Magic: The Gathering's March of the Machine Commander decks contain new and classic Planechase cards

Magic: The Gathering's creators made several announcements concerning the March of the Machine expansion. It will arrive in April 2023 with some truly powerful cards that will be available for players across both Commander and Standard formats. However, the first one is getting a little something extra.

It also was confirmed this weekend that Planechase, a classic multiplayer mode, is coming back to Magic: The Gathering and will be part of the expansion. Each of March of the Machine's Commander decks will contain 10 Planechase cards, five new and five classic reprints. Here’s what is known about these items and the classic mode.

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Classic Planechase game mode revived in Magic: The Gathering’s March of the Machine expansion

Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming March of the Machine expansion will feature five new Commander decks. Each of them will feature 10 Planechase cards, a planar die, and a Collector Booster Sample Pack.

The five Commander decks for Magic: The Gathering's March of the Machine (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

All five deck names and color breakdowns

• Call for Backup (Red/Green/White)
• Cavalry Charge (White/Blue/Black)
• Divine Convocation (Blue/Red/White)
• Growing Threat (White/Black)
• Tinker Time (Green/Blue/Red)

Planechase was initially released as an additional set for Magic: The Gathering back in 2009 and included four “game packs.” Each of these had 10 oversized planar cards, a planar die, and a 60-card deck. The various planes (self-contained worlds or universes) that the game's expansions feature were in MTG’s lore, and bringing the mode back for March of the Machine makes sense.

When it's a player's turn in Planechase, they can roll the planar die each time they use sorcery. The first move is free, and each subsequent one costs 1 Mana Colorless more than the previous roll. If you get the Planeswalker symbol, the current plane's owner puts their card at the Planar deck's bottom. Whoever rolled the die uses the new plane in play.

Each plane has a Chaos ability that is triggered by rolling the die's Chaos side. Using it is an exciting way to play Magic: The Gathering, and especially Commander.

The three cards presented below are going to be among the MTG planar cards.

Isle of Vesuva, Spatial Merging, and Towashi in Magic: The Gathering (Image via Wizards of the Coast)

Isle of Vesuva

• Type: Plane - Dominaria
• Passive Ability: Whenever a non-token creature enters the battlefield, its controller creates a token that’s a copy of that entity.
• Chaos ability: Whenever Chaos ensues, destroy the target creature and all other entities with the same name as that beast.

Spatial Merging

• Type: Phenomenon
• Ability: When you encounter Spatial Merging, reveal cards from the top of your planar deck until you present two plane cards. Simultaneously. Planeswalk to both of them. Put all other cards revealed this way on the bottom of your planar deck in any order.

Towashi

• Type: Plane - Kamigawa
• Passive Ability: Modified creatures you control have Trample and “Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player or Planeswalker, draw a card.” (Equipment, Auras you control, and counters are modifications)
• Chaos Ability: Whenever Chaos ensues, distribute three +1/+1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures you control.

Not all planar cards are planes, as you can see. MTG's casual game mode also had special items that acted like sorceries or instants that would be triggered when they were Planeshifted to. It seems this trend will continue in March of the Machine. The expansion will take fans to familiar settings as well, such as Kamigawa.

Players can look forward to the new Commander decks on April 21, 2023, when March of the Machine arrives in Magic: The Gathering for tabletop players.