollow Griffin combo, but I see no reason to use it instead of Walking Ballista, but It's good to always have the option.

As a small set, there's not much to explore in a format as extensive as Legacy. I think Filter Out is the card with the most potential, but nothing is likely to find a permanent home.

As always, if you think there's potential that I left out, leave a comment!