Ive seen it pop off many, many times, and its always something to behold
If player two started out with 20 life, they now have only 16 life
You do have a high density of must counter spells though
For an Elminster card to be true to the character, it would have to be insanely overpowered (think Urza, but more ), and anything less will feel like a letdown, so no appearance from the powerful wizard
This is likely due to the surprise Dinosaur sub-theme of March of the Machine with the tribe gaining several powerful new additions including Etali, Primal Conqueror, Ghalta and Mavren (showcase), Ancient Imperiosaur, and Kogla and Yidaro
After that, thinning our deck of landsfrequently multiple incidences in a single combatprovides the fuel for casting some extremely large spells in short order