Mythic Championship VI semifinal standings and highlights

The Adventure decks fell in the Magic: The Gathering quarterfinals, leaving four Food decks competing for the Mythic Championship VI trophy and the $50,000 grand prize.

Mythic Championship VI went from a semi-diverse meta in the quarterfinals to a mirror match nightmare. Four Food decks made it into the semifinals. The Selesnya and Golgari Adventure Magic: The Gathering decks were out, leaving three Simic Food and one Sultai Food.

• Ondrej Stráský: Simic Food
• Oscar Christensen: Sultai Food
• Sebastian Pozzo: Simic Food
• Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa: Simic Food

The semifinal matches were best-of-five, just like the quarterfinals. Players were not allowed to access the sideboard until game three.

Related: Mythic Championship VI quarterfinal standings and highlights

Ondrej Stráský vs. Oscar Christensen

Game one began with Christensen on the advantage. Stráský played his hand strategically, however, and took control of the battlefield. At 11 life he played Nissa, Who Shakes the World, leveling the board state and dropping Christensen to 10 life.

Stráský wanted his games to run long, giving him a greater chance of drawing Mass Manipulation. And the strategy panned out as he forced Christensen to scoop game one. 

Stráský kept the momentum going in game two, drawing a Nissa which led to a 7/7 Hydroid Krasis. But Christensen had Casualties of War in hand, wiping out the Krasis and Nissa. He also took out an Island, making it harder for Stráský to play Mass Manipulation. 

Pressure applied by Christensen was consistent and it was Stráský’s turn to scoop, leaving the match at 1-1.

The players now had access to the sideboard and it would come down to one final game. Stráský’s opening hand had three Gilded Goose cards and Oko, Thief of Crowns.

And he would continue to pull ahead with Gadwick, the Wizened, drawing five cards. Christensen couldn’t recover and Stráský was in the grand finals at Mythic Championship VI. 

Sebastian Pozzo vs. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa

The match between Pozzo and da Rosa was on the side table. Game one quickly went to Pozzo. But the second game was all about da Rosa applying pressure on Sebastian. 

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa almost had Pozzo at lethal but he lacked the tools to pull the trigger. The delay gave Pozzo a chance to gain life back and top deck a Wicked Wolf. But da Rosa was still in the game, topdecking a Mass Manipulation. Game two went to da Rosa and the players headed into game three at 1-1.

Much like Gadwick, the Wizened helped Stráský, the card would also give da Rosa a major advantage in game three. And Pozzo would scoop.

Pozzo started game four with an Oko, which he quickly used to tick away at da Rosa’s life with an aggressive strategy. In just four turns, Paulo was down to 10 life. But the game wasn’t over as da Rossa cast a 6/6 Hydroid Krasis, drawing three essential cards while gaining life. 

A mistake by Pozzo, however, almost cost him the game. Going for Nissa with lethal, Pozzo missed the opportunity to win game four. 

The mistake didn’t give da Rosa an advantage in the following turns and the match would go to game five, with Pozzo breathing a sigh of relief.

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa would start game five with a mulligan down to five, putting him at a disadvantage. But Pozzo didn’t leave his mana up for a counter and da Rosa recovered with a Gadwick, the Wizened. 

Pozzo never had a chance to recover and it was Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa going to the finals at Mythic Championship VI.