Planechase returns with new MTG Commander decks

Magic: The Gathering is a vast game with many ways to play, including different game modes within the same format! The MTG new Commander decks for March of the Machine bring back a super fun mechanic not seen in more than a decade – Planechase. Flavourfully perfect for a set all about a war that stretches across the multiverse, the new Planechase cards are sure to make the latest release some of the most fun Commander decks MTG has printed… so long as you don’t mind a little chaos?  

What is Planechase?

The idea of Planechase is to bring the concept of players being Planeswalkers to life with an additional game mode to play alongside your MTG Commander Decks. You’ll travel to different planes as you take turns, each interacting with the game in weird, wonderful, and unforeseen ways – tipping the balance in your favour, or conspiring against you.

Included with the March of the Machines commander decks are oversized ‘plane’ cards, featuring one of the game’s iconic locations and planes (e.g. Jund, on Alara). Each player brings a deck of 10 planes cards to the game, they get shuffled, and the first player reveals the starting plane from the deck. Some players play with individual planar decks, but the more common version is that all cards get shuffled together for a shared pile – adding to the chaos!

Most plane cards have some kind of static ability that impacts the game (e.g. creatures gain devour in the case of Jund, or artifacts cost less to cast for Esper). The way players interact with the planes cards is via planar dice – a special die with the four black faces, a Planeswalker symbol, and a ‘Chaos’ symbol. Each turn, as a sorcery, the active player may roll the die. The first roll is free, but each roll after that in a turn costs one additional mana. If you hit the Planeswalker symbol, then you replace the top card with the next place as you planeswalk away. If you hit the Chaos symbol, then ‘Chaos Ensues’, with each plane having an ability which triggers when that happens. Sometimes you’ll be happy with you are, while others you’ll sink all your mana in just to escape!

Within the planes cards are also ‘phenomenon’ – strange things you encounter while planeswalking – which act like sorceries with a one-time effect, and then you move onto the next plane.  

Quite simply, Planechase adds a different dimension to Commander. Games can become a little more chaotic and take longer, but it’s wildly fun and a unique experience that fits perfectly with a set focused on traveling to multiple planes. Even if you’re not into the Planechase cards, you don’t have to use them – they are just a bonus that don’t impact the core MTG Commander decks at all if you want a regular game.

The new Commander decks and Planechase highlights

The MTG new Commander decks are this year’s big Commander deck offer, featuring the the usual set-related pre-cons we’ve come to love, but all also featuring 10 Planechase cards – five are new planes, four are reprinted planes from previous Planechase sets, and one is a phenomenon. Each deck also includes a planar die.

For fans of Planechase, the great news is that you’ve brand new plane cards to add to your deck. For new players, this is the perfect way to purchase a deck that’s ready to play, but also gets you started with Planechase – giving you the option to play that mode, or not. It’s up to you!

Each March of the Machine (Commander 2023) deck contains:

100-card ready-to-play commander deck (including 2 foil commanders)

• 10 Planechase cards
• 10 double-sided tokens
• 1 sample Collector booster sample pack
• 1 foil-etched display commander
• 1 life tracker
• 1 planar die

The decks look like some of the most fun commander decks MTG has released. A summary – and supporting Planechase highlights – are as follows:

Call for Backup

Call for Backup is a Naya deck based around March of the Machine’s new Backup mechanic and stacking +1/+1 counters on creatures to make huge threats thanks to the likes of Kalonian Hydra. Among its Planechase cards are the hard-hitting Jund, Bloodhill Bastion and Megaflora Jungle, helping those big creatures punch even harder.

Cavalry Charge

Cavalry Charge is the tribal deck of this release; Esper coloured with a focus on knights, giving the tribe new tools in blue to play along with classics like Knight Exemplar. Make your knights potent threats, and charge! Planechase cards include Littjara, Sokenzan, and Turri Island, all helping the creature-heavy tribal theme.

Growing Threat

Feeling like you want to embrace the dark side? Growing Threat focuses on what the bad guys are doing; those evil metallic Phyrexians, compleating the good guys and spreading their Incubator tokens. The black and white deck combines incubate, Phyrexian tribal, artifact payoff and a little reanimator. Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos helps tie it all together at the helm, while Esper is the perfect plane card to help drop those artifacts ahead of schedule.

Divine Convocation

Divine Convocation is a Jeskai convoke focused deck, looking to drop cheap and token creatures to power out powerful spells, along with some ‘tapping’ synergies that work perfectly with convoke. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion and Skullclamp are among the powerhouses that help add creatures or turn them into cards, while Gavony is a perfect plane card; allowing you to attack and still convoke after! Krosa too helps support the token theme.

Tinker Time

Tinker Time is a Temur artifact-based deck that loves tokens – clues, gold, food, you name it! Gilded Goose, Tireless Tracker, are among the famous cards that bring different types of artifact tokens, supported by the like of Isle of Vesuva and Ghirapur add to theme excellently. Contact us for all your Magic: The Gathering needs.