Bloomburrow Standard is in full swing, and with last week's announcement of the return of Grand Prix style events in the form of the Magic Spotlight Series (big fan), with a focus on the Standard format, I thought it might be a good time to take a look at the cards that are defining the format.

10. Caretaker's Talent

We start with the hottest card on our list. Since Boros Tokens won the 462-player MTG Japan Open people have been slamming this into tons of decks, trying to figure out how to maximize the card. It's even starting to pop up in Pioneer. The card has room to grow, and could end up being the type of card that defines a Tier 1 deck for most of its time in standard. Seriously, if you haven't played with or against this yet, it is a must kill card on sight. It feels very Fable.

A lot of people (including yours truly) thought that Bloomburrow was a low-power set, but the set keeps having cards emerge the more we try them out. Maybe we were a bit hasty on those early takes.

9. Zoetic Glyph

While not often thought of as the most important card in many of the decks it's played in, it is the card that really ties the room together. It currently see's play in certain Azorius decks, Simic Food decks, and Simulacrum Synthesizer decks, providing them a solid beater that guards against removal.

8. Innkeeper's Talent

While I do not think that this + Vraska, Betrayal's Sting is, "The New Splinter Twin" I do think it is a powerful interaction that we're only scratching the surface of right now. As more Planeswalkers are printed (including a full five Planeswalkers in Foundations) this can only grow in power. And, that's not even looking at how great it is in +1/+1 counters decks. This card is very good, and it will only continue to get better.

7. Imodane's Recruiter

Boros Aggro feels like it's been a staple in the format for years, and Imodane's Recruiter is one of the most important cards in the current iteration. I've played many games where I thought I'd survived the early push only to have my opponent drop a couple tokens and cast this to kill me out of nowhere. It's even seen play in Domain decks to pair with Herd Migration for a one turn kill.

6. Three Steps Ahead

While I don't think hardcore control decks are well positioned right now (primarily thanks to the next card on the list) this is the one card that give control the legs to fight the mid-range decks that are currently dominating the format. It is incredibly versatile and the best Cancel variant ever printed.

5. Cavern of Souls

Most of the creatures that see play right now have some sort of Enters ability driving their playability. Having a way to ensure that these spells resolve cuts off one of the easiest ways to combat them. Cavern makes sure that, while they may immediately get destroyed once they're on the board, they will still get to hit play and trigger their ability. Witness the way Cavern naming Angel is such a crucial way for the Domain decks to fight control. It also doesn't hurt that we just saw a kindred-focused set release and this is one of the best ways to color fix for Squirrel, Lizard, Mice, etc. deck.

4. Atraxa, Grand Unifier

Yes, she's still the Queen of Standard. There is no better card to play in the late game. Domain is still a Tier 1-1.5 staple (the tales of the deck's death due to the loss of the Triome lands were just wishful thinking) and should continue to be as long as she's around. It's not just that she refills your hand, she also rumbles better than any other card you're going to see on your opponent's side of the table.

3. Heartfire Hero

Bloomburrow boosted aggressive decks with a plethora of powerful one drops. This is my pick for the best of the bunch. If you don't kill it early (usually by turn 2) you risk finding yourself unable to kill it without dying to the Fling-like ability. It has a relevant creature type, plays well with Monstrous Rage, and is even winning games with Callous Sell-Sword as an actual Fling!

2. Deep-Cavern Bat

As annoying as a pair of wet socks, this is the card your opponent always seems to have on turn two. The bat is one of the lynchpin cards for the two most consistent decks in standard at the moment, Orzhov and Golgari. It's not enough that it takes your best card, but with Innkeeper's Talent or Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor it turns into an immediate threat.

1. Temporary Lockdown

The most important card in Standard. Standard is kinda weird right now. The Red aggressive decks, whether it's classic mono-Red Prowess, Mono-Red-ish Fling, or Lizards, are very, very good. As such, the only decks that can consistently compete with them have to have early disruption. This pushes the Black decks (with Cut Down and Go for the Throat) and the White decks (with Get Lost, Elspeth's Smite, and Temporary Lockdown) to the forefront. It makes Standard look like a midrange format, but only because the aggressive decks are so good.

Like I said, kinda weird.

Temporary Lockdown gets the nod as the best spell in standard because it doesn't just blunt the aggressive decks. It also takes out the Food, Clue, and Treasure tokens laying around, it handles Simulacrum Synthesizer tokens no matter their size, and it exiles Innkeeper's Talent. This is the ultimate early game reset button and the fact that it curves right into Beza, the Bounding Spring means that white decks are best positioned to drive a match into the late game.

You can find more of my musings on twitter @travishall456