Everything You Need to Know About Planechase in March of the Machine

Ignacio (Iñaki) April 14, 2023 Collecting, Commander, MTG Products

Last updated on February 8, 2024

The Golden City of Orazca | Illustration by Alayna Danner

Magic has always had an underlying level of roleplaying to it. Players are planeswalkers who can conjure creatures and spells from the various planes they’ve been to, wielding the powers of the Multiverse.

It should be no surprise that we’d actually have some in-game ways to represent that ability to traverse the planes. Planechase is a game format introduced back in 2009 that basically works as an expansion to other formats, giving them the extra interaction of planeswalking. It’s done through an additional deck of planar cards.

March of the Machine’s Commander decks use planar cards to represent the story behind this set, with the Phyrexians running rampant through the Multiverse and planeswalkers trying to stop them. Let's get past the 63 March of the Machine Commanders and take a look at March of the Machine’s Planechase cards, and what they do!

Table of Contents show

What Is Planechase?

Hedron Fields of Agadeem | Illustration by Vincent Proce

Planechase is a game variant that emphasizes your role as a planeswalker. The game mode uses oversized planar cards that represent specific places within a plane.

Plane cards all have global abilities that affect all players, and they're usually tied to that place's characteristics. For example, the Grixis card greatly benefits blue, red, and black, and it does so through an ability specifically related to the Grixis shard in Alara. The same applies to all the different Plane cards.

This game mode also uses a planar die. This die has four blank faces, one with a chaos symbol, and one with a planeswalker one. You can roll the planar die during your turn and any time you could cast a sorcery. The first roll is free, and each next roll costs one extra mana. The first roll costs 0, the second costs 1, the third costs 2, and so on.

If the roll falls on the planeswalker symbol you simply planeswalk away onto the next plane. If it lands on the chaos one, chaos ensues and the current plane's chaos ability (the second ability on the card) activates.

Let's also not forget about phenomenon cards. These cards are mixed in your planar deck and have sorcery-like effects directly tied to Planechase. They activate, causing an effect, and then you simply move on to the next plane.

Planechase rules technically say each player must have a 10-card planar deck of their own, and each time someone planeswalks away they play cards from their own planar deck. However, this isn’t how the variant is usually played. More often than not, you’ll find that players simply mix all of the decks together to create a common planar deck for everyone to use. I personally prefer that second option because it’s more fun and also brings forward the game-style’s randomness and chaos. Alternatively, you could draft the planar cards in your Commander pod.

Planechase was first introduced in 2009 and got some additional support in 2012. It makes sense that a multiverse-spanning, planes-threatening event should be the moment to get a new installment for it.

Planechase is also pretty notable for showing a bunch of planes we don’t know too much about yet, which opens up tons of possibilities for future sets. It also actually introduced Kaldheim way back in 2009 through the Skybreen card, and there’s also a Immersturm plane card that places it on Valla, although it was later retconned onto Kaldheim.

Some planes introduced in Planechase have also served as prototypes for planes we’ve already visited, like Mongseng which is now Tarkir, or Arkhos which eventually turned into Theros.

How Many Planechase Cards Are in MOM Commander?

There’s a total of 50 Planechase cards in March of the Machine Commander. 45 of those cards are plane cards while only five are phenomenon ones (phenomena?). Each Commander deck comes with an extra Planechase deck consisting of 10 cards. Five new planes, four reprints from previous Planechase iterations, and a single phenomenon card.

March of the Machine Planechase Full Card List

Planes

Phenomenons

Where Can You Open MOM Planechase Cards?

March of the Machine Commander precon bundle

You can find the MOM Planechase cards in March of the Machine Commander’s precon decks. Each deck brings an additional Planechase deck consisting of 10 cards: five new plane cards, four plane reprints, and a single phenomenon.

Magic: The Gathering March of the Machine Commander Deck Bundle – 5 Deck Set

Bundle of all 5 March of the Machine Commander Decks, with 1 Growing Threat, 1 Cavalry Charge, 1 Call for Backup, 1 Divine Convocation, and 1 Tinker Time
Each deck set contains a 100-card ready-to-play deck (2 Traditional Foil + 98 nonfoil cards), plus 10 Planechase cards and 1 planar die to trigger unique abilities and jump across the Multiverse
2-card Collector Booster Sample Packs—each deck comes with a sample pack containing 2 special treatment cards from the March of the Machine main set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
Introducing 50 never-before-seen MTG cards to Commander—10 in each deck
Accessories included with each deck—1 Foil-Etched Display Commander, 10 double-sided tokens, Life Tracker, and deck box

How Many MOM Planechase Cards Are in Each Pack?

Planechase cards can only be found as an addition to Commander precons, where you’ll find a 10-card Planechase deck. You won’t be opening any Planechase cards in MOM boosters, especially since Planechase cards are oversized and simply wouldn’t fit in a regular booster.

Are MOM Planechase Cards Legal?

Planechase is a whole different game-style of its own. Planechase cards aren’t legal in any format that isn’t Planechase since they’re oversized, have a different back, and aren’t regular Magic cards.

You can technically turn any format into Planechase as long as the involved players agree to it. Planechase rules aren’t contradictory to the specificities of formats like Standard, Modern, or Commander. Considering this game mode can make games last a bit longer and usually forces you to pay attention to some extra things, Commander is the ideal format for Planechase.

Planeswalking Away

Planewide Disaster | Illustration by Dave Kendall

That’s all about Planechase! I personally like it a lot as a game variant. It adds an extra level of interaction and possibilities without being too pervasive, and it can cause all kinds of hijinks.

And don’t tell Wizards about this, but if you’re like me and don’t want to spend a ton of money you don’t have on planar cards that you’ll only use once in a blue moon, there are sites and apps designed to play Planechase for free. This also allows you to try the format out for free to see if you actually like it before buying any cards.

But enough about what I think. Do you like Planechase? Did you know what it was before the MOM spoilers? What’s your favorite plane? Which plane do you think deserves a card? Which of the planes from Planechase cards that we haven’t seen yet would you like to see next? Leave a comment down below and let me know! And while you're at it, why not pay our Discord a visit? There you can join an amazing community of MTG fans and players.

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!

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Ignacio (Iñaki)

Iñaki has loved collecting Magic cards going all the way back to the age of 8. Since 2011, he's been a casual player, focusing mainly on Standard and EDH. He's a clear Vorthos and big fan of the lore of the Magic universe. When he's not writing, he's probably avoiding college homework by playing Arena or trying to come up with some absurd Commander deck idea.