While it can often take a back seat during MTG set releases, recently, Magic: the Gathering’s story content has been front and center. This is thanks to the still ongoing, throws of the Phyrexian Arc. Promising devastating consequences for Magic’s multiverse, within this arc, players have seen both beloved characters and iconic villains die. Unfortunately, however, while these details made many story episodes tantalizing reads, Wizards’ storytelling hasn’t always been entirely perfect. For many players, this was especially evident during March of the Machine, where additional story recourses were seemingly squandered. Thankfully, however, despite the set’s story having officially finished over two weeks ago, Wizards recently released some new story-focused content. While this new story content may not be much, it’s nevertheless being heralded as an absolute delight by MTG players.
The Story So Far
Unsurprisingly, given that it’s almost the end of the Phyrexian Arc, March of the Machine’s story was hyped beyond compare. Subsequently, throughout the expanded number of story episodes, many MTG players were left sitting on the edge of their seats. Through episode after episode, Wizards built up an incredibly big finish, that promised to end the Phyrexian Arc in style. Unfortunately, however, come March 28th, many MTG players would find themselves severely disappointed as the grand finale was a tepid letdown. Rather than being 10,000 words of awesome action and gutwrenching moments, the story was over in a flash.
In the eyes of many players, this was seen as Wizards squandering not just March of the Machine’s story, but the entire Phyrexian Arc. After all, having been introduced 12 years ago, players were expecting big things from the Phyrexian Praetors. In the end, however, these devastating villains were made to look like chumps. Vorinclex, for instance, was literally beheaded after being distracted by Shella, who called out, “Look behind you.” Admittedly, this is deeply humorous, but is it really how a Phyrexian Praetor should go out during the climactic battle?
Due to how it all went down in the end, many MTG players were understandably left severely disappointed. To try and combat this, Wizards has been assuring players things will get better during March of the Machine: The Aftermath. Being forced to wait an extra month to get a proper resolution to the story, however, hasn’t appeased many players. Thankfully, while March of the Machine: The Aftermath is still weeks away, MTG players have recently received some unexpected story content. While this new content doesn’t fix all the story’s issues, it’s nevertheless being received as a welcome delight.
Tantalizing Team-Ups
Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast released a fairly unassuming article titled “The Legendary team-ups of March of the Machine.” Considering each of these cards has been spoiled for over a week, this article understandably immediately didn’t garner much attention. After all, how much new information could it have about cards we’ve seen, analyzed, and already started to brew with? The answer: a surprisingly large amount, as this wasn’t just any old recap article. Instead of merely detailing the cards and their strengths, Wizards delved into the card’s lore, explaining how these team-ups came to be.
This article has thoroughly delighted MTG fans by providing expanded lore and flavor tidbits for each of the fifteen team-up cards. This happening is no surprise, considering that the majority of these characters weren’t heavily showcased during the story. For instance, there was no explanation of why the beloved pair of Yargle and Multani joined forces. That is, until now, at least, where players now know Multani was protecting Yargle from a Phyrexian oil-based stomach ache. To some, these flavor-rich details may seem inconsequential, however, as u/Negative-Parsnip1826 points out, they help fill in a lot of gaps.
“It’s crazy how much these little blurbs actually added to the story. A lot make sense, some just seem silly and some are flavor wins.” – u/Negative-Parsnip1826
Alongside providing some much-needed additional insight into the Phyrexian invasion, this team-up article also made several characters even more adorable. “I love that Fblthp’s contribution to his team up is literally to look other directions Borb can’t,” u/Norix596 remarked. Similarly, players like u/zshunterjaden loved the quick look into the relationship between Thalia and The Gitrog Monster. “The Gitrog dragging Thalia along as both a snack giver and an emergency snack is pretty perfect. It’s a real lazy frog on getting its own food.”
Flavor in the Future
Unfortunately for the numerous MTG players who absolutely adored these recent flavorful insights, it’s unclear if they’ll become commonplace. As, according to the, diminished MTG archives, this type of article has only been done once before. Subsequently, I wouldn’t hold out much hope that The Wilds of Eldraine will get a similarly flavor-rich article. To add to the disappointment, it’s also unclear if future MTG sets will receive more than ten story episodes.
While this news may be understandably disappointing to some, there is still plenty to look forward to. Namely, March of the Machine: The Aftermath, which launches in a few weeks. As we mentioned before, this follow-up mini-set may not fix all the Phyrexian Arc’s problems, however, it should nevertheless showcase the war’s consequences. How good it will be at doing just that, however, remains to be seen.
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