Kazuya Takuwa won the first 2020 Magic Online Champion Showcase event today, securing an invite to the Kaldheim Split Championship in 2021 and $20,000.
The finals match was a Modern contest between Francesco Giresi piloting Omnath Control and Kazuya Takuwa’s aggressive Mono-Red Prowess deck. Each deck had its chance to shine, but it was Takuwa who came out with the 2-1 win despite a huge misplay in game three by not playing around Teferi, Time Raveler’s passive ability.
This event marks the start of the 2020 Magic Online season after Michael Jacob won the 2019 Magic Online Championship on Nov. 15. The eight players qualified by winning various Magic Online qualifiers. Takuwa qualified by winning the Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths Limited Championship and Giresi won a Pauper championship.
Takuwa qualified for the finals after an undefeated run in the Zendikar Rising draft portion of the tournament. Takuwa entered the finals 0-3 in the following Modern rounds. Takuwa qualified for this event through strong Limited gameplay and rode that momentum into the day.
The three modern rounds were closely contested with Giresi and Nicholas Price battling in a three-game series with both players running variants of Omnath Control. The lengthy matchup ended with Giresi expertly navigating the final game and securing the 2-1 series victory.
Kaldheim split begins on Dec. 19 to 20 with the first Kaldheim Qualifier Weekend played on Magic Arena. Kaldheim is an upcoming set that draws inspiration from Norse mythology. The set releases on Feb. 5.
