After 14 rounds of Historic and an incredible set of deciding matches to end the day, the Top 8 of the 2020 Mythic Invitational is here. Congratulations to Luis Salvatto, Gabriel Nassif, David Steinberg, Grzegorz Kowalski, Ken Yukuhiro, Matthew Nass, Luis Scott-Vargas, and Seth Manfield!
Luis Salvatto has a story unlike anyone else in the 2020 Mythic Invitational Top 8. He made his professional debut a decade ago, but consistent results were hard to come by for the Argentinian. His persistence paid off as it all came together in 2016 with his first Top Finish, and a truly whirlwind two years later at Pro Tour Shadows of Innistrad. With perhaps the wildest six-week sprint in Magic history Salvatto was crowned Player of the Year after an incredible tiebreaker match for the title, the second ever in Magic's history.
Salvatto has been relatively quiet, kicking off the year as part of the Magic Rivals League, but he looks to be back in top 2016 form at the 2020 Mythic Invitational, cruising far ahead of the rest of the field and comfortably locking up his Top 8 spot with an unexpected Rakdos Arcanist brew that he considers the best "Game 1" deck in the format.
David Steinberg, from the United States, has been a Hearthstone competitor for years before making his first Magic breakthrough with a Top Finish here at the 2020 Mythic Invitational. A fan of Limited Magic—drafting sets and battling Sealed at events across the country—and The Mountain Goats' latest Magic-themed songs, Steinberg can continue to prove his path up through MTG Arena gives him the tools to battle among the best in the game.
Wielding Jund Sacrifice, one of the best decks for the weekend, he's in position to continue his march from his first big Top 8 to his first Magic Esports title.
Matthew Nass, from the United States, has a resume that's solid, but seems innocuous at a glance. With "only" one Top Finish—a Top 8 at Pro Tour Kaladesh—his consistency at even larger events is where he shines: five Grand Prix wins with 13 total Top 8 appearances, and a reputation for playing combo decks to their fullest.
Starting the year as a member of the Magic Rivals League, Nass looks to build on his inertia here in a run back to the MPL. Winning the 2020 Mythic Invitational, playing the powerful Mono-Black Gift combo deck, is a surefire way to enter 2020-2021 season as one of the hottest players.
Ken Yukuhiro may be the top deckbuilder competing right now. He has regularly done well with unexpected "Yukuhiro decks" and that continued this weekend as the MPL member made his way to his third Top Finish in the past 12 months, and the seventh of his career.
This time, he did it with something a little more traditional for this format: Goblins. But even while playing the most popular deck in the field, Yukuhiro still innovated. He was the only Goblins player to make the Top 8, and he did it on the back of
This is actually just the second Top Finish for the Polish pro, who previously had made it to the finals of the 2018 World Championship. But he's been competing as a member of the MPL or Rivals League ever since, and has more than held his own in that time.
He showed why this weekend, playing a twist on the well-performing Jund Sacrifice deck. Kowalski actually cut the
There's not much to say about the remaining three Top 8 competitors that hasn't been said before. Gabriel Nassif is a Magic Hall of Famer, a two-time Pro Tour winner in his now-13 Top Finishes, and trails only Jon Finkel and reigning World Champion Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa in career Top Finishes.
This weekend, Nassif strayed from his famous use of control decks to pilot Jund Sacrifice, which "Yellowhat" did expertly. His resurgence to the top of the Magic world—this is his fourth Top Finish in the last year—has been one of the headline stories of the past year, and he's now in line to add a third trophy and win to his collection.
It's a good thing for Nassif added another Top Finish, because Luis Scott-Vargas continues to move up the career list as well. With his 11th Top Finish of his career this weekend, Scott-Vargas breaks a tie with Marcio Carvalho and now moves into a tie with seven-time champion Kai Budde himself.
The American is competing as a member of the Magic Rivals League, and made the Top 8 well fed this weekend, with memes and streams (and food favors) along the way. He snuck into the Top 8 on tiebreakers after a series of exciting matches to close out the day with Jund Sacrifice..
Another Magic World Champion rounds out a stacked Top 8. MPL player Seth Manfield accomplished that feat in 2015, and has seven Top Finishes to his name along with a title at Pro Tour Ixalan. Already considered by many as in the conversation for one of the best active players in the world, Manfield has become a prolific streamer while still putting up result after result.
He's the lone