Welcome to the RCQ Recap series! This is the first in a regular series of coverage articles, aiming to provide a little glimpse into the goings-on of the Regional Championship Qualifiers held at Face’s Toronto and Montreal stores. Each will feature top 8 decklists, but also a profile of one of those players, giving some insight into their path to the next Regional Championship.
August 2nd saw 20 players competing at the Toronto store for one of four invites to the Round 1 Regional Championship in Ottawa. The season flips over to Standard on the 15th, so this was players’ last chance (barring Last Chance Qualifiers) to earn their spot at Canada’s final RC for 2026. After five rounds of Swiss and a cut to top eight, Kaya Gregg ended up victorious, with her own list of Scepter-Chant (even beating out a Jeskai variation earlier in the event).
Player Profile: Kaya Gregg
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Magic: the Gathering Color: Blue
Favorite Modern Deck: Eldrazi Tron, circa 2017
Q: Why did you play this deck today?
A: I wasn’t sure if I was going to play either [Control] or Trudge today. But Dom showed up, and was supposed to borrow Trudge from someone else who couldn’t make it.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about it?
A: I feel like I can really leverage the fact that I know my deck and the format really well.
Q: What was the most difficult match you played today?
A: Round 1 against Dom Harvey. He’s a very good player and matches against him almost always feel like a challenge, even when I’m playing something with a good matchup.
Q: Which game today was your favorite to play?
A: Round 4 against Goryo’s Vengeance. I locked my opponent out of the game and they didn’t concede, so I just kept tucking my Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to eat up the clock and slowly deck them. I didn’t think they could win quickly enough in Game 2, which meant I ended up winning the match in one game.
The above answers have been edited for length and clarity
Top 8 Decklists
Azorius Control – Kaya Gregg (1st)
Creatures (3)
Artifacts (2)
Necrodominance – Ben Kolisnyk (2nd)
Planeswalkers (1)
Enchantments (4)
Broodscale Combo – Ricardo Jota (3rd)
Enchantments (4)
Goryo’s Vengeance – Julian Panchaud (4th)
Ruby Storm – Parsa Hosseini (5th)
Creatures (4)
Artifacts (4)
Enchantments (2)
Mono-Green Trudge – Dominic Harvey (6th)
Planeswalkers (2)
Enchantments (4)
Dimir Midrange – Donald Giancoulas (7th)
Planeswalkers (1)
Neoform – Alexis Balderama (8th)
Alex Sowa is a writer, coder and Level 2 Magic Judge. While she runs events of all formats, she mostly plays Commander. You can find her by calling JUDGE… or at one of the links below.