Magic: The Gathering's March of the Machine expansion to bring new forms of Jin-Gitaxias, Omnath, and more

Magic: The Gathering
Several interesting cards were revealed for the upcoming Magic: The Gathering expansion, March of the Machine (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Magic: The Gathering’s next set will wrap up the current multiverse war with an expansion called March of the Machine. Set to release in April 2023, it will come with a wealth of interesting cards. In particular, we received information regarding several cards that will appear in the upcoming set.

Legendary creatures like Omnath, Jin-Gitaxias, Ghalta, and many more are going to see new forms in it. Wizards of the Coast also confirmed other interesting features, such as the non-Standard Multiverse Legends cards and so much more.


March of the Machine will feature some amazing cards for Magic: The Gathering

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In Magic: The Gathering's current storyline, Elesh Norn has breached the rest of the Multiverse, invading countless planes (self-contained worlds or universes). It’s up to the remaining Gatewatch to try and stem the tide of Phyrexian monsters. However, since potentially thousands of realms will be invaded, fans will see some very familiar faces.

Here are the important dates concerning the March of the Machine expansion:

  • March 16-19: March of the Machine story
  • March 29: Set debut, cinematic trailer, and previews begin
  • March 29-April 4: Card previews
  • April 5: Complete card image galleries revealed
  • April 14–20: In-store pre-release events
  • April 18: MTG Arena and Magic Online Digital release
  • April 21: Global Tabletop release
  • May 1: March of the Machine: The Aftermath story
  • May 2-3: March of the Machine: The Aftermath preview

It is likely that all the Phyrexian lords in Magic: The Gathering will see brand-new forms that also transform them into Sagas. In my preview, I saw this occur with Jin-Gitaxias. If you have seven or more cards in hand, you can exile a 5/5 Legendary Phyrexian Praetor after paying a casting cost and bring him back as a powerful Saga Enchantment in March of the Machine.

Here is all the relevant information regarding the new forms to be featured in March of the Machine:

Jin-Gitaxias in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)
Jin-Gitaxias in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Jin-Gitaxias

  • Mana Value: 3UU
  • Type: Legendary Creature - Phyrexian Praetor
  • Rarity: Mythic Rare
  • Keyword: Ward 2
  • Stats: 5 power, 5 toughness
  • First Ability: Whenever you cast a non-creature spell with a mana value of three or greater, draw a card.
  • Second Ability: 3U: Exile Jin-Gitaxias, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner’s control. You can activate it only as sorcery and only if you have seven or more cards in hand.
The Great Synthesis in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)
The Great Synthesis in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

The Great Synthesis

  • Part I: Draw cards equal to the number of cards in your hand. You have no maximum hand size for as long as you control The Great Synthesis.
  • Part II: Return all non-Phyrexian creatures to their owners’ hands.
  • Part III: You may cast any number of spells from your hand without paying their mana costs. Exile The Great Synthesis, then return it to the battlefield (front face up).

You can draw into a huge number of cards in a Blue deck featuring this Magic: The Gathering card. After you use the final act of The Great Synthesis, you get the legendary creature back and can do this again, if you wish.

Some of these entities in Magic: The Gathering have come back corrupted. Omnath, a legendary elemental force, has now been Compleated as well. Now, as a five-color creature, it can be cast with black mana or Phyrexian mana. It could also be a powerful mana ramp card.

Omnath, Locus of All & Ghalta and Mavren in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)
Omnath, Locus of All & Ghalta and Mavren in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Omnath, Locus of All

  • Mana Value: WUB/PRG
  • Type: Legendary Creature - Phyrexian Elemental
  • Rarity: Rare
  • Stats: 4 power, 4 toughness
  • First Ability: If you would lose unspent mana, that mana becomes black instead.
  • Second Ability: At the beginning of your pre-combat main phase, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that item if it has three or more colored mana symbols in its mana cost. If you do, add three mana in any combination of its colors and put it into your hand. If you don’t reveal it, put it into your hand.

With the ability to keep potential hordes of mana, draw into additional cards and generate extra mana, I think that this version of Omnath, like all others in Magic: The Gathering, is going to be useful in some fashion or another.

Another familiar face coming back is Ghalta, once known as Ghalta, Primal Hungerer, the 12/12 dinosaur. Moreover, it now has a friend. The card is being joined by the vampire Mavren. Now a vampire dinosaur, it’s massive and offers some major benefits when attacking in Magic: The Gathering.

Ghalta and Mavren

  • Mana Value: 3GGWW
  • Type: Legendary Creature - Dinosaur Vampire
  • Rarity: Rare
  • Keyword: Trample
  • Stats: 12 power, 12 toughness
  • Ability: Whenever you attack, choose one of the following:
  • Create a tapped and attacking X/X green Dinosaur creature token with trample, where X is the greatest power among other attacking creatures.
  • Create X 1/1 white Vampire creature tokens with lifelink, where X is the number of other attacking creatures.

The ability gives you two potent options. If you’re swarming opponents, you can make tons of other creatures, or you can make one huge attacker on top of Ghalta. This entity's cost is also reasonable when you consider what he can do.

March of the Machine will mark the current Magic: The Gathering storyline's conclusion and is one of several things that will be launched. This includes a set of five Commander decks and the 50-card March of the Machine: The Aftermath, which will wrap this game's current story up, and show how it will change forever.

March of the Machine will hit the Magic: The Gathering fanbase on April 21, 2023, with pre-release events taking place between April 14 and April 2.

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