Austin Bursavich won the 2020 Season Grand Finals Sunday night, defeating Aaron Gertler in the finals two matches to zero in one of the weekend’s many Omnath Adventures mirrors.

The Grand Finals was a split-format event that featured both Standard and Historic, three rounds of each on both Days 1 and 2, with the Top 8 being Standard. Bursavich, along with the majority of the 32-player field, brought Omnath Adventures in Standard. He also chose to play an Omnath, Locus of Creation deck in Historic in the form of Omnath Ramp, as did ten other players.

Bursavich finished the Swiss rounds in first place at 11-1. He was joined in the Top 8 by Autumn Burchett (Gruul Adventures in Standard/Omnath Ramp in Historic), Patrick Fernandes (Omnath Adventures/Omnath Ramp), Aaron Gertler (Omnath Adventures/Omnath Ramp), Emma Handy (Gruul Adventures/Omnath Ramp), Raphaël Lévy (Omnath Adventures/Four-Color Midrange), Seth Manfield (Dimir Rogues/Jund Sacrifice), and Gabriel Nassif (Omnath Adventures/Four-Color Midrange).

The Top 8 bracket at the 2020 Season Grand Finals.

Bursavich was paired against the eighth seed, Lévy, for a Omnath Adventures mirror in the upper bracket quarterfinals. Lévy beat him in two games, dropping Bursavich to the lower bracket and a loss away from being eliminated. He proceeded to eliminate half of the bracket himself, including winning his rematch with Lévy, on his way to face Gertler in the best-of-three match finals.

Gertler, who was also on Omnath Adventures, had a much easier path to the finals by going undefeated in the upper bracket. But he lost a competitive first match to Bursavich 2-0 and then couldn’t find a third land to open the second match, quickly putting Bursavich a game away from victory. Gertler finally got on the board by winning the second game of Match 2, but Bursavich won the third game, match, and Grand Finals in the way he’d be winning all day—by Flinging a giant creature at his opponent for lethal.

Omnath Dominates Both Formats

The release of Zendikar Rising, Magic’s newest set, two weeks ago was accompanied by the annual rotation of Standard where four sets—Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, War of the Spark, and Core Set 2020—left the format.

The weeks following rotation is traditionally an exciting time in which the format is wide open for new decks. But it only took three days for Wizards to recognize that the Standard format had already coalesced around a dominant deck: Four-Color Omnath, featuring Omnath, Locus of Creation from Zendikar Rising. They decided to ban Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath in order to weaken the archetype, while leaving its namesake card—a brand new mythic—untouched.

It’s unclear how much Wizards thought banning Uro would weaken Omnath decks heading into the Grand Finals. Despite the ban, over 70% of players registered either Omnath Adventures (59.4%) or Omnath Ramp (12.5%) for the Standard rounds of the 2020 Grand Finals.

The Standard metagame at the 2020 Season Grand Finals.

Even more impressive was the fact that 30 out of the 32 players registered Bonecrusher Giant in their deck.

Omnath wasn’t satisfied with merely taking over Standard, though. It also made its way to Historic, where the core of the Standard Omnath Ramp deck was augmented by banned-in-Standard Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath and banned-in-pre-rotation-Standard Growth Spiral.

The Historic metagame at the 2020 Season Grand Finals.

Historic Omnath ramp replaced Muxus Goblins in the Historic metagame, which was the most popular deck at the previous Historic event, last month’s Mythic Invitational. Both Jund Sacrifice and Four-Color Midrange (Sultai Midrange splashing White for Yasharn, Implacable Earth) remained the second and third most popular archetypes.

After the Grand Finals ended, Wizards tweeted Sunday night that they would be making another Banned and Restricted list update on Monday morning. Last week, “we indicated that we would continue monitoring the evolution of the Standard and Historic metagames, making further changes if necessary,” they said. “Following this weekend’s tournament results and analysis of play data over the last few weeks, there will be an update tomorrow impacting Standard, Historic, and Brawl.”

UPDATE: Wizards banned Omnath, Locus of Creation, Lucky Clover, and Escape to the Wilds in Standard and suspended Omnath, Locus of Creation in Historic.

The Conclusion of an Upended Season

The Grand Finals marks the end of the 2020 partial season, a season that ended up looking significantly different than the one Wizards of the Coast had originally envisioned.

Originally, the season was intended to serve as an eight-month bridge to the September-August 2020-21 season. That full season would embrace the new organized play structure of three Players Tours and three Mythic Invitationals per year. That system was to make its debut during the partial season with two Players Tours, two Players Tour Finals, and two Mythic Invitationals.

Players Tour Series 1 was held in-person at the end of January and beginning of February, after which the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic forced Wizards to cancel the rest of the 2020 season and restructure the remaining events into a single Players Tour and Mythic Invitational that culminated in this weekend’s Grand Finals. The impacts of COVID-19 will also extend the 2020-21 season, which will scrap the new Players Tour system for shorter, set-based championships, the first of which will be this Fall’s Zendikar Rising Championship.

Top 8 Deck Lists

Standard Omnath Adventures by Austin Bursavich (1st Place, 2020 Season Grand Finals)

Creatures (26)
Beanstalk Giant
Bonecrusher Giant
Edgewall Innkeeper
Fae of Wishes
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Brazen Borrower
Giant Killer
Lotus Cobra

Spells (4)
Escape to the Wilds
Shatterskull Smashing

Artifacts (4)
Lucky Clover
Lands (26)
Branchloft Pathway
Ketria Triome
Fabled Passage
Cragcrown Pathway
Raugrin Triome
Forest
Island
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Fling
Soul-Guide Lantern
Once and Future
Fabled Passage
Return to Nature
Blazing Volley
Neutralize
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Redcap Melee
Negate
Primal Might
Escape to the Wilds
Mystical Dispute
Storm’s Wrath

Historic Omnath Ramp by Austin Bursavich (1st)

Creatures (14)
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Lotus Cobra
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Kenrith, the Returned King
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath

Planeswalkers (1)
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Spells (15)
Escape to the Wilds
Explore
Genesis Ultimatum
Growth Spiral
Cultivate
Shatterskull Smashing

Enchantments (1)
Felidar Retreat
Lands (29)
Fabled Passage
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Hinterland Harbo
Temple Garden
Breeding Pool
Sacred Foundry
Forest
Island
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Aether Gust
Dovin’s Veto
Grafdigger’s Cage
Pact of Negation
Deafening Clarion
Kenrith, the Returned King
Scavenging Ooze
Mystical Dispute

Standard Omnath Adventures by Aaron Gertler (2nd)

Creatures (26)
Beanstalk Giant
Bonecrusher Giant
Edgewall Innkeeper
Fae of Wishes
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Brazen Borrower
Giant Killer
Lotus Cobra

Spells (4)
Escape to the Wilds
Shatterskull Smashing

Artifacts (4)
Lucky Clover
Lands (26)
Branchloft Pathway
Ketria Triome
Fabled Passage
Cragcrown Pathway
Raugrin Triome
Island
Forest
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Fling
Shredded Sails
Blazing Volley
Once and Future
Inscription of Abundance
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Soul-Guide Lantern
Escape to the Wilds
Storm’s Wrath
Negate
Neutralize
Fabled Passage
Redcap Melee
Mystical Dispute

Historic Omnath Ramp by Aaron Gertler (2nd)

Creatures (14)
Lotus Cobra
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Kenrith, the Returned King

Planeswalkers (1)
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Spells (15)
Escape to the Wilds
Explore
Genesis Ultimatum
Growth Spiral
Cultivate
Shatterskull Smashing

Enchantments (1)
Felidar Retreat
Lands (29)
Fabled Passage
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Hinterland Harbor
Temple Garden
Glacial Fortress
Sacred Foundry
Forest
Island
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Kenrith, the Returned King
Aether Gust
Deafening Clarion
Oracle of Mul Daya
Pact of Negation
Mystical Dispute
Negate
Scavenging Ooze
Grafdigger’s Cage

Standard Omnath Adventures by Gabriel Nassif (3rd)

Creatures (25)
Beanstalk Giant
Brazen Borrower
Edgewall Innkeeper
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Giant Killer
Fae of Wishes
Bonecrusher Giant

Spells (3)
Escape to the Wilds

Artifacts (4)
Lucky Clover
Lands (28)
Fabled Passage
Branchloft Pathway
Cragcrown Pathway
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Island
Forest
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Soul-Guide Lantern
Mystical Dispute
Neutralize
Embercleave
Banishing Light
Escape to the Wilds
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Storm’s Wrath
Shatter the Sky
Chainweb Aracnir
Redcap Melee
Branchloft Pathway
Return to Nature
Negate

Historic Four-Color Midrange by Gabriel Nassif (3rd)

Creatures (9)
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Hydroid Krasis
Yasharn, Implacable Earth

Planeswalkers (4)
Nissa, Who Shakes the World

Spells (19)
Growth Spiral
Thoughtseize
Aether Gust
Extinction Event
Eliminate
Essence Scatter
Mythos of Nethroi
Lands (28)
Breeding Pool
Fabled Passage
Indatha Triome
Zagoth Triome
Watery Grave
Drowned Catacomb
Glacial Fortress
Overgrown Tomb
Temple Garden
Forest
Island
Plains
Swamp

Sideboard (15)
Shark Typhoon
Narset, Parter of Veils
Witch’s Vengeance
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Elder Gargaroth
Negate
Leyline of the Void
Grafdigger’s Cage

Standard Omnath Adventures by Raphaël Lévy (4th)

Creatures (25)
Beanstalk Giant
Edgewall Innkeeper
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Brazen Borrower
Giant Killer
Kenrith, the Returned King
Fae of Wishes
Bonecrusher Giant

Spells (3)
Escape to the Wilds

Artifacts (4)
Lucky Clover
Lands (28)
Fabled Passage
Branchloft Pathway
Cragcrown Pathway
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Island
Forest
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Soul-Guide Lantern
Mystical Dispute
Neutralize
Embercleave
Banishing Light
Escape to the Wilds
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Storm’s Wrath
Shatter the Sky
Chainweb Aracnir
Redcap Melee
Branchloft Pathway
Return to Nature
Negate

Historic Four-Color Midrange by Raphaël Lévy (4th)

Creatures (9)
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Hydroid Krasis
Yasharn, Implacable Earth

Planeswalkers (4)
Nissa, Who Shakes the World

Spells (19)
Growth Spiral
Thoughtseize
Aether Gust
Extinction Event
Eliminate
Essence Scatter
Mythos of Nethroi
Lands (28)
Breeding Pool
Fabled Passage
Indatha Triome
Zagoth Triome
Watery Grave
Drowned Catacomb
Glacial Fortress
Overgrown Tomb
Temple Garden
Forest
Island
Plains
Swamp

Sideboard (15)
Shark Typhoon
Narset, Parter of Veils
Witch’s Vengeance
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Elder Gargaroth
Negate
Leyline of the Void
Grafdigger’s Cage

Standard Gruul Adventures by Autumn Burchett (5th)

Creatures (30)
Bonecrusher Giant
Brushfire Elemental
Edgewall Innkeeper
Gemrazer
Kazandu Mammoth
Lovestruck Beast
Stonecoil Serpent
Scavenging Ooze

Spells (6)
Primal Might
Shatterskull Smashing

Artifacts (4)
Embercleave
Lands (20)
Cragcrown Pathway
Fabled Passage
Evolving Wilds
Forest
Mountain

Sideboard (15)
Embereth Shieldbreaker
Chainweb Aracnir
Thundering Rebuke
Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate
The Great Henge
Ranger’s Guile

Historic Omnath Ramp by Autumn Burchett (5th)

Creatures (14)
Lotus Cobra
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Kenrith, the Returned King

Planeswalkers (1)
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Spells (16)
Escape to the Wilds
Explore
Genesis Ultimatum
Growth Spiral
Bala Ged Recovery
Aether Gust
Lands (29)
Fabled Passage
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Breeding Pool
Clifftop Retreat
Evolving Wilds
Glacial Fortress
Hallowed Fountain
Rootbound Crag
Stomping Ground
Terramorphic Expanse
Forest
Island
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Aether Gust
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Grafdigger’s Cage
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Plains
Negate
Deafening Clarion

Standard Omnath Adventures by Patrick Fernandes (6th)

Creatures (25)
Beanstalk Giant
Bonecrusher Giant
Edgewall Innkeeper
Fae of Wishes
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Brazen Borrower
Giant Killer

Spells (4)
Escape to the Wilds
Shatterskull Smashing

Artifacts (4)
Lucky Clover
Lands (27)
Cragcrown Pathway
Fabled Passage
Branchloft Pathway
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Riverglide Pathway
Island
Forest
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Once and Future
Mystical Dispute
Fling
Negate
Redcap Melee
Escape to the Wilds
Soul-Guide Lantern
Neutralize
Storm’s Wrath
Return to Nature
Stern Dismissal
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Primal Might

Historic Omnath Ramp by Patrick Fernandes (6th)

Creatures (14)
Lotus Cobra
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Golos, Tireless Pilgrim
Kenrith, the Returned King

Planeswalkers (1)
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Spells (13)
Escape to the Wilds
Explore
Genesis Ultimatum
Cultivate
Growth Spiral

Enchantments (2)
Felidar Retreat
Lands (30)
Fabled Passage
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Hinterland Harbor
Temple Garden
Indatha Triome
Stomping Ground
Terramorphic Expanse
Zagoth Triome
Island
Forest
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Shark Typhoon
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Redcap Melee
Magma Spray
Aether Gust
Mystical Dispute

Standard Dimir Rogues by Seth Manfield (7th)

Companion (1)
Lurrus of the Dream-Den

Creatures (12)
Soaring Thought-Thief
Thieves’ Guild Enforcer
Vantress Gargoyle

Spells (27)
Drown in the Loch
Frantic Inventory
Heartless Act
Into the Story
Agadeem’s Awakening
Bloodchief’s Thirst
Lofty Denial
Mystical Dispute
Silundi Vision
Cling to Dust
Lands (21)
Clearwater Pathway
Temple of Deceit
Zagoth Triome
Castle Locthwain
Island
Swamp

Sideboard (14)
Agonizing Remorse
Bloodchief’s Thirst
Skyclave Shade
Lullmage’s Domination
Eliminate
Negate
Mystical Dispute
Cling to Dust

Historic Jund Sacrifice by Seth Manfield (7th)

Creatures (24)
Woe Strider
Mayhem Devil
Cauldron Familiar
Dreadhorde Butcher
Midnight Reaper
Priest of Forgotten Gods
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

Spells (8)
Claim the Firstborn
Collected Company

Artifacts (4)
Witch’s Oven
Lands (24)
Blood Crypt
Dragonskull Summit
Overgrown Tomb
Stomping Ground
Sheltered Thicket
Woodland Cemetery
Cragcrown Pathway
Phyrexian Tower
Swamp

Sideboard (15)
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
Reclamation Sage
Thoughtseize
Liliana’s Defeat
Midnight Reaper
Noxious Grasp
Scavenging Ooze
Redcap Melee
Kitesail Freebooter

Standard Gruul Adventures by Emma Handy (8th)

Creatures (30)
Bonecrusher Giant
Brushfire Elemental
Edgewall Innkeeper
Gemrazer
Kazandu Mammoth
Lovestruck Beast
Stonecoil Serpent
Scavenging Ooze

Spells (6)
Primal Might
Shatterskull Smashing

Artifacts (4)
Embercleave
Lands (20)
Cragcrown Pathway
Fabled Passage
Evolving Wilds
Forest
Mountain

Sideboard (15)
Embereth Shieldbreaker
Chainweb Aracnir
Thundering Rebuke
Vivien, Monsters’ Advocate
The Great Henge
Ranger’s Guile

Historic Omnath Ramp by Emma Handy (8th)

Creatures (14)
Lotus Cobra
Omnath, Locus of Creation
Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Kenrith, the Returned King

Planeswalkers (1)
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Spells (16)
Escape to the Wilds
Explore
Genesis Ultimatum
Growth Spiral
Bala Ged Recovery
Aether Gust
Lands (29)
Fabled Passage
Ketria Triome
Raugrin Triome
Breeding Pool
Clifftop Retreat
Evolving Wilds
Glacial Fortress
Hallowed Fountain
Rootbound Crag
Stomping Ground
Terramorphic Expanse
Forest
Island
Mountain
Plains

Sideboard (15)
Aether Gust
Yasharn, Implacable Earth
Grafdigger’s Cage
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Plains
Negate
Deafening Clarion

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