In an epic battle for the first major Historic championship, a duel between Sultai Midrange and Jund Sacrifice made MTG Arena history. Seth Manfield triumphed over the Gabriel Nassif, taking home the trophy and $10,000.
With a prize pool of $250,000, 160 players competing for over 14 rounds, upper and lower brackets with tons of twist and turns, and a final match between to MTG Hall of Famers, The Mythic Invitational was a historic event in more ways than one.
Seth Manfield, piloting a Sultai Midrange build beat Gabriel Nassif’s brilliant Jund Sacrificed, who previously saved him even in the most desperate matches. The battle of wits ended in a decisive final match and Manfield (figuratively) lifted the trophy from his home.
Nassif had an amazing run qualifying for the top 2 spots. There were multiple occasions of a clearly lost case against a bad matchup when he had every reason to click the Concede button, but a few masterful plays and a Witch’s Oven top decks turned games around and stole a victory.
That being said, champion Manfield’s performance was even more impressive. This is his third major trophy, undoubtedly making him a part of the top echelons of MTG elite, as only a handful of other players have three or more triumphs of such level their belts.
After losing on Saturday and dropping to the Top 8 Lower Bracket, Seth had to win four matches in a row to even make it to the finals. He did this with flying colors and met an opponent with much better momentum than his own. What he lacked on Saturday he more than made up for on Sunday, and his victory was clean and unscrupulous. In his own words, the champ “had his cake, and ate it too”.
Despite the minor technical hiccup before the final stage, this was a brilliant tournament and a true nail-biter. What’s more important, these excellent players single-handedly reshape the Historic metagame with their innovative brews, pushing the format, and by extension the entire game, forward.
If anything, this tournament proves that Historic is not only here to stay, but has all it takes to be a premier competitive format. Good games!
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