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Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci – "Magic: The Gathering"

Javier Dominguez, reigning and defending Magic: the Gathering World Champion, took on longtime friend and colleague Andrea Mengucci during the Day One events at the 26th Magic World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Source: Wizards of the coast, via Twitch

Javier, having drafted a Golgari (black/green) Draft deck with some very tough decisions regarding inclusions, took on Mengucci's rather exquisitely-sculpted Orzhov (white/black) deck.

Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Javier Dominguez, flummoxed by indecision. Source: Wizards of the Coast, via Twitch

Mengucci, no stranger to Draft or the professional Magic scene, did put up one heck of a fight, but in the end, Dominguez got the better of the scarfed scamp.

Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Mengucci's decklist for the Draft. Source: Wizards of the Coast, via Twitch

Note that, in the above decklist, the two copies of Archon of Sun's Grace are actually copies of Archon of Falling Stars. There was an error in the listing of this list on the logistical part of the Wizards of the Coast reporting team.

Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Dominguez's decklist for the Draft. Source: Wizards of the Coast, via Twitch

Some highlights from the match-up:

  • During Game One, Javier Dominguez quickly disposed of Andrea Mengucci with his Golgari (black/green) draft deck.
Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Source: Wizards of the Coast, via Twitch
  • Mana screw hit Dominguez During Game Two, proving that mana issues can affect the very best of us. Meanwhile, Mengucci's Orzhov deck didn't even go below twenty life.
Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Source: Wizards of the Coast, via Twitch
  • In Game Three, Dominguez took Mengucci down in a very similar fashion to Game One, with Mengucci this time unable to remove most any of Dominguez's creatures, lacking in black mana and thus nullifying the ability to cast a copy of Drag To The Underworld.
Worlds XXVI, Day One: Dominguez Vs. Mengucci - "Magic: The Gathering"
Source: Wizards of the Coast, via Twitch

Today, Javier Dominguez took Andrea Mengucci down in Draft on Day One of the 26th World Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii. It's going to be a long road, but Dominguez makes this look pretty easy. Congrats on this minor victory, a small step towards continued greatness for the reigning World Champion!


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Joshua NelsonAbout Joshua Nelson

Josh Nelson is a Magic: The Gathering deckbuilding savant, a self-proclaimed scholar of all things Sweeney Todd, and, of course, a writer for Bleeding Cool. In their downtime, Josh can be found painting models, playing Magic, or possibly preaching about the horrors and merits of anthropophagy. You can find them on Twitter at @Burning_Inquiry for all your burning inquiries.
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