March Of The Machine drops April 21 – only two months after Phyrexia: All Will Be One dropped – and it marks the end of the Phyrexian storyline and a transition to a new story arc (after a quick detour to Middle-earth). We had the opportunity to open a few packs ahead of the set's official full reveal, and we have a few thoughts about this set and all of the hidden goodies it contains.

For this piece, I received:

• A Set Bundle containing eight Set Booster packs
• 1 additional Set Booster pack
• 3 Draft Booster packs
• 3 Collector Booster packs
• 2 pre-constructed Commander decks
• Diving Convocation
• Tinker Time

See the full unboxing video below, and read on for those reactions:

Multiverse Legends

Contained within the full March Of The Machine set is a small 65-card subset called Multiverse Legends. These cards come in multiple different formats, but each of them features notable legendary creatures from across Magic: The Gathering's storied history. I love not only the idea but also the implementation of this subset, for two key reasons.

First, you're guaranteed at least one Multiverse Legend in every Draft and Set booster pack you open. They appear in Uncommon, Rare, and Mythic rarities, so you may open multiple copies of the same card in a booster box, but the fact there's one in every pack is super cool.

More importantly, for a newer player like myself, this gives me a real chance to own some heavy-hitting creatures from Magic's past. My pulls included Aurelia, The Warleader from the Gatecrash set – which debuted in 2013 – and Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon (which the community called "Skittles"), which hails from 2010's Scars of Mirrodin set. Granted, both have been recently reprinted, with Aurelia featuring in Double Masters 2022 and Skittles finding a spot on The List, but chances to secure one or both seem higher thanks to Multiverse Legends.

The List

Speaking of The List, we're told by the official Magic: The Gathering website that this set-within-a-set of around 300 cards is meant to appear in approximately 25% of all Set Booster packs created. 

However, while opening the samples in the video above, I had a hit from The List in eight of the nine Set Boosters. These weren't weak cards either; the mythic rare Scion of Draco from Modern Horizons 2, rares from sets as far back as Mercadian Masques, and a few others. 

89% of packs having a List card is an astounding rate, especially considering the advertised rate is merely 25%, and it makes me wonder if The List will feature more prominently in March Of The Machine. I did reach out to WOTC for comment, and they say this was an anomaly, but we shall see when the set releases in full. 

The set is just interesting

Between the "Booster Fun" variant cards in March Of The Machine and the Multiverse Legends cards, the contents of this set may be one of the flashiest ever created. The amount of cards featuring some sort of special art or frame is astounding, easily higher than previous sets, and that makes opening every pack its own unique experience.

This even applies to the preconstructed Commander decks, with each one including a "Collector Booster Sample'' pack. In both of the preconstructed decks I received, the sample pack included one card from March Of The Machine and one from Multiverse Legends. Each of those four cards featured a unique format, whether it was an ordinary foil or a special frame like the Strixhaven Mystical Archive miniset. 

The variety in card formats dotted throughout this set could be a huge boon to those who draft with Draft Boosters or collect the cards via Set Boosters. Opening pack after pack can get tiresome after a while, but with all of the colors and reflections and frames these cards can possess, there's a feeling of "you never know what you're going to get" every time a pack is cracked. I hope Wizards Of The Coast continues to incorporate variety like this, as we predict players will take to it very quickly. 

The full schedule for March Of The Machine's launch month is below:

• In-Store Prerelease Events: April 14–20, 2023
• MTG Arena and Magic Online Digital Release: April 18, 2023
• Global Tabletop Release: April 21, 2023
• In-Store Launch Party Events: April 21–23, 2023

Full Disclosure: Product was sent by Wizards of the Coast PR for the purposes of this unboxing.