The Regional Championship cycle is in full swing! A pair of events were held on opposites sides of the world last weekend, as both the United States and Chinese Taipei Regional Championships awarded invites to both the Pro Tour and next year's Magic World Championship.
In the United States, it was Vinnie Fito's breakout Jeskai Blink deck (perfected by Team Scrapheap) that took down the title in an all-Scrapheap finals, while in Asia it was Se̍k-un Khó denying Samuel Chang a repeat title at the MIT Championship.
Se̍k-un Khó Wins MIT Championship
Just over 100 players qualified for the MIT Championship this cycle, and their deck selections represented a huge slice of the Modern metagame as they converged for the area's Regional Championship. When the last RC concluded, it was Samuel Chang playing in the finals, on his way to the title and the World Championship invite.
Fast forward to this cycle's MIT Championship, and it was again Chang playing in the finals with Gory's Vengeance and a World Championship invitation on the line. But that's where the similarities ended; Chang's quest to repeat as champion came up one match short as he ran into the same buzzsaw that everyone else did: Khó's dominant run with Izzet Affinity. Khó was perfect on his way to the Top 8, and perfect once he was there–he didn't drop a single game in the final elimination rounds on his way to the title.
Izzet Affinity has been one of the breakout decks of the resurgent Modern format after it came back to the big stage at Pro Tour Edge of Eternities last month. And Khó showed off exactly why throughout the tournament; the 39-year-old Tainan native with previous Top 8 experience at the MIT Championship called out
The victory in the finals rewarded Khó the invitation to the Magic World Championship next year, but he wasn't the only player to earn a spot at the Pro Tour. Finalist Chang and third-place finisher Peter Yeh will also be there, thanks to impressive runs with Gory's Vengeance–Chang called it the most complete deck in the format–as well as Domain.
Modern is famed for its deck diversity, and the field at the MIT Championship reflected that: seven different decks made it to the Top 8, mainly a mix between proactive aggressive decks and proactive combo decks. As Modern events across the world–including in the United States on the same weekend–showed, anything can win in the format. And for Khó, it means a trip to the World Championship.
You can find the Top 8 decklists from the event here.
Fino Blinks His Way To Victory In Houston
On the other side of the globe, a truly monster-sized field of competitors gathered in Houston for the first Regional Championship in the United States this cycle. The Modern field there featured both surprises and old favorites, along with plenty of spice–the "other" category of decks represented more than 11% of the field, and was actually the third most-played category of deck.
That meant that just qualifying for the Top 8 was a herculean achievement, much less advancing through the final elimination rounds to the World Championship invitations waiting at the end. But when play finally did begin in earnest in Texas, Vinnie Fino–who admittedly struggled at times with his Modern testing heading into the event–watched it all come together as he showed off the Team Scrapheap build of Jeskai Blink en route to a dominant 16-1-1 record and the title at the Regional Championship.
That wide-open Modern metagame was perfect for Fino's Jeskai Blink list that Team Scrapheap put through its paces in the weeks leading up to the tournament. And against Boros Energy–a top five archetype that he faced off against four times over the course of the tournament including the finals against teammate John Puglisi-Clark–Fino's
Overall, Blink variants like Fino's perfect very well from Day 1 to Day 2–although nothing performed as well as Amulet Titan.
An iconic Modern deck that traces its history back through many years and Pro Tours, Amulet Titan was back in full force at the Regional Championship, thanks in part to the many new lines and loops opened up by playing
Mullens was one of dozens of players who earned Pro Tour invitations with their finish. You can find the Top 32 decklists here.
Other notable names in the Top 8 included longtime PT player Jesse Hampton, while famed deckbuilder Rei Zhang picked up an invite with a Top 32 finish as well (playing Izzet Affinity). And the all-Team Scrapheap finals means that Puglisi-Clark also has the World Championship in his sights. But the tournament from start to finish belonged to Fino, who finished with an absurd 33-11-3 record in games played over the course of the weekend.
The final standings weren't lacking for innovation, either–with six different decks in the Top 8 and another handful to be found in the Top 16, Modern is no closer to being solved today than it was when players first gathered more than a month ago to prepare for Pro Tour Edge of Eternities.
Congratulations to all of the RC players on their well-fought games and terrific accomplishment! Find out more about how you can qualify for the Regional Championship and the Pro Tour by visiting here and finding out more from your regional organizer!