After six rounds of Draft and eight rounds of Standard, we finally have the Top 8 of Magic World Championship 32! Each of these competitors had a unique journey to this prestigious stage, and they all have a real shot at claiming the title of World Champion. But only one of them will hoist the Black Lotus-themed trophy at the end of Sunday's ceremonies and walk away with the chance to have their likeness featured on an upcoming Magic card.

Learn the stories of each Top 8 competitor and get familiar with their Standard decks ahead of Sunday's playoffs! Coverage begins at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT on November 15, 2026—and you won't want to miss a second of the action.

Charis Kikidis

4 Opt 4 Elusive Otter 4 Burst Lightning 3 Starting Town 2 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 2 Secret Identity 1 Impractical Joke 4 Flow State 3 Island 1 Mountain 4 Pompous Battlemage 2 Wild Ride 2 Ravenous Cosmozoan 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Steam Vents 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Vibrant Outburst 4 Slickshot Show-Off 3 Anthropological Mission 2 Ghost Vacuum 2 Spell Pierce 2 Into the Flood Maw 2 Ral, Crackling Wit 1 Spell Snare 1 Karn, Argent Defender 2 Fire Magic

After tearing through the Draft and Standard rounds with a 10-2 record, Charis Kikidis became the first player to make the Top 8 during Round 12 of World Championship 32. This wasn't his first notable performance of the season; Kikidis posted 11-5 records at Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed and Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven in addition to a solid 9-6-1 showing at Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes. The champion of the 2024 Magic Online Championship Series deftly navigated the Constructed rounds with Izzet Prowess, giving Slickshot Show-Off the sendoff it deserves before next year's rotation. If he wins it all tomorrow, it will be a fitting victory for him and one of this era's most infamous Standard archetypes.

Stefan Schütz

6 Island 4 Opt 4 Flashback 1 Traumatic Critique 1 Burst Lightning 3 Ral, Crackling Wit 1 Stormcarved Coast 4 Anthropological Mission 2 Torch the Tower 2 Great Hall of the Biblioplex 3 Into the Flood Maw 1 Impractical Joke 2 Consult the Star Charts 2 Spell Snare 1 Multiversal Passage 1 Sear 2 Long River's Pull 2 Spell Pierce 1 Engineered Explosives 4 Riverpyre Verge 4 Steam Vents 4 Spirebluff Canal 4 Sleight of Hand 1 Fire Magic 1 Flashfreeze 1 Impractical Joke 1 Ghost Vacuum 2 Stock Up 2 Essence Burn 2 Annul 1 Fire Magic 1 Petrified Hamlet 1 Spell Snare 3 Bothersome Noisemaker

Stefan Schütz is on a mission—an Izzet Mission, that is. A dominant force on Team Handshake Moxfield, Schütz landed a 5th-place finish at Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven earlier this year, where he showed his academic expertise with a 6-0 record in that event's Draft rounds. Beyond the shining lights of the Pro Tour, Schütz has earned Top Finishes at Magic Online Showcase events and Regional Championships. Now, all that stands between him and his first Pro Tour-level title is three matches of spell-slinging Standard.

Arne Huschenbeth

4 Deserted Beach 1 Restless Anchorage 2 Theorist's Sanctum 4 Consult the Star Charts 4 Seam Rip 4 Floodfarm Verge 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Get Lost 3 Island 3 Day of Judgment 2 Spell Snare 1 Multiversal Passage 3 No More Lies 4 Countersculpt 2 Meticulous Archive 3 Jace's Machinations 4 The Theorist, Jace Beleren 2 Plains 2 Pinnacle Starcage 1 Captain Marvel, Earth's Protector 3 Petrified Hamlet 1 Flashfreeze 1 Wan Shi Tong, Librarian 1 Annul 2 Spell Snare 1 Sphinx of False Conclusions 1 Cavern of Souls 1 Emeritus of Ideation 2 Rest in Peace 1 Captain Marvel, Earth's Protector 2 Doorkeeper Thrull 1 Voice of Victory 1 Erode

Welcome back to the World Championship Top 8, Arne! Huschenbeth came close to the title last year, falling short with a 7th-place finish. He's kept up the pace and finished in the Top 48 at every Pro Tour this year and continued his winning streak here in Atlanta. Sunday's finals gauntlet presents a formidable challenge, but Huschenbeth trusted his gut and registered Azorius Control, a deck packed with all the answers he could need against the aggressive field of Magic World Championship 32. With The Theorist, Jace Beleren at his side, he's ready to counterspell his way to the title of World Champion.

Kellen Pastore

1 Guiding Hydra 4 Momo, Friendly Flier 1 Erode 3 Inspiring Vantage 2 Starting Town 4 Torch the Tower 3 Mountain 2 Practiced Offense 2 Multiversal Passage 2 Springleaf Drum 4 Sacred Foundry 4 Sage of the Skies 1 Abandoned Air Temple 4 Starfield Shepherd 4 Plains 3 Captain James T. Kirk 4 The Naked Time 4 Nurturing Pixie 4 Nova Hellkite 4 Sunbillow Verge 2 Sheltered by Ghosts 2 Seam Rip 2 Authority of the Consuls 2 Rest in Peace 3 Sunspine Lynx 1 Erode 3 Clarion Conqueror

The weekend's most-popular deck served Kellen Pastore well, but that's to be expected from one of World Championship 32's best players. Pastore prepared for the World Championship with Team Drawing Board, a squad of over a dozen players who, evidently, landed on the right deck for the field. Pastore qualified for this event based on solid performances across the season, but this goes above and beyond "solid." Only suffering a single loss in this weekend's Standard rounds, he's prepped to pick up the title in true Pixie style.

Abe Schnake

2 Witherbloom Charm 1 Thornspire Verge 4 Obsessive Pursuit 4 Starting Town 1 Swamp 4 Umbral Collar Zealot 4 Lively Dirge 1 Wastewood Verge 2 Blazemire Verge 4 Blooming Marsh 4 The Sackville-Bagginses 4 Torch the Tower 4 Greedy Freebooter 4 Stomping Ground 1 Smaug the Magnificent 4 Blood Crypt 1 Mountain 4 Gene Pollinator 1 Forest 4 Biotech Specialist 1 The Ooze 1 Q, Stacking the Deck 2 Bitter Triumph 2 Chandra, Spark Hunter 1 Wolverine, Fierce Fighter 2 Engineered Explosives 1 The Ooze 3 Duress 1 Guerrilla Gorilla 1 Test of Courage 2 Fire Magic

Racing onto the scene with a 12-4 record at Pro Tour Aetherdrift, Abe Schnake has been a consistent, fearsome presence at Magic's highest level over the past few years. With Day Two appearances at all three Pro Tours in 2026, it came as no surprise that Schnake carved his way through Standard at the World Championship, but this marks his first Top Finish at the Pro Tour level. The time-honored strategy of "Jund 'em out" paid off for him in the form of Jund Sacrifice, and his artifact-sacrificing deck of choice could carry him to the finals—and perhaps onto a future Magic card.

Shuhei Nakamura

1 Guiding Hydra 4 Momo, Friendly Flier 1 Erode 4 Floodfarm Verge 4 Hallowed Fountain 2 Seam Rip 4 Practiced Offense 4 Springleaf Drum 1 Island 2 Multiversal Passage 4 Daydream 2 The Wondrous Wasp 4 Gleaming Bastion 4 Sage of the Skies 6 Plains 4 Starfield Shepherd 1 Nurturing Pixie 4 Steamcore Scholar 4 Quantum Riddler 2 Seam Rip 1 Pyrrhic Strike 3 The Theorist, Jace Beleren 1 Ghost Vacuum 1 The Wondrous Wasp 2 No More Lies 2 Spider-Sense 1 Spell Pierce 2 Clarion Conqueror

Longtime viewers of Pro Tour and Grand Prix coverage are well acquainted with Shuhei Nakamura's name. With 32 Grand Prix Top Finishes, the title of 2009 Japanese National Champion, Pro Tour Top Finishes dating back to 2004, and a spot in the Hall of Fame under his belt, Nakamura's results here mark another historic showing in his career. That doesn't make his results this weekend any less impressive, as he is the sole member of the legendary Team Moriyama Japan to make it to the Top 8. It's only fitting that as we prepare to induct a new class into the Hall of Fame, one of its finest members is making a run for the title of World Champion.

Eduardo Sajgalik

2 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 1 Guiding Hydra 3 Starting Town 4 Temple Garden 2 Seam Rip 6 Forest 4 Llanowar Elves 2 Brightglass Gearhulk 4 Practiced Offense 4 Gene Pollinator 2 Multiversal Passage 4 Bejeweled Warg 4 Hushwood Verge 2 Abandoned Air Temple 2 Meltstrider's Resolve 2 Plains 4 Pawpatch Recruit 4 Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11 4 Ouroboroid 1 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 4 Doorkeeper Thrull 2 Sheltered by Ghosts 1 Brightglass Gearhulk 1 Skateboard 2 Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker 1 Arachne, Psionic Weaver 1 Erode 2 Clarion Conqueror

With a path that began at 2012's Pro Tour Return to Ravnica, Limited master Eduardo Sajgalik has shown again and again that he's a force to be reckoned with, and that certainly includes this season. Sajgalik made the Top 8 of Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed and Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes, highlighting his skill across formats and continents. His leadership with Team Worldly Counsel Heavy Play has been the story of his success over the last two years, and this time around it led him to Selesnya Michelangelo, the top-performing deck in the Swiss rounds of World Championship 32. That record is largely a result of his skillful piloting, which put him in the position to double his counters all the way to the trophy.

James Drake

3 Esper Origins 3 Doorkeeper Thrull 2 Erode 2 Escape Tunnel 2 Carnivorous Cultivator 3 Mightform Harmonizer 4 Earthbender Ascension 10 Forest 4 Temple Garden 2 Plains 4 Sazh's Chocobo 3 Ba Sing Se 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Icetill Explorer 4 Mossborn Hydra 4 Fabled Passage 2 Elven Passage 3 Surrak, Elusive Hunter 2 Sheltered by Ghosts 1 Seam Rip 1 Doorkeeper Thrull 4 Clarion Conqueror 1 Erode 3 Sapling Nursery

After narrowly missing Day Two of Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, James Drake wasn't going to let his next chance pass him by. He worked his way back onto the Pro Tour and finished 11-5 at Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes, delivering him a well-earned seat in Atlanta. He and his allies on Team Stone Rain seized the moment and landed on Selesnya Landfall. Despite the archetype's rough showing on Day One, Drake went undefeated in Standard on Day Two. If the Australian Regional Champion keeps that streak going for just three more matches, he'll finish his season with the trophy in his hands.