[Update]: MTG Arena's March of the Machine expansion has now arrived with a new card type, improved duplicate protection, and the ability to select your favorite card style!
Shadows Over Innistrad Remastered has only just arrived, and already the MTG Arena team is getting ready to unleash another massive batch of new cards for us to play around with. These will be a bit special, however, as once March of the Machine arrives this April 18th it'll bring with it a brand new card type - Battle!
The way the new card type works is surprisingly simple. Each Battle enters play with a certain number of counters on it, sort of like a planeswalker card. In order to obtain the powerful effects found on the flip side of each Battle, you'll need to reduce those counters to zero through either damage or certain types of spells. Notably, destroying Battles directly will not flip them - you need to remove all of the counters to get to the goodies.
Here's an example of one of them, showing off both the default front side and the reward you get for removing all of the counters and flipping the Battle:
Naturally, not all of the Battles are as powerful as this one, but they sure do bring with them some interesting conundrums to mull over. For example, is it worth 'wasting' damage in order to flip a Battle card, or should you just smash the opponent in the face? Similarly, is it worth trying to prevent an opponent from flipping their Battle, or is it better to let them overextend and then counterattack? It's quite tricky, even if the mechanics behind it all are fairly simple.
As an additional little bonus, March of the Machine will also bring with it a Mystical Archives inspired batch of bonus cards. These will consist of a wide variety of popular legendary creatures from across the multiverse, so if you're a fan of Commander or Historic Brawl, there should be a whole lot of fun stuff for you to brew around.
You can check out the list of currently revealed Multiverse Legends cards over at the MTG website. Similarly, if you're interested in all of the March of the Machine cards revealed so far, you'll find what you seek at the official card gallery, all neatly sorted by color.
Have fun thinking up ways to completely and utterly break Battles, and I'll leave you with the cinematic trailer. Enjoy!
