Rankings for All 4 March of the Machine Planeswalkers

Last updated on February 19, 2024

Chandra, Hope's Beacon | Illustration by Randy Vargas

It seems like these new sets just keep popping up. Most of us are looking for the bomb cards, the meta-breakers, and the hidden gems when it comes to the new sets. But no matter how you feel about them, planeswalkers are always going to make some sort of splash in all formats.

As the Phyrexian armies swarm the planes, who are going to be our heroes? March of the Machine will feature several planeswalkers as well as many legendary creatures teaming up to defend the planes. So how will these planeswalkers affect your future builds, or sanity in matches? Let’s take a look and rank all the planeswalkers from March of the Machine!

How Many Planeswalkers Are There in March of the Machine?

Wrenn and Realmbreaker | Illustration by Cristi Balanescu

There are four planeswalkers in March of the Machine. They range from mana ramps, amplifiers, and even some tribal support. They span every color except black with one dual-color ‘walker.

The four planeswalkers defending the realms compare to the 10 planeswalkers from All Will Be One that charged into New Phyrexia. This set has no compleated planeswalkers like the last set, but rather the planeswalkers that provide the last hope for the multiverse.

#4. Invasion of New Phyrexia / Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir

We finally get to see what the battle card type that was teased by Atraxa, Grand Unifier is! You attach a battle to a player and can direct damage to the siege with combat and spells. Once the siege's defense counter hits zero, the card transforms. Invasion of New Phyrexia, in this case, transforms into Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir after being dealt six damage.

As far as Teferi planeswalkers go, I think Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir is on the lower value side. The first loyalty ability allows you to gain some draw advantage but doesn't control the battlefield like other Teferis do. The middle ability is wonderful for knight tribal decks and to accompany the Knight tokens you made with Invasion of New Phyrexia, but not for too many other strategies. The final loyalty ability is cheap and can be activated when Teferi enters, but it's underwhelming. You have to tap a ton of creatures to put a permanent back into its controller's library, not even to destroy it.

Invasion of New Phyrexia is a wonderful siege card, but Teferi Akosa of Zhalfir is just an okay planeswalker.

#3. Archangel Elspeth

She’s back! Elspeth faded into the blind eternities with The Filigree Sylex, and now she has returned in a glorious angelic form.

Archangel Elspeth is going to be a great white and angel deck addition. You get some token creation and counter distribution with the loyalty abilities. The -2 loyalty ability also can give a creature an angel creature type to help with tribal combos. The final loyalty ability is fantastic for so many mono-white and aggro decks. This ability will fit so well into the white Standard meta at the moment, and of course formats with even more small permanent legality.

With the curve-friendly mana value, relative closeness to the starting loyalty, and the -6 final loyalty ability, Archangel Elspeth is going to be instantly startable.

#2. Wrenn and Realmbreaker

Wrenn and Realmbreaker is about to “attach” itself to a lot of formats.

You fix all your mana color problems for three mana, and get some decent loyalty abilities. You can turn lands into aggressive creatures and return a permanent from the graveyard to your hand. These are decent abilities that can be used well in so many green decks. The final loyalty ability allows you to cast lands and permanents from your graveyard.

I believe that the super low cost and static mana-fixing ability alone will make this card a new stud in so many formats.

#1. Chandra, Hope’s Beacon

Whenever a planeswalker has a static ability, it usually takes that planeswalker to a new level. Chandra, Hope's Beacon has such a static ability.

You can copy an instant or sorcery you play once each turn. This static ability alone has so much value in tons of decks that could use a permanent that copies spells. The loyalty abilities also are great. You can gain a good number of loyalty points while also gaining mana, or running through the top of your deck to get what you need. The final loyalty ability allows you to deal X damage to up to two targets.

Chandra, Hope's Beacon will be able to fit into instant and sorcery control decks nicely. This isn't an aggressive planeswalker, but rather a control and strike-hard one.

Wrap Up

Archangel Elspeth | Illustration by Denys Tsiperko

A lot of our favorite planeswalkers were compleated by the devious armies of Elesh Norn. Now it’s up to the legendary creatures, elder creatures, gods, and few remaining planeswalkers to defend the Multiverse. MOM‘s story aside, this set gives us four planeswalkers that can do wonders for your builds depending on what you need.

I know for certain that we could all argue about where these planeswalkers should rank in relation to each other until we run out of breath. How would you rank these four planeswalkers? Do you think Teferi deserves more credit, or maybe Chandra isn't as good as she seems? Let me know in the comments below, or join the discussion over in the Draftsim Discord.

Resist the invasion tree, and defend your builds!