Bant Golos and Simic Food are dominating the first day of the MTG Arena Mythic Championship V.
Every round will matter at MCV during day one as the first players to win five matches move onto day two and those with four losses are out of the tournament.
The first feature match of the day had MCIII champion Matias Leveratto (Golgari Adventures) facing off against Chris Kvartek (Simic Food). And right off the bat, Oko, Thief of Crowns showed off how broken it is by tearing through Leveratto’s Adventures deck.
The young Kvartek, who qualified via the Arena Mythic Championship Qualifiers, stumbled in game two but dominated game three by using the deadly combo of Gilded Goose and Wicked Wolf. Kvartek is playing an aggressive midrange Simic Food deck and he’s a player to keep an eye on in Mythic Championship V.
Here are the top-eight ranked players at MCV after round one.
And here are the players ranked ninth through 16th.
The feature match in round two showcased Ken Yukuhiro (Mardu Knights) playing against Gabriel Nassif (Simic Food).
Yukuhiro and his Knights deck dominated game one by going under the slower-moving Simic Food deck. Nassif showed signs of life in game two but Yukuhiro’s aggressiveness was too much without an early Oko in play.
And despite drawing Nissa and the crown thief later in the game, Nassif went 0-2 and Yukuhiro won the match.
Round two featured Jean Emmanuel Depraz playing against Kenji “Numothenummy” Egashira in a Four-Colored Golos mirror match. Depraz won game one and continued his momentum into game two, dominating Egashira early on with a flood of zombies on the battlefield.
Other notable wins in round two include Stanislav “StanCifka” Cifka and Ondřej Stráský going undefeated so far while playing Bant Ramp.
The third round’s feature match was an entertaining one with Christian Hauck (Selesnya Adventure) going up against Autumn Burchett and their Golos Fires deck.
Game one didn’t start in Hauck’s favor because he had to mulligan twice. And it wasn’t long before Burchett doubled up on Deafening Clarion to wipe the board and win the game through two copies of Field of the Dead. Clarion didn’t cut it in game two for them, however, and Hauck tied up the match.
The third game kicked off with Fires of Invention in Burchett’s opening hand, wiping out Hauck’s initial aggressive attack with Time Wipe. Hauck almost recovered but a Planar Cleansing kept him from attacking with Gideon for lethal. Burchett then used all their tools to rebuild and win the match 2-1.
The second feature match in round three showcased Stráský (Bant Ramp) vs. Shota Yasooka and his Simic Food deck. With Oko and Nissa, Who Shakes the World in both decks, it was a race to see who could break the game first. Stráský got the better draws and outplayed Yasooka, remaining undefeated (3-0) for the day so far.
Here are the top-eight players who remain undefeated after round three.
In the ninth through 16th slots, MPL pro player Brad Nelson stands out with only one loss heading into round four.
Round four of MCV kicked off with Marcio Carvalho (Bant Food) playing against Piotr Głogowski and his Golgari Adventures deck that he created in week one of the Sapphire Division ELD split.
Game one was over by turn three since Carvalho dropped Oko, followed by Nissa. Głogowski had a much better opening hand in game two, however, winning with the help of Nissa and Murderous Rider.
The third game was a true marathon. Carvalho stole planeswalkers and creatures with Deputy of Detention, while Kanister eliminated threats with Murderous Rider and Noxious Grasp.
Głogowski got Liliana, Dreadhorde General on the battlefield but couldn’t hang on to her to fire off her ultimate. Meanwhile, Wicked Wolf and Nissa ate away at Kanister’s line of defense and Carvalho won game three.
The second match in round four featured Kai Budde (Simic Food) playing against Nelson and his Bant Golos deck. Budde won the first game and launched into game two with a quick Oko/Gilded Goose combo and Nissa drop. But the win went to Budde thanks to Questing Beast and Nelson picked up his second loss of the day.
Round five kicked off with the feature match of the day as undefeated Cifka (Bant Ramp) was paired against the undefeated Kvartek and his Simic Food deck. Each player was battling for a 5-0 start during the day one matches at MCV and a chance to end the day early (five wins equals an automatic seat at day two).
Cifka immediately took the lead in game one with a turn two drop of Oko while Kvartek was mana punished. And game one was over quickly with Cifka earning the win. Kvartek popped off in the second game just as quick and the two players quickly found themselves in a tiebreaker.
Both dropped Oko early in the game while Cifka followed up with Teferi, Time Raveler and two copies of Wicked Wolf in hand. But Kvartek wasn’t ready to concede, dropping Nissa into the battlefield. After going tit-for-tat against each other it would be Brazen Borrower and an army of 3/3 lands that would win game three for Kvartek.
Going undefeated in the day one matches, Chris Kvartek was the first player to move onto day two at MCV. And right behind him was Jean Emmanuel Depraz. But the rest of the field would have to wait for the sixth round to determine who else would move onto day two.
The feature match for round six was Martin Juza (Bant Ramp) playing against William Jensen and his Simic Food deck. Each player was 4-1 heading into round six and would take a win in games one and two.
In determining who would move onto day two, it would all come down to the third game. After an intense battle, it would be Jensen who would pull out the match win and move onto day two at MCV.
The final round of the day featured two players who were in the hot seat earlier today, with Kenji Egashira (Four-Color Golos) playing against the Ken Yukuhiro and his aggro Mardu Knights.
Yukuhiro put up a good fight with his Knights but after two games it was all about Golos and Field of the Dead, with the top Magic Streamer “NumotTheNummy” moving onto day two.
Once the dust settled after round seven, 24 players from day one were moving onto day two at Mythic Championship V.
And thanks to tiebreakers here is the rest of the players continuing onto day two at Mythic Championship V.
Day two of Magic’s Mythic Championship V kicks off at tomorrow 11am CT with only the top eight moving onto the day three finals.
