Koen de Vos had been here before. Playing deep into a tournament, riding on the wave of emotion that comes with winning meaningful matches of Magic, just a game away from accomplishing the goal he set for himself when he started playing Magic competitively five years ago.

One win at Magic Spotlight: Secrets would send the Netherlands native to the Pro Tour: the ultimate stage of competition for millions of Magic players across the globe, and the place that de Vos and his group of friends had spent hours, playing countless matches of Magic against each other as they hung out in Discord, to try and reach. It was the ultimate spot for a win-and-in, and it wasn't de Vos's first time here.

But previously, this spot was where de Vos's runs had ended. Those runs include a memorable performance at his first Regional Championship several years ago and an especially painful ending to the Regional Championship in Prague last year, where de Vos lost two straight Pro Tour win-and-ins. Though his friends consoled him and he understood that being so close meant that he was doing things right, the near-misses still hurt—especially as the years moved on and he began to understand just how hard it was to reach that point he had been at in his first Regional Championship.

So here he was again, this time deep into Day Two of Magic Spotlight: Secrets last weekend in London. He had spent the weeks leading up to the tournament unsure of what to play before discovering Azorius Momo The deck brought him again to the precipice of the Pro Tour—if he could win just one more match.

The only problem? That match was against Piotr Głogowski, better known as "kanister," a streamer and digital Magic god who also happens to boast an impressive title from Mythic Championship VII as part of his four career Top Finishes.

"There were multiple elements of that win-and-in that made it exciting for me. I watch kanister's stream pretty frequently," de Vos recalled in the days after the biggest match of his Magic career. "Over the last few years, it felt like I had a little bit of a curse on me. But after that match, it's like it's broken. I'm free of it. I'm a little bit in awe that it finally happened."

In the toughest of spots against an international champion and possibly preternatural forces, it happened: de Vos won the match and qualified for the Pro Tour.

And that was just the beginning.

Introducing our winner! Koen de Vos is our Magic Spotlight: Secrets Champion!! Well done 🥳🤩🎇 pic.twitter.com/XXfn2L1HWN

— Magic tournaments by Fanfinity (@fanfinity_mtg) May 10, 2026

The curse wasn't just lifted. It was turned into a passing joke as de Vos went through one of the toughest and unique Top 8 slates imaginable: Magic Spotlight: Spider-Man champion Alexandre MacIsaac's surprise Fling decklist, Louis Wilder's fiery Izzet Prowess build, and the breakout Mardu Discard deck that Stanley Franks was piloting. The Standard metagame, which refuses to stagnate or be solved, turned in another surprising set of results following Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, and de Vos's winning Azorius Momo list proved that there's plenty of runway left for Standard deck builders.

"The deck lined up very well against Prowess and decently against Landfall. That's two of the three most popular decks, which is pretty good," explained de Vos, who spent the days leading up to the tournament nailing down the last few slots in what would become the winning decklist. "Momo can have some disjointed draws, but the raw power of putting Quantum Riddler into play on turn two with a counter on it is a bit silly."

The core of the deck is, unsurprisingly, built around its namesake card, Momo, Friendly Flier. Momo discounts the Riddler on turn two, which can be followed up by Daydream. But the Lemur also powers out the rest of the flier-heavy deck, including hits like Starfield Shepherd and Haliya, Guided by Light for card advantage or Aang, Swift Savior for tempo. De Vos also called attention to maximizing the deck's backup gameplan of attacking for a lot of damage as the key to its success on the weekend.

"Practiced Offense can help you get kills faster in some of your bad matchups, which is very helpful," he explained. "The deck isn't as consistent as Prowess, which has all of its cantrips to make sure it plays the same game every time, or Landfall, which can consistently create lethal board states, but the power of the Momo deck when it lines up is worth it."

Momo, Friendly Flier
Practiced Offense [1BFUi8IoV6kNINvgq9Emjb]

The Spotlight Series in London kicked off a very busy month following the developments of Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven in Las Vegas, where the most-popular deck, Izzet Prowess. turned in a shocking sub-50% win rate and was eclipsed by the Selesnya Landfall list that both finalists were piloting. Now, coming out of an event with Mardu Discard and Azorius Momo in the finals—two decks that no one had on their radar after the Pro Tour—the stage is set for the next slate of events.

That begins with a quartet of Regional Championships this weekend. The first United States Regional Championship of the cycle will take place in Cincinnati, alongside events in Canada, South America, and China. Following that is another set of events on each of the following two weekends—plus Arena Championship 12 on May 23–24. Soon, the Pro Tour field that will compete alongside de Vos in Amsterdam at Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes will be set, and the dream that almost slipped away will become reality for de Vos.

"It's difficult to describe what it's like having qualified and won. You daydream a little bit about winning big Magic tournaments, and then you're sitting there and your opponent shakes your hand," he reflected. "All of it, being on coverage, getting interviewed live, winning a trophy. It takes you out of your comfort zone."

One thing is for sure: Koen de Vos is going to the Pro Tour, and the fire that brought him there isn't going anywhere.

"I really enjoy playing high-level, competitive Magic tournaments," he said. "I like the Spotlight Series as well. It's very cool to play in big open tournaments. They feel very different than Regional Championships as they attract a broad spectrum of people with their own vision of how to play the game.

"My goal now is to requalify for another Pro Tour and stay the course a little bit. The World Championship isn't something I can think of right now, but I'm going to keep grinding."