The Standard format has refused to be solved for more than a week or two at a time, and that has created one of the most open Regional Championship seasons in recent memory. With a dozen major events happening in the span of a month, competitive Magic has rewarded players who are able to stay a step ahead of a metagame that is moving faster than ever.

That was the stage set at SCG CON in Washington, DC, in late May, and it was against that backdrop that Jordan Selesnick came armed with a deck that many in the room had written off. But when it comes to high-level Magic, anyone can claim the weekend. And that weekend in Washington, DC, belonged to Selesnick.

And we have a winner in Washington DC! Congrats to Jordan Selesnick, who defeats Matt Xu in the finals of #SCGDC to win the Regional Championship for the United States with Azorius Momo! pic.twitter.com/31hA3e65w9

— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) May 31, 2026

This Regional Championship was the second of the cycle for the United States following Zachary Aymie's victory in Cincinnati earlier in the month. With nearly 1,200 competitors in attendance, the event would reflect how the global metagame responded to the rise of Four-Color Control, which found success in previous events. And the Regional Championship itself was just a part of the competitive offerings as the nation's best gathered for a weekend of Magic.

MTG Limited Championship Qualifier at #SCGDC....SOLD OUT! Huge field of over 500! pic.twitter.com/xkqaihEmVI

— SCG CON (@SCGCON) May 31, 2026

Prowess Tops the Field; Falls Short in Top 8

Following a trend that dates to Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, Izzet Prowess led the field in Washington, DC, with almost a quarter of the field piloting the lean list that is somehow both explosive and grindy. With several variants among Prowess players, playing against the archetype was also not as straightforward as one might expect.

But also following a trend dating back to the last Pro Tour, players in the final rounds of the tournament seemed to have at least somewhat figured out the matchup. Despite advancing its metagame share to almost 30% of the field entering Day Two, the deck placed just one pilot (Krishna Pai) in the Top 8.

MTG Limited Championship Qualifier at #SCGDC....SOLD OUT! Huge field of over 500! pic.twitter.com/xkqaihEmVI

— SCG CON (@SCGCON) May 31, 2026

With dozens of Pro Tour invitations on the line, there was every incentive for players to find any edge they could in a metagame that, by the end of Day Two, had opened up quite a bit. While the previous weekend featured the rise of Control lists with Jeskai Revelation, the field in Washington, DC, represented something of a bounce-back for the Sunderflock-centric Izzet Spellementals decks like the one that John Puglisi Clark took into the Top 8.

But on the way there, Standard got only more chaotic. While past years of Magic might converge on a one-, two-, or three-deck metagame by this point, that's not been the case in 2026. Instead, the Top 32 in Washington, DC, featured over a dozen archetypes, and the Top 8 included five different decks.

• Jordan Selesnick (Azorius Momo)
• John Puglisi Clark (Izzet Spellementals)
• Krishna Pai (Izzet Prowess)
• Lucas Birch (Mono-Green Landfall)
• Alexander Kans (GW Aggro)
• Matt Xu (Mono-Green Landfall)
• Sam Bogue (Mono-Green Landfall)
• Stephen Snelson (Izzet Spellementals)

Momo Soars Through the Top 8

Landfall, whether it's Mono-Green or Selesnya, has been a constant in the format since its discovery, and the sheer power level of the deck has allowed it to find success even when targeted—and especially so when not.

That's one of the reasons that the Spellementals players who prepared for Mono-Green Landfall did so well, and it brought both Clark and Stephen Snelson to the Top 8. But it ended there for Clark, as he fell to Sam Bogue, who is back on the Pro Tour after briefly falling off. It was also an incredible weekend for Kans, who's Top 8 appearance came fresh on the heels of his Top 8 run in the Arena Championship.

But all their runs ended when they faced Selesnick and his Azorius Momo deck.

This Momo, Friendly Flier deck represented just 5% of the Standard metagame when the weekend began. But in a format full of powerful plays, it can keep up with the best of them. Consider this sequence: turn-one Momo, Friendly Flier. Turn-two Quantum Riddler, cast Daydream on the Quantum Riddler. That sequence leaves you with a live Riddler on turn two and a restocked hand to keep the pressure coming.

That's the highlight of the deck, and it was a sequence that Selesnick showed off many times over the course of his incredible 15-1-2 record over the tournament, including a hard-to-fathom 31-7 win-loss record in finished games with the deck. This includes his dominant Top 8 run, where Selesnick dropped a game in the quarterfinals to Snelson before sweeping Alexander Kans and Matt Xu to complete the victory.

For now, this closes the chapter on Standard here. With the Regional Championship season coming to a close, the next major stop on the United States calendar is Magic Spotlight: Marvel Super Heroes in late June, a Team Limited event in Las Vegas. Before that, the Pro Tour at MagicCon: Amsterdam will feature Modern Constructed and Draft in the Top 8. That leaves Selesnick as the Regional Champion for the foreseeable future!

Congratulations to Jordan Selesnick, winner of the US Regional Championship!