Over 230 Magic: The Gathering players from around the globe competed in the Alchemy and Historic formats for a shot at Worlds in the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Championship.
Gameplay for the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Championship took place on MTG Arena from March 11 to 13. The new Alchemy format was showcased alongside Historic. Similar to the Innistrad Championship, the top six players after three days of the competition earned an invite to compete at the 2022 Magic World Championship.Â
Top decks within the Alchemy format heading into the tournament were Naya Runes, the deck to beat, Mono-White, and Orzhov.
- Mono-White: 23.1 percent of the field
- Naya Runes: 18.3 percent of the field
- Mardu Midrange: 9.2 percent of the field
- Orzhov Midrange: 7.4 percent of the field
- Azorius Control: 6.6 percent of the field
- Rakdos Sacrifice: 5.2 percent of the field
- Jeskai Hinata: 3.9 percent of the field
- Rakdos Midrange: 3.5 percent of the field
- Grixis Midrange: 3.1 percent of the field
Izzet Phoenix was still the Historic deck to beat, alongside Golgari Food and a variety of Azorius builds.
- Izzet Phoenix: 24.5 percent of the field
- Azorius Control: 9.2 percent of the field
- Golgari Food: 8.7 percent of the field
- Azorius Auras: 6.6 percent of the field
- Jeskai Control: 6.6 percent of the field
- Azorius Lotus Field: 5.7 percent of the field
- Azorius Yorion: 5.7 percent of the field
- Rakdos Arcanist: 5.7 percent of the field
- Orzhov Auras: 3.9 percent of the field
March 11 NEO Championship standings
A total of seven rounds were played during the first day of competition at the Neon Dynasty Championship. The first three were in the Alchemy format and the rest were played in Historic. Players who achieved at least four match wins within a best-of-three format advanced to the second day.
The Alchemy rounds wrapped after three games, showcasing a total of 29 MTG players with 3-0 records heading into the Historic rounds.
The Historic rounds shook up the Neon Dynasty standings, with Jim Davis and Jean-Emmanuel Depraz wrapping day one undefeated.
Also sitting at the top of the leaderboard were MTG veterans like Greg Orange, Toru Saito, Nathan Steuer, Piotr Glogowski, and Kai Budde.
March 12 NEO Championship standings
The second day of the Neon Dynasty Championship showcased a total of eight rounds, four in Alchemy and four within the Historic format. A total of 115 players started the day, and the first featured match was between the two undefeated competitors from day one, Jim Davis and Jean-Emmanuel Depraz.
Davis earned the win with his Grixis Midrange deck, starting the day with an 8-0 record. Players with a total of 12 match wins between days one and two automatically advanced to the Neon Dynasty Championship playoffs. Davis continued his win streak throughout the Alchemy rounds, heading into Historic with an 11-0 record.
Winning his first Historic match against Zach Dunn, Davis was the first MTG player at the Neon Dynasty Championship to advance into the top-eight. Jean-Emmanuel Depraz was the second player to advance onto day three. The remaining six players were determined via matches in round 15.
Here were the eight MTG players who advanced to the NEO playoffs:
- Jim Davis
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz
- Yudai Miyano
- Jonny Guttman
- Zach Dunn
- Zhi Yimin
- Eli Kassis
March 13 NEO Championship standings
The NEO Championship playoffs started with four matches in the upper bracket: Jim Davis (Grixis Midrange) vs. Eli Kassis (Orzhov Venture), Yudai Miyano (Esper Clerics) vs. Jonny Guttman (Mono-White), Brent Vos (Orzhov Venture) vs. Zach Dunn (Mardu Midrange), and Jean-Emmanuel Depraz (Jeskai Hinata) vs. Zhi Yimin (Mardu Midrange).
A win during the first match of the double-elimination playoff bracket guaranteed a top-six placement for the MTG competitors at the NEO Championship, earning them an invite to the Magic World Championship later this year. The winners remaining in the upper bracket and going to Worlds were Eli Kassis, Yudai Miyano, Zhi Yimin, and Zach Dunn.
Dunn beat out Yimin and Miyano to earn himself a spot in the NEO Championship final match, ending the upper bracket rounds. Earning the final two invites to the MTG World Championship were Jonny Guttman and Jean-Emmanuel Depraz with victories in the lower bracket.
Kassis and his Orzhov Venture deck dominated the lower bracket of the NEO Championship, advancing the MTG veteran to the final match against Dunn and his Mardu Midrange build. Both decks had the best win rate throughout the tournament within the Alchemy format. The final match was in the format of best-of-three games.
Dunn won the first match, and Kassis earned a victory in the second match. It all came down to the third match with Kassis earning the Neon Dynasty Championship title with Orzhov Venture in the Alchemy format.
