All 5 Green Battles in Magic Ranked

Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria | Illustration by Antonio José Manzanedo

We’ve entered the post-March of the Machine world, and Wilds of Eldraine has shown us what that plane looks like after The Aftermath. But MOM brought something new that I’m curious to see return: battles.

So far, they’ve all been plane-wide invasions, so what are future battles going to look like? Large scale conflicts, or will we get smaller encounters too?

I don’t have a crystal ball, so let’s focus on what we’ve got now. Of the 36 battles in Magic, five are mono-green. How do they stack up against each other, and which ones are the most useful overall?

Suit up! We’re surveying what green battles can do for you!

What Are Green Battles in MTG?

Invasion of Ixalan | Illustration by Viktor Titov

Green battles are mono-green permanents with the battle card type, all of which currently have the siege subtype. Battles were introduced in 2023 with March of the Machine. There are multicolor battles that have green in their mana cost, but I’m targeting mono-green battles today.

All battles have an ability that triggers when they enter the battlefield. With one exception, green battles’ ETB abilities let you search your library and/or graveyard for a permanent or permanent type.

When a siege enters the battlefield, you choose an opponent to protect the battle. The wording is important: the person who cast the battle still owns it and controls it even though another player is defending it.

Battles enter with “defense counters” on them. Just like with planeswalkers, players can attack battles during their attack phase, and the defending player may choose to block those attacks. Damage done to battles removes the same number of defense counters; when there are no defense counters left, the battle’s controller exiles it and casts it transformed.

With one exception, all green battles transform into a creature with at least 4 power and 3 toughness.

#5. Invasion of Muraganda / Primordial Plasm

The black sheep among green battle ETBs. Invasion of Muraganda starts off as a 5-mana French vanilla fight spell (because it gives your creature a +1/+1 counter). That’s a bad start. 6 defense counters is also a lot to remove. So, what’s the payoff?

Primordial Plasm. I’m not even sure if I’d run this in a dedicated ooze deck. I might. Ask me again in a few months. Its combat phase trigger makes me do the McKayla Maroney face. +2/+2, but it loses all abilities. I could see myself targeting my own creature. I could see myself target a problematic blocker. But overall, I feel the cost is too high, it takes too long to transform, and the payoff is mediocre.

#4. Invasion of Ixalan / Belligerent Regisaur

Invasion of Ixalan lets you pull a permanent from the top five cards of your library when it enters the battlefield. Not bad, since you aren’t restricted to creatures, lands, or (gods forbid) another battle. You send the other cards to the bottom of your deck, but my graveyard-player biases wish they went to that zone instead.

Belligerent Regisaur gets indestructible until end of turn whenever you cast a spell, which probably explains why the other 4 cards wind up on the bottom of your library. I don’t hate a 4/3 trampling dinosaur, although this is the lowest toughness you get out of a green transformed battle. It dies to an un-bargained Candy Grapple, so I’m a bit less enthused.

#3. Invasion of Zendikar / Awakened Skyclave

Four mana to put two tapped lands onto the battlefield from your library sounds about right. Invasion of Zendikar won’t disappoint you with its ETB, that’s for sure.

Take off those 3 defense counters and you’ll wind up with a 4/4 elemental that’s also a land on the battlefield. Awakened Skyclave’s vigilance is nice since you can attack with it then use it for mana during your post-combat main phase.

#2. Invasion of Shandalar / Leyline Surge

I appreciate optional rules text very much, so thank you Invasion of Shandalar. You can choose up to three permanents when it ETBs, so you won’t force yourself into a discard situation if your hand is already full or close to it. And it won’t force you to grab a permanent that you’d rather leave in there, either.

Leyline Surge is where the fun truly starts. Its upkeep trigger is so versatile. Are you dropping more lands for landfall triggers? Aiming for creaturefall synergies? Or just cheating out something massive like a Blightsteel Colossus?

#1. Invasion of Ikoria / Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria

Invasion of Ikoria’s ETB is pretty much as flexible as it can be. You can search your library or your graveyard, and its X spell nature lets you pay what you have or pay what you want. You can’t grab a land though, so this is a creature-focused play.

Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria gives you some very interesting choices during combat. It’s all-or-nothing. That means that you can have Zilortha or another attacker kill the chump blocker in front of it or assign damage to whatever it’s attacking, be that a player, planeswalker, or battle. I guess that helps when you’ve got beefy non-humans that don’t have trample. Or if you want to get in all that commander damage, like with Etali, Primal Conqueror/Etali, Primal Sickness.

Best Green Battle Payoffs

As of the release of Wilds of Eldraine, there aren’t a lot of payoffs for running battles in your deck, much less green ones. March of the Machine is the only set so far that deals with battles, so you’re pretty much limited to that set.

Begin the Invasion lets you pull as many battles as you can pay for out of your library. Truga Cliffcharger, the transformed side of Invasion of Ergamon, lets you search for a land or another battle. Flitting Guerilla can go to exile to let you bring a creature or battle back from your graveyard to the top of your library, and Halo-Charged Skaab is very similar.

Battles are an additional permanent or card type for effects that count them, like delirium or how Consuming Blob counts the card types in your graveyard. It’s an extra permanent type to cast from your graveyard with Muldrotha, the Gravetide too.

Battles also count toward devotion, so Invasion of Ikoria gives you two green pips for that mono-green devotion deck of yours.

As a player defending a battle, though, proliferation can be your friend if you really don’t want your opponent to transform their battle.

Wrap Up

Invasion of Zendikar | Illustration by Diego Gisbert

I’m curious where this permanent type is going to go in the future. Will battles all be called “Invasion of Somewhere”? Will “siege” be the only subtype for them? Or are we going to get skirmishes, face-offs, or clashes? Wait, I think one of those is already a thing….

My bet is that the next multiversal crossover event is the best place to bring them back. Ditch “Invasion” and come up with a new cycle formula or story gimmick. Coordinated assassinations across the multiverse, or something.

In which decks and formats do you use your green battles? Do you want to see more battles in the future, or did you have enough with MOM? Let me know in the comments below or over on Draftsim’s Discord!

Thanks for reading, and may the gods watch over your battles!