Barcelona heats up this weekend as Magic: The Gathering comes to town in the form of a Mythic Championship (MC) being played in the Modern format.
This will be the second MC this year to feature the Modern format, with the previous one taking place in London (MCII) while testing the waters of the London Mulligan. Full of controversy after Yuuya Watanabe was disqualified at the end of day two for cheating (later found guilty and banned from MTG), Eli Loveman got bumped into the top eight and won the second Mythic Championship.
MTG Mythic Championship IV in Barcelona will also have the London Mulligan in effect and likely be the last MC featuring the Modern format this year. Many in the community expect it to top MCII considering all the new cards that have released. With War of the Spark, Modern Horizons, and the newly released M20 set, expect the meta to look a tad different this time around.
Related: Everything you need to know about MTG Mythic Championship IV
Along with the addition of new cards to the format, certain players have been rising in the ranks and proving themselves worthy in the MTG community. Ones like the previous champion (Loveman), Louis Deltour, and Gabriel Nassif—along with MTG Pros Reid Duke, Lee Shi Tian, Piotr Głogowski, and the MCIII champion Matias Leveratto.
And let’s not forget about the youngest player this year to qualify for an MC, Milan Bhayana. Dominating the Legacy MCQ’s at MagicFest Niagra Falls, Bhayana is a 13-year-old underdog everyone should keep an eye on.
Related: Guide to understanding Magic: The Gathering Team Series
But don’t underestimate Leveratto or Deltour either. Leveratto may have won MCIII playing Nexus Ramp in Standard, but he also knows a thing or two about Modern. Meanwhile, Deltour has the highest win rate in the Modern format. And then there’s the champ Eli Loveman. Can he perform a miracle and go back-to-back as champion in MCIV?
Other names who could have an impact include Samuele Estratti, who won an MCQ invite to Barcelona and is the first Modern Pro Tour champion that took place in Philidelphia eight years ago. There’s also Shota Yasooka, who came up just shy of the top four at MCIII, and Javier Dominguez, who just recently won the Red Bull Untapped tournament.
Related: How to watch MTG Mythic Championship IV
MTG Mythic Championship IV runs from July 26 to 28. Live coverage begins on the Magic Twitch channel at 2am CT Friday through Sunday. Reruns of the day’s events should air after the livestream ends.
