The Regional Championship of the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series in Prague, Czechia, brought together 789 competitors, all vying for their share of a $130,000 prize pool, 36 Pro Tour qualifications, and coveted seats at Magic World Championship 32. After fourteen intense rounds of Standard followed by a grueling Top 8, Rasmus Enegren ultimately claimed the trophy with Four-Color Control!
Congratulations to Rasmus Enegren, the new Regional Champion!
Rasmus Enegren, a 27-year-old player from Stockholm, Sweden, qualified via an RCQ at Dragon's Lair and brought Four-Color Control to Prague after deciding it was the most fun and enjoyable of Standard's top decks. As he had been playing a lot of control for the last decade, it was a natural fit. That said, he views the list less as a traditional control deck and more as a ramp deck, emphasizing its primary goal of getting to Jeskai Revelation as quickly as possible. "Tablet of Discovery is the most important card in the deck," he noted.
Rasmus Enegren found himself in a tough spot in the first game of the finals.
The finals featured a Four-Color Control mirror match between Enegren and Ricardo Dias, a 35-year-old player from Portugal. The first game took 51 minutes, unfolding as a meticulous control masterclass. At one point, Dias used North Wind Avatar to fetch Ancient Vendetta from his sideboard, exiling every copy Enegren's Jeskai Revelation and seizing a commanding position. Both decks packed more answers than threats, and Enegren appeared destined to draw from an empty library first.
In a dramatic swing, Enegren brilliantly turned the tables with Together as One, forcing Dias to draw five cards. Still, after a marathon game in which both players had cast nearly every spell from their deck and every single prowess trigger mattered, Dias ultimately won Game 1 with zero cards remaining in his library, putting Enegren to exactly 0 life with his final attack.
With zero cards remaining in his library, Ricardo Dias took the first game in the finals.
Nevertheless, Enegren stayed calm and collected, and Game 2 and Game 3 belonged to him. After sideboarding in additional threats such as Wan Shi Tong, Librarian; Emeritus of Ideation; and Stoic Sphinx, he was able to win some tight damage races and emerge victorious. With that comeback, Enegren secured the title along with the $20,000 1st-place prize.
When the final turn was played, the match clock stood at 107 minutes. While not a record—the legendary Oath of Druids mirror between Kai Budde and Patrick Mello at Grand Prix Lisbon 2002 stretched well beyond three hours—it nonetheless stands as one of the longest, most demanding, and finely played finals in recent memory.
The control mirror between Ricardo Dias and Rasmus Enegren lasted 107 minutes.
Both finalists earned invitations to Magic World Championship 32, the pinnacle of organized play, which will take place at MagicCon: Atlanta in November 2026.
Congratulations to the Top 8! Top row, left to right: René Hubrich, Thomas Pedersen, Andrea Botti, Ricardo Dias. Bottom row, left to right: Matteo Bruschi, Rasmus Enegren, Marco Cammilluzzi, Domen Lušin.
The Top 8 showcased a diverse selection of decks and put a spotlight on Standard's current depth. While the finals was a Four-Color mirror, the Top 8 elimination rounds featured six other deck archetypes: Mono-Green Landfall, Izzet Spellementals, Izzet Prowess, Jeskai Lessons, and Selesnya Offense.
Among the breakout stories of the weekend were Jeskai Lessons, which combines Gran-Gran and Jeskai Revelation into a single coherent package, and Selesnya Offense, which leverages the game-winning combination of Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker and Practiced Offense. A wide variety of strategies also appeared among the Standard decklists of the Top 36 players in the final standings. Congratulations to the Top 36 players who earned invitations to Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes!
Neither Jeskai Lessons nor Selesnya Offense were a major part of the metagame at the start of the tournament, yet both excelled with excellent win rates and converted those performances into multiple Pro Tour qualifications. These were clearly well-positioned choices in a metagame where Izzet Prowess stood as the deck to beat. Both archetypes posted favorable records against it, underscoring how quickly Standard continues to innovate and evolve from weekend to weekend.
Casters Andrea Mengucci, Carl Perks, Filipa Carola, Thoralf Severin, and Jamin Kauf called the action on the live stream.
Prague delivered an outstanding weekend brimming with high-level competition. The hall buzzed throughout the weekend as hundreds more joined side events, battled in Last Chance Qualifiers, or earned qualifications for upcoming premier events. Live coverage aired on Fanfinity's YouTube channel, allowing fans to follow the action closely.
Three hundred sixty-seven players built their sealed decks at the Limited Championship Qualifier in Prague.
While the Regional Championship spotlighted the remarkable talent of players across Europe, the side events also drew huge crowds. On Sunday, 367 players entered the Limited Championship Qualifier competing for four invitations to the 2027 Magic Limited Championship, while 291 players entered the $20,000 Ultimate Guard Open Standard tournament. That event awarded sixteen invitations to the next Regional Championship. It was a memorable weekend of competition, and we eagerly anticipate the next Ultimate Guard Regional Championship in Ghent on October 9–11, 2026!
A crowd of 789 players who converged upon the PVA Expo in Prague test their mettle in the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series – Regional Championship.
Rasmus Enegren's friends and compatriots rush in to celebrate immediately after his victory in the finals.
