Reigning Magic: The Gathering World Champion Nathan Steuer won Pro Tour March of the Machine with Rakdos Midrange, defeating Cain Rianhard’s Rakdos Reanimator deck three games to one in the finals.
Sunday’s Top 8 was Steuer’s third top finish in a row, having won the 2022 World Championship in October 2022 and Top 8’d Pro Tour Phyrexia in February 2023. Those top finishes came hot on the heels of winning Season 3 of both the 2021 and 2022 the Magic Online Championship Series.
Steuer piloted the most popular deck of the tournament, Rakdos Midrange (at 18.7% of the field), which featured the defining card of the Standard over the last year: Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. Four of the decks in the Top 8 were Rakdos Midrange—all members of the same testing team, Team Handshake—while Rianhard’s Rakdos Reanimator also played four copies of the card.
Team Handshake’s feat of placing four players in a Pro Tour Top 8 on a single deck matches Team ChannelFireball’s mark from Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch in February 2016. Team ChanelFireball did it with an unknown and absolutely broken deck—Eldrazi Aggro, which resulted in the so-called “Eldrazi Winter”—but they didn’t manage to win the event. Team Handshake, on the other hand, played a well-known deck in Rakdos Midrange and did manage to have one of their members take down the whole tournament.
Cover image via Wizards of the Coast.
Pro Tour March of the Machine Top 8 Decklists
Nathan Steuer's Standard Rakdos Midrange (1st)
| Creatures (9) 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 4 Bloodtithe Harvester 2 Graveyard Trespasser Planeswalkers (2) 2 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon Instants (8) 4 Go for the Throat 3 Cut Down 1 Abrade Sorceries (7) 4 Invoke Despair 1 Light Up the Night 2 Duress Artifacts (4) 4 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (4) 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker | Lands (26) 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance 4 Haunted Ridge 10 Swamp 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 4 Sulfurous Springs 1 Mountain Sideboard (15) 2 Liliana of the Veil 1 Abrade 1 Rotten Reunion 2 Lithomantic Barrage 2 Duress 1 Cut Down 2 Razorlash Transmogrant 2 Glistening Deluge 1 Obliterating Bolt 1 Soul Transfer |
Cain Rianhard's Standard Rakdos Reanimator (2nd)
| Creatures (12) 4 Bloodtithe Harvester 1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier 2 Atsushi, the Blazing Sky 3 Phyrexian Fleshgorger 2 Etali, Primal Conqueror Sorceries (3) 3 Invoke Despair Instants (7) 3 Cut Down 4 Go for the Throat Artifacts (3) 3 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (8) 3 The Cruelty of Gix 1 The Elder Dragon War 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker | Lands (27) 4 Sulfurous Springs 1 Xander’s Lounge 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire 2 Ziatora’s Proving Ground 1 Mountain 4 Haunted Ridge 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 9 Swamp Sideboard (15) 1 Invoke Despair 2 Abrade 1 Unlicensed Hearse 2 Lithomantic Barrage 2 Gix’s Command 1 Cut Down 1 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon 1 Reckoner Bankbuster 4 Duress |
Autumn Burchett's Standard Orzhov Midrange (3rd/4th)
| Creatures (9) 3 Serra Paragon 2 Loran of the Third Path 1 Spirited Companion 3 Ambitious Farmhand Planeswalkers (6) 3 The Wandering Emperor 3 The Eternal Wanderer Sorceries (7) 1 Sunfall 2 Breach the Multiverse 4 Lay Down Arms Artifacts (4) 4 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (9) 3 Ossification 2 The Restoration of Eiganjo 4 Wedding Announcement Instants (1) 1 Destroy Evil | Lands (15) 2 Swamp 4 Obscura Storefront 1 Caves of Koilos 1 Plains 2 Roadside Reliquary 1 Field of Ruin 4 Raffine’s Tower Sideboard (15) 1 Sunfall 1 Invasion of Gobakhan 1 Go for the Throat 1 Surge of Salvation 1 Sheoldred’s Edict 1 Loran of the Third Path 1 Destroy Evil 2 Cut Down 4 Duress 2 Archangel of Wrath |
David Olsen's Standard Five-Color Ramp (3rd/4th)
| Creatures (14) 2 Etali, Primal Conqueror 4 Archangel of Wrath 4 Topiary Stomper 4 Atraxa, Grand Unifier Battles (4) 4 Invasion of Zendikar Sorceries (6) 2 Sunfall 4 Herd Migration Artifacts (2) 2 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (8) 4 Ossification 4 Leyline Binding | Lands (26) 1 Swamp 4 Ziatora’s Proving Ground 4 Jetmir’s Garden 1 Boseiju, Who Endures 3 Plains 4 Forest 4 Spara’s Headquarters 2 Mirrex 2 Mountain 1 Island Sideboard (15) 4 Tyrranax Rex 4 Lithomantic Barrage 2 Unlicensed Hearse 1 Sunfall 1 Mirrex 2 Vanquish the Horde 1 Temporary Lockdown |
Javier Dominguez's Standard Rakdos Midrange (5th-8th)
| Creatures (9) 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 2 Graveyard Trespasser 4 Bloodtithe Harvester Planeswalkers (2) 2 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon Sorceries (7) 1 Light Up the Night 2 Duress 4 Invoke Despair Artifacts (4) 4 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (4) 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker Instants (8) 1 Abrade 3 Cut Down 4 Go for the Throat | Lands (26) 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance 4 Sulfurous Springs 4 Haunted Ridge 1 Mountain 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire 10 Swamp 4 Blackcleave Cliffs Sideboard (15) 1 Obliterating Bolt 2 Lithomantic Barrage 1 Cut Down 1 Soul Transfer 1 Abrade 2 Razorlash Transmogrant 1 Rotten Reunion 2 Duress 2 Liliana of the Veil 2 Glistening Deluge |
Carl Sarap's Standard Rakdos Midrange (5th-8th)
| Creatures (9) 1 Razorlash Transmogrant 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 2 Graveyard Trespasser 4 Bloodtithe Harvester Planeswalkers (3) 2 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon 1 Liliana of the Veil Instants (8) 3 Cut Down 1 Abrade 4 Go for the Throat Sorceries (7) 1 Light Up the Night 4 Invoke Despair 2 Duress Artifacts (3) 3 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (4) 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker | Lands (26) 4 Sulfurous Springs 4 Haunted Ridge 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance 1 Mountain 10 Swamp 4 Blackcleave Cliffs Sideboard (15) 1 Razorlash Transmogrant 2 Duress 1 Reckoner Bankbuster 1 Liliana of the Veil 1 Obliterating Bolt 2 Lithomantic Barrage 1 Cut Down 1 Dreams of Steel and Oil 1 Abrade 2 Glistening Deluge 1 Soul Transfer 1 Rotten Reunion |
Simon Nielsen's Standard Rakdos Midrange (5th-8th)
| Creatures (10) 3 Graveyard Trespasser 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 4 Bloodtithe Harvester Planeswalkers (2) 2 Chandra, Hope’s Beacon Instants (7) 3 Cut Down 3 Go for the Throat 1 Abrade Sorceries (8) 4 Invoke Despair 2 Light Up the Night 2 Duress Artifacts (3) 3 Reckoner Bankbuster Enchantments (4) 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker | Lands (26) 9 Swamp 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire 4 Sulfurous Springs 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance 4 Haunted Ridge 2 Mountain Sideboard (15) 2 Lithomantic Barrage 2 Duress 1 Reckoner Bankbuster 2 Liliana of the Veil 1 Rotten Reunion 1 Razorlash Transmogrant 2 Glistening Deluge 1 Cut Down 1 Abrade 1 Obliterating Bolt 1 Soul Transfer |
Yiwen Chen's Standard Azorius Soldiers (5th-8th)
| Creatures (27) 2 Faerie Mastermind 2 Skrelv, Defector Mite 4 Skystrike Officer 4 Valiant Veteran 3 Harbin, Vanguard Aviator 2 Dennick, Pious Apprentice 4 Recruitment Officer 2 Zephyr Sentinel 4 Resolute Reinforcements Battles (3) 3 Invasion of Gobakhan Planeswalkers (1) 1 The Wandering Emperor Instants (6) 1 Destroy Evil 2 Protect the Negotiators 3 Make Disappear | Lands (23) 4 Fortified Beachhead 4 Adarkar Wastes 2 Mirrex 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire 1 Otawara, Soaring City 1 Plaza of Heroes 3 Plains 1 Secluded Courtyard 2 Deserted Beach 4 Seachrome Coast Sideboard (15) 3 Tocasia’s Welcome 2 Surge of Salvation 1 Loran of the Third Path 2 Lantern Flare 3 Brutal Cathar 1 Negate 3 Destroy Evil |