160 players will compete in the 2020 Mythic Invitational, the first big official tournament for the Historic format. MPL players, Rivals league members, and challengers will battle for $250,000 in prizes and 16 qualification spots in the 2020 Season Grand Finals. The Day 1 Swiss begins on Thursday, September 10 – this is also when all the decklists registered will become available to the general public.
Today the official Magic Esports page has published an early overview of the Historic meta at Mythic Invitational:
Goblins is the defining archetype of the tournament, with 33,8% of the field putting their hopes in Muxus, Goblin Grandee. The deck comes in two forms – some of the players run a pure Mono-Red version, while others have decided to splash for Thoughtseize. This inclusion is free when it comes to mana-base concerns. Blood Crypts and Dragonskull Summits along with Wily Goblin’s Treasure tokens can support a playset of Thoughtseize easily. The more relevant consideration is the odds for Muxus’s ETB trigger, which do get worse when you include non-Goblin spells.
Sultai Midrange is the second most-represented archetype of the tournament. The Rock of the format, this deck aims to win not so much through synergy, but mostly by slamming on the table the most powerful cards possible. Nissa, Who Shakes the World and Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath are the familiar culprits of Standard – and do shine in Historic just as brightly. Access to Thoughtseize, as well as various black forms of sweepers and removal, are just more of a reason to sleeve this deck.
Jund Sacrifice is the build that is carried by the power of the good old Witch's Oven + Cat combo. Mayhem Devil, Priest of Forgotten Gods are also put to the work here, just as they are in Standard. Collected Company is the main reason to splash for green in Historic, while Phyrexian Tower provides another unique sacrifice outlet. The archetype evolved in the recent weeks to mostly drop Bolas’s Citadels, adding more power to the early curve instead.
Mono-Black Gift is among the spiciest archetypes to watch throughout the weekend. A deck born from Amonkhet Remastered additions to Arena, it aims to cheat out God Pharaoh’s Gift with Gate to the Aftelife, in turn enabled by the likes of Stitcher's Supplier. A very fun deck, it does get hosed by the direct graveyard hate like Leyline of the Void. However, Gravedigger’s Cage, which is a more popular sideboard choice against all the Muxus’s and Collected Companies this weekend, does nothing against Gift.
Some of the old Historic favorites are also present in the meta – Azorius Control wields the power of Wrath of God, Mono-Red Aggro got strengthened by Soul-Scar Mage and Ramunap Ruins, and Kethis Combo shook off the loss of Teferi, Time Raveler and keeps milling libraries out for the win.
We will be closely following the events of the Mythic Invitational. Will Goblins take over the rest of the field, or will they fail to deliver against the well-teched opponents? Stay in tune for more reports, and meanwhile, check out the full Mythic Invitational metagame stats on Magic.gg:
