Magic World Championship XXVI 2020 Day 1 Recap

The first day of the Magic World Championship XXVI is now done and dusted, with four players being eliminated on the first day of the tournament. Check out our text coverage of the tournament as it happened if you want a more detailed rundown! 12 players are advancing to day 2 tomorrow, with four players already locking in their spot in the top 8:

• Marcio Carvalho – Jeskai Fires
• Eli Loveman – Mono Red Aggro
• PVDDR – Azorius Control
• Seth Manfield – Mono Red Aggro

The remaining eight players playing for their spot in the top 8 tomorrow:

• Gabriel Nassif – Jeskai Fires
• Autumn Burchett – Temur Reclamation
• Chris Kvartek – Temur Reclamation
• Raphael Levy – Jeskai Fires
• Sebastian Pozzo – Mono Red Aggro
• Piotr Glogowski – Jund Sacrifice
• Jean-Emmanuel Depraz – Temur Reclamation
• Thoralf Severin – Azorius Control

Read on as we have match results, standings, VOD, and round by round highlights from day 1!

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Day 1 Results

Day 1 VOD

Day 1 Highlights

Round 1: Piotr Glogowski vs Autumn Burchett

Piotr “Kanister” Glogowski got off to a flying start in the tournament drafting an aggressive red/black deck featuring two Tectonic Giant and Ox of Agonas. He was facing down Autumn Burchett’s white/blue tempo deck, with Staggering Insight being the key cards.

In both games, Burchett had opportunities to connect with Staggering Insight, which could have turned the game in their favor. In game 2, Flummoxed Cyclops had a sneaky Reach ability that ate the Karametra's Blessing, which left a Sunmane Pegasus with Staggering Insight attached open for removal.

Round 2: PVDDR vs Eli Loveman

The second draft round between Hall of Fame and Magic Pro League member PVDDR and Mythic Championship II winner Eli Loveman was incredibly close. Eli had drafted a strong white/green deck filled with enchantments and Calix, Destiny's Hand, whereas PVDDR had a more aggressive white/red go-wide strategy.

On the third game, Loveman reduced his opponent’s life total down to 1, but he could not deal the final point of damage facing down an Entrancing Lyre, Daybreak Chimera and a pair of Captivating Unicorn. The nail in the coffin was when PVDDR resolved a Reverent Hoplite with 7 Devotion to White, and a Phalanx Formation to buff his big army and finish the game off.

Round 3: Gabriel Nassif vs Piotr Glogowski

The final draft round was not on Piotr Glogowski’s side. After taking the second game with some masterful plays, the deciding game was not meant to be as he saw 13 of his 17 lands in his deck to flood out. The Funeral Rites he had cast earlier on put the only two spells in his graveyard.

Round 4: Matias Leveratto vs Sebastian Pozzo

Temur Reclamation and combo master Matias Leveratto meticulously navigated himself in the third game, with Pozzo applying pressure after pressure despite Leveratto having a handful of interaction spells out of the sideboard and some Storm's Wrath. In the final turn, Leveratto needed to find a removal spell for Torbran, Thane of Red Fell. He uses Castle Vantress twice to Scry four cards to the bottom, with a final Opt to Scry another card to the bottom and drawing a Scorching Dragonfire that comes just a damage short to deal with the Torbran.

Round 5: Eli Loveman vs Gabriel Nassif

A nail biter of a match between Eli Loveman’s Mono Red Aggro and Gabriel Nassif’s Jeskai Fires, it looked as though if Nassif had locked up the game when Loveman had mulliganed down to 5 cards on the deciding game. Loveman whittled down Nassif’s life total with a decent 5 card hand, with the help of The Akroan War. It takes down Sphinix of Foresight and a Bonecrusher Giant, and helps Loveman get a further 4 damage in with another stolen giant.

Nassif does not draw too much relevant cards, including a second copy of Fires of Invention and an Elspeth Conquers Death with no valid targets that he holds off playing for a single turn. With Nassif at 5 life, Loveman topdecks an Embercleave for the win, which he could not have cast if Nassif just ran out the Elspeth Conquers Death on the prior turn! Loveman advances to top 8 of the competition with this victory.

Round 6: Ondrej Strasky vs Thoralf Severin

The final match of the day was a gruelling battle between Ondrej Strasky and Thoralf Severin, both on the slow Azorius Control decks, and a loss here meant being eliminated from the competition. Severin leading 1-0, Ondrej’s match clock was already at 5 minutes remaining to Severin’s 7. Strasky’s deck was tuned for the mirror match, and it looked like he was swinging for lethal with no cards left in his library.

Two cards left in hand, Severin casts Emergency Powers – a tech card brought in from the sideboard to combo with Narset, Parter of Veils – and counters it using his Abosrb to gain 3 life and not die that turn. Strasky concedes, knowing that he will lose the game next turn on his draw step.

Wrapping Up

Thank you everyone for joining us today! The second day of the coverage begins Saturday, February 15: 9 a.m. HST / 11 a.m. PST / 7 p.m. UTC on the same live coverage page right here. We’ll see everybody soon!