MTG Mythic Championship II shows off War of the Spark draft

The second Magic: The Gathering Mythic Championship is underway in London, beginning with a War of the Spark draft. Played for the first time by many in the field (with the exception of MTG Arena early access and practice rounds), the pros showed off how powerful of an expansion War of the Spark is in competition.

Typically, pros will have several weeks of practice before heading into a Mythic Championship draft—but for many, this was their first time opening booster packs in War of the Spark. While some faltered from a lack of practice, others like Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa (green/white) and Joe Soh (blue/black/white) jumped out to a 2-0 start.

Pros like Kai Budde, Matthew Costa, Luis-Scott Vargas, Sergio Garcias Gonzalez, and Jon Finkle were featured on the Magic: The Gathering Twitch stream. Each took their own approach to the draft, focusing on the power of common cards in conjunction with the rare and mythic rares when playing in a competitive draft.

Featured MTG Mythic Championship table day one standing

Da Rosa and Soh ended up going head-to-head—and Soh won the match to finish the morning at 3-0. Oliver Polak Rottman and Shahar Shenhar rounded out at 2-1, while Riku Kamagai had a disappointing 1-2 showing with his red/white aggro and Luis Salvatto went 0-3.

• Oliver Polak Rottman (red/green) 2-1
• Shahar Shenhar (blue/black) 2-1
• Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa (green/white) 2-1
• Nil Gutierrez (blue/red) 1-2
• Joe Soh (blue/black/white) 3-0
• Luis Salvatto (black/green) 0-3
• Riku Kumagai (red/white aggro) 1-2
• Sergio Preto (black/red) 1-2

Featured cards in War of the Spark Mythic Championship draft

One of the biggest commons of the morning was Tamiyo’s Epiphany, creating card advantage and control of the match. Other commons that saw play included Law-Rune Enforcer and Aven Eternal.

Rare and mythic rare cards are typically the “bomb” picked in the numbers one to three spots in a draft. Ones that stood out on day one of the Mythic Championship War of the Spark draft included Ral, Caller of the Storms, Bio-Essence Hydra, Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Sarkhan, the Masterless, Eternal Skylord, Commence the Endgame, and Ashiok, Dream Render.

Leaderboard day one War of the Spark draft

The top 48 players at 3-0 in the War of the Spark draft includes some well-known Magic: The Gathering names, but it’s also missing a large number of MPL pros. Names that stand out in the top 24 include Reid Duke, Thomas Enevoldsen, and Chris Kvartek.

Players are taking a break and will return to play Modern Constructed for the second half of the day in the Magic: The Gathering Mythic Championship in London. The War of the Spark draft will resume Saturday morning.