The top eight Magic: The Gathering players from a pool of 68 are ready to battle it out in MTG Arena for $100,000 grand prize, 50 Mythic Points, and an invitation to the Magic World Championship.
MCV day two recap
Day two at MCV was jammed pack with thrilling matches and unbelievable plays as the field of 28 were reduced to the top eight.
- Stanislav Cifka: Bant Ramp.
- Andrea Mengucci: Bant Food.
- Ken Yukuhiro: Mardu Knights.
- Gabriel Nassif: Simic Food.
- William Jensen: Simic Food.
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz: Bant Golos.
- Lee Shi Tian: Mono-Red Cavalcade.
- Javier Dominguez: Gruul Aggro.
With the initial meta at MCV featuring over 30% of the field playing Bant Golos, only Deparz’s deck has made it to the playoffs. But that’s just the beginning of the surprises from yesterday’s matches. A full rundown of yesterday’s highlights and standings can be found here.
- StanCifka returns to the Magic stage with a Bant Ramp deck designed by him, and Ondřej Stráský and finishes ranked first heading into the playoffs.
- Three aggro decks make it to the top eight: Mardu Knights (Yukuhiro), Mono-Red Cavalcade (Lee Shi Tian), and Gruul Aggro (Dominguez).
- Six of the top eight players are in the Magic Pro League (MPL) with Tian being the only M20 split division winner to advance to the playoffs.
- Three of the top-eight players are in the Magic Hall of Fame: William Jensen, Gabriel Nassif, and Lee Shi Tian.
The action at Mythic Championship V continues today at 11am CT as the top eight battle it out in a double-elimination bracket format.
MCV playoff highlights
The playoffs at Mythic Championship V were played in a double-elimination bracket. The losers of the upper bracket matches will move to the lower bracket and then battle it out again with the winner moving onto the grand finals.
Each match was played in a best-of-three format. In addition, the winner of the lower bracket finalist will have to win two consecutive games in the grand finals before being declared champion of MCV.
The first feature battle of the day was Nassif vs. Jensen in a Simic Food mirror match. On one side table was Cifka and his hot Bant Ramp deck facing off against Dominguez (Gruul Aggro).
After a quick scoop by Jensen in game one, the second game began with both players going Goose to Oko by turn two. Jensen had the advantage with Nissa and Krasis, and the match went to 1-1. But the mulligan gods were not in Jensen’s favor and Nassif won the first feature match of the day.
In the Cifka and Dominguez match, Gruul was at a disadvantage but after two games, the two were tied at 1-1 with Stancifka on the play for game three. StanCifka was about to ruin Dominguez’s day with a Wicked Wolf, but a turn four Embercleave saved the day and won Javier the match.
Next up would be Mengucci and his Bant Food deck against Lee Shi Tian (Mono-Red Cavalcade) on the main table, with Yukuhiro and Depraz on the side.
Designed to beat Bant Golos with Mono-Red, Tian found himself at a disadvantage against Oko. Game one, however, was all about Cavalcade and Torbran with Tian earning the win. But Mengucci was quick to respond with multiple copies of Deputy of Detention to win game two. Tian would give it his best effort in game three, but Mengucci had an answer at every turn to win the match.
Bant Golos and Mardu Knights would each get a win apiece, with the results of who would be in the top four coming down to game three once again. Yukuhiro would start the game strongly despite not having a one drop. But the aggression was answered with a Time Wipe from Depraz and a board state gummed down with zombies.
Sitting at two life, Depraz attempted to regain control of the game by dropping Golos and even more zombies via Field of the Dead. Yukuhiro would take a chance and play Chance for Glory, but it didn’t pan out and Depraz gets the win.
With the first matches out of the way in the playoffs, here are the MCV standings so far.
Next up would be Mengucci and his Bant Food deck against Lee Shi Tian (Mono-Red Cavalcade) on the main table, with Yukuhiro and Depraz on the side.
Designed to beat Bant Golos with Mono-Red, Tian found himself at a disadvantage against Oko. Game one, however, was all about Cavalcade and Torbran with Tian earning the win. But Mengucci was quick to respond with multiple copies of Deputy of Detention to win game two. Tian would give it his best effort in game three, but Mengucci had an answer at every turn to win the match.
Bant Golos and Mardu Knights would each get a win a piece, with the results of who would be in the top four coming down to game three once again. Yukuhiro would start the game strong despite not having a one drop. But the aggression was answered with a Time Wipe from Depraz and a board state gummed down with zombies.
Sitting at two life, Depraz attempted to regain control of the game by dropping Golos and even more zombies via Field of the Dead. Yukuhiro would take a chance and play Chance for Glory, but it didn’t pan out and Depraz gets the win.
The next matches would focus on the players in the upper bracket, with Dominguez facing off against Nassif on the main table. And Mengucci vs Depraz on the side.
Gruul would do what it does best in game one (smash), and Dominguez took the first win against Nassif’s Simic Food. The insanity would continue as Nassif hung on by a thread in game two, building his life up from one to nine with two giant Hydroid Krasis’s. And in the end, it would be Simic Food who earned the win.
Nassif had a slow start in game three as Dominguez began the Gruul beatdown. And with an Embercleave smash, the match win would go to the defending Magic World Champion.
Depraz would start off with a nasty double mulligan in game three against Mengucci but would make an amazing comeback and win the match.
And with more excitement to be had, here were the standings heading into the latter half of the playoffs at MCV.
For the lower bracket, Cifka faced off against Jensen on the side table, while Tian and Yukuhiro went toe-to-toe in an aggro showdown. All four players were in the hot seat—one match loss would mean the end of their MCV run.
Tian went 2-0 against Mardu Knights in less than five minutes, moving onto the lower bracket quarterfinals. In a battle of wits between two old school Magic players, Stancifka and Jensen would take their Bant Ramp and Simic Food battle into game three. But it would be Stancifka who would grab the win and move on as well.
The first match in the lower bracket quarterfinals was Tian (Mono-Red Cavalcade) facing off against Oko and Nassif’s Simic Food. Tian would win game one in a blaze of glory but Nassif squeaked out two wins and moveed onto the semifinals.
It would be Bant Food against Bant Ramp in the second match run for the semifinals with Cifka scooping in game one after being outmatched by Mengucci. Game two would play out in similar fashion with a horde of “not like this” emojis from the chat as Mengucci and his immortal scarf moved onto the semifinals.
With the semifinals set, it would be the top two players from each bracket battling it out for a seat at the grand finals in Mythic Championship V.
- Javier Dominguez: Gruul Aggro (upper bracket).
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz: Bant Golos (upper bracket).
- Gabriel Nassif: Simic Food (lower bracket).
- Andrea Mengucci: Bant Food (lower bracket).
Related: Mythic Championship V standings and highlights: Semifinals and final matches
The winner from each bracket will move onto the finals to determine who would claim the title as Mythic Championship V champion.
