Pitor Glogowski won Mythic Championship VII with Jund Sacrifice, defeating Brad Nelson on Simic Flash two games to one in the Grand Finals.
Glogowski started the tournament with a bye into Day 2 as the winner of the Sapphire Division in the Magic Pro League’s Eldraine Split. He then proceeded to win five straight matches to make the Top 8 and cruised through the double elimination bracket without dropping a match, going undefeated in his victory at Mythic Championship VII.
The Mythic Championship VII Top 8 bracket.
Standard at Mythic Championship VII
The banning of Oko, Thief of Crowns, Once Upon a Time, and Veil of Summer after Mythic Championship VI had a dramatic impact on the Standard metagame at Mythic Championship VII.
The most popular archetype were Sacrifice variations based on the Cauldron Familiar / Witch’s Oven combo. Sacrifice decks made up 28.3% of the field, with Glogowski’s Jund Sacrifice being the most popular at 13.4%, followed by Golgari Sacrifice at 10.4% and Rakdos Sacrifice at 4.5%.
Standard Jund Sacrifice by Piotr Glogowski
| Creatures (23) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Gilded Goose 4 Mayhem Devil 2 Murderous Rider 2 Thrashing Brontodon 2 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King 2 Massacre Girl 3 Beanstalk Giant Spells (4) 4 Casualties of War Artifacts (4) 4 Witch’s Oven Enchantments (4) 4 Trail of Crumbs | Lands (25) 4 Blood Crypt 2 Castle Locthwain 3 Fabled Passage 5 Forest 1 Mountain 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp Sideboard (15) 4 Duress 3 Lovestruck Beast 1 Murderous Rider 1 Thrashing Brontodon 2 Deathless Knight 2 Wicked Wolf 1 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King 1 Massacre Girl |
The Jund Sacrifice variation leverages both Trail of Crumbs and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King to churn through its library with its Cauldron Familiar / Witch’s Oven engine. Eventually, the deck kills through a combination of Cauldron Familiar drains, Mayhem Devil pings, and giant Korvold, Fae-Cursed King attacks.
The most popular single deck was Jeskai Fires at 17.9% of the field, which is built to play a Turn 4 Fires of Invention and follow it up with free threats like Cavalier of Flames and Cavalier of Gales to overwhelm the opponent. Seth Manfield predicted that Jeskai Fires would be very popular and convinced teammates Brad Nelson and Javier Dominguez to play his own take on Simic Flash, a deck with a great Jeskai Fires matchup—and all three players piloted the deck to the Top 8.
Standard Simic Flash by Brad Nelson
| Creatures (15) 2 Hydroid Krasis 3 Paradise Druid 2 Brazen Borrower 4 Frilled Mystic 4 Nightpack Ambusher Planeswalkers (4) 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World Spells (15) 2 Aether Gust 4 Growth Spiral 1 Negate 3 Quench 2 Mystical Dispute 3 Sinister Sabotage | Lands (26) 4 Breeding Pool 2 Castle Vantress 2 Fabled Passage 7 Forest 7 Island 4 Temple of Mystery Sideboard (15) 1 Aether Gust 1 Hydroid Krasis 1 Kenrith’s Transformation 1 Negate 2 Sorcerous Spyglass 1 Crushing Canopy 4 Lovestruck Beast 2 Mystical Dispute 2 Chemister’s Insight |
The Grand Finals
But the countermagic-heavy Simic Flash deck has a poor matchup against the powerful card draw engine in the Sacrifice variants that play Trail of Crumbs—exactly what Glogowski was playing. And since Nelson had advanced from the Lower Bracket, he would have to defeat Glogowski twice to win the Mythic Championship.
Despite the matchup disadvantage, Nelson was able to to win Game 1 by baiting Glogowski’s removal spell with an end-of-turn Turn 3 Nightpack Ambusher into a Turn 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World. Nelson was able to protect his Nissa by untapping a Breeding Pool with Nissa’s +1, allowing him to keep up the mana for a key Aether Gust on Glogowski’s follow-up Casualties of War.
Glogowski began Game 2 with Gilded Goose into Trail of Crumbs and then used a Duress to take Nelson’s only threat, a Nissa, Who Shakes the World. Nelson continued to flood out while Glogowski quickly found a Mayhem Devil, after which Nelson drew another land a conceded the game.
Nelson kept a very slow hand in Game 3 with some countermagic and a Nissa, while Glogowski kept a hand with his entire card draw engine: Cauldron Familiar, Witch’s Oven, Trail of Crumbs, and Gilded Goose. But Glogowski couldn’t find any early pressure, giving Nelson time to cast his Nissa, Who Shakes the World on Turn 5.
Glogowski had a Swift End to remove Nissa—but Nelson immediately drew and played a second copy. Glogowski dug with his draw engine, found a Mayhem Devil, and strung enough sacrifices together to ping down Nissa. Nelson drew an Aether Gust for his turn, emoted and roped in good fun, and then conceded the game, match, and Mythic Championship VII to Piotr Glogowski.
World Championship XXVI, 2020 Magic Pro League and Rivals League
Mythic Championship VII marked the end of the 2019 Magic Pro League season, making it the last chance for players to earn Mythic Points for World Championship XXVI (previously the 2019 World Championship) and the 2020 Magic Pro League season.
Nine of the 16 slots for World Championship XXVI were filled before Mythic Championship VII began by the reigning World Championship Javier Dominguez, the winners of the first six Mythic Championships, and two of the Top 4 Challengers. By the end of the tournament, another Mythic Champion had been crowned, the final two Top 4 Challengers were settled, and the Top 4 Magic Pro League members were finalized, locking in the full field of 16 players that will play in Honolulu, Hawaii in February.
The field for World Championship XXVI.
Likewise, the 24-player roster for the Magic Pro League’s 2020 season was determined at the end of Mythic Championship VII, as were the invites to the 32-player Magic Rivals League. (Four additional players will be added to the Rivals League via discretionary invites.)
