March of the Machine is a set based around conflict across the multiverse. Beloved heroes and villains are squaring off in epic battles in both the story and the cards themselves. But while any fan of fantasy loves a good war arc, they also love a tournament arc! So, given the timing, we decided to host March of the Machine Madness to make this presale waiting period before the set releases a little more fun.
The Bracket
Meet our competitors! They’re split into four “regions,” with (generally) good guys on the left and bad guys on the right. Each group will first compete among themselves before they meet someone on the same side in the top four. From there, the greatest hero and the most powerful villain will face off to determine who is truly the best character of them all.
These characters were picked mostly based on their inclusion in the March of the Machine story — but the sheer size of it means some were unfortunately left out. Still, these choices represent a variety of different planes and factions, so hopefully everyone can pick a favorite to root for.
You’ll also notice that characters are seeded 1 to 8, which helped determine matchups. Our methodology was incredibly complex and scientific (we went with our gut)! However, if you feel differently, that’s actually encouraged. To be honest, half the fun of a tournament like this is to argue about the strength of fictional characters.
That being said, we actually went ahead and wrote up a power ranking article for each region. Within each post, we touch on characters’ background, history and card representations in Magic. We hope you find them useful when it comes time to vote for the winners of each match.
Determining the winners
Speaking of voting for winners, that’s how you’ll determine the ultimate champion! Each day, we’ll post an entire round’s worth of polls, starting at noon P.T., on our Twitter, @Card_Kingdom. After giving everyone the day to vote, we’ll take the results, update the bracket and do it all over again. The winner will be formally announced a week from today, on 4/17.
While these polls are open, feel free to vote for as many or as few as you’d like! You’re also more than welcome to weigh in with your opinion through replies or quote tweets. And if you really feel like it, you can campaign for your favorites! It may not make for the most scientific outcomes, but we’re here to have fun.
End step
We always wanted to share our appreciation in advance for all those who decide to participate! These kinds of activities are a blast to put together, but we really do it for all the people who love Card Kingdom. If activities like this are fun for you, that makes us happy.
And if, in the process, all this talk about March of the Machine has you itching for some new cards, you can always check out our presale. But either way, we’ll see you out on the battlefield this week!
Jason Krell is the content manager at Card Kingdom, meaning he helps make all of this possible. He is also an unabashed Esper control player, and he hopes the two things at least cancel each other out. He loves when everyone gets to do their thing in a game of Commander and spends way too much thinking about game design. Jason also comes from an esports journalism background, which probably explains a lot about his work.