The country of Japan has a long and storied history in the game of Magic. A perennial powerhouse, the nation has had a tough time at the World Magic Cup, making the second day of competition only once. At an earlier iteration the national team showcased their dedication to the tournament by taking a taxi over a thousand miles to compete after a flight got canceled. Years later that dedication paid off.

The Japanese team - Captain Yuuya Watanabe, National Champion Kenta Harane, and National Finalist Shota Yasooka - represented one of the teams to beat going in to the three day parade of nations. The team secured their spot on Sunday alongside Teams Austria, China, Italy, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Wales. First Japan dispatched the Oliver Polak-Rottmann captained Team Austria before taking down the tournament's pacesetter in Team Italy (captained by Andrea Mengucci). Their opponent's in the finals were the impressive Team Poland, featuring Captain Grzegorz Kowalski with National Champion Radek Kaczmarczyk and finalist Piotr Glogowski. The match, and title, came down to the national finalists - Yasooka and Glogowski, in game three. Shota Yasooka, a known control player piloting Ramunap Red, managed to win the third game and secured the match, and World Magic Cup title, for Japan!

The World Magic Cup constructed rounds featured Unified Standard. If a card appeared in any maindeck or sideboard, it could not exist in any other player's deck. Teams tended to have an aggressive Red deck, an Energy deck, and a Blue based deck, either control or a God-Pharoah's Gift deck, to round out their arsenal.

Four-Color Energy ? Ixalan Team Unified Standard | Yuuya Watanabe, Winner World Magic Cup

• Creatures (20)
• 2 Bristling Hydra
• 2 The Scarab God
• 4 Longtusk Cub
• 4 Rogue Refiner
• 4 Servant of the Conduit
• 4 Whirler Virtuoso

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 2 Vraska, Relic Seeker

• Instants (5)
• 1 Magma Spray
• 4 Harnessed Lightning

• Sorceries (8)
• 2 Confiscation Coup
• 2 Cut // Ribbons
• 4 Attune with Aether

• Lands (23)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Swamp
• 3 Forest
• 2 Sheltered Thicket
• 3 Rootbound Crag
• 4 Aether Hub
• 4 Botanical Sanctum
• 4 Spirebluff Canal

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Appetite for the Unnatural
• 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 1 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
• 1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
• 1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
• 1 Treasure Map
• 3 Chandra's Defeat
• 3 Negate
• 3 Vizier of Many Faces

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White-Blue Gift ? Ixalan Team Unified Standard | Kenta Harane, Winner World Magic Cup

• Creatures (16)
• 1 Fairgrounds Warden
• 3 Sacred Cat
• 4 Angel of Invention
• 4 Champion of Wits
• 4 Minister of Inquiries

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Fumigate
• 4 Chart a Course
• 4 Refurbish
• 4 Strategic Planning

• Artifacts (4)
• 4 God-Pharaoh's Gift

• Enchantments (4)
• 2 Cast Out
• 2 Search for Azcanta

• Lands (23)
• 6 Plains
• 7 Island
• 1 Hostile Desert
• 2 Ipnu Rivulet
• 3 Irrigated Farmland
• 4 Glacial Fortress

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Cast Out
• 1 Settle the Wreckage
• 2 Authority of the Consuls
• 2 Disallow
• 2 Jace's Defeat
• 3 Fairgrounds Warden
• 4 Angel of Sanctions

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Ramunap Red ? Ixalan Team Unified Standard | Shota Yasooka, Winner World Magic Cup

• Creatures (26)
• 2 Harsh Mentor
• 2 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
• 2 Rampaging Ferocidon
• 4 Ahn-Crop Crasher
• 4 Bomat Courier
• 4 Earthshaker Khenra
• 4 Hazoret the Fervent
• 4 Soul-Scar Mage

• Instants (10)
• 3 Abrade
• 3 Lightning Strike
• 4 Shock

• Lands (24)
• 14 Mountain
• 2 Scavenger Grounds
• 4 Ramunap Ruins
• 4 Sunscorched Desert

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Abrade
• 1 Mountain
• 1 Sand Strangler
• 2 Rampaging Ferocidon
• 3 Glorybringer
• 3 Pia Nalaar
• 4 Aethersphere Harvester

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