The best players from across the Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand region gathered in Sydney this weekend to take part in the ANZ Super Series Final. The format was Standard, and it was a tightly fought contest as over 200 players vied for ten Pro Tour invitations and the single World Championship slot that was up for grabs. When all was said and done, however, it was Simon Linabury who took down the tournament while playing Mono-Green Landfall!
Linabury, from the Australian capital of Canberra, already had a Grand Prix win to his name from back in 2019. Now, he will ably represent his region at this year's World Championship after winning the final with a quick and efficient 2-0 over the weekend's runner-up, Ryan Jonns Lewis. Jonns Lewis, another former Grand Prix winner, was also playing Mono-Green Landfall. After going undefeated in the quarterfinals and semifinals, he fell to Linabury in the final match.
Mono-Green was well-represented in the Top 8, with both the winner and runner-up choosing this as their deck along with previous Regional Championship winner, James Drake. They were joined in the Top 8 by a pair of Izzet Lessons decks in the hands of Elspeth McGillivray and Klarke Tresize, along with Jacob Harvey's Dimir Excruciator, Ben Parker's Bant Rhythm, and Samuel Maher's Izzet Prowess. Mono-Green Landfall was a popular choice across the field, and it performed well throughout the weekend with strong representation in the Top 8—in addition to, of course, helping Linabury secure the trophy.
Izzet Prowess just edged out Mono-Green as the tournament's most-popular deck, with the underperforming Dimir Midrange ranking just below them. The popularity and performance of Mono-White Aggro was also notable. The deck was as popular as Izzet Lessons and took Jason Yan to a 9th-place finish. Overall, Standard's dominant archetypes were balanced out by a range of challengers, from streamlined aggro decks to combo-oriented lists.
In addition to the main tournament that qualified players for the Pro Tour and World Championships, the weekend also hosted a range of other events, from a major Limited tournament offering invitations to the Magic Limited Championship, to fun Mystery Booster events, right through to casual Commander play. If you want to test your mettle at a Regional Championship, find out where the next qualifier near you is happening, and we'll see you there!