Mythic Championship VII Day Two Players and Metagame

Screengrab via WotC Magic The Gathering Twitch channel

Mythic Championship VII day three standings and highlights

A seat at the World Championship and $100,000 are on the line.

Danny Forster

Published: Dec 8, 2019 02:02 pm

Eight of the best Magic: The Gathering players from around the world competed for a $100,000 first-place prize and a seat at the World Championship.

Round one upper bracket

The first featured match was between Kanister (Jund Sacrifice) against Manfield and his Simic Flash deck. Manfield was able to secure a seat at day three thanks to tie-breakers, despite having a record of 4-3 on day two.

Kanister earned a win in the first game and gained an early advantage in game two due to Manfield getting mana flooded. With a handful of lands, there was nothing Manfield could do and Kanister earned his first match win of the day.

Next up was Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (PVDDR) and the only Jeskai Fires deck at day three against the MTG Arena Qualifier Miguel da Cruz Simões and his Jund Sacrifice deck.

PVDDR quickly earned a win in game one but started game two short on lands. Simões, however, couldn’t take advantage of PVDDR being short on lands. Drawing land after land, Simões flooded out while PVDRR found his lands and dropped the Fires of Invention and Cavalier package. The win went to Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa and Simões moved to the lower bracket.

Paired off in the third upper bracket match was Andrea Mengucci and his aggressive Simic Ramp deck against Chris Kvartek and his unique Golgari Adventure deck. The two skilled Magic pros went toe-to-toe in game one, with Kvartek edging out a win thanks to Vivien, Arkbow Ranger.

Mengucci didn’t waste any time in game two, ramping with two copies of Risen Reef. And Kvartek quickly conceded after drawing short on lands. Game three began with a double mulligan from Kvartek, putting him at a severe disadvantage against Mengucci’s deck. After drawing only two lands, Kvartek conceded again and moved into the lower bracket.

The last pairing was between the defending Magic World champion Javier Dominguez against Brad Nelson in a Simic Flash mirror match. Each player earned a victory in games one and two. Dominguez dropped a Nissa, Who Shakes the World first, followed by a Hydroid Krasis in game three, to earn a match win.

Here were the MCVII standings after the first round of upper bracket matches:

Round two upper bracket semifinal

The first match upper semifinal match was between Mengucci (Simic Ramp) and Dominguez (Simic Flash). Mengucci conceded almost immediately after Dominguez gained an early advantage and attacked for near-lethal in the first game. Game two was over just as quickly after both players fought for control of the battlefield.

Dominguez earned the match win, moving him onto the finals at MCVII.

The next upper semifinal match was between Kanister (Jund Sacrifice) and PVDDR (Jeskai Fires). And unlike the previous matches of day three, both players showcased their decks to the max.

Kanister focused on Korvold and the cat combo, while PVDDR dropped big creatures with Fires of Invention. A top deck of two Cavalier of Flame’s by PVDDR changed the tempo of the game, though. But a Cauldron of Familiar kept Kanister alive. Casting Deafening Clarion on the next turn by PVDDR secured him a victory in game one.

PVDDR had the early advantage in game two but lacked a Fires and Blue mana. Kanister, on the other hand, turned the Trail of Crumb’s engine and found his sacrifice tools for the win. It looked like PVDDR had game three in the bag until Kanister found his sacrifice combos, again—earning a spot in the finals.

Here were the MCVII standings and pairings heading into round three:

Round three lower bracket

Round three was the start of elimination matches. The first feature match was between Kvartek (Golgari Adventure) against Nelson (Simic Flash). A match win was important for both players, but even more so for Nelson who was attempting to earn enough Mythic Points to get him a seat at the Magic World Championship.

Each player earned a victory in games one and two, forcing a game three. Kvartek almost won the match in the first few turns with a Rotting Regisaur, but Nelson recovered by casting a Nissa with counterspell action in hand. And Kvartek quickly fell behind, securing the match victory for Nelson.

Next up in the lower bracket was Manfield (Simic Flash) against Simões (Jund Sacrifice). Each had a win in games one and two, with Manfield gaining an early advantage in game three with Nightpack Ambusher and Nissa.

Simões recovered with his sacrifice tools, but the pressure from Nissa and Sorcerous Spyglass was too much to overcome. Dropping Simões to one life point with time running out on the match clock, Manfield attacked with everything for the victory.

Round four lower bracket

Nelson (Simic Flash) and PVDDR (Jeskai Fires) kicked off the lower bracket semifinals. And with a one-two-punch, Nelson was victorious in games one and two—moving onto the lower bracket finals.

Manfield (Simic Flash) and Mengucci (Simic Ramp) were the final best-of-three match of the lower bracket semifinals. Both had solid starts in game one but an attack from Mengucci sealed a victory with 146 points of damage.

Mengucci continued his dominating run in game two, advancing onto the lower bracket finals.

Here were the Mythic Championship VII standings heading into the upper and lower bracket finals:

Round five upper bracket finals

The upper bracket finals featured Kanister (Jund Sacrifice) against Dominguez (Simic Flash). Heading into this match, Kanister was 7-0 at MCVII having earned a day-one bye through the Magic Pro League ELD division split.

Dominguez claimed an easy victory in game one with Nissa and had the early advantage in game two. A Sorcerous Spyglass shutting down Witch’s Oven and multiple Nightpack Ambushers almost won the game for Dominguez. But Kanister refused to give up, casting a Korvold for the win.

Both players started game three with solid opening hands, with Dominguez dropping Nissa and Kanister setting up his sacrifice engine. And a turn five Korvold sealed the match win for Kanister, earning him a seat at the final table while dropping Dominguez to the lower bracket.

Round six lower bracket semifinals

Both players in the lower bracket semifinals, Nelson (Simic Flash) and Mengucci (Simic Ramp), lost a match to Dominguez. Nelson quickly won the first game and gained an early advantage in game two. Bouncing Nissa and Leafkin Druid with Petty Theft, Nelson won the match and advanced on to face Dominguez.

Lower bracket finals

For the third time at Mythic Championship VII, Dominguez and Nelson faced off in a Simic Flash mirror match. They were also playtesting partners heading into MCVII.

Dominguez counterspelled Nelson into submission during the first game and started game two with a solid opening hand. But Nelson played Nissa first to win the second game.

Nelson began game three with two Nightpack Ambushers and gained board state advantage despite Dominguez dropping a Nissa. After dropping a Hydroid Krasis, the match was Nelson’s and he moves onto the grand final match at MCVII.

MCVII grand final

Kanister’s Sacrifice deck wasn’t the matchup Nelson wanted. And to claim the MCVII trophy, Nelson needed to win two matches in a row. But Kanister only needed to win a single best-of-three match.

Nelson applied the pressure to Kanister immediately in game one with a Nissa and a handful of counterspells. But Kanister came back quickly in game two, earning his own win.

Nelson dropped a Nissa in game three but Kanister had his sacrifice engine firing on all cylinders. Having fun with Kanister, who’s known for his emotes during a match, Nelson roped him before conceding the match.

And with a concession from Nelson, Piotr “Kanister” Głogowski was the winner of Mythic Championship VII.

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