MTG Selesnya Poison infects competition at Japan Champions Cup

Poison counters are winning Magic: The Gathering games outside of the best-of-one Ranked ladder on MTG Arena, with Rei Sato cruising to a tournament victory at the Champions Cup in Japan. 

Infect has returned to the Standard meta in best-of-three Constructed, thanks to Rei Sato, a Japanese Magic: The Gathering player with multiple top-eight Grand Prix finishes and the winner of the Champions Cup in Japan. Sato took down the dominant Grixis Midrange Standard deck piloted by Takeshi Ozawa to win the tournament, along with the other best MTG decks in Standard: Mono-Blue Tempo, Esper Legends, Jund Midrange, and Mono-White Midrange.

How Sato piloted MTG Selesnya Aggro Poison deck to victory

Sato’s version of Selesnya Aggro is slightly different from the other variations that appeared on the Magic competitive scene during the final weeks of Feb. 

His deck cut all copies of Brutal Cathar//Moonrage Brute, even from the sideboard, while running three copies of Annex Sentry in the main deck. Cards like Brutal Cathar and Annex Sentry are important components in an Aggro deck that plays the color White, disrupting an opponent’s gameplay strategy and tempo so your build can keep delivering direct combat damage.  

Sato continued to lean into the Toxic strategy of his build by playing three copies of Charge of the Mites and four copies of Skrelv’s Hive in the main deck. And he also included four copies of Tyvar’s Stand, which provides protection and can get used as a powerful combat trick when necessary. 

Venerated Rotpriest was, of course, included in Sato’s version of the Selsnya Poison deck as well, but as more of a support piece rather than the focus. Sato’s sideboard was also ready for the competition, containing multiple forms of removal through cards like Lantern Flare, Destroy Evil, and Carnivorous Canopy. Unlicensed Hearse was included for graveyard hate, and Wedding Announcement//Wedding Festivity is the ideal Enchantment when matching up against Control builds. 

Pro Tour March of the Machine, scheduled to take place at Minneapolis MagicCon from May 5 to 7, will feature the Traditional Standard Constructed format, as will all the Regional Championships leading up to it. Sato earned himself an invite to the second Pro Tour tournament of 2023, along with a Magic: The Gathering World Championship invite.