March of the Machine: The Aftermath Limited Ratings
Coppercoat Vanguard
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.0
The set doesn’t have an enormous number of humans at lower rarities, but this works pretty well in the UW Knight deck, since most of the best cards for the deck happen to be humans. Even if you just have around 5, this is certainly worth playing.
Deification
AI Rating: 2.1Pro Rating: 0.0
There aren’t enough Planeswalkers in the set for this to work out. Heck, even if you are lucky enough to get one, this still isn’t worth playing just to make that one card in your deck better.
Harnessed Snubhorn
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 1.5
This has reasonable defensive stats, but this set doesn’t have so many artifacts and enchantments that you’re always going to be able to do something when it hits your opponent. Furthermore, it isn’t exactly so large that your opponent can’t do something about it when you do have something you can bring back.
Metropolis Reformer
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 3.5
A three mana ⅔ with Flying and Vigilance is already pretty nice, and that’s good — because the other two effects this has aren’t exactly amazing. Hexproof will come up on rare occasions, and this is likely to gain you a few life some of the time too.
Spark Rupture
AI Rating: 1.6Pro Rating: 0.0
In Limited, this will be a three mana cantrip 99% of the time, and that just isn’t enough to move the needle. You’ll never have or run into enough planeswalkers to make this worth it.
Tazri, Stalwart Survivor
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 3.0
This starts out with a reasonable stat-line, and there are enough activated abilities in this set that you can get some pretty good mileage out of tapping your creatures to make mana for them. It works well with Incubators, the double-faced Phyrexians, and more. Obviously, you can also use those creatures to activate Tazri’s own ability, but the set doesn’t have so many activated abilities that I love the sound of that. You’re going to wiff sometimes, and getting one card for that big of an investment isn’t going to feel great.
Filter Out
AI Rating: 0.9Pro Rating: 0.0
There aren’t enough noncreature nonlands for this to be worthwhile. Sure, you can maybe rebuy a Battle, or get rid of some incubators that haven’t transformed, but that’s too narrow.
Tolarian Contempt
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 4.0
This is a little slow, but it effectively allows you to remove one of your opponents creatures every turn, and the turn you play it, it does actually impact the board by time ebbing one of them. There will be times where your opponent’s board isn’t that concerned about this, and sometimes it will be too slow – but it also has the ability to turn the game around for you.
Training Grounds
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 0.0
Even in this set, there aren’t enough activated abilities for this to be worth it. Sure, incubators transform for free and stuff, but you’re not going to have enough of them in Blue to justify this, especially because all this does is reduce the cost of those abilities. That just isn’t worth a card.
Vesuvan Drifter
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 4.0
A three mana 2/4 Flyer is a great place to start, and the upside is pretty real. Even just having information about the top card of your library is nice, but sometimes this will be a Flying copy of a fairly formidable creature.
Ayara's Oathsworn
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 4.0
If you play this on turn two and your opponent can’t kill it, they’re probably going to lose. Menace is hard to stop in the early game, especially when the creature just keeps on growing. Things will snowball out of control in a hurry, and you’ll probably have won the game even before you get to tutor something. It does get less impressive the longer the game goes on, but a Menace creature is also at least something of a problem.
Blot Out
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 3.5
This will usually allow you to remove your opponent’s best creature, though sometimes you’ll only be able to get rid of something less important than that.
Death-Rattle Oni
AI Rating: 3.3Pro Rating: 2.5
The idea here is that you can chump block some stuff, and then flash this in for cheap and kill the things that your creatures chump blocked. When that lines up it will feel pretty great, but there are going to be times where you just can’t make that happen, or the game isn’t in the kind of state where that really works out. You can of course also use it after you attack and set up some nice situations, but overall this feels like a card that will either feel awful, or like the best card in your deck. It is too situational to be anything special.
Markov Baron
AI Rating: 1.7Pro Rating: 2.5
There aren’t a ton of vampires in this set, but there are a couple of pretty good Common ones in Black, so this will actually buff stuff a decent chunk of the time. On top of that, even if you don’t have Vampires, this seems like a passable card thanks to the Madness, Convoke, and Lifelink upside.
Urborg Scavengers
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 2.0
This is pretty tough to line up correctly. If there is a well-stocked graveyard around, you might find yourself capable of giving it a keyword ability. The problem is, you kind of have to do that, because otherwise this not the most imposing creature. If you play this before there are creatures in the graveyard it will feel particularly horrible, and by the later stages of the game, even if it can gain keyword abilities, it will matter less because your opponent will have better creatures.
Arni Metalbrow
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 3.5
These effects are never as good as they look in Limited. When you can cheat a creature into play with Arni’s effect it will feel pretty busted, but you’d be surprised how often you either don’t have the mana or the creature card to actually take advantage of it. The upside is massive, but there will be many games where this is effectively a three mana 3/3.
Kolaghan Warmonger
AI Rating: 1.8Pro Rating: 1.5
There are very few dragons in this set, especially at lower rarities. So, this will typically just be a three mana 3/2 with Haste. That’s not a terrible card, but not something that always makes the cut either.
Plargg and Nassari
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 4.5
This basically draws you an extra card every turn. Your opponent can make sure you get the worst card of the two, but you’re always going to get one spell that you can cast for free, and that’s hugely beneficial. The only downside is you have to wait a turn for this to get going.
Reckless Handling
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 0.0
Tutors tend to be pretty bad in Limited, since the average power level of the cards you can search up is fairly low, especially when it is restricted to a card type that isn’t that plentiful in the set. This does at least always do 2 to your opponent, so it isn’t entirely meaningless when you don’t have something good to grab, but its pretty close
Animist's Might
AI Rating: 3.2Pro Rating: 3.5
This is a nice removal spell for Green, and will feel especially nuts when you have a legendary to target. There are enough legendaries in the set, partly as a result of Multiverse Legends, that you will actually cast this for one mana sometimes
Leyline Immersion
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 0.0
This is expensive, risky, and incredibly narrow. That’s a bad combination in Limited. This won’t do anything most of the time, and even when you do put it on a legendary creature, you won’t have something to do with the mana a huge chunk of the time.
Nissa, Resurgent Animist
AI Rating: 5Pro Rating: 4.0
So she’s basically a bigger Lotus Cobra, something that is pretty nice in terms of fixing and ramping your mana. Triggering this twice in a turn is doable, but not a walk in the park either. If you can pull that off, that’s when Nissa will feel her strongest, since she will start drawing you creatures. You don’t even need that many Elves or Elementals for that effect to be great, since it effectively just grabs you one from your deck.
Open the Way
AI Rating: 3.6Pro Rating: 1.5
So, this is basically Explosive Vegetation, or Invasion of Zendikar. Only, you don’t have as much control over the lands you get. Ramp is definitely a thing in this format if you have the right bombs, but this is a pretty clunky way of doing it.
Tranquil Frillback
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 4.0
This three mana 3/3 comes with some pretty nice ETB options. Early it is a reasonably efficient creature, and the later the game gets, the more likely you’ll be able to both pay the mana for the effects and make use of them. Even just gaining 4 and blowing up an Incubator is going to feel good for five mana, and exiling graveyards has some meaning in this format too.
Undercity Upheaval
AI Rating: 1.4Pro Rating: 1.0
This has a very high ceiling, but it asks too much for Limited. You need to have a well-built board with lots of creatures and a graveyard stocked with creatures, and that’s some really awkward tension.
Calix, Guided by Fate
AI Rating: 4.4Pro Rating: 4.0
A three mana 2/2 that puts a +1/+1 counter somewhere is a pretty solid card, and if you have some more Enchantments around Calix can really get crazy, especially because his ability to copy Enchantments will also trigger constellation. This set isn’t the most Enchantment-heavy one ever, or he would be a bomb – as is, he’s merely very good.
Campus Renovation
AI Rating: 0.7Pro Rating: 1.0
This has the potential to deliver a 4-for-1, and that’s certainly intriguing – but you are far from guaranteed to have an Enchantment and Artifact in your graveyard, especially in Red-White in this format. You will very rarely get a full 4-for-1 here, and most of the time it will probably just be an expensive sorcery-speed 2-for-1, which is pretty bad.
Cosmic Rebirth
AI Rating: 2.4Pro Rating: 2.5
Reanimating a small thing at Instant speed and gaining three life is pretty good. Just putting the creature in your hand is less impressive, but still a passable effect. The trick is having stuff in your graveyard, but it feels like the first copy of this will be a nice thing to have in most Limited decks.
Danitha, New Benalia's Light
AI Rating: 4.3Pro Rating: 3.0
So, neither Auras nor Equipment are such a big feature of this format for Danitha to really go off, but she does start with a bunch of great keywords, and that means she is a great place to put the format’s plethora of +1/+1 counters, and when you do have Auras or Equipment to get back from the graveyard she will feel truly absurd.
Feast of the Victorious Dead
AI Rating: 2.3Pro Rating: 2.0
So this does stone nothing on turns where nothing dies. That’s…really bad. Sure, sometimes you will be able to get a ton of counters and gain a ton of life, and that has the potential to off-set the fact that this is a do-nothing so often. Also, you can play it in your second main phase so that your opponent doesn’t know you’re going to get the bonus, but this type of card always underperforms. You have far less control over making things die than you think.
Gold-Forged Thopteryx
AI Rating: 2.2Pro Rating: 3.5
A two mana ⅓ with Flying and Lifelink is a pretty impressive card to have, especially if you can augment it in some way. Giving Ward 2 to your legendary permanents will actually come up too
Jirina, Dauntless General
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 2.5
Most of the time, exiling a graveyard isn’t that impressive in this format. There also aren’t so many humans at lower rarities that her ability to make them indestructible and hexproof is consistently useful either.
Jolrael, Voice of Zhalfir
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 3.5
Animating a land into a flying creature every turn is nice, and even if you’re only able to make it a 1/1, it will be able to get in and draw you a card often enough for this creature to be a massive problem for your opponent.
The Kenriths' Royal Funeral
AI Rating: 2Pro Rating: 0.0 // 3.0
This set has more legendary creatures than normal, but this asks a lot of you. You’re going to need to have a legendary creature in your graveyard or this basically doesn’t do anything, and that’s not easy set up. Black can mill itself some, so it isn’t impossible, but even in this format consistently having something for this to exile is tough. That said, if you do have a legendary with mana value 3 or more in your graveyard, this looks to be a pretty good card, largely because of the ETB effect. If your deck has 4+ legendaries that fit the bill, and enough self-mill, this is probably playable. Otherwise? Not so much
Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep
AI Rating: 3.4Pro Rating: 2.0
There aren’t enough creatures with these types for her to do her thing very often. You may end up with 1-2, and when you cast one of them that will feel pretty nuts! But mostly? She’s a 5-mana ⅘ with Vigilance and Ward 3. Which is fine, but not much else.
Nahiri, Forged in Fury
AI Rating: 5Pro Rating: 0.0 // 3.0
There is an Equipment sub-theme in RW decks in the format, especially if you get some of the multiverse legends in those colors, but the floor here is pretty ugly. If you can’t lower her cost her stat-line is bad, and even then if you can’t trigger her attack trigger, she’s still not going to feel great. She’s definitely a buildaround that isn’t worth playing if you have 2 or fewer equipment, but she becomes more interesting if you have 4 or more.
Nahiri's Resolve
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 2.5
This stats boost alone isn’t really worth how much the card costs, so the question is how much mileage you can get out of the end step trigger. At worst, it does give your creatures pseudo-vigilance, and at best you can use it to rebuy ETB abilities. There are enough of those in the set for that to actually matter, but not so many that this will consistently be all that impressive.
Narset, Enlightened Exile
AI Rating: -0Pro Rating: 5.0
This is a bomb. Prowess to your whole board is already pretty insane, so the fact that she can help you trigger prowess with her attack trigger is nuts. She won’t always be able to cast a spell with that effect, but she’ll be able to do it often enough.
Nashi, Moon's Legacy
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 3.0
When you cast rats or legendaries from your graveyard this will feel great, and that isn’t impossible, especially because the set has more legendaries than normal, and Blue-Black has lots of self-mill effects. A three mana ¾ with Menace and Ward 1 isn’t bad either
Niv-Mizzet, Supreme
AI Rating: 4.6Pro Rating: 4.5
This is castable in this format for sure, it has hexproof from most removal in the set and is a huge flyer, so that’s a great place to be. Unfortunately his ability to give two-color spells jump-start is pretty close to irrelevant in the set, but the rest of the card is enough for this to be great
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
AI Rating: 5Pro Rating: 4.0
There are a few ways to make your opponent lose exactly one life - most notably Dreg Cycler and Invasion of Azgol - but that isn’t really enough for Ob’s ability to trigger very consistently. But hey, he starts out as a 4-mana 4/3 with Flying and Trample, and will on occasion do something pretty powerful.
Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival
AI Rating: 3.8Pro Rating: 1.5
There is only one card at Common or Uncommon that triggers Pia’s ability (Wrenn’s Resolve), so most of the time she’s just a two mana ⅔. That’s not especially meaningful after turn two
Rebuild the City
AI Rating: 2.5Pro Rating: 4.0
Making three 3/3s with Menace and Vigilance is quite good for six mana, so the fact that this ramps you too is a nice cherry on top
Rocco, Street Chef
AI Rating: 3.5Pro Rating: 4.0
Giving your opponent an extra card isn’t amazing, and they do get a chance to use the card first. However, the fact you get some value back when they do play that card, and then you also get your own extra card every turn plus that bonus effect is pretty great
Samut, Vizier of Naktamun
AI Rating: 1.1Pro Rating: 3.5
If Samut can come down and hit the opponent right away, you’re going to feel pretty great. If you play it on turn three, you have a pretty reasonable shot at pulling that off too since not many things can effectively take it down in combat that early. It does get worse the longer the game goes, but it does work well with other cards that have Haste.
Sarkhan, Soul Aflame
AI Rating: 3.9Pro Rating: 1.0
There really aren’t enough Dragons in this set for Sarkhan to become a copy of consistently. He’s mostly just got semi-passable stats and might give you some very rare upside.
Sigarda, Font of Blessings
AI Rating: 4.7Pro Rating: 4.5
A 4-mana 4/3 with Flying is a great starting point, and there are certainly enough Humans and Angels in the set for you to actually cast one off of the top of your library sometimes. Hexproof to the rest of your board is always nice, but oftentimes this will be your best permanent anyway, so it doesn’t change what your opponent does a whole lot.
Tyvar the Bellicose
AI Rating: 4.8Pro Rating: 3.0
On his own, Tyvar is a 4-mana 5/4 with deathtouch when it attacks. That’s a passable card, and this format does have some other elves around that he can give deathtouch. On the other hand, there aren’t very many creature cards that produce mana in the format, so that part of the card is going to be a little more elusive.
Karn, Legacy Reforged
AI Rating: 4.5Pro Rating: 1.5
At worst, Karn is a 5-mana 5/5. That’s a passable stat-line, and if you have some other Artifact stuff going on, he can potentially become bigger and give you some “powerstone” mana. Unfortunately, this format doesn’t really have very many expensive Artifacts you’re actually interested in playing, so his upside is a bit limited.
Drannith Ruins
AI Rating: 4.2Pro Rating: 3.0
This is a pretty nice utility land. It hurts your mana of course, but being able to pay a two mana kicker to put two counters on most creatures you cast is pretty massive upside.
| Card | Pro Rating | AI Rating | APA | Picked | ALSA | Seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
ss-uncommon|White|Creature — Human Soldier
|
3.0 | 3.5 | 5.23 | 13 | 4.48 | 80 |
|
ss-rare|White|Enchantment
|
0.0 | 2.1 | 9.00 | 5 | 6.38 | 58 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Creature — Dinosaur
|
1.5 | 2.2 | 8.73 | 11 | 5.87 | 110 |
|
ss-rare|White|Creature — Angel Cleric
|
3.5 | 4.4 | 2.78 | 9 | 2.18 | 18 |
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ss-rare|White|Enchantment
|
0.0 | 1.6 | 10.50 | 2 | 6.04 | 35 |
|
ss-rare|White|Legendary Creature — Human Warrior
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3.0 | 2.3 | 8.50 | 2 | 4.05 | 22 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Instant
|
0.0 | 0.9 | 12.40 | 10 | 7.82 | 152 |
|
ss-uncommon|Blue|Enchantment
|
4.0 | 3.6 | 4.92 | 13 | 4.36 | 83 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Enchantment
|
0.0 | 3.8 | 4.33 | 3 | 4.96 | 40 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Creature — Shapeshifter
|
4.0 | 4.5 | 2.50 | 4 | 2.77 | 14 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Creature — Human Knight
|
4.0 | 4.4 | 2.75 | 4 | 1.92 | 13 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Instant
|
3.5 | 3.6 | 5.00 | 9 | 3.12 | 46 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Creature — Demon Spirit
|
2.5 | 3.3 | 5.70 | 10 | 4.83 | 86 |
|
ss-uncommon|Black|Creature — Vampire Noble
|
2.5 | 1.7 | 10.17 | 6 | 5.81 | 103 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Creature — Spirit
|
2.0 | 4.8 | 1.57 | 7 | 1.67 | 16 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Legendary Creature — Human Berserker
|
3.5 | 3.9 | 4.00 | 3 | 3.06 | 17 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Creature — Ogre Warrior
|
1.5 | 1.8 | 9.93 | 15 | 6.33 | 132 |
|
ss-rare|Red|Legendary Creature — Orc Efreet
|
4.5 | 3.5 | 5.25 | 4 | 3.33 | 12 |
|
ss-uncommon|Red|Sorcery
|
0.0 | 1.1 | 11.79 | 14 | 8.76 | 177 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Sorcery
|
3.5 | 3.2 | 6.13 | 15 | 4.18 | 67 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Enchantment — Aura
|
0.0 | 3.4 | 5.50 | 4 | 4.74 | 36 |
|
ss-mythic|Green|Legendary Creature — Elf Scout
|
4.0 | 5 | 1.00 | 1 | 1.33 | 3 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Sorcery
|
1.5 | 3.6 | 4.80 | 5 | 4.00 | 31 |
|
ss-rare|Green|Creature — Dinosaur
|
4.0 | 4.5 | 2.43 | 7 | 2.22 | 18 |
|
ss-uncommon|Green|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 1.4 | 11.19 | 16 | 7.22 | 128 |
|
ss-mythic|White|Green|Legendary Enchantment Creature — Human Druid
|
4.0 | 4.4 | 2.67 | 3 | 3.00 | 8 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Red|Sorcery
|
1.0 | 0.7 | 13.00 | 10 | 8.50 | 154 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Green|Instant
|
2.5 | 2.4 | 8.40 | 5 | 5.64 | 105 |
|
ss-rare|White|Green|Legendary Creature — Human Knight
|
3.0 | 4.3 | 3.00 | 3 | 2.77 | 13 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Black|Enchantment
|
2.0 | 2.3 | 8.67 | 6 | 6.01 | 109 |
|
ss-uncommon|White|Blue|Artifact Creature — Dinosaur Thopter
|
3.5 | 2.2 | 8.95 | 19 | 6.49 | 122 |
|
ss-rare|White|Black|Legendary Creature — Human Soldier
|
2.5 | 3.9 | 4.00 | 5 | 4.58 | 28 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Green|Legendary Creature — Human Druid
|
3.5 | 4.6 | 2.00 | 1 | 2.77 | 13 |
|
ss-rare|White|Black|Legendary Enchantment
|
0.0 // 3.0 | 2 | 9.50 | 4 | 5.69 | 46 |
|
ss-mythic|Blue|Green|Legendary Creature — Merfolk Noble
|
2.0 | 3.4 | 5.50 | 2 | 4.33 | 4 |
|
ss-mythic|White|Red|Legendary Creature — Kor Artificer
|
0.0 // 3.0 | 5 | 1.00 | 1 | 2.00 | 4 |
|
ss-rare|White|Red|Enchantment
|
2.5 | 3.5 | 5.33 | 3 | 3.38 | 29 |
|
ss-mythic|White|Blue|Red|Legendary Creature — Human Monk
|
5.0 | -0 | 15.00 | 0 | 1.80 | 5 |
|
ss-rare|Blue|Black|Green|Legendary Creature — Rat Shaman
|
3.0 | 3.5 | 5.25 | 4 | 3.30 | 24 |
|
ss-rare|White|Blue|Black|Red|Green|Legendary Creature — Dragon Avatar
|
4.5 | 4.6 | 2.00 | 2 | 3.05 | 21 |
|
ss-mythic|Black|Red|Legendary Creature — Demon
|
4.0 | 5 | 1.00 | 1 | 1.50 | 2 |
|
ss-rare|White|Red|Legendary Creature — Human Artificer
|
1.5 | 3.8 | 4.50 | 6 | 4.00 | 38 |
|
ss-rare|Black|Red|Green|Sorcery
|
4.0 | 2.5 | 8.00 | 2 | 3.92 | 28 |
|
ss-rare|White|Red|Green|Legendary Creature — Elf Druid
|
4.0 | 3.5 | 5.33 | 6 | 4.45 | 23 |
|
ss-mythic|Red|Green|Legendary Creature — Human Warrior Cleric
|
3.5 | 1.1 | 12.00 | 1 | 2.80 | 11 |
|
ss-mythic|Blue|Red|Legendary Creature — Human Shaman
|
1.0 | 3.9 | 4.00 | 4 | 3.33 | 9 |
|
ss-rare|White|Green|Legendary Creature — Angel
|
4.5 | 4.7 | 1.75 | 4 | 1.75 | 8 |
|
ss-mythic|Black|Green|Legendary Creature — Elf Warrior
|
3.0 | 4.8 | 1.50 | 2 | 2.50 | 6 |
|
ss-mythic||Legendary Artifact Creature — Golem
|
1.5 | 4.5 | 2.50 | 2 | 2.91 | 11 |
|
ss-rare||Land
|
3.0 | 4.2 | 3.12 | 8 | 3.74 | 20 |
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About Limited Ratings
- 5.0 The absolute best you can get.
- 4.5 Incredible bomb, but not unbeatable.
- 4.0 Good rare or top-tier uncommon.
- 3.5 Top-tier common or solid uncommon.
- 3.0 Good playable that always make the cut.
- 2.5 A solid playable that rarely gets cut.
- 2.0 A good playable, but is sometimes cut.
- 1.5 Filler card but sometimes gets cut.
- 1.0 Not good filler and often gets gut.
- 0.5 Almost Unplayable and mostly sideboard material.
- 0.0 Not playable at all.
AI Limited ratings are gathered with data from MTGA Assistant, while Nizzahon Magic provides the Pro ratings. The key difference is that the Pro ratings and comments are made before the set officially releases, while the AI ratings dynamically update with new data. It would be best to use the Pro ratings as guidance as sets are released and the AI Ratings a couple of weeks after release. Here is an explanation of how we score the cards: