Ghalta and Mavren – March of the Machine
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2023
Ratings:
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander [EDH]: 3.83
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is bad. 3 is average. 5 is great.
Reviews Below:
I remember some of Wizards of the Coast’s front-facing people talking about how they regretted not putting more cross-tribe cards in Ixalan, like a Vampire Pirate or a Vampire Dinosaur. I’m surprised they didn’t think of this particular concept back then, since everything can be made even cooler by having it ride a dinosaur. But perhaps they were just saving it for the right time!
This card is actually a pretty good integration of what Ghalta and Mavren were previously famous for. The “wide” version seems to be a riff on Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle, which I seem to remember being decent in Standard in its day – and that was without the potential to make more than ten tokens in one attack. And Ghalta . . . well, any card involving Ghalta is going to go big, and her side of the attack trigger just begs to be exploited and asks you to dig into the databases. I kind of like that since green-white can support either side very well, your opponent might not be entirely sure whether your deck is set up for the “wide” version or the “big” version until you start doing it.
Despite the card having the stats and, arguably, the colors of dinosaurs, it’s worth remembering that it still counts as a vampire. Vampire Nocturnus makes it even harder to block. Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord can put it directly into play – on turn one, in Dark Ritual formats. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a good deck, but it is a legal play . . .
Constructed: 3
Casual: 5
Limited: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Commander [EDH]: 4
The Phyrexian threat proved dire enough to force some team-ups of unlikely allies, and so we have Mavren Fein and Ghalta from Ixalan together.. Seven mana gets you an interesting body with potential immediate impact: on top of the 12/12, as long as you have another attacking creature, you stand to gain immediately, either by going wide or by going large. This is definitely a creature in the “answer me or perish” vein; while the large Dinosaur is attacking, the Vampires can stick back to help forfend your position on your next turn. The obvious downsides of lacking real protection and having a color-heavy and high mana cost are there, but Ghalta and Mavren make for quite an explosive card when paired up: if they don’t remove them immediately, the next turn you take may well be their last turn.
Constructed: 3 (I think it’s a bit too expensive and a touch too slow to be a major threat, but it does demand answer)
Casual: 5
Limited: 5 (one or two turns will be all you need)
Multiplayer: 3.5
Commander [EDH]: 3.75 (only knock is that they’re not a good fit for Vampire decks, but green/white otherwise loves them as a pair)
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