Regional Championship Washington DC Viewer Guide

The long-awaited return of Star City Games Magic: The Gathering coverage is only a few days away.

SCG CON Washington, DC plays host to the Regional Championship this weekend and all the action will be streamed live on the Star City Games Twitch channel along with the SCG Tournament Coverage YouTube page.

Join Cedric Phillips, Patrick Sullivan, Eilidh Lonie, and Corey Baumeister for two full days of coverage with Day 1 starting at 10 AM ET on Saturday and Day 2 starting at 9 AM ET on Sunday. Prepare for 15 Swiss rounds of Pioneer followed by a single-elimination Top 8 that awards thousands of dollars, Pro Tour invites, and a pair of qualifications to the Magic: The Gathering World Championship for the finalists.

In addition to every round getting covered live on stream, the broadcast will also feature interviews, deck techs, and more. On top of all the video coverage, keep an eye out for the full metagame breakdown article coming Friday night along with nightly recaps for Day 1 and Day 2 of the Regional Championship.

Coverage Schedule

• Friday, October 4 — Regional Championship Pioneer Metagame Breakdown article on Star City Games
• Saturday, October 5 — Day 1 video coverage of Regional Championship on Twitch and YouTube starting at 10 AM ET. Day 1 recap article on Star City Games
• Sunday, October 6 — Day 2 video coverage of Regional Championship on Twitch and YouTube starting at 9 AM ET. Day 2 recap article on Star City Games

Regional Championship Prizes

With around 2,000 players set to battle it out in Washington, DC, check out the prize breakdown of the $130,000 prize pool. Pro Tour and RC invites are awarded to the Top 64 players, the finalists earn invites to the World Championship, and the Top 128 players all take home some cash.

• 1st: $20,000.00, World Championship Invitation, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• 2nd: $10,000.00, World Championship Invitation, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• Top 4: $8,000.00, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• Top 8: $4,000.00, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• Top 16: $2,500.00, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• Top 32: $1,500.00, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• Top 64: $500.00, Pro Tour Invitation, Regional Championship Invitation
• Top 128: $125.00

Pioneer Metagame Preview

Pioneer is still relatively fresh following the bans of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Amalia Benavides back in August along with the just-released Duskmourn: House of Horror. Will the latest set power up an existing archetype, create a new one, or will an already strong deck cement its spot at the top of the metagame?

The format staples look to be Azorius Control, Izzet Phoenix, Rakdos Prowess (Callous Red), Lotus Field Combo, Abzan Vehicles, and Mono-Green Devotion.

Azorius Control (Kaheera)

Misplacedginger

2nd Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-30-2024

Pioneer

Planeswalkers (5)

• 2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
• 3 The Wandering Emperor

Lands (27)

• 3 Plains
• 3 Island
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 4 Field of Ruin
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Hall of Storm Giants
• 2 Deserted Beach
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 2 Restless Anchorage
• 1 Fountainport
• 3 Floodfarm Verge

Spells (28)

• 2 Supreme Verdict
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 2 Dovin's Veto
• 3 Memory Deluge
• 4 March of Otherworldly Light
• 1 Farewell
• 3 Temporary Lockdown
• 1 Change the Equation
• 2 Get Lost
• 2 Deduce
• 4 No More Lies
• 2 High Noon
• 1 Three Steps Ahead

Sideboard

• 1 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Ashiok, Dream Render
• 1 Narset, Parter of Veils
• 2 Aether Gust
• 2 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Shark Typhoon
• 1 Kaheera, the Orphanguard
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Knockout Blow
• 1 Temporary Lockdown
• 3 Beza, the Bounding Spring

Izzet Phoenix

O_danielakos

3rd Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-29-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (13)

• 4 Arclight Phoenix
• 1 Brazen Borrower
• 4 Ledger Shredder
• 4 Picklock Prankster

Lands (18)

• 3 Island
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Spirebluff Canal
• 4 Riverglide Pathway
• 1 Hall of Storm Giants
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City

Spells (29)

• 4 Sleight of Hand
• 4 Opt
• 4 Lightning Axe
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 4 Treasure Cruise
• 3 Fiery Impulse
• 1 Spikefield Hazard
• 1 Prismari Command
• 4 Consider
• 1 Torch the Tower
• 1 Proft's Eidetic Memory

Sideboard

• 1 Pyroclasm
• 1 Negate
• 2 Young Pyromancer
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Chandra's Defeat
• 2 Crackling Drake
• 1 Ashiok, Dream Render
• 1 Aether Gust
• 2 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Brazen Borrower
• 1 Unlicensed Hearse
• 1 Brotherhood's End

Rakdos Prowess (Jegantha)

NygelV

3rd Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-30-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (20)

• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Callous Sell-Sword
• 4 Slickshot Show-Off
• 4 Heartfire Hero
• 4 Emberheart Challenger

Lands (20)

• 4 Sulfurous Springs
• 2 Mountain
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 3 Ramunap Ruins
• 2 Den of the Bugbear
• 1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance

Spells (20)

• 4 Titan's Strength
• 2 Fatal Push
• 1 Claim
• 1 Reckless Rage
• 4 Ancestral Anger
• 4 Kumano Faces Kakkazan
• 4 Monstrous Rage

Sideboard

• 4 Thoughtseize
• 2 Fatal Push
• 1 Hazoret the Fervent
• 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
• 1 Feed the Swarm
• 2 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse
• 2 Urabrask's Forge

Lotus Field Combo

Raest

7th Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-30-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (10)

• 4 Vizier of Tumbling Sands
• 1 Fae of Wishes
• 4 Strict Proctor
• 1 Lier, Disciple of the Drowned

Lands (23)

• 1 Forest
• 3 Razorverge Thicket
• 3 Thespian's Stage
• 3 Mana Confluence
• 4 Lotus Field
• 3 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 4 Spara's Headquarters
• 1 Lush Portico

Spells (27)

• 1 Impulse
• 4 Sylvan Scrying
• 1 Omniscience
• 4 Hidden Strings
• 1 Dark Petition
• 4 Pore Over the Pages
• 2 Emergent Ultimatum
• 1 Peer into the Abyss
• 3 Bala Ged Recovery
• 1 Soul Partition
• 4 Archdruid's Charm
• 1 High Noon

Sideboard

• 2 Silence
• 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
• 1 Approach of the Second Sun
• 1 Thought Distortion
• 1 Mystical Dispute
• 1 Emergent Ultimatum
• 4 Nine Lives
• 1 Path of Peril
• 2 Temporary Lockdown
• 1 Soul Partition

Abzan Vehicles

_Batutinha_

8th Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-29-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (14)

• 4 Greasefang, Okiba Boss
• 4 Raffine's Informant
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 1 Altanak, the Thrice-Called
• 4 Overlord of the Balemurk

Lands (22)

• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 1 Swamp
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Temple Garden
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 3 Razorverge Thicket
• 3 Concealed Courtyard
• 2 Blooming Marsh
• 4 Darkbore Pathway
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures

Spells (24)

• 4 Thoughtseize
• 1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
• 4 Parhelion II
• 4 Esika's Chariot
• 3 Bitter Triumph
• 4 Cache Grab
• 4 Say Its Name

Sideboard

• 3 Duress
• 2 Abrupt Decay
• 4 Fatal Push
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse
• 3 Temporary Lockdown
• 1 Haywire Mite

Mono-Green Devotion

Clockwork Dean

14th Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-30-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (23)

• 4 Llanowar Elves
• 4 Elvish Mystic
• 4 Cavalier of Thorns
• 4 Old-Growth Troll
• 2 Ulvenwald Oddity
• 1 Polukranos Reborn
• 4 Outcaster Trailblazer

Planeswalkers (4)

• 4 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

Lands (21)

• 12 Forest
• 4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 3 Lair of the Hydra
• 2 Boseiju, Who Endures

Spells (12)

• 4 Storm the Festival
• 4 Invasion of Ixalan
• 4 Leyline of the Guildpact

Sideboard

• 1 Pithing Needle
• 2 Obstinate Baloth
• 1 Emrakul, the Promised End
• 2 Nylea's Intervention
• 2 Setessan Petitioner
• 2 Arasta of the Endless Web
• 2 The Stone Brain
• 1 Cityscape Leveler
• 2 Monstrous Emergence

With four Magic Online Pioneer Challenges in the books after this past weekend there are plenty of decks making use of the new cards from Duskmourn.

First up is a Mardu Reanimator list that puts Valgavoth, Terror Eater and Atraxa, Grand Unifier on the battlefield early and often. Fear of Missing Out, Valgavoth’s Faithful, and Rite of the Moth all enable this strategy along with cards from a more classic Mardu midrange shell.

Mardu Reanimator

ScreenwriterNY

1st Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-29-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (19)

• 4 Bloodtithe Harvester
• 2 Titan of Industry
• 2 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 4 Fear of Missing Out
• 4 Valgavoth, Terror Eater
• 3 Valgavoth's Faithful

Lands (23)

• 1 Plains
• 2 Swamp
• 1 Mountain
• 2 Godless Shrine
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1 Castle Locthwain
• 2 Fabled Passage
• 4 Savai Triome
• 1 Hive of the Eye Tyrant
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

Spells (18)

• 4 Thoughtseize
• 4 Fatal Push
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
• 2 Bitter Triumph
• 4 Rite of the Moth

Sideboard

• 2 Duress
• 2 Damping Sphere
• 1 Extinction Event
• 1 The Meathook Massacre
• 3 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse
• 2 Cut Down
• 1 Torch the Tower
• 1 Bitter Triumph

A more traditional Rakdos Midrange deck can utilize Unstoppable Slasher and Unholy Annex // Ritual Chamber to work with cards like Bloodletter of Aclazotz and Archfiend of the Dross to support a Demon subtheme.

Rakdos Midrange

SoggyCheerios

4th Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-29-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (12)

• 4 Archfiend of the Dross
• 4 Bloodletter of Aclazotz
• 4 Unstoppable Slasher

Lands (25)

• 10 Swamp
• 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 3 Mutavault
• 4 Field of Ruin
• 4 Castle Locthwain
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 2 Sunken Citadel

Spells (23)

• 4 Duress
• 4 Thoughtseize
• 4 Fatal Push
• 3 Reckoner Bankbuster
• 4 Sheoldred's Edict
• 4 Unholy Annex

Sideboard

• 2 Ashiok, Dream Render
• 2 Extinction Event
• 2 Go Blank
• 1 The Meathook Massacre
• 2 Path of Peril
• 1 Invoke Despair
• 2 Unlicensed Hearse
• 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
• 2 Misery's Shadow

Five-Color Enigmatic Incarnation has been a fan-favorite yet more rogue selection in the format, but it got a bunch of new toys from Duskmourn. Multiple Overlords (Hauntwoods, Boilerbilges, and Mistmoors) all show up in addition to Marina Vendrell, Abhorrent Oculus, and Roaring Furnace // Steaming Sauna.

Five-Color Enigmatic Incarnation

DreamsOfAshiok

2nd Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-29-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (16)

• 2 Skyclave Apparition
• 1 Glasspool Mimic
• 1 Moon-Blessed Cleric
• 1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier
• 1 Heliod, the Radiant Dawn
• 1 Beza, the Bounding Spring
• 4 Overlord of the Hauntwoods
• 1 Overlord of the Mistmoors
• 2 Overlord of the Boilerbilges
• 1 Abhorrent Oculus
• 1 Marina Vendrell

Lands (35)

• 1 Forest
• 1 Plains
• 4 Sacred Foundry
• 3 Temple Garden
• 4 Stomping Ground
• 4 Breeding Pool
• 4 Ketria Triome
• 2 Raugrin Triome
• 1 Spara's Headquarters
• 4 Jetmir's Garden
• 4 Hushwood Verge
• 3 Floodfarm Verge

Spells (29)

• 3 Chained to the Rocks
• 4 Nylea's Presence
• 4 Enigmatic Incarnation
• 2 Portable Hole
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
• 4 Leyline Binding
• 4 Up the Beanstalk
• 4 Roaring Furnace

Sideboard

• 3 Dovin's Veto
• 1 Yorion, Sky Nomad
• 1 Archon of Emeria
• 1 Yasharn, Implacable Earth
• 3 Knockout Blow
• 1 Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
• 1 Sunfall
• 4 High Noon

Boros Auras (and other Aura-based decks like Selesnya or Mono-White) got Optimistic Scavenger, Sheltered by Ghosts, and Shardmage’s Rescue.

Boros Auras (Jegantha)

Convo

13th Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-29-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (13)

• 4 Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1 Alseid of Life's Bounty
• 4 Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice
• 4 Optimistic Scavenger

Lands (22)

• 5 Plains
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Sacred Foundry
• 3 Mana Confluence
• 4 Inspiring Vantage
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

Spells (25)

• 4 Ethereal Armor
• 1 Gryff's Boon
• 1 All That Glitters
• 1 Escape Velocity
• 2 Sentinel's Eyes
• 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
• 4 Demonic Ruckus
• 4 Shardmage's Rescue
• 4 Sheltered by Ghosts

Sideboard

• 3 Rest in Peace
• 2 Wear
• 1 Mortal Obstinacy
• 3 Apostle of Purifying Light
• 1 Jegantha, the Wellspring
• 2 Portable Hole
• 3 Cathar Commando

Azorius Spirits even received a nice upgrade in the form of Enduring Curiosity and Sheltered by Ghosts.

Azorius Spirits

scipios

4th Place at Magic Online Challenge on 09-30-2024

Pioneer

Creatures (28)

• 4 Rattlechains
• 4 Spell Queller
• 4 Mausoleum Wanderer
• 4 Supreme Phantom
• 4 Spectral Sailor
• 2 Shacklegeist
• 2 Skyclave Apparition
• 1 Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
• 3 Enduring Curiosity

Planeswalkers (1)

• 1 The Wandering Emperor

Lands (23)

• 4 Adarkar Wastes
• 2 Island
• 4 Hallowed Fountain
• 3 Mutavault
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Hengegate Pathway
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire

Spells (8)

• 4 Geistlight Snare
• 4 Sheltered by Ghosts

Sideboard

• 2 Skyclave Apparition
• 4 Portable Hole
• 1 Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
• 1 Tishana's Tidebinder
• 2 Three Steps Ahead
• 2 Enduring Innocence
• 3 Ghost Vacuum

All there is left to do is wait for the weekend for two action-packed days of Magic coverage. Set your reminders for 10 AM ET on Saturday and we will see you on Twitch and YouTube!