The March of the Machine story has hit its critical turning point! Elesh Norn’s dominance has started to waver after the appearance of an unexpected hero. Things have begun snowballing for our heroes, leading to the reveal of a new Planeswalker appearing in March of the Machine. Any three-mana Planeswalker will grab the attention of the MTG community, partially thanks to the dominance of Liliana of the Veil and Oko, Thief of Crowns in the past. Thankfully, this Planeswalker doesn’t look like it will be on the level that those were, but the card does look very playable! Like our last Planeswalker spoiler, even discussing this Planeswalker will reveal major story spoilers. As such, consider this your spoiler warning. If you want to read the March of the Machine story for yourself, you can do so here.
Wrenn and Realmbreaker
Following an incredible last-moment effort made possible by Archangel Elspeth‘s sudden appearance, Wrenn has successfully merged with her eighth tree. Still, the tree itself has a name known throughout the Multiverse, hence the new card Wrenn and Realmbreaker.
This three-mana Planeswalker looks pretty strong and has a static ability that (somewhat) calls back to Wrenn’s absurd Modern legal counterpart. That Planeswalker is fantastic for fixing mana, and this Planeswalker, while only being able to do so while still alive, makes it so you can tap lands for any color of mana. This could be huge for five color strategies in Standard. The card should alternatively be quite good in Commander for the same reason.
Wrenn’s plus one is interesting but won’t have a place in every deck. Unlike cards like Archangel Elspeth that create token creatures, Wrenn can’t keep turning lands into 3/3 creatures. The effect this ability provides only lasts until your next turn. While this allows Wrenn to create a very difficult blocker to remove, it can only create one at a time. Wrenn and Realmbreaker also are not untapping any lands, which is rather common for abilities like this on Planeswalkers.
Wrenn’s minus ability is fine but can be used as a wheel-spinning effect to load your graveyard for a larger payoff. With that in mind, Wrenn’s ability becomes a lot better. That said, as long as you’re playing powerful permanent payoffs, Wrenn being able to fix your mana and recur major threats is enough of a reason to play her in some decks. Reanimator decks in Standard, for example, can recycle Cruelty of Gix while using Wrenn to try and hit a payoff for the card’s third chapter like Atraxa, Grand Unifier.
Like Wrenn and Six’s Ultimate, while this Ultimate is beatable, it is incredibly difficult to win a game after it gets resolved (assuming it gets resolved against you). Wrenn and Six’s Ultimate is probably a bit stronger since you can Retrace counterspells, but this Ultimate should make it so you never run out of gas, which is tough to beat.
One aspect that many may overlook is that this Wrenn comes down with a ton of Loyalty. If you have an untapped land, this Wrenn can immediately uptick to five Loyalty and create a tough blocker to interact with. While this should easily see some Commander play, many aren’t sure if it will impact competitive play. That said, many players do believe this card will, at minimum, see some Standard play.
Read More: MTG Designer’s Mistake Seemingly Confirms Upcoming Mechanic!
Why Isn’t Wrenn Compleated?
Since the Realmbreaker, renamed the Invasion Tree for the Phyrexian’s purposes, is Elesh Norn’s mass weapon of destruction, it may be a bit confusing to some that Wrenn and Realmbreaker isn’t a Compleated Planeswalker. I will now quickly remind readers that this section is going to have significant story spoilers since that is precisely what we are discussing.
Long story short, Wrenn used her fire to keep the Phyrexian Oil that infected Realmbreaker at bay while she made a connection with the original tree. She seemed to pay for this with her life but, in doing so, she found the lost plane of Zhalfir, where Teferi ended up after his pilgrimage to the past that occurred during The Brothers’ War, and allowed Teferi to fight the Phyrexian force with the Zhalfirian army.
As pointed out by Redditor Xichorn, “Melira did do something to Wrenn before Wrenn bonded with Realmbreaker. Assume she gave her some degree of immunity to the oil, since that’s Merlira’s thing.” Wrenn’s ability to use fire seemed to be able to keep the oil at bay, but Melira’s assistance may have also helped Wrenn’s mind not be taken over in her early stages of trying to communicate with Realmbreaker. Wrenn’s ability to purge any tree she pairs with of infection is reiterated in some Reddit commentary:
“Which means that Realmbreaker itself was never really infected…..or Wrenn can just purge the impurities out of any tree she partners with.
If it’s the former, then there’s a lot of different things that could imply.
EDIT: I JUST SAW THE SUMMARY FOR THE NEWEST CHAPTER! ZHALFIR OVERLAY, BABY! ITS THE LATTER OPTION AND I AM LOVING IT!!!”
NayrianKnight97
Many Anticipate That This Wrenn Will Be Expensive
MTG players are pretty impressed with this Wrenn and Realmbreaker Planeswalker. The card is able to create reliable protection with its plus ability, has a fantastic static ability, and has two minus abilities that should be able to impact the game in relevant ways:
“3 mana? Check
Good static ability? Check
Good for constructed? Check
Good for EDH? Check
What we have here is going to be one expensive walker”
150crawfish
While the card may not impact constructed MTG as heavily as everyone thinks it will, I think it will find a home somewhere. Wrenn’s inability to create a massive board presence on its own or generate meaningful advantage without using minus abilities may hold it back a bit, but there is much to be excited about.
Read More: MTG March of the Machine Key Planeswalker Card Spoiled!
