General (MOM) March of the Machines Testing/Includes Thread!
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
After having played a little bit, I have to say that I actually like how backup plays. Pretty easy to grock putting all abilities on a different card for a turn.
Thing is: in the old days there were 2 a 3 new abilities in the first set which was expanded upon in the next sets. This was changed to 2 abilities per set. Hence no use for blocks. Thing is that expanding was really nice from a play experience. We do not need blocks, just expanding the next sets.
This would be way, way too restrictive to the design team. Very difficult to find a mechanic that fits the next set thematically. And that set also had a mechanic that has to fit the next one etc.
Brainstorm with me for a second. Which mechanic could we put into March of the Machines that could also fit an Eldraine setting? And which Eldraine mechanic could also fit Ixalan?
And that is why there were blocks:
Thematically the same, art style the same, and in the beginning even the same abilities!
Besides the more generic ones that always work (kicker, cycling, flashback, replicate, ...) here are some ideas:
From MoM to Eldraine:
Convoke
Battles
Some Knight mechanic
From Eldraine to Ixalan:
Adventures!!!
Explore
Investigate?
Madness?
Doesn't seem impossible to me.
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Honestly I feel like Wizard should have the courage to just lean into this great game they've made. Imagine getting a few main sets ONLY creatively re-using existing mechanics.
We know they know how to do this! They do it all the time in sets like Modern Horizons. I would love for all these excellent mechanics they've made to be explored further.
We know they know how to do this! They do it all the time in sets like Modern Horizons. I would love for all these excellent mechanics they've made to be explored further.
Quite frankly, WotC passed the point where they could continue the game almost indefinitely without ever printing a new keyword something like a decade ago.
Don't get me wrong — I also like shiny new mechanics. But I prefer seeing those mechanics get properly explored and not just slapped on a handful of draft staples + one/two actually interesting cards.
Don't get me wrong — I also like shiny new mechanics. But I prefer seeing those mechanics get properly explored and not just slapped on a handful of draft staples + one/two actually interesting cards.
It would be a very nice refreshment compared to the recent trend in sets of having some extremely set specific mechanic, and a bunch of tribal cards around that mechanic. I want to be able to play with all the cards from the last few sets together!
Wizards, hire this person!
Excellent reply and I would trust that it is possible. Maybe there will be a few odd plane-to-plane transfers of mechanics like from Ixalan to a robot world or something.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
I was "goldfishing" some drafts against the AI to get a feel for the new cards, and I got this combo together <3
Good times, good times XD
Good times, good times XD
Radha feels so much worse in this set than in Dominaria United until you get one of these cool combos together and remember that her ability triggers on tapping instead of attackingI was "goldfishing" some drafts against the AI to get a feel for the new cards, and I got this combo together <3
Good times, good times XD
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, convoke is in the set too!
Haven't been able to cube this year since I moved to a new country and haven't been able to have enough time to both meet a critical mass of new Magic players here who I'm comfortable bringing into my home with my children AND having a free day to host (I'm pretty close though, the second thing has finally become the real barrier) but I've been drafting my cube a bit more on CubeCobra now that the draft actually seems to work now, and I've got a couple findings from MOM cards.
For context, I've now added 32 cards from MOM and MOC to my list (even if the basic land box received zero updates), and I'm very, very happy with the set overall, but here are some observations I've made doing mock drafts, backed up by a reasonably healthy amount of Arena drafts as well.
Invasion of Gobakhan feels like it doesn't have a place in any decks. The only times I've drafted it, I've found I'd rather just have another two drop. Targeted discard for 2 feels tough, and as good as the backside is, it feels fair? It's still a huge amount of value for 2 mana overall, and so many of my other 2-drops have 3 power so it's not a terrible sacrifice to send one guy in to the battle to clear it early game, but I'm really curious what y'all think because I don't want to run singleton battle and I conceptually like this card.
Rona, Herald of Invasion is my favorite card of the set, and she delivers. What a delightful way to have a Phyrexian Negator reference in the list, improving on two classic favorite cards in one!
I really like Vorinclex. It's making me reconsider Elesh Norn, since I've already accepted the unnecessary complexity that comes with these cards, who I would be 70% on-board with just for the taxing front side.
I like my green 5 and 6 drops to be answerable since it's so easy to get there in my list, relegating things like Carnage Tyrant and Thrun, Breaker of Silence to the abyss of the "on-deck" binder. But I still want them to be beefy and fun! I'm thrilled to have a must-answer 5-drop in the deck that's still planning to make the biggest X-spell you've ever seen, and that actively ramps you up to it. Great art, the thrill of the backside - it's a dramatic card that feels good.
Polukranos Reborn is again doing the Rona (not that 'Rona...the legendary one) thing of allowing for a "museum of Magic" without the baggage of Wurmcoil proper. Now...I still run Wurmcoil, against my better judgement, because my playgroup literally outvoted me and said they're ok with the disproportionate power of the card, but having a second version of the effect stapled onto a fun mono-green nudge? That's nice.
My original list back in 2013 ran Leatherback Baloth for a hot second, and tried out Steel Leaf Champion for a year or so (the sick promo one, don't worry). I even considered Old-Growth Troll seriously, even with its unpleasant inelegance. The problem with as a mana cost is the difficulty in justifying it as a card you play later than turn 2/3. However, good ol' Polukranos avoids this issue with the combination of even higher stats and a terrifying backside, cutting down on feelbad potential. I think this one is a keeper as long as my cube is large.
Ghalta and Mavren works as a fair Craterhoof Behemoth replacement in an elfball deck or as the impressive curve-topper of a Bant midrange value-pile. It does pass the Vindicate test, even if just barely, and then it's a 12/12 trample! Silly card. I don't think it's the most competitive card for Selesnya by any stretch, but it's a fun card that vibes well with my cube.
Pile On has been boring and disappointing. I think I'll just go back to Snuff Out in this ever-rotating removal slot.
If you haven't picked up Guardian Scalelord yet, you're going to want to do so right away. In EDH, Sun Titan is white's most-played creature for a reason, and I think this might be the coolest white card at 5 MV or higher printed in a long time. Very fun card.
I've been constantly looking for creatures for my colorless section that do interesting things, and it's been hard to find artifact creatures I like. Well, my issue is going to continue. I've yet to draft a deck that's terribly interested in this. I had been pretty well hyped by this during spoilers, but I'm interested to know if anyone else has tried this out and actually gotten some reps in yet.
Other brief over/underperformers:
Death-Greeter's Champion
Chrome Host Seedshark
Norn's Inquisitor
Chivalric Alliance
Hoarding Broodlord
Kroxa and Kunoros
Atraxa's Fall - Surprising!!
Omen Hawker - Not surprising!!
Still paying attention to Exsanguinator Cavalry and Bloodfeather Phoenix if anyone has experience with those as well. Like 'em but don't know what to think yet!
For context, I've now added 32 cards from MOM and MOC to my list (even if the basic land box received zero updates), and I'm very, very happy with the set overall, but here are some observations I've made doing mock drafts, backed up by a reasonably healthy amount of Arena drafts as well.
Invasion of Gobakhan feels like it doesn't have a place in any decks. The only times I've drafted it, I've found I'd rather just have another two drop. Targeted discard for 2 feels tough, and as good as the backside is, it feels fair? It's still a huge amount of value for 2 mana overall, and so many of my other 2-drops have 3 power so it's not a terrible sacrifice to send one guy in to the battle to clear it early game, but I'm really curious what y'all think because I don't want to run singleton battle and I conceptually like this card.
Rona, Herald of Invasion is my favorite card of the set, and she delivers. What a delightful way to have a Phyrexian Negator reference in the list, improving on two classic favorite cards in one!
I really like Vorinclex. It's making me reconsider Elesh Norn, since I've already accepted the unnecessary complexity that comes with these cards, who I would be 70% on-board with just for the taxing front side.
I like my green 5 and 6 drops to be answerable since it's so easy to get there in my list, relegating things like Carnage Tyrant and Thrun, Breaker of Silence to the abyss of the "on-deck" binder. But I still want them to be beefy and fun! I'm thrilled to have a must-answer 5-drop in the deck that's still planning to make the biggest X-spell you've ever seen, and that actively ramps you up to it. Great art, the thrill of the backside - it's a dramatic card that feels good.
Polukranos Reborn is again doing the Rona (not that 'Rona...the legendary one) thing of allowing for a "museum of Magic" without the baggage of Wurmcoil proper. Now...I still run Wurmcoil, against my better judgement, because my playgroup literally outvoted me and said they're ok with the disproportionate power of the card, but having a second version of the effect stapled onto a fun mono-green nudge? That's nice.
My original list back in 2013 ran Leatherback Baloth for a hot second, and tried out Steel Leaf Champion for a year or so (the sick promo one, don't worry). I even considered Old-Growth Troll seriously, even with its unpleasant inelegance. The problem with
as a mana cost is the difficulty in justifying it as a card you play later than turn 2/3. However, good ol' Polukranos avoids this issue with the combination of even higher stats and a terrifying backside, cutting down on feelbad potential. I think this one is a keeper as long as my cube is large. Ghalta and Mavren works as a fair Craterhoof Behemoth replacement in an elfball deck or as the impressive curve-topper of a Bant midrange value-pile. It does pass the Vindicate test, even if just barely, and then it's a 12/12 trample! Silly card. I don't think it's the most competitive card for Selesnya by any stretch, but it's a fun card that vibes well with my cube.
Pile On has been boring and disappointing. I think I'll just go back to Snuff Out in this ever-rotating removal slot.
If you haven't picked up Guardian Scalelord yet, you're going to want to do so right away. In EDH, Sun Titan is white's most-played creature for a reason, and I think this might be the coolest white card at 5 MV or higher printed in a long time. Very fun card.
I've been constantly looking for creatures for my colorless section that do interesting things, and it's been hard to find artifact creatures I like. Well, my issue is going to continue. I've yet to draft a deck that's terribly interested in this. I had been pretty well hyped by this during spoilers, but I'm interested to know if anyone else has tried this out and actually gotten some reps in yet.
Other brief over/underperformers:
Death-Greeter's Champion Chrome Host Seedshark Norn's Inquisitor Chivalric Alliance Hoarding Broodlord Kroxa and Kunoros Atraxa's Fall - Surprising!! Omen Hawker - Not surprising!!Still paying attention to Exsanguinator Cavalry and Bloodfeather Phoenix if anyone has experience with those as well. Like 'em but don't know what to think yet!
I don't think EDH popularity is something I want to have inform my cube design or it's going to be buried in mana rocks. Mainstream EDH has a lot of play patterns I don't like.
I don't have any experience playing with Invasion of Gobakhan, but I can tell you that you shouldn't evaluate it as a 2-drop. It's much better on turn 4 or so after curving out. The tax is more powerful on expensive spells, and the backside is a lot stronger if you can flip it with multiple creatures in play. The soldier deck in standard apparently plays it, so I assume it's a solid enough card.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I did not know scalelord was noncreature permanent, that's so sick
Invasion of mercadia and Ixalan have been excellent for me
Invasion of mercadia and Ixalan have been excellent for me
Sure, but Sun Titan is equally oppressive on the composition of cubes. It's run more than the next 10 white six-drops combined according to Cube Cobra (I've got an article coming out eventually about it).
Chris Taylor
Contributor
EDH popularity or opressiveness aside, I think it still works:
Initially I was very sceptical towards battles. Than after a couple drafts, I started to like how they played. But then, after drafting MoM a bit more, I really think they are win more, the card type. If you are ahead and pressuring the opponent, it's not hard to flip a battle with one swing or at most with two. And then, counting both halves, it's just ike dropping a bomb when you are already winning, which leads to many MoM games feeling like one is steamrolling the other - which can easily be vice versa the next game. Maybe that feels 'powerful' and 'exciting' for the target audience, but I don't want that game play for my cubes.
What do you guys think of battles after some weeks now? Has anyone tested them in cube even?
What do you guys think of battles after some weeks now? Has anyone tested them in cube even?
they certainly do punish durdlers which is exactly what i want in theory.
havent tested though
havent tested though
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
This question presumes I tested my cube. Haha, foolish of you to think I play my cube anymore! It's just a collector's item at the moment :')