Magic: The Gathering Pro Lee Shi Tian References Hong Kong in Mythic Championship V Victory Speech


The Magic: The Gathering Mythic Championship V brought together 68 players from around the globe to complete for the $750,000 prize pool in Magic Arena, and after two days of intense competition, eight players have made it to the third and final day of the tournament this Sunday, October 20, and one of them is Hong Kong-based MTG Hall of Famer Lee Shi Tian, and he's showing his support for the Hong Kong protesters with style as he dominates the competition with his Mono Red Cavalcade deck.

During Day 2 of Mythic Championship V, Lee, one of the 32 members of the Magic Pro League, showed up wearing a red balaclava - a reference to the government-issued ban on wearing masks while protesting in Hong Kong. Watch him appear on stage while expressing his support for Hong Kong's freedom silently:

In his final Day 2 match against Carlos Romao, Lee managed to bring out a huge amount of damage in one turn with his Mono Red Cavalcade deck to make it Top 8 of the Mythic Championship V. Watch the game-winning attack below:

Lee went on to express his support during his post-match interview with broadcaster Becca Scott while still wearing the balaclava. While talking about his aggressive winning strategy, he passionately referenced the Hong Kong protests by saying, "It feels good to play as a free man." Watch the touching moment below:

This is one of the most inspiring moments in Magic: The Gathering history, and it's good to see that Wizards of the Coast didn't seem to react negatively to Lee's meaningful expressions unlike what happened to Hong Kong-based Hearthstone pro Ng Wai "blitzchung" Chung, who was initially banned by Blizzard from tournament play and had his winnings revoked after he expressed his support for the Hong Kong protesteres during his official post-win interview.

Lee Shi Tian is not just one of the greatest MTG players from Asia, he also used his Hall of Fame induction speech last year to express his hopes that more MTG players from the Asian Pacific region will get the support they deserve and also be recognized, saying that "it's worth contributing resources to this region".

Congrats to Lee Shi Tian for making Top 8 of the Mythic Championship V. He will be competing against Stansilav Cifka, Andrea Mengucci, Ken Yukuhiro, Gabriel Nassif, William Jensen, Jean Emmanuel Depraz, and Javier Dominguez.

Day three of Mythic Championship V begins Sunday morning at 11am CT as the top eight will competete against each other in a double-elimination bracket.

Related: MTG Arena Highly Anticipated Feature Delayed

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