Javier Domínguez Crowned Champion at Worlds 30
LAS VEGAS -- Magic Con Vegas was the site of dozens of panels, an Artist Alley of more than 50 Magic illustrators, and home to a whirlwind weekend of fun for tens of thousands of Magic's biggest fans.
But it was also the site of the biggest professional Magic tournament of the year: the Magic World Championship 30. The tournament featured a format consisting of both Duskmourn: House of Horror draft and Standard, and saw 116 players invited to compete.
And fans in attendance on Sunday were able to see Spain's Javier Domínguez take home the trophy, emerging victorious after three days of fierce competition.
Domínguez, piloting a Dimir Demons deck, triumphed over Márcio Carvalho's Golgari Midrange list in the tournament's best-of-five Finals. Both black-based decks, as written by Wizards of the Coast tournament reporter Corbin Hosler, leaned heavily on disruption and traded Duress casts early and often.
The win for Javier Domínguez was made sweeter over the weekend, as the Spanish pro was also named 2024 Kai Budde Player of the Year, named this year after the German legend who had won it four times.
By winning Kai Budde Player of the Year honors, Domínguez joins pro player royalty like Jon Finkel, Yuuya Watanabe, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa and Bob Maher, Jr.
Javier Domínguez, Kai Budde, and Yuuya Watanabe are the only players who have won Player of the Year honors in the same year as a World Champion title.
Javier Domínguez is also the likeness of Throne of Eldraine's Fervent Champion, honoring his victory in the 2018 World Championship. That victory came on the heels of a second-place finish the prior year, where he lost in the Finals to William Jensen.
Domínguez also has several high-level Top-8 finishes to his name, including a fifth-place finish at Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan in 2018 as well as ten Top-8 finishes at Grands Prix in the past ten years.
The Magic World Championship 30 Top-8 featured: Seth Manfield (USA), Kai Budde (Germany), Ha Pham (Canada), Javier Domínguez (Spain), Quinn Tonole (USA), Max Rappaport (USA), Márcio Carvalho (Portugal), and Yoshihiko Ikawa (Japan).
Legendary Pro Player Kai Budde showed he's still got what it takes with a Top 8 finish in Las Vegas. (Photo Provided)
Only two of the Top 8 decks didn't feature black, as Golgari and Dimir ruled the day.
Javier Domínguez's Championship list, in fact, included only a handful of non-black cards:
