Showcasing a Magic: The Gathering Standard meta without Oko, Twitch Rivals hosted a two-day MTG Arena tournament with a $75,000 prize pool.
The MTG Arena Twitch Rivals tournament featured 250 of the top Magic streamers around the world, including several pros. Day one consisted of six Swiss rounds, with the top 32 battling it out in a single-elimination bracket on Nov. 20.
Three losses on day one equaled automatic elimination from the tournament. Only the top 128 players would take home a piece of the $75,000 prize pool. All 250 Magic players competing in the Twitch Rivals tournament streamed the event while playing, making it the largest Twitch Rivals Magic Arena tournament in history.
A majority of players brought Temur Reclamation and Fires to the tournament while others brought some Standard 2020 favorites. And mixed into the pot were a few new decks too.
Here were what some of the top streamers were playing during day one of the Magic Arena Twitch Rivals tournament.
- Martin Jůza: Black Red Aggro
- Amazonian: Selesnya Adventure
- Xemnon: Kenrith Four-Colored Fires
- Brad Nelson: Temur Reclamation
- Ali Eldrazi Korvold Sacrifice
- Ondřej Stráský: Esper Dance (Czech Doom)
- Sjow: Jeskai Fires
- LSV: Temur Reclamation
- Stanislav Cifka: Esper Dance (Czech Doom)
- NumotTheNummy: Temur Reclamation
- Brian Braun-Duin: Jund Sacrifice
- Javier Dominguez: Jeskai Fires
- Bloody: Jeskai Fires
- Jeff Hoogland: BW Ayara
- Lee Shi Tian: Mono White
- RobAJG: UW Control
- Matt Nass: BG Adventure
- Bengineering: RB Cleave
- Jessica Estephan: UG Stem (Flash)
- Luis Salvatto: BG Adventure
- Seth Manfield: Temur Reclamation
- Frank Moon: Doom Trail (Abzan Sacrifice)
Ali Eldrazi (Korvold Sacrifice) started round one against Amazonian (Selesnya Adventure). And it was a blowout. Eldrazi went 2-0, dominating game one without even drawing a Korvold Fae-Cursed King. He even criticized himself for missing a point in game two after stomping over Amazonian’s Adventure deck.
Sjow showed off his Jeskai Fires deck, containing Cavaliers in the main deck and planeswalkers in the sideboard. But he could access his sideboard at almost anytime with Fae of Wishes. Sjow went 2-0 in the second round, finishing off his opponent with a good old burn spell.
After winning the round one match, Brad Nelson continued to dominate in round two with his Temur Reclamation deck. His opponent saved themselves from a lethal Explosion with a Food token but fell all the same after Niv-Mizzet burned them out of life points.
But there’s nothing like going lethal with way more Expansion//Explosion than necessary, taking Nelson to 2-0 after round two.
Heading into round three, Stráský wasn’t having much luck with Esper Dance. Sitting at 0-2, he needed to go undefeated for the rest of the day to make it to the playoffs. His roommate StanCifka, however, was sitting at 2-0 heading into round three.
Despite going 0-2 to start, Stráský began turning things around. After earning a bye, the winner of Mythic Championship VI got a big match victory in round three.
A few notable Magic players were 3-0 heading into round four such as Mythic Championship V and Magic Worlds champion Javier Dominguez, Jeff Hoogland, Bloody, and Lee Shi Tian.
With so many slow starting decks being played at the Twitch Rivals MTGA tournament, Lee Shi Tian took advantage of the new meta by playing a super fast Mono-White Aggro. And before an opponent could gain any advantage, he was attacking for lethal.
Black Red Aggro was also having success against a variety of Midrange and Control decks. In round four, Martin Jůza was 2-1. And against Gruul Aggro he earned himself a match victory.
Magic pro Matt Nass was undefeated playing BG Adventure heading into round five. As was his opponent Zvi Mowshowitz on Jesaki Cavalier. Nass would win game one utilizing Thrashing Brontodon to take out the dreaded Fires enchantment, Fires of Invention.
But Jeskai Cavalier Fires would triumph in the match, putting Nass at 4-1.Â
The competition was intense, causing some Magic players to make a misstep here and there. After not counting his deck, Luis Scott-Vargas milled himself with Expansion//Explosion.
After four rounds, 18 players were still undefeated. Here were the top-ranked 32 after five rounds.
Heading into the final Swiss round of the day, nine players remained undefeated. Players with a 4-2 record after round six would have around a 10 percent chance of making it to day two, depending on match points for tie-breakers.
Needing a win for a chance to get into day three, Jessica Estephan brought a unique version of UG Flash to the tournament. She quickly won both games, moving to 4-2 for the day.Â
Playing the Czech Doom deck, Stancifka also went into round six needing a win for a chance at day three. But sadly it wasn’t meant to be for the long-time Magic pro.
Lee Shi Tian performed well with his Mono-White Aggro deck, going 5-1 for the day and guaranteeing him a spot in the playoffs. Matt Nass would also win his final match in round six, earning a record of 5-1 and a spot in the playoffs too.
The most exciting match in round six, however, featured Bloody playing Jeskai Fires. Sitting at three life after getting pounded early by a Rotting Regesaur, Bloody came back to win the match and earn a spot in the playoffs on day two.
Another unique match in round six was between Frank Moon and his Doom Trail deck (Abzan Sacrifice) against Korvold Sacrifice. Utilizing Trail of Crumbs, he was able to pull any answer he needed from his library. But with Korvold still on the battlefield, time was running out for Moon. He was able to remove Korvold twice, thanks to Trail of Crumbs, and move in for the kill. Time would run out and Moon wouldn’t make it into day two due to tie-breakers. But his deck is still worth checking out.
Here are the top 32 Magic players moving onto day two of the Twitch Rivals MTG Arena tournament.
Day two MTG Arena playoffs are single-elimination and begin at 2pm CT on the Twitch Rivals channel.
