After 16 rounds of Magic, the Top 8 of Mythic Championship II London is set.
Don’t miss our recaps of Day 1 and the Top 8.
Thien Nguyen finished in first place with 43 points, followed by Eli Loveman in second place with 39 points. They will be joined by Magic Pro League members Alexander Hayne, Brian Braun-Duin, and Javier Dominguez with 37 points, as well as Adrian Zhu and Chris Kvartek also at 37 points, and Matt Sperling on 36 points.
This will be Matt Sperling’s third career Pro Tour/Mythic Championship Top 8 and Alexander Hayne’s second—though Hayne won Pro Tour Avacyn Restored in his first Top 8. It will also be both 2018 World Champion Javier Dominguez and 2016 World Champion Brian Braun-Duin’s first Pro Tour/Mythic Championship Top 8s.
Mythic Championship II is also Adrian Zhu’s first Mythic Championship after he won a PTQ earlier this year, which he has now converted into his first Top 8. The number one seed, Thien Nguyen finished Day 2 with a 14-1-1 record in the swiss, which is the second best swiss record in history, only behind Hall of Famer Luis Scott-Vargas’s 16-0 run at Pro Tour San Diego in 2010, in reaching his first Pro Tour/Mythic Championship Top 8.
Just before the Mythic Championship II London Top 8 was announced, Hall of Famer and Magic Pro League member Yuuya Watanabe was disqualified for marked cards. He had appeared that he had locked his spot in the Top 8 with an intentional draw in Round 16 to end at 37 points. It would have been his sixth career Pro Tour/Mythic Championship Top 8, though he has yet to win one.
The Top 8 Metagame
Mythic Championship II London’s Top 8 metagame is representative of the overall and Day 2 Modern metagames. Both Humans and Tron were two of the most popular choices for the tournament, at 10.3% and 14.6% of the field, and both put three and two copies into the Top 8, respectively. Only one Izzet Phoenix deck, the second most popular choice at 12% of the field, made the Top 8, along with a single copy of both Titanshift and Affinity.
Top 8 Decklists
Note: Wizards of the Coast did not post the number of copies of the cards in players’ sideboards, so they are listed as all one-ofs.
Thien Nguyen
Thien Nguyen's Modern Titanshift
Planeswalkers (1) 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance Creatures (8) 4 Primeval Titan 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder Spells (20) 4 Scapeshift 4 Farseek 4 Search for Tomorrow 3 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss 2 Summoner’s Pact 3 Lightning Bolt Artifacts (4) 3 Relic of Progenitus 1 Engineered Explosives | Lands (27) 4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle 4 Wooded Foothills 3 Windswept Heath 2 Forest 6 Mountain 4 Cinder Glade 4 Stomping Ground Sideboard (12) 1 Lightning Bolt 1 Relic of Progenitus 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Shatterstorm 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Reclamation Sage 1 Tireless Tracker 1 Dragonlord Atarka 1 Damping Sphere 1 Anger of the Gods 1 Obstinate Baloth |
Eli Loveman
Eli Loveman's Modern Humans
Creatures (37) 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Champion of the Parish 4 Thalia’s Lieutenant 4 Meddling Mage 4 Phantasmal Image 3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 3 Kitesail Freebooter 4 Reflector Mage 1 Militia Bugler 2 Deputy of Detention 4 Mantis Rider Artifacts (4) 4 Aether Vial | Lands (19) 4 Ancient Ziggurat 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Horizon Canopy 4 Unclaimed Territory 1 Seachrome Coast 1 Island 1 Plains Sideboard (9) 1 Militia Bugler 1 Deputy of Detention 1 Auriok Champion 1 Damping Sphere 1 Dismember 1 Gaddock Teeg 1 Sin Collector 1 Whirler Rogue 1 Izzet Staticaster |
Alexander Hayne
Alexander Hayne's Modern Tron
Planeswalkers (6) 4 Karn Liberated 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon Creatures (8) 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger 2 Walking Ballista 4 Wurmcoil Engine Spells (8) 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Sylvan Scrying Artifacts (19) 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 4 Oblivion Stone 3 Relic of Progenitus | Lands (19) 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Sanctum of Ugin 5 Forest 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower Sideboard (7) 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Dismember 1 Nature’s Claim 1 Spatial Contortion 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Thragtusk 1 Unravel the Aether |
Brian Braun-Duin
Brian Braun-Duin's Modern Humans
Adrian Zhu
Adrian Zhu's Modern Tron
Planeswalkers (6) 4 Karn Liberated 2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon Creatures (8) 2 Walking Ballista 1 Thragtusk 3 Wurmcoil Engine 1 World Breaker 1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger Spells (8) 4 Ancient Stirrings 4 Sylvan Scrying Artifacts (19) 4 Chromatic Sphere 4 Chromatic Star 4 Expedition Map 3 Relic of Progenitus 4 Oblivion Stone | Lands (19) 5 Forest 1 Ghost Quarter 1 Sanctum of Ugin 4 Urza’s Mine 4 Urza’s Power Plant 4 Urza’s Tower Sideboard (6) 1 Thragtusk 1 Nature’s Claim 1 Dismember 1 Thought-Knot Seer 1 Surgical Extraction 1 Spatial Contortion |
Chris Kvartek
Adrian Zhu's Modern Humans
Creatures (37) 4 Champion of the Parish 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Thalia’s Lieutenant 4 Meddling Mage 4 Phantasmal Image 4 Kitesail Freebooter 4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 4 Mantis Rider 4 Reflector Mage 1 Anafenza, the Foremost Artifacts (4) 4 Aether Vial | Lands (19) 4 Ancient Ziggurat 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Unclaimed Territory 4 Horizon Canopy 1 Island 1 Plains 1 Seachrome Coast Sideboard (7) 1 Deputy of Detention 1 Dismember 1 Militia Bugler 1 Auriok Champion 1 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Damping Sphere 1 Leyline of the Void |
Javier Dominguez
Javier Dominguez's Modern Izzet Phoenix
Creatures (9) 4 Thing in the Ice 4 Arclight Phoenix 1 Crackling Drake Spells (31) 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Serum Visions 4 Faithless Looting 1 Flame Slash 1 Set Adrift 4 Thought Scour 4 Manamorphose 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Lightning Axe 1 Gut Shot 1 Spell Pierce Enchantments (2) 2 Pyromancer Ascension | Lands (18) 1 Flooded Strand 1 Polluted Delta 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Spirebluff Canal 3 Steam Vents 3 Island 2 Mountain Sideboard (11) 1 Crackling Drake 1 Flame Slash 1 Spell Pierce 1 Ceremonious Rejection 1 Alpine Moon 1 Abrade 1 Blood Moon 1 Ravenous Trap 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance 1 Shatterstorm 1 Anger of the Gods |
Matt Sperling
Matt Sperling's Modern Affinity
Creatures (23) 1 Master of Etherium 2 Memnite 4 Ornithopter 4 Signal Pest 4 Steel Overseer 4 Vault Skirge 4 Arcbound Ravager Instants (4) 4 Galvanic Blast Artifacts (14) 4 Mox Opal 4 Springleaf Drum 2 Welding Jar 4 Cranial Plating Enchantments (2) 2 Experimental Frenzy | Lands (17) 4 Darksteel Citadel 4 Inkmoth Nexus 3 Spire of Industry 2 Mountain 4 Blinkmoth Nexus Sideboard (9) 1 Experimental Frenzy 1 Etched Champion 1 Damping Sphere 1 Karn, Scion of Urza 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Dispatch 1 Thoughtseize 1 Rest in Peace 1 Relic of Progenitus |