Set Prospective

March of the Machine Commander

May 1st, 2023 — Parker LaMascus

This article is part of our community-sourced Set Prospective series. We survey Cube designers before the set’s official release to document their first impressions of new cards.

Accompanying March of the Machine, like always, is a Commander-focused set of precons including brand new cards eligible for Cube. We’ve got 115 Cube designers reporting in with the cards they’re most excited about!

Results

Filter by rarity:
Card TestersRank 
Death-Greeter's Champion60.0%7.0
Guardian Scalelord27.0%6.9
Wildfire Awakener22.6%5.1
Mistmeadow Vanisher13.9%5.9
Chivalric Alliance13.9%5.5
Conjurer's Mantle13.0%5.5
Slimefoot and Squee11.3%6.7
Conclave Sledge-Captain10.4%6.0
Exsanguinator Cavalry9.6%6.3
Filigree Vector8.7%6.1
Nesting Dovehawk7.8%5.6
Firemane Commando6.1%6.7
Bitterthorn, Nissa's Animus6.1%5.3
Pain Distributor6.1%5.2
Cards being tested by fewer than 7 respondents not shown.

Single Card Discussion

The Hits

Death-Greeter's Champion
Guardian Scalelord
Wildfire Awakener
“Death-Greeter's Champion seems crazy...”
— PapaZedruu

Leading the results from MOC is a new Red three-drop, Death-Greeter's Champion, whose extreme modality and hyper-detailed Jason Rainville art make it a hit on mechanics and flavor both.

Guardian Scalelord and Wildfire Awakener, though tested by a quarter of the MOC survey respondents, are both effects that will scale favorably in 1v1 Magic and make use of the main set’s marquee mechanics.

Reprint Alert

Hero of Bladehold
Bloodforged Battle-Axe
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Tireless Tracker
Gilded Goose
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
“Finally a hero of bladehold art that isn't a bikini babe”

As always, Commander precons include a variety of reprints, many of which come with new art, frames, or updated rules text. This is a great time to pick up a copy for Cube on the cheap!

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Death-Greeter's Champion — Jason Rainville