Popeye of the Altered Aces competitive team is the first official contender for the Altered World Championship Finals 2025 after winning the second Dutch Altered Championship partnered with Sigismar in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, on June 28. The final came down to Popeye (6-2) in a mirror match against Altered Aces’ ClaedeusFR’s Sigismar (8-0), with the undefeated player taking his first loss for the event in the last match.

A total of 103 players joined in in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, for the first Qualifier event for the World Championships. Photos by @readingcroisannt.

The 103-player event ran across eight rounds of Swiss with a cut to the top eight, and was streamed on Twitch with commentary from Bandit and McHotDog.

According to 39cards.com, Afanas got the most attention from players with 19 decklists with Kojo following nearby at 17. Teija placed third at 11 decklists. Sigismar, Gulrang and Basira shared fourth place at 10 decklists each. Only Waru, Arjun and Subhash skipped the competition altogether. For as many as entered the event, only three Afanas and one Kojo made it to the top eight, with every remaining spot filled by Sigismar. This means that while fewer than 10% of players teamed up with Sigismar, half of the top cut and 100% of the final did. A hero other than one of those three doesn’t show up until 10th place with Treyst. A total of 63% of cards coming to the event were from BTG, with 17% coming from TBF and 20% from WFM.

Popeye’s Sigismar deck may not have any Baba Yaga (who is currently benched as of the WFM season patch), but nine cards in his deck draw him an additional card when played from hand and reserve, with six of those attached to stats. With nearly a quarter of the deck drawing cards more than once (and Sig’s auto-recruit each turn), the rest of the deck can focus on interruption while keeping just enough stats on the board to maintain pressure. A full playset of rare Jack Frost and common Ordis Legates as well as two Ordis Spies keep the opponent from being able to rely on their reserves to maintain card advantage. Three common Teamwork Training, three License Withdrawal and two rare Tiny Jail bring together some of the strongest, most cost-effective removal in the game. Thanks to the deck’s draw capabilities, they’re likely never far away. If they happen to be out of reach, two rare Sandman can act either on offense or defense. The deck includes three powerful uniques, all of which provide draw from hand and reserve.

Prizing and next Qualifier in Lille, France

The top eight from the event include (clockwise from rear left): Titou, Caballo, Matmatu, Martin, Heaven, Caedeus, Yarne and Popeye.

With this win, Popeye secured his place among the 32 players headed with travel and accommodations paid to Paris for the World Championship Finals later this year. The first place prize for the DAC Qualifier also included two trophies (World Championship and DAC), an exclusive playmat, 72 boosters, four organized play boosters, four hero boosters and a foiled Tumult track. Players placing through eighth received exclusive playmats, a foiled Tumult track and decreasing amounts of standard, organized play and hero boosters. All 103 players received standard, organized play and at least one hero booster.

The next Qualifier event will be the largest of the season at Lille Grand Palais in Lille, France, on July 5-6. Organized by Ludotrotter, the two-day competition can host up to 1,024 players with four of them qualifying for the finals. Players may join any qualifier regardless of their nationality, and may play in as many as they like.