MTG gives first glimpse at Battle mechanic in fresh spoilers

Teased for quite some time and even featured on a previous set’s card, the new Battle mechanic has been revealed in the latest MTG spoilers.

The upcoming Magic: The Gathering set, March of the Machine, is a full-on interplanar battle for dominance. With Phyrexia invading different worlds from around the multiverse, the only hope is to fight.

This is why these new wars will be depicted in a brand new format: Battle cards.

Previously teased in Phyerixa: All Will Be One, the lead designer of MTG, Mark Rosewater, had to come forward and say that the mechanic would start being featured in MOM.

The Battle cards are a slight deviation from the norm. Wizards has implanted entirely new keywords and type lines on the card to distinguish them as a solid piece of the game going forward.

Our first glimpse at Battles in MTG comes from the latest tie-in story, in which the infrequent appearing character Nahiri returns to her home world, Zendikar, to try to bend it to her new master, the Phyrexian’s, will.

Zendikar however, is alive. As in, the ground and the entire space around it, are alive. It’s a fascinating place and one that is fighting back from the infection.

MTG Battle card shown off for first time

The card itself is a transforming, flip card, which costs 3 and green. It features its own “life” total, similar to that of Planeswalkers, and doesn’t flip until the number reaches zero.

Invasion of Zendikar is coming in at uncommon and appears to be one of many types of Battle cards. If the “Seige” tag is to be believed, we could see further types of Battle cards with different requirements to get going.

Once you’ve completed the requirements – in this case “Seige” – it’ll flip over into Awakened Skyclave. This is a 4/4, with vigilance and haste. A heavy hitter that can immediately attack and won’t tap, leaving it open for defense later on in the game. A nice bonus is that it’s treated as a land card too, so you can add any color of mana to keep your plans going.

We’re expecting MTG spoilers to start on March 29, with the completion of the build-up being told via the stories on the website. March of the Machine launches on April 18.

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