The first weekend of October, over 450 of the best Magic players from across Canada gathered for the Canadian Regional Championship in Ottawa hosted by Face to Face Games. The format was Modern, and the prizes on the line were twelve invites to the first Pro Tour of 2027, two invites to the World Championship, and the title of Canadian Regional Champion.

Congratulations to Canadian Regional Champion Kaya Gregg!

At the end of fourteen rounds of Swiss and a Top 8 single-elimination bracket, Kaya Gregg from London, Ontario, had bested the rest of the field to hoist the trophy and become Canada's Regional Champion. Congratulations to Kaya Gregg!

Congratulations to finalist Will Shayne!

Gregg chose Azorius Chant, a control deck built around Orim's Chant, because "there's only so much fun to have in a match and I wanted to have all of it." She faced Will Shayne on Mono-Green Broodscale in the finals.

"I was originally going to play Esper Blink this weekend, but one of my friends talked me into just playing with the good cards instead," Shayne said of their deck choice. While he might not be Regional Champion, Shayne's 2nd-place finish still earned him invites to both the World Championship and the Pro Tour.

Kaya Gregg and Will Shayne play in the finals.

Congratulations to the Top 8

Congratulations to Kaya Gregg, Will Shayne, Jesse Speers, Max Dore, Edgar Magalhaes, Johan DeNora, Ryan Primdahl, and Cristopher Currie, the Top 8 finishers at the Canadian Regional Championship!

Congratulations as well to all of the Top 12 players who earned invitations to the Pro Tour. You can see the Pro Tour qualifying decklists here.

The Modern Metagame Evolves

A few months ahead of the current Regional Championship cycle, the bans of Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury and Lotus Field and the unbans of Violent Outburst and Umezawa's Jitte had transformed the Modern landscape.

In Ottawa, the biggest winner was Mono-Green Broodscale, which leapt to the top of the metagame on Day One, increased its share of the field on Day Two, and had three copies in the Top 8, the most of any archetype.

"I played Mono-green Broodscale because it is a very flexible deck," said 3rd-place finisher Jesse Speers. "It has the options of playing as a midrange deck but always threatening to combo. It gives you many options to play your own style against the field."

Izzet Prowess was the second most played deck on Day One, and while it kept this position on Day Two, it lost some of its share of the field. Overall, the Modern metagame remains flexible, with both longtime and emerging archetypes continuing to jockey for position.

Another Championship in the Books

You can see the final standings from the Canadian Regional Championship here.

Congratulations to all players who competed! Find out more about how you can qualify for the Regional Championship and the Pro Tour by visiting here and finding out more from your regional organizer!