Tim Gräfe Dominates 2200-Player European WCQ with Kewl Tune

If you thought the arrival of Chaos Origins on July 2 would finally knock Kewl Tune off its throne, the 2026 European World Championship Qualifier in Brussels just delivered a harsh reality check. Over 2,200 duelists descended on the Brussels Expo last weekend, yet when the dust settled on July 12, a familiar sight remained. Tim Gräfe piloted the undisputed best deck in the format to a decisive first-place finish, cementing his status as the king of Europe and securing his invite to the World Championship.

While the main event’s top cut was expectedly crawling with synchro recursion, the finals featured a fascinating clash of styles. Gräfe went head-to-head against Florian Deronne who was piloting a pure Mitsurugi strategy. Deronne navigated fifteen rounds of Swiss and a brutal single-elimination bracket with a deck many had written off as powercrept, only to fall short in the final match. The rest of the Top 8 was rounded out by elite competitors like Paul-Robert Goß and Francesco Simoncelli on pure Branded, Josh Kelly with a hybrid Light and Darkness Ritual build, and Danilo Siracusa representing Invoked.

For those seeking a break from the Advanced format, the concurrent European Genesys Championship provided plenty of fireworks. The 345-player side event was dominated by Richard Schaber who claimed the title of first-ever champion with an unhinged 60-card Sacred Beasts Blitzclique deck. Schaber defeated Sigge Voutilainen on a Red Dragon Archfiend variant in the finals, earning both duelists a highly coveted invite to Jump Festa in Japan. Between the main event and Genesys, Brussels proved that whether you prefer old-school monsters or modern combo piles, the July meta is as diverse as it is unforgiving.