As a sort of mini set being released on May 12, 2023, a few weeks after the release of March of the Machines itself (April 21, 2023 to be exact), we’ll be treated to March of the Machines: The Aftermath. This will function as the story wrap up for this entire arc that previous two sets have started and the next two will finish.
This product line is not a typical pack nor one style of pack, but actually three different types of packs – Collector Boosters, Bundles, and Epilogue Boosters. How the set will be introduced into MTG Arena is currently unknown.
With the final showdown against the Phyrexians reaching its conclusion, the Multiverse will be forever changed. March of the Machine: The Aftermath not only adds new cards to Standard (and beyond) but also expands on the events of March of the Machine.
March of the Machine: The Aftermath Set Code: MAT
March of the Machine: The Aftermath Tabletop Release: May 12, 2023
March of the Machine: The Aftermath is a Standard-legal micro set, and Epilogue Boosters feature five cards each. The set also features a Bundle as well as Collector Boosters packed with the coolest cards, and we’ll show you what the packaging for the Bundle, Epilogue Booster display, and Collector Booster display looks like later—we’re definitely letting the story come first here.
Source: Wizards of the Coast
Collector Boosters and Displays
Collector Booster boxes will only contain 12 Collector Boosters where each pack will be 6 cards and a foil double sided token. For each of these packs, you will get 4 cards that are rare or higher and 2 cards that are uncommon. Among them, either all of those cards or all but one of those cards will be foil. This is currently retailing on Amazon at $240.
Epilogue Boosters and Displays
An epilogue pack will contain 5 cards and come in display of 24 packs. Each pack will have 1 to 3 cards that are rare or higher and 2 to 4 uncommons. Each of these packs will have 1 or 2 foils. This is currently retailing on Amazon for $120.
The Aftermath Bundle
Finally, this bundle will have 8 Epilogue Boosters, 20 foil basic lands, 20 non-foil basic lands, a foil alt-art promo card, a storage box, an oversized spin down life counter, and two reference cards. These bundles will be shipped in a case of 6 total, but should be available for individual purchase. This is currently retailing on Amazon for $45.
The largest implications of this styling of packs is that we’ll get an additional injection of cards into Standard that isn’t a full set. This may be the foundation of a new venture for Wizards where we’ll see shakeups between sets with more cards added. This could be very interesting, but also could go the route of Alchemy where highly important cards are outside of the base set, and thus, harder to get to help drive sales/wild card uses. It’s hard to say as this seems specifically marketed to be a story wrap up, but this could easily be spun to continue the story on any given plane – whether that’s what happens after you leave, before we visited the plane, or a focus on secondary characters.
Nevertheless, this will be very interesting to see what cards are slated for this set, their Constructed impact, and whether they’re looking to make this a recurring product.