Day two of Mythic Championship V has 28 of the best Magic: The Gathering players competing. Only the top eight will advance to the finals on day three.
The first day at Mythic Championship V showcased the top deck in the metagame, Bant Golos. But it wasn’t the dominant deck like many suspected it would be. Chris Kvartek was the first player to advance in day one, going 5-0 with his unique Simic Food deck. And speaking of creative deck crafting, Stanislav “StanCifka” Cifka and Ondřej Stráský also dominated the field with their version of Bant Ramp.
The first match streamed at MCV day two featured the dominant Field of the Dead strategy with Seth Manfield playing Bant Golos against Theo Moutier and his Golos Fires deck. With zombies flooding the battlefield from both players, Moutier took a risk by adding Chance of Glory into his build. And it paid off in game one with him winning the match.
The match was Manfield’s first of the tournament, having a day one bye after winning the Emerald Division M20 split. And after the Chance of Glory defeat in game one, Manfield came back to win the next two games—winning his first match at MCV.
But the excitement was far from over as MTG Hall of Famer Lee Shi Tian (Mono-Red Cavalcade) walked onto the stage for his match against Ben Stark in support of the Hong Kong protesters by donning a mask over his face.
Tian has been very vocal in his support of the protests in Hong Kong, and it seems Wizards of the Coast isn’t censoring his support at MCV. And as icing on the cake, Tian went 2-0 in his match against Stark, earning himself a win for the day.
And while Tian was making news on and off the battlefield, StanCifka was busy showing off his Bant Ramp deck in a match against Carlos Romao, creating an 18/18 Hydroid Krasis to win game one.
Following the first game, Cifka continued to pound on Romao and win the match, advancing him closer to the top-eight in day two of Mythic Championship V.
Here are the leaders heading into round three. Only the top eight players will move onto day three and the finals.
Heading undefeated into round three was team ChannelFireball member and Magic Hall of Famer William Jensen (Simic Food) battling against Ken Yukuhiro playing one of the few aggro decks (Mardu Knights) at MCV.
Despite dropping Oko and Questing Beast early in the match, Jensen found himself quickly outmatched by Yukuhiro’s Knights in game one.
Jensen would control the tempo better in game two, turning Embercleave into a 3/3 elk with the help of Oko. But it wasn’t enough, and Yukuhiro moves on to 3-0 for the day.
Winner of the Mythical Invitational earlier this year, Andrea Mengucci, faced off against Sebastian Pozzo in a classic Bant Food vs. Bant Golos match. And it would be Oko in cahoots with Nissa that would dominate over Golos and Field of the Dead.
But the true match of the day at MCV was Kvartek (Simic Food) against StanCifka (Bant Ramp). Cifka would win game one but Kvartek was quick to answer back, dominating the board state in game two.
Never count StanCifka out, however. He showed off his Magic skills in game three by taking control of the battlefield. And once the dust settled, it would be Cifka who remained undefeated for the day.
Heading into round four, three players remained undefeated (Mengucci, Yukuhirio, and Cifka). Here are the leaders at the end of round three, each hoping for a shot at the finals tomorrow.
Round four began with the undefeated Mengucci and StanCifka battling it out. Bant Food quickly won game one while Cifka’s Bant Ramp wrapped up game two in a similar fashion.
A lot was on the line with this match, as the winner would only have to claim victory in one more match before getting into the finals at MCV. And it would be Mengucci moving on undefeated, able to drop Oko and Nissa before StanCifka could in game three.
Notable names on the leaderboard following round four include Mengucci as the lone undefeated player, Javier Dominguez sneaking into the number six standing with Gruul Aggro, and Gabriel Nassif.
Round five began with a prime example of how Dominguez earned that spot on the MCV standings leaderboard, as his Gruul Aggro deck faced off against Manfield (Bant Golos). And in the words of AliasV, Manfield was “donezo.”
The undefeated Mengucci (Bant Food) would hit the hot seat once again in hopes of a win to move onto day three. He faced off against Nassif and his Simic Food deck, and it would be the infamous scarf-wearing pro who would take game one with some help from Deputy of Detention.
Struggling with drawing mana in game two, however, Mengucci was forced to concede and move onto game three. Nassif would mulligan down to five, taking a huge risk by keeping one land and Once Upon a Time. But he wasn’t punished as Nassif dropped Oko on turn three, followed up by Nissa giving Nassif the advantage.
And after taking his time with each decision, Nassif would end the undefeated run from Mengucci.
The win streak for Nassif was short-lived, though, since his next match was against Yukuhiro (both 4-1) and his Mardu Knights deck. It would come down to game three in which Nassif was slow to draw necessary lands, as Yukuhiro grabbed the fifth win for the day and moves onto the finals.
And in a rematch between Mengucci and Dominguez for a fifth win and a seat at the finals tomorrow, Bant Food would win out. Going on to the finals too, was StanCifka, earning a fifth win as well.
With round six in the tank, seven were left fighting it out for a guaranteed seat at the finals in MCV. Two of those players were Lee Shi Tian (Mono-Red Cavalcade) battling against the deck he came to beat, Bant Golos (Carlos Romao).
Both players came into the match at 4-2, with Ramao winning the first game after Tian was mana flooded. But lands weren’t an issue in game two as Tian pounded Ramao into conceding after dropping Torbran, Thane of Redfell and his majestic beard.
And game three played out much the same—but with double Cavalcade of Calamity providing the beating as Tian moved onto the finals at MCV.
The rest of the matches on the bubble would be similarly intense, with a healthy variety of archetypes making it into the top eight finals.
The Mythic Championship V finals begin at 11am CT tomorrow as the top eight players seek the grand prize of $100,000 and an automatic invite to the Magic World Championship.
