Tournament Report
Preparations
I remembered about this event a few days before. I’d played two FNMs in August after a few months’ break and returning from vacation. I was eager to play, but I can’t play a big event without any preparation. I once dropped in for an evening testing at Roman’s - cheers, let’s make the September barbecue and playing cards a tradition. I saw some strange decks on 5 lands and decided I had a lot of catching up to do. I don’t like playing bigger events unprepared, but as my wife said on the day before the event - you have two kids, you’ll never be prepared again ;)
I said - okay, once in my life I’ll go play just for fun. I don’t know how it’s done, but I heard it’s possible, I’ll be enriched with new experiences :D
And since I love blue builds and had a sideboard guide for MonoU Terror, so ahoy adventure!
Before the first round
Equipped with blue spells and a bucketload of my wife’s best pancakes, I arrived at the battlefield. Even before entering the event, I was delighted to see the old Lego and Kopec faces; it’s always nice to relive good memories. Sify11 also showed up; he showed me this game at Underground, Katowice’s first MTG store, when the top cards were Cursed Scroll and Masticore. We used to punish each other severely with Wastelands during middle school breaks. There was also Coachinho, whom I beat mercilessly with Extended UW Tron when he just finished kindergarten, and now he’s two heads taller than me :D When I was retiring from Modern to Pauper, I didn’t think this format would be so interesting or that I’d ever meet so many great people in one place, whom I’ve known for so long. Of course, there was also a large local “pauper” crew of great players, as well as visiting faces, some of whom I recognized, even though I rarely play anything away anymore. Shout out to Oscar, who always motivates me to play interesting events. The sight of Gano and Neef on the microphones rounded out the good start to the day; I didn’t even think that more of my old friends would be commentating on my final games in the next few hours.
R1 vs Grull Ramp
The first round, and a friendly Italian studying for a PhD in mathematics and living in Prague sat down in front of me. He reported to the judge that he saw my deck’s name in the melee section. After fixing a bug in the app, we started. I don’t remember much, the first round at bigger event is always stressful for me, it takes a while before I can focus, I have to be especially careful about mistakes, 3 close games, I won the match, after the first match I usually feel relieved
R2 vs Esper Affinity
The second round against Pr0boszcz, an outstanding player, back-to-back winner of the last Katowice editions, and a tough matchup: glint hawks + tithing blades are the last thing a mage throwing blue snakes wants to see. The stress of the first round was gone, and I could focus on optimal play, but optimal luck turned out to be more important than optimal play :D Third game I was on the play with mull to five, but it was a very aggressive five. Two delvers, a dispel, a land, and something, maybe a second land, never mind. Both delvers immediately flipped, and the dispel countered the removal. The game lasted a bit longer, but later in the game, I had a much easier time after gaining the advantage through initial aggression. Karol and his team have a habit of giving out pauper boosters if someone manages to beat them; I actually got two that day. It was very nice; the packs were stronger than many play boosters with rares.
R3 vs Selesnya Bogles
Boggles aren’t bad matchup, especially after the first game, but you can also get lucky and win the match just by playing the first game. My opponent got a game loss for having foil boggles, which were curved. After switching to non-foil, we started the first game with a 1-0 lead for me. The key moments were Deem Inferior into a large Ethereal Armor and 2 Counterspells, when it turned out the first card on top was also Ethereal Armor. After these turns, my snake was bigger than the bogle, then another snake appeared, and by the time my opponent had to block, the game was over
R4 vs Mirror
A quick 0-2 and the first big mistake that cost me the game. The first game - the situation is as follows: I have the blocks for the next turn sorted out, my life counted, and I should win on my next turn.
Now that I’ve sorted everything out, I’ll run Deep Analysis from the grave. After drawing cards and ending the turn, I realized that I now have three fewer lives and the previous calculations don’t add up. I die this turn instead of surviving and winning the next. I don’t remember the second game, but the snakes probably didn’t want to come out of shame for the first game :D
R5 vs Spy Walls
Quick 2 - 0, first game - Spell Pierce in Land Grant, second game the opponent probably with mull to five, I’ve had and early aggression + countermagic.
R6 vs High Tide
Strong opponent, top 4 on the last Paupergeddon, first game I was fast and had counters, second game, opponent had Gigadrows and comboed up, third game, I don’t remember the starting hand but there’s a chance it wasn’t aggressive enough, luckily I managed to interrupt combo with lonely Spell Pierce at the key moment with already resolved high tide.
After this match there was a lot of tiebreakers counting with the hope of a draw but it turned out that everyone has to play.
R7 vs Mono Red Rally
I won the first game, and I remember my opponent complaining loudly about his own mistakes. After the first game, we were called to the feature table. In the second game, I think I drew all my blasts, but the snakes remained at the previous table, which wasn’t enough to lock the table against Red Rally. The third game was quite similar to the second, with the difference that there was at least one snake that was stalling the opponent’s combat phase for a long time. My health slowly dwindled, and it would have ended similarly to the second game if the snakes hadn’t started arriving.
A very close match, I managed to win and move into the top 8 from second place.
Top8 vs Mirror
I’m staying on the feature table, my opponent in the quarterfinals is the last winner of the Poznań edition, so you could say the current champion. As befits a champion, he’s playing the right deck, so here’s the second mirror today. You can watch the entire match on the stream, which I encourage you to do (video embedded below) I won’t spoil it, but shout out to those who already know that this report doesn’t end with the quarterfinals ;)
Top4 vs Mirror
The semifinal was like a throwback to the good old days. I last faced Mateusz at Timespiral prerelease in Katowice’s Gugalander, which only I remembered, because you remember playing against champions like Kopeć – the first Polish GP winner and generally at his best years unbeatable (not) like Gołota :D
The first game featured a strong opening from Mateusz, followed by a dramatic defense from me, until finally, more terrors and Sleep of the Dead in the late game ended the game for me, even though it was very close. The second game was unlucky for Mateusz, who stayed on one land for a few turns after the mulligan, which allowed me to generate enough of an advantage that, when my opponent was already able to play terrors, I won the game by pushing the last damage after a successful Deem Inferior into Serpent. Respect to Mateusz, who received the deck a few days before the event and showed that a good game is not forgotten.
I had to wait a long time for the results of another semi-final where two local players fought a close duel.
Final vs Gruul Monsters
The final with another Mateusz, who stormed through the event, sipping gummy berry juice and successfully bypassing all the drug tests :D The entire final is on stream. Let me just say that the first game would have lasted longer if not for Mateusz’s mistake of using a non-lethal attack, which killed him in my attack. The next game would have also lasted longer if not for my mistake of setting blocks to survive and win the next turn. Clever, I just forgot that the Avenging Hunter has a trample. The third game settled the tournament and my entire day at C’mon! Katowice 2025 8D
Summary
A great event, historically the largest pauper tournament held in Poland. A solid performance by local players, with Lego, Kopeć, and Oscar among the top eight, in addition to the finalists.
Interview by Rafal Gano, March 2026
First of all - why Mono U Terror?
I like these types of builds. I love blue, and besides, Delver is one of my favorite cards; I played it in Standard. These are the soft reasons. As for the hard reasons, I think that at the time, before the High Tide ban and the rise of Jund, it was the strongest deck in the format. It was an easy choice. It took me much longer to decide to play it at all due to the lack of preparation.
Have you prepared anything specific as your strategy for mirror matches?
There was no mirror strategy. I played my first mirror with this build in Swiss, and it was a quick loss after a big mistake in the first game. This loss helped me in mirrors in the top 8 and top 4; I slightly changed my side plan and played more aggressively. I didn’t play mirrors before the event, but I have some general experience in these types of matches, where you have to switch between defense and aggression and where micro decisions matter. However, as is often the case in mirrors, if two players play correctly, the one with the better draw will win :)
There is a rumour going around that you were testing at the BBQ?
That’s all true (laugh)! Neef, Roman, and I have known each other for years. Sometimes we meet up over grilled food to play some Texas Hold’em, Iron, Soltys, and others come over, and sometimes it’s an opportunity to test before a bigger event. For me, summer and September are the worst times for a bigger event because I’m traveling then and don’t play anything. Just last year, I found out about Spodek a few days before. There were also tests. I came over to help the guys play something, but I decided to skip the event. This year, the story was the same, except that the day before, I decided to play ‘for fun’ xD I think this kind of real-life testing is a great thing, and we don’t have enough of it.
What made you register for C’mon Magic?
I love bigger events and playing for higher stakes; it motivates me to play better, which I actually notice compared to how sloppy I can be at local FNMs. Plus, if it’s being held in my city, what more could I want? Maybe just for it to be in October so I can calmly return from my travels and prepare :D
If you were to play C’mon today, what would you play?
I have a soft spot for the Mono U Terror, but we’re fresh off Spring Paupergeddon, and the stats don’t look good for it. Based on this data, I’d choose the UB Terror with Snacker for testing. However, I’d have to play with it for a while because on paper, I don’t like it. If I’m not convinced after testing, I’d take Madness Red.
What have you learned at C’mon! Katowice as a player?
Let me start with a few observations about my game. I’ve noticed changes in my game in recent years. Firstly, the mind of an almost 40-year-old isn’t as fresh as a 20-year-old. I can miss triggers, make missplays due to distraction, or fail to notice something my opponent is doing. Whenever I catch myself doing this, I feel like it’s something new, but it’s been going on for a while :D
On the other hand, I’m now better at maintaining composure and staying motivated in the top8. When I was younger my main focus was to finish in the top8, but then I relaxed too much.
I remember my first Nationals, where I played terribly in the top8, practically giving up the match as if there was nothing left to play for after making the top8.
At the next year’s Nationals, in the last round, I was playing for a top-8 finish against Świstak. At 1-0, I was already shaking with joy at the prospect of making back-to-back top8. Then two very bad keeps went down, and the fun ended.
to the punchline..
It’s easier to handle the pressure now when the stakes are high, but getting to the point where the stakes are high requires a lot more luck, considering the number of unforced errors I make now compared to 20-15 years ago :D
There was a lot of luck at Spodek ;)
Congratulations on your win Marcin and see you next year!
Thank you, I shall come to defend the title! :)
Check the decks!
All the decklists from the event are available on Melee.gg!
