This past weekend, 64 players gathered in Taipei City for the MIT Championship Finals. On the line were not only four Pro Tour slots but also the title of Regional Champion and the corresponding World Championship seat. After six rounds of Pioneer competition followed by a Top 8 playoff, the trophy was claimed by Hungyi Yu, piloting a controlling Azorius Lotus Field deck!

Congratulations to Hungyi Yu, winner of the MIT Championship!

Hungyi Yu, a 38-year-old player who qualified via RCQ at Academy Legacy Games in Taipei City, was inspired by Patrick Wu’s second-place finish at Toronto’s F2F Tour Championship last weekend. There, Patrick Wu unveiled his build of Azorius Lotus Field, called it Tier 0, and Hungyi Yu took note. He brought essentially the same list, with very few changes, and didn’t lose a single match. In doing so, he proved that last weekend’s results were not a fluke and that he wisely identified the formidable power of Azorius Lotus Field. His best card of the weekend was Discontinuity, which can end the opponent’s turn or annul the enters-the-battlefield trigger of Lotus Field.

Hungyi Yu overcame an aggressive start from Shang Feng Lee in the finals of the MIT Championship.

In the finals, Hungyi Yu defeated Shang Feng Lee, who was playing Rakdos Midrange, the most popular deck in the tournament. After the recent Standard bans, Shang Feng Lee made good use of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Reckoner Bankbuster in Pioneer, and he used two copies of Archfiend of the Dross as a 4-mana 6/6 flyer. Nevertheless, the control, ramp, and card advantage from the Azorius deck proved too much, and Hungyi Yu locked up his invitation to World Championship XXIX!

TOP 4 PLAYERS QUALIFIED FOR THE PRO TOUR

Top 4, left-to-right: Cheng Yu Chang, Shang Feng Lee, Samuel Chang, Hungyi Yu.

With four Pro Tour invites on the line, the quarterfinals were tense. Congratulations to the Top 4 players in the final standings of MIT Championship, who earned invites to Pro Tour The Lord of the Rings, to be held at MagicCon: Barcelona on July 28–30. We look forward to seeing you represent your region there!

The Top 8 decklists featured seven different archetypes, with Rakdos Midrange appearing twice. After the high-stakes quarterfinals, four players secured a seat to the Pro Tour. You can see the Top 4 decklists below in final standing order.

A MEMORABLE EVENT WITH A DIVERSE METAGAME

Pioneer showed a wide diversity of archetypes at the MIT Championships. Remarkably, Enigmatic Fires was the second-most played archetype. However, it was not able to convert to a Top 8 finish.

All in all, the event featured plenty of hard-fought Pioneer matches and was a focal point for Magic in the region.

A crowd of 64 players gathered at the The Breeze Center in Taipei City for the MIT Championship.

Announcements were made as the players got ready for high-level competition.

Boros Convoke players brought cute, hand-drawn tokens.

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.