We were all gathered on October 17th, 18th, and 19th at the White in Neuilly-sur-Marne for the Altered World Championships 2025—three days of competition, emotion, and celebrations that brought the community together. For us, it was a huge opportunity to meet many of you, and we were truly touched by the warm welcome you gave us throughout the entire weekend.

The three-day schedule included: the Last Chance Qualifier, which saw the final 8 finalists qualify; a 3v3 Team event as the main event on Saturday; a 2v2 multiplayer Sealed event, and a 1v1 on Sunday. Alongside these side-events, many community activities were available: Boss Battles, a Lore Event, a Meet & Greet with the Equinox teams and artists, and signing sessions.

Throughout the summer with our World Championship Qualifiers and culminating in the Last Chance Qualifier held on October 17th, the best Altered players earned their spots in the Finals.

After battling their way through the 1024 participants in Friday's two LCQs, 8 players qualified: Elbor, Javinavarro4, Krzysmak, Luigipoliakoff, Matmatu, Pavayna, Tautomate, and Wolitse.

The 24 players qualified through the WCQs include: 21ch205, Aganman, allofthemarbles, Banish_Pakacuti, Billie, Brepost, Cheng, ClaedeusFR, DBTrickster, Etigma, Giacomozu, Kentin, Moondust, NadirM, Pompote, Popeye, Rinku, Rocco del Querceto, Skybeast, Sparky, Tempetedelaneige, Tradaushi, Vittorio, and Zarp.

The format chosen for these World Finals was Conquest, played Best-of-3 (BO3). In Conquest, each player prepares 3 decks using 3 different factions. Decklists were public, and at the start of each match, players had the opportunity to ban one of their opponent's three decks. If a player won a game with a deck, that deck was validated and could not be used for the rest of the match. The losing player had the option to continue with the same deck or switch to a different one.

At the start of this Top 32, the metagame breakdown by Hero and Factions was as follows:

In the Top 32, players compete in a double-elimination group format, divided into 8 different groups of 4. Within each group, the first two matches determine a match between the winning players and a match between the losing players. A final match, the Tiebreaker, pits the winner of the Losers' match against the loser of the Winners' match. In the end, two players qualify: the winner of the Winners' match and the winner of the Tiebreaker match.

In the Top 16, players compete in a double-elimination bracket, where a player is eliminated after two losses. After their initial matches, players are divided into two brackets: a Winner Bracket and a Loser Bracket. Winners remain in the Winner Bracket until they lose or reach the Grand Final. Defeated players are sent to the Loser Bracket and play until they lose again and are eliminated, or until they reach the Grand Final.

The Top 8 was decided late Sunday morning, featuring 4 players in the Winner Bracket and four in the Loser Bracket. The competitors include:

• Tempete de la neige - Winner Bracket - 10 games, 80.00 % of winrate before the Top 8
• Rinku - Winner Bracket - 14 games, 75.00 % of winrate before the Top 8
• Luigipoliakoff - Winner Bracket - 12 games, 66.67 % of winrate before the Top 8
• Javinavarro4 - Winner Bracket - 15 games, 60.00 % of winrate before the Top 8
• Vittorio - Loser Bracket - 12 games, 75.00 % of winrate before the Top 8
• 21ch2025 - Loser Bracket - 11 games, 72.73 % of winrate before the Top 8
• Popeye - Loser Bracket - 12 games, 66.67 % of winrate before the Top 8
• Krzysmak - Loser Bracket - 16 games, 56.25 % of winrate before the Top 8

Upon reaching the Top 8, the Yzmir faction is out of the competition. However, we still see some less-expected decklists make it through, such as the Auraq & Kibble piloted by Javinavarro4, the Nevenka & Blotch from Luigipoliakoff, and the Atsadi & Surge brought by Krzysmak.

During the Top 8, Rinku remains undefeated all the way to the Grand Final. Vittorio, who had fallen into the Loser Bracket early in the Top 16, progressively climbs his way back up until he, too, secures a spot in the Grand Final.

The Grand Final sees Rinku, a U.S. player who qualified at WCQ Dallas, face off against Vittorio, an Italian player who qualified at WCQ Barcelona. Over the course of his journey to the final, Rinku has amassed 13 wins and 5 losses. Vittorio, on the other hand, totals an impressive 17 wins and only 3 losses, including a high number of decisive 2-0 games.

Kojo & Booda

Sigismar & Wingspan

Treyst & Rossum

Sigismar & Wingspan

Treyst & Rossum

Kojo & Booda

In accordance with the tournament rules, Rinku is entitled to validate one of his three decks at the start of the Grand Finale. He choses his Treyst & Rossum deck, which is immediately validated and unavailable for the rest of the match.

Game 1

• Vittorio : Sigismar & Wingspan | Win
• Rinku : Kojo & Booda | Loss

The first game sees Rinku's Kojo & Booda face off against Vittorio's Sigismar & Wingspan.

Vittorio gets a quick start and immediately jumps out to a lead across several regions. Rinku manages to play a Haven, Bravos Bastion, but takes several turns to deploy his resources while Vittorio continues to pull further ahead. In a key turn, Rinku opts to play several 2-mana characters instead of his Priya, Bravos Signaler in his Reserve, spending a lot of cards to catch up with a 2-0 result. This leaves him highly vulnerable in the following turn. With a complicated draw, a lack of Characters in hand, and targeted by several sabotages, Rinku ends up quickly exhausting his resources. Vittorio seals the game by playing his Unique Kakoba, establishing a board presence that is simply too large for Rinku to manage.

Game 2

• Rinku : Kojo & Booda | Win
• Vittorio : Treyst & Rossum | Loss

In the second game, Rinku keeps his Kojo & Booda deck while Vittorio switches to Treyst & Rossum.

Although he could benefit from an aggressive start, Rinku chooses to slow the game down slightly and compromise Vittorio's resources with his Ordis Spy and its quadruple Sabotage. We witness some beautiful early game exchanges as Vittorio attempts to play around the sabotage, and even manages to play a Dr. Frankenstein. Rinku immediately counters the setup of this game plan, paying the price of a mana orb with Mana Eruption, which he can afford since his Tiny Jinn allowed him to ramp in a previous turn.

The game lengthens, and Rinku starts to run low on resources. On his side, Vittorio manages to develop his board: he begins Day 7 with The Grems and a Dr. Frankenstein in the Reserve, as well as a Restocking Station and a Haven as Landmarks. Treyst is at 5, and everything is set for an explosive turn. Rinku's Reserve is empty, but he draws a The Hunger at the start of the day with exactly the mana needed to play it. When The Hunger arrives on board, it is an 8/8/8. Vittorio deploys a very respectable set of stats to try and contest it, but despite his efforts, Rinku advances and wins the game.

Game 3

• Rinku : Sigismar & Wingspan | Win
• Vittorio : Treyst & Rossum | Loss

Having validated his Kojo & Booda, Rinku switches to his last deck, Sigismar & Wingspan. Vittorio chooses to keep his Treyst & Rossum.

In the third game, both players get an explosive start with Rinku playing Ordis Trooper and Ordis Attorney against Vittorio's Kelon Elemental and Amelia Earheart. Where Day 1 could have ended in a 2-0 lead for either player, both manage to draw level at 1-1. With a very low mana curve in hand and an optimization of his resources down to the millimeter, Rinku manages to get a 2-0 on Day 2. With the ascent of his two expeditions on Day 3, he clinches a 2-1 that propels him far ahead of Vittorio with a 3-region lead.

Rinku risks exhausting his resources if he doesn't close the game quickly, but faced with this highly aggressive start, Vittorio struggles to increase the count on his Treyst and deploy his game plan. While Rinku manages to maintain his offensive, Vittorio fails to find enough Characters in his deck to contest the opposing expeditions. The game closes on Day 4 as Rinku advances on both sides and thus becomes the first Altered World Champion!

All our thanks and gratitude go to Rinku and Vittorio for this exceptional final, and congratulations to Rinku, the Altered World Champion 2025!

Alongside the main event, many side-events took place throughout the weekend, including the Lore Event, which was played in the Booster War format. Each winner earned the right to vote in the elections for the new Basileus or Basilissa of Asgartha.

The choice involved four different candidates: Lucas Aveskamp, Somayeh Bahman, Bokang Nkoe, and Anuncia ruun-Aysun. A printed briefing from the Arkaster Echo was available to discover the candidates, and the voting mechanism invited you to vote for an idea from a program rather than a person.

Your choice ultimately landed on Somayeh Bahman, and we can now reveal the results of the ballot!

We would like to thank all our partners who made this event an unforgettable moment for you, the players, and also for us, the Equinox team. We had an incredible weekend with you all, and it would not have been possible without them.

Thank you for everything to the entire Ludotrotter team, the team of Judges, and our artists who came to the event.