Magic: The Gathering is one of the most iconic and widely recognized card games in the world and has been at the top of the collectible card game market for nearly 30 years. The franchise enjoys a wide variety of ways to experience the game between physical play and online gameplay through Magic: The Gathering Arena. Alongside its multiple ways to play, Wizards of the Coast also officially supports a wide variety of formats for competitive play from Standard and Commander to less popular styles like Brawl.
The growth of Magic: The Gathering has also led to a flourishing competitive scene for the classic card game with tournaments often seeing hundreds of players. Last weekend asaw Magic's CommandFest Frankfurt take place with the Commander-focused event also featuring some other side events in formats like Modern and Sealed Draft. However, the event's Brawl tournament in particular saw player Joep Smit walk away with an unusual championship as the only player to enter the Brawl event.
Joep Smit became the unanimous champion of CommandFest Frankfurt's Brawl event after no other players bothered to sign up for the unpopular format. CommandFest Frankfurt was not the first time Smit had taken home the winnings for a Brawl event as he had previously won the Brawl tournament at Grand Prix Barcelona 2018 under similar circumstances. Smit's championship saw the player take home a set of promotional cards as well as a CommandFest playmat for his victory in the one-man tournament.
Smit's unusual championship in one of Magic's less popular formats comes during an event for one of the game's biggest. The 100-card "highlander deck" format has consistently remained one of Magic's most popular alternate formats with fans frequently calling for the game mode to be introduced to Magic Arena. Brawl, on the other hand, has seen limited success with Magic fans as evidenced by Smit's multiple victories due to being the only player to show up to the event.
Magic: The Gathering's growth in popularity over nearly three decades has seen the card game frequently cross over with other popular franchises throughout its history. Wizards of the Coast has featured several major collaborations in recent years with popular gaming franchises like Street Fighter and Fortnite. Magic also previously featured a major tie-in event with one of Wizards' other most recognizable properties, Dungeons & Dragons. While Brawl may not have seen the levels of success Wizards had hoped for, Joep Smit continues to reap the rewards of the less-popular format.
Magic: The Gathering is available now physically at game shops and digitally on PC and mobile devices through Magic: The Gathering Arena.