This past weekend, 455 of the best Magic players from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa converged upon Athens, Greece to compete for the title of Regional Champion. Also on the line were two World Championship invites and 36 Pro Tour invitations. After fifteen rounds of Pioneer competition followed by a Top 8 playoff, Federico Vuono emerged victorious with Boros Convoke!

Congratulations to Federico Vuono, the new European champion!

Federico Vuono, a 29-year-old player from Florence, Italy, chose Boros Convoke for a simple reason: “I wanna make my opponent think more than me.” Although this undersells the sequencing skill and combat math involved with his deck, his deck—a fairly new addition to Pioneer—could combine Gleeful Demolition and Venerated Loxodon to put 14 power onto the battlefield as early as turn two, indeed putting a lot of pressure on the opponent.

Vuono’s best card of the weekend was Reckless Bushwhacker, which always puts his opponent in a bad spot. However, he did not set up explosive surge turns with Burning-Tree Emissary. Instead, his two-drop of choice was Clarion Spirit, allowing him to flood the battlefield with tokens over time.

Finalist Przemyslaw Olszewski used the borderless version of Seachrome Coast to cast his Spirits.

In the finals, Federico Vuono defeated Przemyslaw Olszewski, a 27-year-old player from Iława, Poland who had qualified via Magic Online. He brought Azorius Spirits to the tournament because “heavy testing with #TeamKCT has proven it to be the second-best available deck.” The archetype had won the Regional Championship in Toronto, Canada in the preceding weekend, and it did not disappoint in Europe. Olszewski said his best card of the weekend was Seachrome Coast “because it has a nice art”.

Przemyslaw Olszewski and Federico Vuono play in the finals of the European Championship, organized by Legacy Events.

Both finalists earned an invitation to World Championship XXIX, to be held at MagicCon: Las Vegas on September 22-24, 2023. However, one final match remained to decide who would walk away with the trophy, title, and first-place prize of $16,000. Olszewski put up a valiant fight with his evasive Spirits, and both games were close damage races that came down to single points of damage. However, a chump blocking Ornithopter made the difference, and Federico Vuono triumphed above all.

Time to realize that soon I have to go to Vegas, but before that, i have to thank you all my friends and my family for this huge achievement. Basically a god mode week-end, everything goes in the right way.

Big thank you to @bb155lm for helping me to choose the deck. pic.twitter.com/iGMdaposZk

— Federico Vuono (@vuono_federico) June 13, 2023

TOP 36 PLAYERS QUALIFIED FOR THE PRO TOUR

Top 8, left-to-right: Nils Gutiérrez von Porat, Miguel Simões, Christoffer Larsen, Federico Vuono, Tin Mihael Capar, Przemyslaw Olszewski, Toni Martos, Lorenzo Terlizzi.

While the Top 8 competitors played for the big prizes, all Top 36 players who were not yet qualified for Pro Tour The Lord of the Rings earned an invitation to that Pro Tour. Among them were Hall of Famer Martin Jůza and Pro Tour Amonkhet Top 8 competitors Marc Tobiasch and Christian Calcano, as well as many other big names. (Calcano qualified for the European Championship via RCQ in Naples, Italy.) We look forward to seeing everyone at MagicCon: Barcelona on July 28–30!

You can find the event’s Top 36 decklists here.

The Top 8 decklists featured seven different archetypes, with Rakdos Sacrifice appearing twice. Nils Gutiérrez von Porat, who fell in the semifinals to eventual winner Federico Vuono, used an impressive Izzet Phoenix list with four copies of Demilich. The other semifinalist, Toni Martos, was also a long-time Pro Tour veteran, and his finish meant something special to him.

I have played the game for 20 years. Today I did my first top8 on an important event. I did it with the swamps signed by mom and dad.
Surrounded by team and friends. I lost a big match? Waevaaa.
I'm the happiest guy ever.
Protour in hometown BCN let's gooo🥳🕺🏻🥳🫶🏻🤩#LECAthens pic.twitter.com/LAm9rz6TLU

— Martos (@tonimart0s) June 11, 2023

A MEMORABLE EVENT WITH A DIVERSE METAGAME

The metagame at the European Championship showed the prevailing popularity of Rakdos Midrange, the promising rise of Enigmatic Fires, and the variety of competitive options in Pioneer. Several players who are widely considered to be masters of their Pioneer archetype earned a Pro Tour qualification, showing that deck familiarity and experience is a significant success factor in Pioneer.

All in all, it was a terrific event full of hard-fought matches and high-level competition. While the Regional Championship again put on display the talent and skill of players from the region, the venue also featured side events with sweet prizes, artists, vendors, and more. Congratulations again to Federico Vuono, and like many attendees we look forward to the next European Championship, held at LEC Lille on September 30!

The Metropolitan Expo in Athens played host to the European Championship, organized by Legacy Events.

455 players gathered to do battle across two days of Pioneer.

Marc Tobiasch, playing his signature Storm Herald Combo deck, was the sole 9-0 undefeated player overnight.

The intensity of the competition ramped up on Day 2.

All rounds were streamed live on the LegacyEuropeanTour Twitch channel, with commentary by Filipa Carola, Filip "Skura" Skórnicki, Will Hall, and Matej Zatlkaj.

Be part of the next cycle of Regional Championships by joining a qualifying event near you! You can find events via the Store & Event Locator or your regional organizer's website.