March of the Machine is the new set for Magic: The Gathering, offering a ton of new features such as a brand-new Battle card type and mechanic, Incubate and Backup keyword abilities, as well as Defense counters. There are also plenty of returning mechanics, such as Convoke, Landcycling, Kicker, and others.
Such a vast offering will surely turn the new standard season into a feast of various decklists, combining both old and new strategies. Which one will make it to the top of the meta? We'll try to figure out by selecting the top 15 MtG cards for standard in March of the Machine set.
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Urabrask // The Great Work
Wizards of the Coast continues to deliver excellent Phyrexian Praetor cards for standard, and the new Urabrask double-faced card is the best one from the March of the Machine set.
You will mostly see this card in Izzet Burn decks that utilize lots of cheap spells that can quickly flip Urabrask and turn it into The Great Work saga enchantment. It will also be well combined with Vindictive Flamestoke for some extra card draw action.
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Faerie Mastermind
A new powerful draw engine has entered the standard in the from of Faerie Mastermind, which has a very funky art of Yuta Takahashi, the Magic 2021 world champion.
The main selling point of this card is not the last draw ability, but the Flash mechanic, which allows you to respond with Faerie Mastermind to a draw spell initiated by your opponent.
Faerie Mastermind will go into many Mono Blue Aggro, Dimir Midrange, and Esper Control decks this season.
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Wrenn and Realmbreaker
Here is the best planeswalker from the March of the Machine set, and it's quite a treat!
It starts off with five points of loyalty at only 3 mana, and it fixes your land colors. It's a draw engine with card selection and self-mill for graveyard tactics, which comes right after, when the ultimate ability activates and allows you to cast spells from your graveyard.
Wrenn and Realmbreaker will definitely see play in the current Selesnya decks, as well as Jund Midrange.
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Jin-Gitaxias // The Great Synthesis
The blue flip-card Phyrexian Praetor is a bit more expensive and a bit clumsier than the red one mentioned above, but it is still a very powerful tool.
You will see it mostly in control decks that can afford playing these types of expensive cards. There may not be more than a slot or two for Jin-Gitaxias in the main deck, but there are always extra couple of slots in the sideboard for it.
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Monastery Mentor
Here is a reprint of one of the best white cards in the history of Magic!
Monastery Mentor is a massive addition to the current Boros Tokens deck with Kumano Faces Kakkazan and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker.
You can also combine it with Stoke the Flames, which can be cast for free with just a few tokens generated by Monastery Mentor. This combo alone can make lots of standard players switch their main decks to this one.
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Archangel Elspeth
The new Elspeth planeswalker would be an excellent companion to Wedding Announcement. The Wandering Emeperor's tokens that will instantly turn from mere 2/2 soldiers into 4/4 flying angels with vigilance.
Also getting that ultimate ability would be very easy, and perfectly fitting for any aggressive white deck. So expect to see Archangel Elspeth in plenty of Mono White, Orzhov Midrange and Azorius Soldiers decks this season.
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Bloodfeather Phoenix
The Phoenix is back in standard although not as strong as before, but that could be easily compensated.
It's still a very good card to have, especially in red aggro decks, but you do have to be careful and not let it get ripped by the graveyard hate cards. If you can avoid that, then Bloodfeather Phoenix could be attacking every turn in your Mono Red or Boros Aggro lists.
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Hidetsugu and Kairi
Grixis and Esper players will love this card!
It immediately lets you draw and select cards, and take revenge if they manage to kill Hidetsugu and Kairi. It can be a great counter to Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, but also a companion to it.
If you play this with Explosive Singularity on top of your library, and manage to sacrifice your Hidetsugu and Kairi, you may get an easy lethal combo the same turn.
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Thalia and The Gitrog Monster
By the looks of it, standard format this season will be full of multicolored decks, and that's why multicolored cards are some of the strongest in March of the Machine.
Thalia and The Gitrog Monster combines two of the deadliest mechanics in the game: first strike and deathtouch. Very few cards can survive it, and once you add all the hate effects on this card, it becomes clear that you will see this card in every Abzan list in the meta.
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Invasion of Gobakhan // Lightshield Array
The best Battle card in March of the Machine set is a double-faced white enchantment.
The front side has a simple yet strong hate effect that also allows you to see your opponent's hand. What you really want is the flipside, which puts counters on your attacking creatures, and can even protect them when needed.
It will be mostly played in white aggro decks, such as Mono White and Azorius Soldiers.
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Seed of Hope
So many comparisons have been made once Seed of Hope was revealed, including Sleight of Hand, a modern and legacy staple. But note that this is an instant spell, which also heals you and puts a card into your graveyard, so there are so many clear advantages to it.
It's a great tool for combo and control decks, but some midrange lists may find it usable as well, such as 5-Color Midrange with Atraxa, Grand Unifier.
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Invasion of Zendikar // Awakened Skyclave
Ramp players will love the new Zendikar Battle card that can produce as much as three extra mana in a turn with its front side and instant tapping of the flipside Awakened Skyclave creature.
There aren't that many big green lists in standard these days, but Invasion of Zendikar may change it all if people realize just how quickly things add up once you flip it.
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Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
Selesnya Enchantments players will be happy to include a copy or two of this artifact in their main decks. It's more Hardened Scales that the original Ozolith from Ikoria, but it will be useful for sure.
It effectively doubles your +1/+1 counters, and produces the effect itself, although for an extra two mana. The inclusion of cycling is a nice touch, and is actually quite useful, especially in those cases when you're looking for a specific drop.
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Zimone and Dina
Here is another multicolored card with a rather powerful effect that will require you to sacrifice some creatures, but those could be tokens as well.
It allows you to both drain your opponent and ramp for yourself, which is such an annoying combo for anyone playing against it. Once you get the engine going, that drain effect can finish the game rather quickly.
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Chandra, Hope's Beacon
What really makes this rather expensive Chandra planeswalker exciting is the fact that you can instantly deal 5 damage to two creatures or a creature and an opponent.
But most people will probably try and keep the damage at 4 points in order to keep her on the board for another turn, and maybe even repeat the process again later in the match.
Those are the best 15 cards in MtG's March of the Machine set. In addition to this list of the best March of the Machine cards for standard, be sure to check out our other MtG guides and card lists here.
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