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This your survival guide for Red Bull Untapped in Florence and Brussels
Hall of famer Frank Karsten reveals the invited players, streaming schedule, casters and formats for the Magic: The Gathering tournaments coming to Italy and Belgium this weekend.
This weekend, some of the biggest names in Magic: The Gathering will be doing just that when the Red Bull Untapped tournament hits the Italian city of Florence and Brussels, Belgium. With all the information on what to expect and how to follow the action, Frank Karsten provides us with an insider's guide.
What is Red Bull Untapped?
Red Bull Untapped is a $200,000 tournament series brought to you by Red Bull and tournamentcenter, with the support of Wizards of the Coast. It's the first major independent tournament series that features Magic: The Gathering in both card and digital form, at least since the game made its recent push into esports. As Magic has 25 years of competitive gaming history and a snappy new digital platform in MTG Arena, Red Bull is ready to untap some potential.
The tournament series features two qualifying weekends and culminates on August 4 with the 8-player finals, which will be hosted in the swish surroundings of the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London. Last weekend, four players already qualified online, via MTG Arena. Now, this weekend, July 6–7, four more players will qualify via two 226-player tournaments in Florence, Italy and Brussels, Belgium.
These card game tournaments will be streamed live on twitch.tv/redbull and each awards a $60,000 prize pool to the top 64 players.
What are the formats?
The tournaments in Florence and Brussels both have the same single-day structure:
- Rounds 1–3 – Modern Horizons Sealed: Players will battle with 40-card decks constructed from six packs of Modern Horizons. With dozens of different mechanics, the format is a delight for seasoned players. The games are complex, the cards are nostalgic and the synergies are rich. Pre-registered pools will be provided for free to all competitors.
- Rounds 4–8 – Modern: The Modern format allows cards from Eighth Edition and Mirrodin block onwards, so it's a great showcase of Magic's rich history. Players are responsible for bringing their own decks – no card vendors are on site. Decklists are required, but they won't be shared before the Top 8.
- Top 8 – Modern: The Top 8 players after the Swiss rounds will then once again shuffle up their Modern decks for the single elimination rounds.
Who's invited to Florence?
Expect fireworks in Florence on July 6
© TournamentCenter
The tournament is made up of 226 invited players, including two members of the Magic Pro League. It wouldn't surprise anyone see both Javier Dominguez and Andrea Mengucci in the finals. Dominguez, the reigning world champion, showed his mastery of the Modern format by making the Top 8 of the last two Modern Mythic Championships. Meanwhile, Italian native Mengucci, who won the $1,000,000 Mythic Invitational earlier this year, holds the home country advantage.
There are many other Italian players to watch out for however, including Pro Tour Philadelphia 2011 champion Samuele Estratti, the five-time Grand Prix Top 8 competitor Marco Cammilluzzi, Mattia Rizzi, a four-time Grand Prix Top 8 competitor and snowboarder Filippo Kratter.
While these are some of the most recognisable names on the scene, the field represents a cross-section of Magic, from amateurs to pros, making it a great experience for everyone to test their mettle.
Who's invited to Brussels?
The Magic Pro League will be well represented in Brussels
© TournamentCenter
The Brussels tournament features as many as five members of the Magic Pro League. All of them can be expected to make deep runs, but my personal dark horse pick is Arne Huschenbeth, the young and talented German who's recently been crushing the European Grand Prix circuit.
Host country Belgium also fields several luminaries of the game, most notably Marijn Lybaert, a four-time Pro Tour Top 8 competitor, five-time Grand Prix Top 8 competitor Pascal Vieren and Christophe Gregoir, Thomas Van der Paelt, and Branco Neirynck, who together made the Top 4 teams of the Pro Tour 25th Anniversary last year.
Additionally, we have Twitch streamers and in-store qualifier winners. All together, the field is stacked with talent from dozens of countries. But in Magic, any of the 226 competitors could win.
Can I attend and where are the events held?
Both events are invitation-only and due to limited space only the invited players will be able to enter the venue.
The venues are invite-only, but you can stream the matches online
© TournamentCenter
The Florence tournament location is the historic Stazione Leopolda, just a few steps away from the center of the city.
The Brussels tournament location is the beautiful Panoramic Hall at Square Brussels, situated very close to Brussels Central rail station. Attendees are advised that accessibility by car may be limited because the Tour de France will start only a few hundred meters from the venue on July 7.
Follow the Brussels matches online
© TournamentCenter
Where can I follow the contests?
The livestream will be on twitch.tv/redbull on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7. The schedule for both days is as follows:
- The stream starts at 9:30am CEST/ 7:30am UTC/ 3:30am ET) with a short preview, followed by Round 1's action.
- The Modern rounds are expected to start at roughly 1:45pm CEST/ 11:45am UTC/ 7:45am ET.
- Top 8 is expected to start at approximately 8pm. CEST/ 6pm UTC/ 2pm ET.
To stay in touch on social media during the live streams, use the hashtag #RedBullUntapped.
Who will I see on stream?
There'll be multiple feature matches per round and excellent teams of casters is also lined-up.
Red_Bull_Untapped_Talent_Florence
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In Florence, the matches will be covered by:
- Eduardo Sajgalik. You may recognise Eduardo from his occasional event coverage at Mythic Championships and Grands Prix. The two-time Mythic Championship Top 8 competitor will provide his insight on all the strategic decisions made by the featured players.
- Tim Willoughby. If you're a longtime viewer of Mythic Championships or Grand Prix coverage, then you'll surely recognise Tim. He'll do the play-by-play calls and make sure you don't miss anything that happens on the battlefield.
Show host Becca Scott will bring the same infectious enthusiasm and energy she did to the MPL Weekly and the Arena Mythic Championships. As there are no 'time-shifted' matches, she'll keep everyone engaged between rounds with mini-games, giveaways for viewers, player, artist and cosplayer interviews and more.
Red_Bull_Untapped_Brussels_Talent
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In Brussels, the matches will be covered by:
- Riley Knight. Riley is one of the regular casters at most Mythic Championships or Grands Prix. Just last weekend, he was casting the Modern Grand Prix in Dallas, USA and the hype machine will be bringing his excitement and Modern knowledge to Brussels.
- LegenVD. Belgium's LegenVD is perhaps best-known for his popular Twitch and YouTube channels, which focus on Standard and Limited, but his Top 4 placing at Grand Prix Madrid 2017 shows that he's also a Modern expert.
- Raphaël Lévy. Raph is a member of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame and given that he holds the Mythic Championship attendance record (he’s competed at more than a hundred of them), he's one of the most experienced Magic players around.
Show host Oliver Gehrmann will tie the show together. Like Becca Scott, he'll keep viewers entertained and informed between rounds with mini-games, interviews, giveaways and more.
Will there be cosplayers and artists?
Cosplay fans will also be in for a treat
© TournamentCenter
On both days, you can expect fun segments with the amazing cosplayer Nadine and famed artist RK Post, both of whom will prove that there's more to love about Magic than just the strategic competition.
Illustrator Randy 'RK' Post is a legend in the fantasy world
© TournamentCenter
Where can I find decklists?
That's where Tobi Henke and myself, Frank Karsten, come in. Near the end of each day, we'll publish top decklists, player profiles and standings to showcase the winning players and decks. This text coverage will be on the Red Bull Untapped website and we'll also have updates on PlayMTG.eu's Twitter and Facebook pages. Top decklists will be shared once the Top 8 gets underway.
We'll also break down the full Modern metagame and curate the feature matches to ensure a variety of interesting decks will be shown on camera. So, don't worry, you won't see an endless set of Hogaak Bridgevine mirrors if we can help it.
Are these the first Modern events with the London mulligan and Modern Horizons?
Oh, yes. The London mulligan rule, which passed its test at MC II, will go into effect this weekend, meaning the Red Bull Untapped tournaments will be among the first ones to use it. As a result, the formats are nearly identical to the ones of Mythic Championship IV. The only differences are that MC IV uses Core Set 2020 and open decklists, but on the whole it should make for a great preview.
So what can we expect in terms of Modern? Last weekend, Hogaak BridgeVine dominated the SCG Open Pittsburgh and Grand Prix Dallas. The deck, fueled by Modern Horizons, is off-the-charts in terms of raw power level, as it can easily put 10 power worth of creatures onto the battlefield by turn two.
Additionally, with Altar of Dementia, the deck is capable of dodging one-shot graveyard hate, while milling out the opponent. With 4 Bridge from Below in your graveyard, every Hogaak cycle costs you two cards in your graveyard and mills your opponent for 16 – that quickly adds-up.
Last weekend showed that Hogaak BridgeVine is beatable, but you have to come prepared, with full playsets of Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, or Yixlid Jailer. Alternatively, you could try to go fast. For example, Devoted Druid can make infinite mana on Turn 3, Infect can now use Scale Up to set-up Turn 2 kills and Mono-Red Prowess can win a damage race. These could all be valid strategies, but you can't beat Hogaak BridgeVine by playing fair.
Hogaak BridgeVine
© TournamentCenter
This weekend, we get to see how the London mulligan rule shakes everything up. This rule mathematically benefits decks that are trying to assemble combinations of cards. At the Mythic Championship in London, we already saw that Tron and Dredge surged in popularity and that Ad Nauseam and Cheerios overperformed. But that was without War of the Spark, or Modern Horizons, so will we see a similar trend in Florence or Brussels? Could the relatively new Neobrand combo and Urza ThopterSword exploit the London mulligan rule?
Red Bull Untapped will be experience to remember. The livestream will be on twitch.tv/redbull on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7. Don't miss it.
