TMA 2026 World Cup - Round 1 - Group 1 to 5

Hello and welcome to the 1st round of The Magnus Archives 2026 World Cup!

All information and rules are available on this post, but since this is the first round, I will repeat here:

This is based on an idea by u/SteveBread done in 2018 with only half of the episodes at the time, so now we're doing it for the entire podcast! All 200 episodes! So, get settled 'cause this is going to take a long time, maybe like half a year! Are you all readyyy??

Here are the first 5 groups for round 1! (Chosen randomly by Google Sheets)

Group 1:

MAG 150: Cul-De-Sac
MAG 113: Breathing Room
MAG 47: The New Door
MAG 32: Hive
MAG 13: Alone

Group 2:

MAG 152: A Gravedigger's Envy
MAG 168: Roots
MAG 58: Trail Rations
MAG 121: Far Away
MAG 127: Remains to be Seen

Group 3:

MAG 151: Big Picture
MAG 162: A Cosy Cabin
MAG 26: A Distortion
MAG 21: Freefall
MAG 114: Cracked Foundation

Group 4:

MAG 86: Tucked In
MAG 105: Total War
MAG 163: In the Trenches
MAG 149: Concrete Jungle
MAG 112: Thrill of the Chase

Group 5:

MAG 62: First Edition
MAG 108: Monologue
MAG 48: Lost in the Crowd
MAG 156: Reflection
MAG 45: Blood Bag

Remember, the best 3 episodes of each group will pass but only vote for one episode in each group. I will calculate everything and post the results after a week (I'll try to post every friday but if it's saturday, please don't hate me!). If there is a tie, I will then add my vote, the same way u/SteveBread did it during the first world cup. You can also check the results on this spreadsheet.

You can click on each episode to go to the wiki and see what the episode is about. In the future, once we have less episodes, I'll put some summary directly in the post!

Now, TO THE COMMENTS! Have fun, people!

And remember, if you want to do your personal World Cup, check this (TBC).

Other links:
2018 Megapost
2018 Spreadsheet update
2026 Announcement/Rules
2026 Megapost (TBC)
2026 Spreadsheet
Make your personal World Cup (TBC)