Whoa boy, is March of the Machine a wild set!

Introducing a brand-new card type would be more than enough for a set to make a huge impression, but March of the Machine didn't stop there. With a ton of crazy legends, new and returning mechanics, powerful flip cards, and more, it's been having quite the impact on Standard as well as other formats.

Today I'm going be taking a lot at some of early winners from the set, cards that have been showing up in successful decks and making a serious impact on the format.

Chrome Host Seedshark

Chrome Host Seedshark is a bizarre Magic card, as the only thing odder than a flying shark is perhaps a robot flying shark, but the card's excellent 2/4 (sorry Cut Down!) body for only three mana and limitless potential for making tokens has been very impressive.

There have been attempts by myself and others to make the card work alongside Tezzeret, Betrayer of Flesh, but while those haven't panned out just yet Chrome Host Seedshark is still seeing success in more traditional control builds.

Jeskai Shark Control | Standard | kvza, 1st Place MTGO Challenge

• Creatures (4)
• 3 Chrome Host Seedshark
• 1 Zurgo and Ojutai

• Spells (29)
• 2 Abrade
• 2 Flame-Blessed Bolt
• 3 Fires of Victory
• 2 Farewell
• 3 The Wandering Emperor
• 4 Disruption Protocol
• 2 Make Disappear
• 2 Memory Deluge
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
• 3 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 1 Depopulate
• 1 Brotherhood's End

• Lands (27)
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Island
• 3 Shivan Reef
• 3 Seachrome Coast
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Plains
• 1 Mountain
• 4 Deserted Beach
• 4 Stormcarved Coast
• 4 Sundown Pass
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Adarkar Wastes

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Negate
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 3 Sunset Revelry
• 1 Farewell
• 1 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 2 Destroy Evil
• 1 Negate
• 1 Brotherhood's End
• 3 Lithomantic Barrage

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I love me a good control deck, and MTGO player kvza won the Standard Challenge last weekend playing this pretty awesome take on Jeskai Control.

Chrome Host Seedshark, Reckoner Bankbuster, and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker give enough artifact fodder to turn to Disruption Protocol as the counterspell of choice, giving you a decent proxy of actual Counterspell and a Cancel at worst case. Pair this with the sweeping power of Farewell and early quality removal like Abrade and you've got a pretty nice-looking control deck that's been making the rounds.

Counterspells are huge in this format because there are a ton of huge six and seven mana plays, like the new...

Etali, Primal Conqueror

Etali, Primal Conqueror, like Atraxa, Grand Unifier from the prior set, is an absurd seven mana Magic card. It looks like Wizards of the Coast as finally figured out the equation of how to make good Commander cards in Standard set, and the answer is to push them to the absolute limit when it comes to raw power level.

It's hard not to compare Etali with Atraxa, but while Atraxa has a much higher ceiling, Etali actually has a pretty significant upside. If the game is pretty even and you're not under huge pressure, Atraxa will almost always be better, but there are plenty of games where the Atraxa player is behind, puts Atraxa onto the battlefield and draws six cards, but then dies because the opposing player is able to kill Atraxa and attack for lethal before they can ever untap to cast them.

Etali doesn't draw as many cards or provide as threatening as a body, but because it can cast two additional spells right away it's a much better card when you're behind. Furthermore, it's also the same color as Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, which Atraxa is not, and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is not only the best card in the format but also the best card to either discard a huge creature to so you can reanimate it, or to accelerate to casting ahead of schedule.

Rakdos Reanimator | Standard | BONK101, 2nd Place MTGO Challenge

• Creatures (7)
• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 2 Etali, Primal Conqueror

• Spells (28)
• 3 Go for the Throat
• 1 Duress
• 2 Abrade
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
• 1 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 4 The Cruelty of Gix
• 3 Cut Down
• 4 The Elder Dragon War
• 1 Bitter Reunion
• 1 Brotherhood's End
• 2 Mirrex
• 2 Sheoldred's Edict

• Lands (25)
• 4 Mountain
• 4 Swamp
• 4 Sulfurous Springs
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 4 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Xander's Lounge
• 2 Ziatora's Proving Ground

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Go for the Throat
• 3 Duress
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 1 Cut Down
• 3 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1 Bitter Reunion
• 2 Brotherhood's End
• 1 Sheoldred's Edict

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It's pretty wild that we've got a format with two wildly powerful seven mana creatures to reanimate or cast, but here we are.

So many of the good Rakdos cards already have a graveyard slant, and beyond that the saga tools available are just excellent for a deck like this. Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and The Elder Dragon War just doing good things while also letting you discard in the middle is great, while The Cruelty of Gix is also the ideal reanimation card that also has a ton of other utility.

I've got no idea what the "correct" reanimator deck looks like, but the power is definitely there.

Speaking of sweet reanimator cards, one that's starting to make the rounds is Invasion of Amonkhet.

Invasion of Amonkhet

The battles are very odd cards because you really need to be able to contextualize being able to attack them while also wanting the frontside effect, but Invasion of Amonkhet is cheap enough and provides enough value to be especially interesting.

Plus, because the midrange decks already want to play a good number of creatures and Reckoner Bankbusters, attacking it isn't that crazy. Just having a single Bankbuster in play means that your opponent always has to respect that fact that four damage may be headed towards a battle (that may not even be in play yet) at any given time.

The question of course is if Invasion of Amonkhet can co-exist with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, but it is certainly a very powerful card that's starting to pick up traction.

It's not just maindeck cards having an impact however!

Lithomantic Barrage & Surge of Salvation

We got a brand-new cycle of color hoser sideboard cards from March of the Machine, and two of the best have been having a pretty major impact on the format.

Lithomantic Barrage is the best anti White and Blue creature card since Rending Volley, providing unparalleled efficiency albeit at sorcery speed. With Esper Legends being one of the best decks in the format, Lithomantic Barrage gives Red decks a one-mana answer to many of the problematic cards in that deck, perhaps most importantly Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Raffine, Scheming Seer. Being able to kill these cards cheaply is hugely important in not allowing the Esper Legends deck to snowball on its best draws, which can often feel unbeatable.

Surge of Salvation is also a fantastic answer to the wide array of Black cards currently running rampant in the format, the most important of which being Invoke Despair.

Being able to "counter" an Invoke Despair for one mana is excellent, but the card is also just a fine protection spell against all manners of red and black removal spells, from Cut Down to Abrade. Furthermore, the damage prevention clause lines up exceptionally against sweepers like Brotherhood's End and The Elder Dragon War.

Both cards give excellent efficient tools to many decks for combating two of the prior format's biggest threats, which is awesome to see.

The Pro Tour Looms!

Standard will be at the forefront next weekend when the Pro Tour comes to Magic 30 in Minneapolis, when 250 of the world's best Magic players (and me!) will gather together to battle for three days for eternal glory, $500,000 in prize money, and those coveted spots at the World Championship.

I leave this coming Monday to meet up with Team CFB once again and see if we can't keep the trophy in house for another event after Reid Duke's win in February!