MTG March of the Machine Standard Battle Decklist, Strategy

Magic: The Gathering's newest set, March of the Machine, arrived on digital platforms this Tuesday. Now that the set has been on MTG Arena for a few days, players have had some time to experiment with new cards and form new strategies, including those surrounding the new Battle card type. Here's a Standard deck that uses Battles extensively.

Battles are a brand-new card type that were added to Magic with the release of March of the Machine. The current crop of Battles, with the subtype Siege, enter the battlefield under the protection of an opponent. When the Battle is defeated by removing all of its defense counters, it's controller gets an additional bonus in the form of a free spell.

MTG March of the Machine Standard Battle Decklist: Battles, Creatures, Instants

Strategy: Part 1

The most important cards in this Jund (Black, Red, Green) deck are the Battles. There are 18 of them in all, which seems ill-advised given the lack of Creatures in the deck to defeat them, but this deck features a number of ways to flip Battles outside of combat. Invasion of Regatha, for example, can deal four damage to another Battle when it enters the battlefield, as well as remove a one toughness creature. Invasion of Azgol and Invasion of Innistrad can be used to remove enemy Creatures, while Invasion of Fiora can annihilate the whole battlefield. Lastly, Invasion of Ixalan can be used to look for a new Battle or a needed land, while also providing a powerful creature on its flip side.

Glissa Sunslayer is a great Creature for this deck. Her abilities of First Strike and Deathtouch mean she can never be harmed by other Creatures in combat unless they too have First Strike, and whenever she strikes an opponent she can activate a variety of abilities, including removing three counters from any permanent, such as a Battle.

Portent Tracker isn't a very flashy Creature but he can be used to produce mana by untapping lands, as well as interact with Battles. Lightning Strike is a useful damage spell that can be used to defeat a Battle at instant speed, remove an opposing Creature or simply defeat an opponent directly.

MTG March of the Machine Standard Battle Decklist: Lands, Sorceries

Strategy: Part 2

Render Inert and Nahiri's Warcrafting are critical to this deck. These can remove five Defense counters from a Battle - note that none of the ones included in this deck have more than that amount. Nahiri's Warcrafting can also be used to remove an opposing Creature or Planeswalker or even set up the casting of an additional spell. Render Inert replaces itself and can also be used to remove Planeswalkers and other detrimental counters.

Lastly, because this is a three-color deck, it uses many Rare lands, which may prove difficult to acquire for free-to-play players. These two- and three-color lands allow you to cast spells on time every turn. Players who don't have access to these lands may substitute them with cards like Evolving Wilds, but these will slow the deck down somewhat.

Overall, Battles add a new dimension to the game and this deck uses them in a novel, yet competitive way.