Skybeast teamed up with Treyst to win the World Championship Qualifier in Montreal, Canada, one of three events that took place Aug. 30. Midloner came close to bringing the first Muna hero to the Finals by partnering with Rin, but landed second.

The 54-player event hosted by L’imaginaire ran seven rounds of Swiss, leading into a single-elimination Top 8 cut. It was streamed with commentary by the AWOL team.

Sigismar and Kojo tied for the most popular deck with eight decklists each. Teija picked up seven, and Atsadi and Basira both followed with four. For the Top 8, a total of 65% of cards represented Beyond the Gates, with 16% coming from Trial by Frost and 18% from Whispers from the Maze.

Skybeast’s Treyst deck shows that the Axiom engineer isn’t reliant on Bugfix loops to pull a victory, as there isn’t a single Bugfix in the deck of any rarity. Instead, several of the classics lead the deck’s drive, as every rare comes from BTG. Three rare Havens, even toned down after the TBF midseason patch, provide extra strength to the characters played more cheaply from reserve. Two rare Kelon Cylinders can add a boost late in a day, and one rare Armored Jammer can provide interaction while also serving as scrap for the three common Grems elsewhere in the deck. Three rare Axiom Salvagers and Dr. Frankenstein both keep the reserves filled and provide free activations to the landmarks. Two rare Hooked can interrupt an opponent’s play and a single rare Anansi can pack a heavy hit with full reserves. The deck’s uniques include a Sap Sniffer (2/2) that can gain boosts per landmark, as well as a Repotter Otter (2/2) that reduces the cost of the next permanent played coming from anywhere. The final unique, Jian (2/3) calls for a sacrifice of a permanent to resupply, and has a support that activates a target permanent.

Prizing and upcoming Qualifiers

Skybeast will join other finalists (such as Rinku from the Dallas, Texas, Qualifier) with travel and accommodations paid to the World Championship Finals Oct. 17-19. The Top 8 all received a Top 8 playmat, and the highest-placing player for each faction received their Faction Champion card.

The next BGA Qualifier will be focused on the Americas, running Sept. 6-7, with registration already open and is available to players worldwide regardless of their nationality.

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