Bart Van Etten wins first MOCS of the year, earns Magic World Championship invite

Bart Van Etten proved his mastery over the Modern format by winning the 2022 Magic Online Champions Showcase Season 3 tournament today. With the win, Van Etten earned $20,000 and an invitation to the 2023 Magic World Championship later this year at MagicCon: Las Vegas. 

Van Etten earned his spot in the finals with an undefeated run through the Modern portion of the tournament piloting Izzet Murktide, one of the best decks in the format. He was matched up against Damian Buckley and his Jeskai Breach list.

Both decks play a patient game, looking to use the best spells in the format like Expressive Iteration and Dragon’s Rage Channeler to pressure the opponent. These spells are backed by efficient removal and counter magic. The final was a showcase of the impact that both Modern Horizons sets still have on the format.

The final match of the set was close with both players splitting games one and two. Since both decks were similar in card quality, it came down to Van Etten’s more favorable draws that secured him the victory.

Buckley was the top performer of the Vintage Cube Draft portion of the tournament, securing the 3-0 run in contrast to Van Etten’s 1-2 Limited finish. The next best finisher was third place Karl Sarap, coming off a top-four finish at last year’s Magic World Championship. He earned two wins in both Draft and Modern.

Here is the Modern metagame breakdown from the tournament.

• Two Izzet Murktide
• Two Jeskai Breach
• Two Domain Zoo
• One Eldrazi Tron
• One Izzet Prowess

Eldrazi Tron was played by Gleciano Souza, an archetype he is known for in the Magic Online community. Izzet Prowess is a more aggressive spells-based twist on the usual Izzet builds that was played by Christopher Westerlund. 

The next major Magic event is MagicCon: Philadelphia from Feb. 17 to 19. The convention will host a number of panels and tournaments, including the first Pro Tour of the year.