We began the weekend here in Long Beach with everything on the line: Magic World Championship XXVI, Magic Pro League invitations, and Magic Rivals League invitations. And, of course, the small matter of awarding $100,000 to the winner of Mythic Championship VII, the final competitive event of the year.
We ended the weekend with clarity on all races, an epic finals battle for the trophy (and final World Championship spot), plus a worthy champion in Piotr Głogowski who rectified a finalist finish at the Mythic Invitational earlier this year by winning it all this weekend.
Here are the Sunday moments to remember.
Kanister Is Your Perfect Champion
Few players will ever win a Mythic Championship, and even fewer can do it in style; Piotr "Kanister" Głogowski delivered on both. He earned a bye into Day Two through winning his MPL division in Eldraine Split, then reeled off eight straight match victories to find himself in the Grand Finals. Squaring off against him was Brad Nelson piloting the Simic Flash deck designed by Seth Manfield that had taken all three people playing it to the Top 8.
The Sunday stage featured a wide Standard metagame with a great mix of decks, from the grindy decks built around
But Głogowski's own tweaked list of Jund Sacrifice was a force unto itself. In fact, he defeated all three players on the Simic Flash brew—Seth Manfield, Javier Dominguez, and eventually Brad Nelson—while also knocking off Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa's Jeskai Fires.
All About the Grand Finals
The finals was a perfect demonstration of both decks. Nelson flashed in creatures and countered spells; Głogowski worked to assemble his engine to sacrifice things for value. They split the first two games, and in the third Nelson had not just one but two
But both times Głogowski was able to clear the board, first by digging to
When the second fell, Nelson knew things were nearly over but he had one last surprise left in him. Głogowski is infamous for making full use of the emotes available on MTG Arena—to the annoyance of his opponents—so Nelson good-naturedly returned the favor. He made sure to "rope" him on the final turn as he grinned across the table, emoting "Thinking..." as the time wound down.
As Głogowski put it, it was a fitting ending.
It was an incredible run for Głogowski, and a literally perfect ending to his season. Of course, the way he sees it, he has one more task left: winning Magic World Championship XXVI this February.
I'M THE BOSS OF THIS GYM 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡 #MythicChampionshipVII
— Piotr 'kanister' Głogowski (@kanister_mtg) December 9, 2019
The Conclusion of the 2020 Races
There was much more on the line at Mythic Championship VII than just the tournament itself. Viewers were glued to the stream to watch all the drama unfold as the game's top players jockeyed for final position in three major races: a seat at Magic World Championship XXVI and the open slots in the 2020 Partial Season Magic Pro League and Magic Rivals League.
There was drama in all three races even through to the final match. When we began a Top 8 absolutely stacked with some of the best talent in the history of the game, one of the subplots was the battle between eventual finalists Głogowski and Nelson, who were fighting over their only ways to qualify for the World Championship. Not only would one of them qualify for the $1,000,000 tournament in Hawaii if they won Mythic Championship VII, either could also qualify on Mythic Points if they finished in the Top 4 of MPL members—which could unfold numerous ways given the others on the Sunday stage in Long Beach. With both so close entering the Top 8, the one who finished higher would qualify if one of the Top 8 members who was already qualified won.
And it looked like that might be the case, as Javier Dominguez had two chances to advance to the Grand Finals and "free up" a spot if he won. But he fell to Głogowski and then Nelson in succession, setting up the finals as a winner-take-all for both Mythic Championship VII and the World Championship.
With Głogowski finishing ahead of Nelson and taking the automatic winner berth, the four MPL leaders headed to Honolulu are Andrea Mengucci, Marcio Carvalho, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa and Seth Manfield. From the Challenger side, the four competitors will be Raphaël Levy, Chris Kvartek, Sebastian Pozzo and Gabriel Nassif.
Check out the full list of Magic World Championship competitors to find your champion today.
Talk about a group of killers. This Worlds is going to be insane! #mtga #MTGWorlds #MTG pic.twitter.com/CdEkYMUZzW
— Sev (@Sev2119) December 9, 2019
In the race for the Magic Pro League, the four Challengers who will receive invitations are Ondřej Stráský, Raphaël Levy, Gabriel Nassif, and Chris Kvartek—who made a Top 8 run in Long Beach to secure his spot.
You can find the full list of players invited for the 2020 MPL Partial Season and get ready for the game's best to begin battling again.
Finally, the Magic Rivals League was also left undecided heading into the weekend. Popular streamer Kenji "NumottheNummy" Egashira secured his spot this weekend, as did Miguel da Cruz Simões with his appearance in the Top 8 at Mythic Championship VII. You can find the full list of players invited to the 2020 Magic Rivals Partial Season as well.
Looking Ahead
There's still one tournament left for the 2019 season, though it won't come until February 2020. Magic World Championship XXVI will be played in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 14-16. The sixteen player field will compete for a $1,000,000 prize pool and the title of Magic World Champion in the biggest Magic event of the year.
Find your champion, and get ready for the 2020 Partial Season to kick off in January!