Over 250 of the best Magic: The Gathering players from around the globe have gathered in Minneapolis this weekend for the second Pro Tour, featuring March of the Machine Draft and Traditional Standard Constructed.
Taking place over the course of three days, from May 5 to 8, the second MTG Pro Tour tournament of the 2022-2023 season featured gameplay within the March of the Machine (MOM) Draft and Traditional Standard Constructed formats.
Similar to the Phyrexian Pro Tour, a total of six Swiss rounds were played, split between days one and two. All players who reached 12 match wins or 12 points on day two automatically advanced to the final top eight single-elimination best-of-three game format in Standard Constructed.
May 5 Pro Tour March of the Machine standings
Players began day one and the Pro Tour March of the Machine tournament with three rounds of MOM Draft. All double-faced cards were revealed prior to drafting and sleeved. After three Swiss rounds of Draft, players competed in five Swiss rounds of best-of-three Traditional Standard Constructed.
After three rounds of MOM Draft, 29 players had 3-0 records heading into the Standard Constructed Swiss rounds.
The field began to break up three rounds into the Standard format. Jim Davis, Pedro Schiaveto, and Shota Yasooka were the last three remaining undefeated players. Davis continued his win streak through round seven, showing off the power of Rakdos Breach. Schiaveto also remained undefeated through seven games, piloting Esper Legends. The two faced off for round eight, the final match of the day, with Davis taking the title of undefeated at 8-0 heading into day two of the March of the Machine Pro Tour.
Close behind Davis were Schiaveto, Dominguez, Kikdis, Nielsen, Klein, Sarap, and Steuer (2022 World champion)—all tied at 7-1 to end day one.
May 6 Pro Tour March of the Machine standings
Day two players at the March of the Machine Pro Tour were seeking 12 match wins to advance into the top eight and day three of the tournament. The competition began with three rounds of MOM Draft, followed by no more than five Swiss rounds of Standard Constructed.
Only three players managed to go undefeated during the MOM Draft rounds on both days: Luis-Scott Vargas (LSV), Brent Vos, and Tom Kessler. The streak boosted LSV to seventh place overall with a record of 9-2. Sitting atop the leaderboard after the Draft rounds were Pedro Perrini, Nathan Steuer, and Karl Sarap with 9-1-1 records.
Javier Dominguez, the 2018 Magic World Champion, was the first Pro Tour player to secure a slot in the top eight. One round later, teammates Karl Sarap and Simon Nielsen joined Dominguez in the top eight—with all three players piloting Rakdos Midrange.
David Olsen locked up the next slot piloting Five-Color Ramp. Also securing March of the Machine Pro Tour top eight slots were Steuer, Burchett, Chen, and Rianhard.
- Javier Dominguez: Rakdos Midrange
- Karl Sarap: Rakdos Midrange
- Simon Nielsen: Rakdos Midrange
- Nathan Steuer: Rakdos Midrange
- David Olsen: Five-Color Ramp
- Autumn Burchett: Orzhov Midrange
- Yiwen Chen: Azorius Soldiers
- Cain Rianhard: Rakdos Reanimator
May 7 Pro Tour March of the Machine standings
The final day of the second Pro Tour of the 2022-2023 season featured the top eight players from days one and two. Matches were best in three out of five games in the MTG Standard Constructed format, single elimination. Players were allowed to introduce sideboard cards into games after game two.
Here were the quarterfinals played on the final day of the March of the Machine Pro Tour, in which no Rakdos Midrange mirror matches were featured:
- Javier Dominguez (Rakdos Midrange) against David Olsen (Five-Color Ramp)
- Nathan Steuer (Rakdos Midrange) against Yiwen Chen (Azorious Soliders)
- Simon Nielsen (Rakdos Midrange) against Autumn Burchett (Orzhov Midrange)
- Karl Sarap (Rakdos Midrange) against Cain Rianhard (Rakdos Reanimator)
Dominguez lost to Olsen during the quarterfinals, with Five-Color Ramp exploiting weaknesses within the Rakdos Midrange Standard deck. Azorius Soldiers, however, fell to the Red and Black Standard deck with Steuer defeating Chen. Burchett advanced to the semifinals with her Orzhov deck taking out Nielsen’s Rakdos Midrange build. And Rianhard on Rakdos Reanimator defeated Sarap’s Rakdos Midrange build.
Steuer and his Rakdos Midrange advanced to the final match of the Pro Tour, defeating Olsen and his Five-Color Ramp build. And Rainhard with Rakdos Reanimator advanced to face off against Steuer in the final match after beating Burchett.
Having won a Magic World Championship, Steuer added a Pro Tour victory to his list of accolades at March of the Machine Pro Tour, winning three games to one over Rianhard.
All images via WotC.
