The Southeast Asian Championships were held in Bangkok, Thailand, and saw 150 players arrive to test their skill against the best players in the region, playing Standard in pursuit of invites to the Pro Tour and World Championships. When the dust settled on the Swiss rounds and a hard-fought Top 8, the player hoisting the trophy was Richmond Tan, playing Izzet Spellementals!
Tan had put up some respectable results at prior SEA Championships—not to mention having a PT Top 32 to his name—and was able to take down the weekend after dispatching Mark Lawrence Tubola and his Dimir Excruciator deck in the final match. Tan had to fight for every match win throughout the Top 8, with each one coming with a 2-1 scoreline. In doing so, he secured not just the trophy but the chance to represent his region at the next Magic World Championship.
The Top 8 had some surprising inclusions, suggesting that innovation can pay dividends in the current Standard metagame. While there were a couple of Izzet decks—Richmond Tan and William Au played Spellementals while Billy Lesmana piloted Lessons—two players, Claire Tian and Timothy Chang, did well with Boros Aggro alongside Tubola's Dimir Excruciator. Then there were some real curve balls that made it all the way to the semifinals. Paul Gabat played a sweet Golgari Reanimator list, while Marco Philip Serafica brought a 61-card Grixis special!
While Mono-Green and Izzet Prowess were the most popular decks of the weekend, neither had the success you might expect. Instead, it was the wildcard archetypes that performed best, indicating there is plenty of room for exploration and invention in this Standard format. Aside from the Dimir and Boros concoctions, it was very interesting to see Jeskai-based control decks represented in Bangkok, both with and without the black splash for cards like
Regional Championships like these are the best way to take your game to the next level as you test your skills against the most talented players in your region. If you want to get involved, why not look to see where the next qualifier near you is being held and start your path to the Pro Tour?