What is it like to be inside one of the most successful teams assembling for the World Championship? We asked representatives from four of the best teams—Javier Dominguez from Cosmos Heavy Play, Reid Duke from TCGplayer, Masahide Moriyama from Moriyama Japan, and Stefan Schütz from Handshake Moxfield—for their stories.

You might think that, with a giant house full of competitive gamers, assigning rooms would be quite the event. Turns out, something really important simplifies things.

Reid: "Everybody who arrives in the first two days has equal priority, but in the end, common sense prevails. A snorer gets secluded in their own room."

Javier: "The most important part is snoring. Never believe a man that says he doesn't snore unless you can prove it yourself!"

Once assembled, the army marches on its stomach. Who turns ingredients into actual food?

Javier: "On our team, we have the mythic bomb, Christoffer Larsen. Not only is he an extraordinary Magic player, he's also an excellent cook! More specifically, he's skilled at cooking for a lot of people, which is very handy. (For many years, Larsen was a cook in the Danish navy.)"

Reid: "A few brave souls volunteer to go to the grocery store. Inevitably, there are misses, like ending up with twenty frozen pizzas and zero garbage bags."

Next, it's down to business. Of course, a lot of Magic gets played. But how do you make organization out of chaos?

Stefan: "We'll try to have a stricter sleep schedule this time, otherwise Zevin Faust will tell you how to play every matchup with the High Noon deck past midnight. Every day starts with a meeting at 9 a.m. sharp—or that's what we wish."

Javier: "There are some night owls. I am one of them, but our most '4 a.m. player' is Luis Salvatto. I remember once he was so excited that he had won a match that he woke me up screaming! As for who are the early risers, I would know if I was one of them, but I'm not!"

Reid: "I'm an early riser and am always brewing the first pot of coffee each day. We try to structure the day around some scheduled drafts or team meetings. I run a pretty tight ship."

At the World Championship, Friday and Saturday begin with drafts. On Team TCGplayer, Sam Pardee is the Limited expert. Cosmos has the "big three" of Luis Salvatto, Christoffer Larsen, and Sergio Garcia. The undisputed leader for Handshake Moxfield is Alex Rohan. But what about Japan's standout team, Moriyama?

Masahide: "Two Hall of Fame members—Shuhei Nakamura and Ken Yukuhiro—are leading the way for us. They possess world-class Limited skills and have contributed to the team's strong performance in the Limited rounds time and time again. Interestingly, Shuhei favors solid picks, while Ken prefers bold strategies. Their differing approaches to Limited are very educational."

And who takes the lead on the Constructed side?

Masahide: "Petr Sochůrek and Yuuki Ichikawa can certainly be called deck-building specialists. Yuuki excels at taking a bird's-eye view of the metagame and assessing the viability of potential decks. Petr is highly skilled at fine-tuning specific decks."

Javier: "I'd say myself, Nathan Steuer, and Anthony Lee are the ones taking on more weight for the deck building, but it is truly work for the whole group."

Stefan: "Tristan Wylde-LaRue and Guglielmo Lupi have the most character in terms of Constructed. They both have their unique ways of approaching deck building while not getting sidetracked by all the shiny toys."

Reid: "Some are innovators, like Matt Nass and Gab Nassif, but it's expected that everyone will contribute."

So, the testing is done, and it's the first morning of the World Championship. The Draft rounds inevitably have high quality all around the table, but likely not quite as drastically overpowered as Javier's first draft in 2017 that included five Hall of Fame members, possibly the two best "Sams" in the game's history (Black and Pardee), and Pro Tour Champion Martin Mueller. Whatever the strength of the table, teams certainly know the importance of those early rounds.

Reid: "Day One of the World Championship is more intense because the cut to Day Two is so much more challenging. You need a 4-3 record against the best players in the world. The morning draft can really set the tone for your event."

Next, it's on to Constructed, where a good deck doesn't just consist of strong cards; it has to be well-positioned within the metagame.

Masahide: "We'll hold a team discussion on the day the metagame breakdown is released. I always look on the bright side, so I'll say we're in a good position no matter what the metagame is. It's best not to trust me on that!"

Stefan: "The metagame is all we chat about once it's public! We definitely try to come up with on-the-fly plans to tackle decks we hadn't anticipated and make sure to communicate that across the team."

Reid: "Everyone pores over the metagame breakdown to see how accurate our predictions were and to guess if any big teams came up with something unexpected."

The tournament begins to take shape, with players reaching Day Two or falling by the wayside. Back at home, most teams have someone keeping track of all their wins and losses, and it's fun to get a message during the Standard rounds that you've got the best Limited win rate in the tournament. But however important the team is, every member has friends that are on other teams or are working independently.

Stefan: "Alex Rohan and Arch Dota always talk to their former Worldly Counsel teammates, while Tristan Wylde-LaRue and Maxx Kominowski often chat with the TCGplayer people. I always check in with Nathan Steuer, since we are close friends, but every Pro Tour has to involve banter with Javier Dominguez or Chris Larsen. Charis Kikidis is new on the team since the last Pro Tour and pointed out that we were the only team not sitting around a table together between the rounds. We were often scattered throughout the room instead. 'It's like we all hate each other, but the team works like a truce and holds us together!'"

For everyone, the stakes increase on Saturday as the Top 8 comes into view, and eventually directly on the line. What is that Saturday afternoon like in the trenches of the World Championship?

Reid: "The end of the tournament is exciting. Regardless of your record, you're usually playing for something. And when you finish your round, you run to check on your other teammates. Who's still in the running for Top 8?"

Javier: "It is different. Win-and-in matches are special. For me, they are the best games. For others, the pressure makes them less enjoyable. We are all human after all! But it is certainly not 'normal Magic,' even if they are still games of Magic and nothing else!"

Stefan: "When people give it their all, it can lead to performances that are hard to grasp. But some people also collapse under the pressure, blundering away a winning position. It's honestly one of the exciting parts where even the people not involved in those matches are cheering for their teammates."

The tone of Saturday night is always up in the air, especially if you've got a teammate in the Sunday Top 8.

Masahide: "Over the past three years, we've produced three Pro Tour champions in Yoshihiko Ikawa, Ken Yukuhiro, and Yuuki Ichikawa. I think it's important to spend the night before the Top 8 in a relaxed state."

Stefan: "We recommend any of our Top 8 competitors just go to bed early. Some other people on the team will stay up all night and play through their quarterfinals match or a potential semifinals match and give them a rundown of what they figured out once they woke up."

For Reid and Javier, they've had the experience of waking up on a World Championship Top 8 morning with the trophy three wins away.

Reid: "The morning of a World Championship Top 8 is full of anticipation. You're thinking, 'This day could change my life!' Win or lose, you'll probably think about the events of that day for the rest of your life."

Javier: "'This could be the very last time I get to play a Top 8 like this, let's enjoy it. Today could be a great day, let's make it count!' That is how I wake up. A Top 8 day is a very special day that you simply don't forget!"

Not once, but twice, Javier has been the last player standing, lifting the World Championship trophy aloft. It's the feeling that only one person can experience each year, so it's fitting that the last word goes to the standout from Spain.

Javier: "Winning the World Championship is hard to express in words. It has an 'I made it' feeling that doesn't compare to other victories. Both times I got there I had the following thought: 'Is this really happening?' The reality is that the accomplishment stays with you forever. But in a way, it's also just a tournament. And that also teaches you that the true Magic lies in the journey, in all the games you play to get there, and all the people you meet along the way."