The Japanese city of Shizuoka played host to the Japan and Korea Regional Championship last weekend: the Champions Cup Final, which saw over 250 people gather to play Pioneer. With a $30,000 prize pool and multiple invitations to both the Pro Tour and next year's World Championships, the stakes for this event were very high, and after two days of fierce competition, it was ultimately Tomoaki Ogasawara who raised the trophy, playing an exciting strategy built around a brand-new Duskmourn card, Unstoppable Slasher.

Congratulations to Tomoaki Ogasawara!

Ogasawara had to fight his way through a mirror match in the finals - both players who made it to the Top 8 with this new Mono-Black Demons list ended up meeting in the championship match, but in the end Tatsuro Asano was runner-up to Ogasawara. Both played near-identical lists, and both have qualified for next year's World Championship as a result of their terrific performances at the Champions Cup Final.

Asano congratulates Ogasawara on his 2-0 victory.

There were two key takeaways from the composition of the Top 8. One is that Rakdos, as a colour combination, is still very dominant in Pioneer. Powerhouse cards like Thoughtseize and Fable of the Mirror Breaker can be used in all kinds of different strategies, and the Top 8 included aggressive, midrange, and combo-based Rakdos decks. The other thing, however, is that Pioneer is still vulnerable to certain lines of attack, as demonstrated by the success of the new Mono-Black Demons list. Aided by new cards, players can be richly rewarded when they find ways to innovate in their approach to formats like Pioneer.

Players in the Champions Cup Final Top 8

The Champions Cup Final bracket

The new Mono-Black Demons deck was the breakout deck of the weekend, with a sizeable portion of the field playing it. Five copies made it into the Top 16, speaking to the list's strength and power - Unstoppable Slasher into Bloodletter of Aclazotz can be a game-winning combo. But that's not to say it's the only option you've got outside of the various Rakdos lists. As the metagame breakdown illustrates, there are decks like Selesnya Company, Mardu Greasefang, and Azorius Control that are still well-represented at high-level tournaments like these - not to mention good old Izzet Phoenix.

The metagame from the Champions Cup Final

In addition to the Pioneer tournament that saw players win thousands of dollars in prizes and invitations to the most prestigious Magic tournaments in the world, this weekend in Shizuoka saw a host of other events take place. Of particular note were the Legacy and Vintage events, which attracted hundreds and hundreds of fans of Magic's oldest formats - but it didn't stop there. Standard, Modern, and Limited tournaments were held as well as casual and learn-to-play events, and some of the most famous players from across the region were in attendance as well. If this sounds like the sort of event you might want to check out, why not find where the next qualifier near you is taking place, and see if you've got what it takes to compete in a regional championship!

The Champions Cup Final begins.

Some of the game's most powerful and iconic cards were played in the Vintage event.

Live Japanese-language coverage was streamed of both Standard and Pioneer.