Magic: The Gathering Reveals Its New Battle Card Type

thegamer.com:

We got our first look at the new "battle" card type that was first hinted at in Magic: The Gathering's current expansion Phyrexia: All Will Be One. The card Atraxa, Grand Unifier listed battle as a card type even though there were no battle cards. But now we know there will be at least one when March of the Machine arrives next month.

Thanks to Press-Start, we have our first look at a battle card. It's called "Invasion of Zendikar," and it's not just a battle; it's a "battle - siege." As a siege enters the battlefield, it's given to an opponent who must "protect it" from you and others (if it's a multiplayer game). When it's defeated by dealing enough damage (denoted by the 3 in the lower-right corner), the card is then recast transformed.

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Invasion of Zendikar costs 3G and fetches two basic lands to put into play tapped. That's pretty good on its own, but it then goes to sit on your opponent's board until you deal enough damage to transform it. When it does, you get a 4/4 vigilance haste land that can tap for mana of any color.

Battles will definitely make it tougher for opponents to choose when to defend as not defending could be disastrous for their board state. Meanwhile, battles still have beneficial effects even if they’re not transformed, making them great value.

This is only the first battle card, but there will undoubtedly be more. We will also likely see additional battle sub-types that could wildly change their mechanics. We could even see some of those new battle cards as soon as tomorrow with the first preview of March of the Machine.

We might also get our first look at whatever the Homonculus-Cyclops team-up card turns