Pauper Set Review: March of the Machine

In the second part of our March of the Machine review season, I will discuss the new set's impact on Pauper. But first, we need to address two important points about it:

No Battles were released as common in this set. Therefore, there will be no relevant changes regarding the combat phase in the format. It's a shame, though, as Pauper is one of the most creature and combat-oriented formats in competitive Magic, and Battles would add a whole new layer of decisions for various archetypes.

The second problem is that, apparently, the design for commons is going through an identity crisis, where we need to repeat the same effects, with different names.

Yes, having the same cards with different names makes room for extra copies of their effects in a deck, and helps with consistency in formats where only one copy of each card is allowed. But, when so many functional reprints happen in a single set, there seems to be a crisis in potential innovations for the common slots, making their additions redundant for Pauper.

My expectations are that so many functional reprints in a single set are just an isolated case, and not a pattern we'll see repeating itself in upcoming 2023 releases.

Aerial Boost is a "free spell" when you have a functional board. Perhaps it deserves a slot in Mono White Heroic, where you can tap a Cartouche of Solidarity token to turn it into a one-mana Instant, or use it with two other creatures to bypass your opponent's blockers.

Honorable mention. Cut Short interacts with Planeswalkers, and will be important if we ever get some common Planeswalkers in the format.

Knight of the New Coalition is priced appropriately and in the right color to work on Ephemerate lists, such as recent Orzhov decks, or in classic Azorius or Jeskai.

It's not an instant staple, but multiple 2/2 bodies on the board does a good job of blocking and pressuring the opponent.

Honorable mention. Scrollshift would be much better if it cost two mana, but for three, it's still a recurring draw engine with Mnemonic Wall, and suits non-blue decks that care about ETBs as well.

Sunder the Gateway works almost like Kor Sanctifiers. But, instead of paying an additional cost to destroy an artifact or enchantment, you pay the cost to have a 2/2 creature in play.

Its flexibility in "splitting" this cost can earn a space on sideboards.

Disturbing Conversion is a combat trick that empowers itself while collaborating with its controller's self-mill plan. Perhaps deserves a slot in Tolarian Terror and Serpentine Curve variants, especially those that don't have access to more efficient removals.

One of the most talked about cards in the set for Pauper, Meeting of Minds takes advantage of a full battlefield to offer more resources. However, casting this spell for cheap or free means tapping three or four creatures that won't be attacking this turn.

I don't see it as a viable option in Mono Blue Faeries, or any variant of that archetype today. The most adapted strategy to play with this card would be one that already seeks to fill the board and needs resources to keep the gas running, like Brute Squad.

A Telling Time that puts a card in the graveyard instead of on top sounds interesting, but not to compete with Brainstorm, Ponder and Preordain.

Saiba Cryptomancer is a combat trick, protection and offers an extra body to pay Convoke costs and/or force blocks to avoid a Ninjutsu. It doesn't feel like a staple, but it's solid and interesting enough to merit testing in Mono Blue Faeries.

Thunderhead Squadron benefits from decks that can populate the board quickly. Despite being expensive for the archetype, a 3/4 body with Flying is excellent for Brute Squad.

Honorable mention. Zhalfirin Shapecraft is a good combat trick, it allows you to switch a small blocker with Myr Enforcer and speeds up the clock in time games while replenishing itself in its owner's hand.

Bladed Battle-Fan is one of the best cards in the set. First, it's another excellent combat trick, which protects your creature from while increasing its power and, perhaps, enabling favorable trades in combat. Second, it is an artifact which can be reused with Kor Skyfisher, or sacrificed to Deadly Dispute or Makeshift Munitions.

Lastly, unlike most common cards with this effect, Bladed Battle-Fan provides constant utility after performing its primary function of protecting a creature, due to its cheap equip cost.

It looks like a solid option to test out in Affinity and recent Orzhov decks, and it's one Lifelink on ETB away from becoming an instant staple.

By itself, Final Flourish sucks and Cast Down works much better for the same cost, but it sacrifices artifacts on its Kicker cost.

As we are in a Metagame focused on expendable value engines, Final Flourish is a removal that draws a card next to any artifact currently played in Affinity, and kills any major threat in the current Metagame for a reasonable cost, even Bridges turned into creatures by Kenku Artificer.

Unseal the Necropolis is an excellent recursion for Dimir Terror. This archetype suffers from strategies that can bypass counterspells to kill one and/or two creatures with their removals.

This Instant not only allows Dimir Terror to recur these creatures, in addition to those milled by Thought Scour, it also helps to cast Gurmag Angler, or playing Tolarian Terror for one or two mana with its mill effect.

Definitely worth a few slots in the Maindeck and/or Sideboard of this archetype.

There was a lot of discussion about this card when it was revealed, so let's clarify: Beamtown Beatstick is bad.

What makes Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer so absurd is that its effect is attached to the card and therefore demands an immediate answer. Needing to "build your own Ragavan" is probably not a game-winning strategy.

Burning Sun's Fury looks like a worthy addition to Mono Red Kuldotha. Playing it after a Kuldotha Rebirth for only one, if any, mana and triggering Monastery Swiftspear's prowess while its tokens attack as 3/1 creatures seems like a pretty aggressive play for the first few turns, while it can catch opponents off guard in the late-game.

As pointed out by Alexandre Weber and Ricardo Mattana, Hangar Scrounger performs an infinite looting combo alongside Seeker of Skybreak, where you target the Backup on the elf and tap him to untap itself. Hangar Scrounger's ability will trigger, and you'll draw a card and discard another.

I am uncertain there's enough support to make this combo competitive, given you need to keep Seeker of Skybreak alive for an entire turn cycle and/or give it Haste to perform the combo in the same turn.

In addition, this combo also needs a payoff. Weber showed on his channel a draft where he had Rite of Flame and Simian Spirit Guide to speed up the combo, and then played cards like Fiery Temper, Lightning Bolt and Lava Dart to deal lethal damage to the opponent.

Others already believe that the best option is to combine it with Songs of the Damned and a creature shell to finish the game with Haunting Misery. I believe that this option, based on the One Land Spy combo, is more consistent with what the archetype proposes, given that all creatures can add value to the game with ETB effects.

Other players pointed out that Fists of Flame is a three-card combo, which might make the combo worth it, after all.

Hangar Scrounger is perhaps one of the most powerful cards in the set due to its combo, but we need to build a more efficient deck to make it competitively viable.

When did red become the card advantage color?

Wrenn's Resolve are copies 5-8 of Reckless Impulse for Mono Red Kuldotha and any other archetype that wants this effect.

I suppose that at least two copies of this card will make it onto the lists after March of the Machine comes out, but I don't believe a full play set will be run, as despite giving Mono Red a boost, these slots are also taking away other effects that generate some action on the board, or on the opponent's life total.

If Battles become relevant in Pauper in the future, Atraxa's Fall is a decent and flexible answer, as it deals with artifacts and flying creatures as well.

Despite putting five power on the board every time it comes into play, Converter Beast doesn't seem like an ideal target for Ephemerate or Kor Skyfisher, given that its controller would still have to invest resources and mana to turn the tokens into creatures.

Seed of Hope is a solid option for archetypes with a high number of permanents. The two extra life helps hold back Mono Red's speed a bit, and the recursion can guarantee your land drop and/or put another permanent in your hand for one mana.

Halo Hopper is interesting for lists that seek aggressiveness by populating the board. Its obvious addition appears to be in the Brute Squad as well, but there is debate over its inclusion in Stompy given that several of its most common plays allow the deck to cast this creature for free on the second turn.

It might be worth testing on a variety of archetypes today, even alongside Kuldotha Rebirth, but its potential will depend on the quality of other cards around it.

Urn of Godfire is a useful variant of Energy Refractor for Tron. I still think it prefers The Brothers' War artifact for its interactions with Mnemonic Wall and Ghostly Flicker, but having a removal built into an artifact that filters mana could be worth a slot or two.

March of the Machine brought useful news to Pauper, but, at least in an initial perspective, nothing with the latent potential to break the format, or change the Metagame too much.

Some cards will be able to improve existing archetypes, others will enable new strategies, and their arrival seems healthy. However, the number of functional reprints on this set is a major low point of its release. Pauper players like new things, and finding certain cards to build around or to add value to an already well-established strategy.

When the best option to add value is to add extra copies of existing effects, the creative potential of the format is somewhat lost, and decks become too redundant in their proposals.

Thanks for reading!