After eight rounds of Standard at Mythic Championship VII, the metagame has proved to be diverse while the makeup of the 2019 World Championship, Magic Pro League, and Magic Rivals League are coming into focus.
Don’t miss our coverage of Day 2 of Mythic Championship VII.
Standard
The previous two Mythic Championships were negatively impacted by oppressively dominant decks. At Mythic Championship V, over 40% of the field was made up of Golos decks, which resulted in the banning of Field of the Dead. A month later at Mythic Championship VI, over 60% of the field was made up of UGx Food decks, forcing Wizards of the Coast to ban Oko, Thief of Crowns, Once Upon a Time, and Veil of Summer.
The Standard metagame at Mythic Championship VII clearly benefited from the bannings as no single archetype made up over 20% of the field. And, for the first time since Throne of Eldraine was released, a deck not playing Green was one of the Top 5 most-played archetypes.
The Standard metagame at Mythic Championship VII.
Jeskai Fires, which leverages the power of Fires of Invention to play powerful spells like Cavalier of Gales and Cavalier of Flames for free, was the most-played deck at Mythic Championship VII at 17.9% of the field. It was followed by Jund Sacrifice (13.4%), Golgari Adventure (11.9%), Golgari Sacrifice (10.4%), and Izzet Flash (9%). Though the Sacrifice—or Cat Oven, thanks to the Cauldron Familiar/Witch’s Oven combo—decks were the most popular archetype at 28.3% of the field if you group all of the variations (Jund, Golgari, and Rakdos) together.
Standard Jeskai Fires by Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
| Creatures (15) 2 Bonecrusher Giant 4 Sphinx of Foresight 4 Cavalier of Flame 3 Cavalier of Gales 2 Kenrith, the Returned King Planeswalkers (4) 4 Teferi, Time Raveler Spells (10) 2 Aether Gust 1 Justice Strike 3 Shimmer of Possibility 4 Deafening Clarion Enchantments (4) 4 Fires of Invention | Lands (27) 3 Castle Vantress 3 Fabled Passage 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Island 2 Mountain 1 Plains 2 Sacred Foundry 4 Steam Vents 3 Temple of Epiphany 3 Temple of Triumph Sideboard (15) 1 Aether Gust 2 Devout Decree 2 Disenchant 2 Justice Strike 2 Bonecrusher Giant 4 Mystical Dispute 1 Drawn from Dreams 1 Kenrith, the Returned King |
Standard Jund Sacrifice by Marcio Carvalho
| Creatures (23) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Gilded Goose 2 District Guide 4 Mayhem Devil 2 Midnight Reaper 2 Thrashing Brontodon 3 Wicked Wolf 2 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King Planeswalkers (1) 1 Vraska, Golgari Queen Spells (3) 3 Casualties of War Artifacts (4) 4 Witch’s Oven Enchantments (4) 4 Trail of Crumbs | Lands (25) 4 Blood Crypt 1 Castle Locthwain 4 Fabled Passage 5 Forest 1 Mountain 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp Sideboard (15) 3 Duress 2 Epic Downfall 2 Legion’s End 3 Noxious Grasp 1 Thrashing Brontodon 3 Shifting Ceratops 1 Massacre Girl |
Who Has Qualified for the 2019 World Championship?
Nine of the 16 slots at the 2019 World Championship (which will be in Honolulu on February 14-16, 2020) were already determined before Mythic Championship VII, with the final seven spots being filled by the end of the weekend. Those seven players will be the winner of Mythic Championship VII, the Top 4 members of the Magic Pro League, and the two other Top 4 Challengers (with Raphael Levy and Sebastian Pozzo already locking their place as Top 4 challengers).
After Day 1 of Mythic Championship VII, the other two Top 4 Challengers have been decided: Chris Kvartek and Gabriel Nassif will be going to the 2019 World Championship. Only one of the Top 4 of the Magic Pro League has been locked down by Marcio Carvalho, giving him a spot at the World Championship, while the remaining three spots are currently held by Seth Manfield, Andrea Mengucci, and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa with the final two days of Mythic Championship VII remaining to be played.
Who Has Qualified for the 2020 Magic Pro League?
At the end of the 2019 Magic Pro League season, the Top 20 members will maintain their positions in the league (where they’ll be joined by the Top 4 Challengers), while the bottom 12 members will be relegated to the Magic Rivals League. Going into Mythic Championship VII, four players had already locked their place in the 2020 season: Javier Dominguez, Marcio Carvalho, Seth Manfield, and Andrea Mengucci. And after Day 1 of the Mythic Championship, five players are guaranteed to join the Magic Rivals League for 2020: John Rolf, Luis Salvatto, Eric Froelich, Jessica Estephan, and Janne Mikkonen.
The remaining 23 players are all still in the hunt for the other 20 spots in the Magic Pro League’s 2020 season. The current 20th place cut is Alexander Hayne at 104 points, who will be competing in Day 2 of Mythic Championship VII. 18th and 19th places are Grzegorz Kowalski and Andrew Cuneo at 106 points, but neither player made Day 2, making them very vulnerable to the players in 21st through 24th places—Christian Hauck (102 points), Carlos Ramao (102), Martin Juza (101), and Mike Sigrist (100)—who can earn an additional seven points if they make Top 16.
There is a steep drop to the next players that are still alive for a berth in the 2020 season: Matt Nass with 85 points, and Ben Stark and Lucas Esper Berthoud at 79 points. These players will need to do more than make Top 8 to stay in the Magic Pro League—they will likely need to at least make the Finals to have a chance.
As for the Challengers, three players have locked their spots in the Top 4 and will be joining the Magic Pro League for its 2020 season: Raphael Levy, Ondrej Strasky, and Chris Kvartek. The final spot will be taken by either Gabriel Nassif of Sebastian Pozzo. Nassif is in Day 2 of Mythic Championship VII and will lock his spot in the Top 4 Challengers (and the Magic Pro League) if he makes it into the Top 16 of the Mythic Championship. If he doesn’t, Sebastian Pozzo (who is not playing) will be the final Challenger to join the Magic Pro League.