Seth Manfield won the 2020 Mythic Invitational yesterday with Sultai Midrange, defeating Gabriel Nassif on Jund Sacrifice two matches to zero in an all-Hall of Fame Grand Finals.
This weekend’s Mythic Invitational was the first premiere tournament to use the Historic format since it was created last year. The most popular archetype at the event was Goblins, with 20% of the field choosing to play Mono-Red Goblins and 13.8% splashing black for Thoughtseize. The Goblins deck is built around Muxus, Goblin Grandee, a six-mana Goblin that puts any Goblins that cost less than five mana in the top six cards of your library directly into play. It uses cards like Skirk Prospector and Wily Goblin to cast Muxus ahead of schedule and Goblin Chieftain and Goblin Warchief to give Muxus and any Goblins it added to the board haste in order to attack for tons of damage out of nowhere.
The Historic metagame at the 2020 Mythic Invitational.
The two other most-played archetypes—which faced off in the Grand Finals—were Sultai Midrange at 16.9% of the field and Jund Sacrifice at 13.8%. Sultai Midrange should be familiar to any Standard player from the last year, featuring the well-known Blue/Green package of Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, Hydroid Krasis, Nissa, Who Shakes the World, and Growth Spiral with the addition Black for Thoughtseize. Jund Sacrifice takes a more synergistic approach, combining multiple sacrifice payoffs like Mayhem Devil and Korvold, Fae-Cursed King with sacrifice outlets and fodder Woe Strider and Cauldron Familiar, and grinding opponents out with the powerful Collected Company.
Most players came with good plans against opposing Goblins decks and only one copy ended up making it to the Top 8 in the hands of Ken Yukuhiro. He was joined by three copies of Jund Sacrifice (Gabriel Nassif, David Steinberg, Luis Scott-Vargas), as well as one copy each of Jund Citadel (Grzegorz Kowalski), Sultai Midrange (Seth Manfield), Mono-Black Gift (Matt Nass), and Rakdos Arcanist (Luis Salvatto).
Manfield finished the 14 swiss rounds with a 10-4 record and made it into the Top 8 as the eighth seed. He got paired against Luis Salvatto, the first seed, on Rakdos Arcanist and lost 2-1, dropping Manfield to the lower bracket. With the 2020 Mythic Invitational’s new Top 8 structure, which played the entire upper bracket on Day 3 and the lower bracket elimination matches and Grand Finals on Day 4, Manfield would have to wait another day for his chance at redemption.
The Top 8 bracket from the 2020 Mythic Invitational.
Nassif, on the other hand, made his way through the upper bracket by beating Scott-Vargas and Steinberg in two consecutive Jund Sacrifice mirrors. He finished his day by defeating Salvatto and his Rakdos Arcanist deck to advance to the Grand Finals.
With the two-day Top 8 structure, Nassif was ready to spend his Sunday waiting for his challenger and watching Manfield and the other six players battle it out in the lower bracket. But when Sunday’s Day 4 broadcast was set to begin, Wizards of the Coast revealed that they were experiencing technical difficulties with their broadcasting setup and eventually cancelled the live stream. Instead, the players played and recorded their matches off screen, which were then broadcast today after Wizards resolved the technical issues.
Manfield was unaffected by the broadcast hiccups and proceeded to eliminate four players on his way to the Grand Finals: Yukuhiro, Steinberg, Kowalski, and then Salvatto in a rematch from Day 3’s upper bracket.
Nassif opened Game 1 of Match 1 of the best-of-three matches Grand Finals with one of the more aggressive draws his Jund Sacrifice deck can put together wih two Dreadhorde Butchers and a Woe Strider. Manfield couldn’t find any early interaction for the Butchers, which grew out of control and quickly won Nassif the game.
In Game 2, Nassif had another solid start with a Cauldron Familiar, Dreadhorde Butcher, and Midnight Reaper. Manfield wiped the board with a Languish, but Nassif rebuilt his board with another Cauldron Familiar, Midnight Reaper, Priest of Forgotten Gods, and Mayhem Devil—against Manfield’s lone 6/6 Hydroid Krasis—and appeared to be in an advantageous position to win the game and take the first match.
But after Nassif decided not to activate his Priest of Forgotten Gods to force Manfield to sacrifice his Krasis, Manfield untapped with both Heartless Act and Extinction Event in hand. Nassif’s board had a single card with an even converted mana cost—the Priest—and three with odd costs, meaning that Manfield’s Extinction Event was likely going to name odd. But he knew that Nassif would just sacrifice two of his three odd casting-cost creatures in response to the Extinction Event, so he began by pointing the Heartless Act at the Priest of Forgotten Gods.
Nassif tanked on his response, trying to think through the decision trees in his head. Was Manfield trying to bait him into unnecessarily sacrificing two creatures? Or was this just the prelude to an Extinction Event? In the end, Nassif out-thought himself and decided to let the Priest die without activating it, allowing Manfield to clear the board, take over the game, and even the match at one game apiece.
That sequence ended up being the turning point of the Grand Finals, as Nassif was never able to recover and Manfield overpowered him in Game 3 to win the first match, then took the second match in two games to win the 2020 Mythic Invitational.
Manfield’s victory is his third premiere win, following the 2015 World Championship and Pro Tour Ixalan in 2017, and was his eighth top finish. Nassif’s finish at the 2020 Mythic Invitational was his 13th top finish, which include wins at Pro Tours Atlanta (2005) and Kyoto (2009). Both players are members of the Magic Hall of Fame.
Deck Lists
Historic Sultai Midrange by Seth Manfield (1st Place)
| Creatures (7) 3 Hydroid Krasis 4 Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath Planeswalkers (4) 4 Nissa, Who Shakes the World Spells (21) 4 Thoughtseize 4 Aether Gust 1 Disdainful Stroke 3 Eliminate 1 Essence Scatter 4 Growth Spiral 1 Maelstrom Pulse 1 Extinction Event 2 Languish | Lands (28) 4 Breeding Pool 1 Castle Locthwain 2 Drowned Catacomb 4 Fabled Passage 2 Fetid Pools 2 Forest 1 Hinterland Harbor 2 Island 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Swamp 4 Zagoth Triome Sideboard (16) 2 Grafdigger’s Cage 1 Heartless Act 2 Negate 2 Cry of the Carnarium 2 Narset, Parter of Veils 2 Witch’s Vengeance 1 Elder Gargaroth 4 Shark Typhoon |
Historic Jund Sacrifice by Gabriel Nassif (2nd)
| Companion (1) 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring Creatures (25) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Dreadhorde Butcher 4 Priest of Forgotten Gods 1 Bonecrusher Giant 1 Lovestruck Beast 4 Mayhem Devil 3 Midnight Reaper 4 Woe Strider Spells (8) 4 Claim the Firstborn 4 Collected Company Artifacts (4) 4 Witch’s Oven | Lands (23) 4 Blood Crypt 4 Dragonskull Summit 4 Overgrown Tomb 1 Phyrexian Tower 2 Sheltered Thicket 4 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 2 Woodland Cemetery Sideboard (14) 1 Scavenging Ooze 2 Act of Treason 2 Reclamation Sage 4 Witch’s Vengeance 2 Leyline of the Void 1 Vraska, Golgari Queen 2 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King |
Historic Rakdos Arcanist by Luis Salvatto (3rd)
| Companion (1) 1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den Creatures (18) 1 Archfiend’s Vessel 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 4 Dreadhorde Arcanist 4 Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger 1 Priest of Forgotten Gods 4 Young Pyromancer Spells (19) 3 Claim the Firstborn 2 Spark Harvest 4 Thoughtseize 4 Village Rites 2 Bedevil 4 Claim // Fame | Lands (23) 4 Blood Crypt 1 Castle Locthwain 4 Dragonskull Summit 3 Fabled Passage 3 Mountain 8 Swamp Sideboard (14) 3 Duress 1 Magma Spray 1 Redcap Melee 2 Abrade 1 Angrath’s Rampage 3 Witch’s Vengeance 3 Hazoret the Fervent |
Historic Jund Citadel by Grzegorz Kowalski (4th)
| Creatures (27) 4 Gilded Goose 4 Llanowar Elves 4 Blood Artist 2 Paradise Druid 4 Priest of Forgotten Gods 4 Mayhem Devil 1 Midnight Reaper 4 Woe Strider Spells (7) 3 Claim the Firstborn 4 Collected Company Artifacts (4) 4 Bolas’s Citadel | Lands (22) 4 Blood Crypt 2 Dragonskull Summit 2 Forest 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Phyrexian Tower 4 Stomping Ground 4 Woodland Cemetery Sideboard (15) 1 Claim the Firstborn 4 Thoughtseize 1 Abrade 3 Scavenging Ooze 1 Klothys, God of Destiny 1 Plague Mare 3 Reclamation Sage 1 Vraska, Golgari Queen |
Historic Jund Sacrifice by David Steinburg (5th/6th)
| Creatures (20) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Gilded Goose 4 Mayhem Devil 1 Murderous Rider 4 Woe Strider 3 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King Planeswalkers (2) 2 Vraska, Golgari Queen Spells (5) 3 Claim the Firstborn 2 Thoughtseize Artifacts (4) 4 Witch’s Oven Enchantments (4) 4 Trail of Crumbs | Lands (25) 2 Blood Crypt 1 Castle Locthwain 3 Dragonskull Summit 3 Fabled Passage 2 Forest 1 Mountain 4 Overgrown Tomb 2 Phyrexian Tower 4 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 1 Woodland Cemetery Sideboard (15) 1 Liliana’s Defeat 1 Redcap Melee 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 2 Thoughtseize 3 Abrade 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Murderous Rider 3 Witch’s Vengeance 2 Bolas’s Citadel |
Historic Jund Sacrifice by Luis Scott-Vargas (5th/6th)
| Companion (1) 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring Creatures (25) 4 Cauldron Familiar 4 Dreadhorde Butcher 4 Priest of Forgotten Gods 1 Bonecrusher Giant 1 Lovestruck Beast 4 Mayhem Devil 3 Midnight Reaper 4 Woe Strider Spells (8) 4 Claim the Firstborn 4 Collected Company Artifacts (4) 4 Witch’s Oven | Lands (23) 4 Blood Crypt 4 Dragonskull Summit 4 Overgrown Tomb 1 Phyrexian Tower 2 Sheltered Thicket 4 Stomping Ground 2 Swamp 2 Woodland Cemetery Sideboard (14) 1 Scavenging Ooze 2 Act of Treason 2 Reclamation Sage 4 Witch’s Vengeance 2 Leyline of the Void 1 Vraska, Golgari Queen 2 Korvold, Fae-Cursed King |
Historic Mono-Red Goblins by Ken Yukukiro (7th/8th)
| Creatures (32) 3 Skirk Prospector 4 Conspicuous Snoop 4 Wily Goblin 1 Gempalm Incinerator 1 Goblin Chainwhirler 4 Goblin Chieftain 4 Goblin Matron 3 Goblin Warchief 4 Krenko, Mob Boss 4 Muxus, Goblin Grandee Spells (3) 3 Irencrag Feat | Lands (25) 3 Castle Embereth 21 Mountain 1 Phyrexian Tower Sideboard (15) 3 Redcap Melee 3 Abrade 2 Goblin Cratermaker 1 Gempalm Incinerator 1 Goblin Chainwhirler 2 Goblin Ringleader 3 The Akroan War |
Historic Mono-Black Gift by Matt Nass (7th/8th)
| Creatures (30) 4 Cryptbreaker 4 Stitcher’s Supplier 4 Fiend Artisan 4 Lazotep Reaver 4 Priest of Forgotten Gods 4 Woe Strider 4 Ravenous Chupacabra 2 Massacre Wurm Artifacts (6) 4 Gate to the Afterlife 2 God-Pharaoh’s Gift | Lands (24) 4 Castle Locthwain 4 Phyrexian Tower 16 Swamp Sideboard (15) 4 Thoughtseize 2 Grasp of Darkness 2 Pharika’s Libation 1 Plague Mare 3 Leyline of the Void 1 Rankle, Master of Pranks 2 Massacre Wurm |