Day one of the Pro Tour March of the Machine at MagicCon Minneapolis wrapped up on May 5 with Jim Davis going undefeated after eight rounds of Draft and Standard Constructed.
It’s been just over a year since MTG Pro player and content creator Jim Davis went undefeated at the Neon Dynasty Championship. Davis won that tournament and has since been on a roll with a top finish at the Magic World Championship and now an undefeated record following three rounds of March of the Machine (MOM) Draft and five games of Standard Constructed.
Davis is on team ChannelFireball, which features 16 of the best MTG Pros in the world, from Eli Kasis and Reid Duke to Luis Scott-Vargas and Seth Manfield. Preparing with the team prior to the March of the Machine Pro Tour helped him start the day undefeated through the three rounds of Draft.
Davis continued his run into the five Swiss rounds of Standard Constructed with Rakdos Breach to end the day at 8-0. Six other players at the Pro Tour brought the Rakdos Breach deck, making up only 2.8 percent of the total field.
The Rakdos Breach deck is unique within the Standard meta, able to deal with decks like Esper Legends through the sideboard and other Rakdos/Grixis builds through the main deck. Etali, Primal Conqueror from March of the Machine is a powerful addition, pitched into the graveyard through Blood tokens or Fable of the Mirror Breaker.
The dinosaur then gets reanimated through Breach of the Multiverse, another MOM card that also gains access to your opponent’s graveyard. Rakdos Breach plays similarly to Rakdos Midrange, running staples like Bloodtithe Harvester and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse.
Sitting one point down from Davis on the leaderboard are two former Magic World Champions Javier Dominguez and Nathan Steuer, both of whom piloted Rakdos Midrange. Ending day one at 6-2 was Rei Zhang, piloting Ratagblade Combo, a one-of-a-kind deck at the MTG Pro Tour in Minneapolis.
The total prize pool for the Pro Tour March of the Machine tournament is $500,000 USD, with first place taking home $50,000. Players who finish in the top 27 earn an invite to the Magic Pro Tour Lord of the Rings in Barcelona from July 28 to 30.
