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Magic: The Gathering Hall of Famer Reid Duke wins first Pro Tour, sweeps finals

Reid Duke, Magic Pro Tour Hall of Famer, captured his first Pro Tour victory by sweeping newcomer Benton Madsen in the finals of Pro Tour: Phyrexia.

🎉Congratulations to @ReidDuke , the #PTPhyrexia CHAMPION!🎉 pic.twitter.com/IssK6k02hQ — PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) February 19, 2023

The return of the Pro Tour after the Magic esports experiment also marked the return of tabletop play at the highest levels after nearly three years of absence due to the pandemic. Duke has been a standard-bearer for competitive Magic for over a decade, so the first event of the new system highlighted the crowning of one of Magic ’s best players.

Things went full circle from his crushing second-place defeat in 2013 against two-time world champion Shahar Shenhar. At today’s Pro Tour, Duke was in the position of the experienced veteran battling against the less experienced competitor in Banton. In his first Pro Tour, Banton managed to secure a second-place finish but ultimately struggled to string together the plays needed to take Duke down.

Duke’s list was the tried-and-true Izzet Creativity deck, an interactive combo deck that looks to hit Worldspine Wurm and Xenagos, God of Revels to one-shot the opponent. The list’s ability to suddenly win while stalling the game with the help of strong removal spells and value offered from some of the best cards in the format like Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Big Score.

Banton stormed through the top eight on the back of his Selesnya Auras deck. The list looks to stack Aura cards onto a creature to create a massive threat that the opponent will struggle to deal with removal or through combat. Gladecover Scout is the primary target for Auras as a one-mana Hexproof creature. Light Paws, Emperor’s Voice and Sram, Senior Edificer are excellent sources of card advantage that help Benton maintain pressure. Skrelv, Defector Mite is a new card in the list that helps further protect key creatures alongside a vast suite of Enchantments.

Game one of the finals was a tight contest between Duke and Benton. After a mulligan to five, Benton managed a strong start, presenting lethal several times against Duke. Relying on chump blocks, Reid was able to survive the pressure applied by Benton, with some help from Benton’s inability to find evasion, long enough to rip his Indomitable Creativity combo kill. It was a back-and-forth game that exemplified what the set would go on to become. Game two was a similar start from Benton with another mulligan to four, a shocking turn of events. The aggressive mulligan strategy had a purpose: to find the critical Gladecover Scout.

The mulligan to four was ineffective in the face of two one-mana removal spells in Duke’s hand. It was an easier victory that time around with Duke nailing the combo and going up 2-0 in the series, leaving Benton with no room for error.

Still, he wasn’t deterred from taking aggressive mulligans, even in a two-game hole. To kick off game three, he again took a mulligan to four. This time, with a turn-one Gladecover Scout and two Ethereal Armors, he put Duke in a tough position early in the game. However, in a seemingly inevitable feat, Duke ripped off his Indomitable Creativity combo again to secure his first Pro Tour championship.

Both Duke and Benton will join the other top eight competitors at this year’s Magic World Championship. Here are the top eight players that earned an invitation.

• Shota Yasooka
• Gabriel Nassif
• Takumi Matsuura
• Benton Madsen
• Chris Ferber
• Derrick Davis

Reigning Magic World Champion Nathan Steuer also made the top eight but already obtained an invitation to this year’s World Championship by winning last year’s event. The top eight stood out because of the diversity of experience levels among the group. The broadcast pointed out that this field included three Hall of Fame players: Yasooka, Nassif, and Duke. It also featured three first-time competitors: Madsen, Ferber, and Davis. 

There were also six Pioneer archetypes represented in the top eight: Izzet Creativity, Lotus Field Combo, Rakdos Midrange, Selesnya Auras, Mono-White Humans, and Enigmatic Fires.

Competitive Magic rolls on with Regional Championships and Qualifiers happening at local game stores. For interested viewers, catch SCG CON Charlotte on March 3 to 5 for more high-level tabletop gameplay and coverage.

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Reid Duke Wins Pro Tour Phyrexia

David McCoy

February 19, 2023

14 min to read

Hipsters is proudly sponsored by:

After 16 rounds of  Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft and Pioneer on Friday and Saturday, Reid Duke found himself down 0-2 to reigning World Champion Nathan Steuer in the quarterfinals first thing Sunday morning.

Steuer, playing Lotus Field Combo, assembled his combo a turn earlier than Duke could assemble his Izzet Creativity combo in Game 1 to jump out to an early lead. Steuer then mulliganed to five cards in Game 2, but drew perfectly to combo Duke out once again.

“It was pretty much the maximally discouraging start to the match,” Duke said. “First of all, losing both games, but also both games I felt like I had pretty good positions at points and things slipped away from me. It was tough, back against the wall, but I knew that I had some good weapons after sideboarding and I was pretty comfortable with what I needed to do to win. So I did my best to keep it together and execute.”

And execute he did. Duke boarded out the combo of Xenagos, God of Revels and Worldspine Wurm —which, when combined with Indomitable Creativity allows Izzet Creativity to attack for 30 out of nowhere—and leaned into the deck’s control element and Hullbreaker Horror to take Game 3.

But then Duke reversed course for Game 4 and boarded the combo  back in . Steuer clearly didn’t expect to see the combo again after sideboarding—and neither did the coverage crew—so there were plenty of surprised faces when Duke cast Indomitable Creativity and immediately flipped a Worldspine Wurm , then Xenagos, to win Game 4.

It wasn’t clear if Duke would keep the combo in for the decisive Game 5. Steuer landed an uncounterable (and un-answerable) Dragonlord Dromoka and seemed to be in great position to advance to the semifinals…until Duke once again cast Indomitable Creativity to find the combo and win out of nowhere.

Asked about his sideboarding strategy after the game, Duke said: “I think Creativity vs. Lotus Field is a really intricate matchup where it matters more how the cards are played and less what the cards are. Which is kind of a long way of saying that I just didn’t want Nathan to know what I was doing and make it tough on him and keep him guessing.”

The rest of the Top 8 was less eventful for Duke, as he breezed past Derrick Davis on Enigmatic Fires in the semis to face Benton Madsen on Selesnya Auras in the finals. Unfortunately for Madsen, mulligans his the Auras deck hard and he couldn’t outrace the consistent speed of Reid’s Izzet Creativity deck, giving Duke a 3-0 win and crowning him Pro Tour Phyrexia Champion.

The victory is Duke’s second high level victory, but his first on the Pro Tour. Duke broke onto the Magic scene in 2011 when he won the Magic Online Championship Series; since then, he had racked up five more top finishes, including a second place finish at the 2013-14 World Championship and four Pro Tour Top 8s. Today marks his seventh total—and most prominent—top finish.

“There’s your dreams and your fairy tales,” Duke said after the finals, “and then the reality of what has actually happened and can actually happen—and sometimes those two things don’t match up. So I always pictured this moment my whole life playing Magic…but it was never real until now. I’m not even sure it’s real yet.”

Top 8 Decklists

Reid duke's pioneer izzet creativity (1st), benton madsen's pioneer selesnya auras (2nd), derrick davis's pioneer enigmatic fires (3rd-4th), takumi matsuura's pioneer mono-white humans (3rd-4th), chris ferber's pioneer lotus field combo (5th-8th), gabriel nassif's pioneer izzet creativity (5th-8th), nathan steuer's pioneer lotus field combo (5th-8th), shota yasooka's pioneer rakdos midrange (5th-8th), don't miss out.

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Hall of Famer Reid Duke Wins Pioneer Pro-Tour With Indomitable Creativity

Hopefully, as these continue to happen, the coverage will get better and more people can watch. However, that's a conversation for another day. Today, I would like to show off the list that Duke piloted to victory. So, without further ado, let's have a look at the first-place winning deck for the Phyrexia pro-tour.

Indomitable Creativity - By Reid Duke

Main 60 cards (25 distinct).

Side 15 cards (8 distinct)

Deck Breakdown

You May Also Like:   Whacky Phyrexia: All Will Be One Pioneer Brew - Malcator, Purity Overseer Deck

I'm elated to see the return of paper competitive magic and likewise to see Reid come away with his first pro-tour victory. If you missed the coverage of the event I suggest you go check it out. Likewise, if you've not played Indomitable Creativity give it a try. It's quite fun if you have a taste for combos.

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My Road to Winning the MTG Pro Tour

After finally being crowned Pro Tour champion, Reid's giving the inside scoop on how he got there.

By Reid Duke | @ReidDuke | Published 2/25/2023 | 8 min read

While there have been plenty of sweet and highly-competitive Magic tournaments, there hasn't been a Pro Tour since 2019. The combination of a world-wide pandemic and an emphasis on Magic Arena changed the landscape of MTG's organized play for 2020, 2021, and 2022.

I did my best to roll with the punches in these years. I love playing MTG in any form, and was grateful to be able to play some high-level Magic while everyone was stuck at home. However, I never felt quite the same excitement as in the old days, when players from all across the world would converge on one tournament hall to battle it out.

Worse yet, I never really hit my stride. I managed to keep my head above water when it came to my ranking and qualifications for tournaments. However, despite playing in every major event, I never broke through to a top finish during this play-from-home era.

But the Pro Tour is back, baby, and so am I!

If you want a more in-depth report, I suggest checking out my article on CFB Pro as well.

Preparation

Truth be told, this tournament didn't represent the peak of either my preparation or my confidence.

I had gone "all in" for Worlds back in October, with weeks of practice and study. I strove endlessly to make every card choice and draft pick perfectly, and not leave any possible advantage on the table. That resulted in a "just okay" 8-6 finish .

The Worlds experience burned me out, and I knew I'd need some time to recharge before I'd be able to repeat that process for a future tournament. Instead, my goal for Pro Tour Phyrexia was mainly to have fun, and enjoy getting back to tabletop MTG. I wasn't expecting any particular result. I think that in a strange way, this worked in my favor, as it helped me to stay calm and play my best throughout the event.

Team Line-Up

I started practicing full-time the Friday before the tournament (so about one full week of dedicated preparation). I shared a house in Philadelphia with an awesome team. I couldn't have done it without their help.

Here was the team line-up.

PT Competitors:

• Jim Davis (USA)
• Eli Kassis (USA)
• Martin Juza (Czech Republic)
• Ben Lundquist (USA)
• No Ah Ma (Korea)
• Seth Manfield (USA)
• Gabriel Nassif (France)
• Logan Nettles (USA)
• Sam Pardee (USA)
• Luis Scott-Vargas (USA)
• Mike Sigrist (USA)
• Jakub Toth (Czech Republic)
• Brent Vos (Netherlands)

Outside Assists:

• Kai Budde (Germany)
• Andrew Cuneo (USA)
• Frank Karsten (Netherlands)
• Will Kreuger (USA)
• Raphael Levy (France)
• Carolyn Pardee (Canada)

The "testing house" experience is always a lot of fun. It's a great excuse to gather friends from all over the world to hang out and play Magic. There's always some amount of stress, as we all want to do well in the tournament. But I find there's no better - or more fun - way to challenge each other to be our best. For instance, everybody hyping up Siggy (Mike Sigrist) and Martin Juza as the best drafters, and wondering who'd be able to take a match off of them!

Plus, No Ah Ma brought us a lifetime supply of snacks from Korea!

We had a really great team dynamic and a great experience. At various points, people would stop to point out how good it felt to be playing again. Of course, it was not without the normal gaming house snafus.

This was me minding my own business with a Magic Online draft as two of my teammates decided to pass a flimsy box of hot pizza over my head…

During my best years on the Pro Tour, I felt that I had a bigger edge in the Booster Draft rounds than in the Constructed rounds. Most players qualify for the PT by playing Constructed. Plus, while you can get a crash course in a Constructed format over the course of a few weeks, the best drafters tend to be the ones who've played thousands and thousands of drafts over the course of a long career.

Combine the experience advantage with an elite team capable of figuring out a draft format quickly, and I often feel pretty confident sitting down for a Pro Tour draft.

I had a fair bit of driving to do going between New York and Philadelphia, so this time around I stayed up to date with the Limited Resources, Lords of Limited, Drafting Archetypes and Mystical Dispute podcasts. Each was helpful in their own way.

My draft strategy was to build a solid deck, and not go "all-in" on the toxic strategy, which can sometimes go badly when things don't work out for you. My favorite color is red, and I only planned to draft blue if it proved to be very, very open at the table.

It's a good thing the Limited preparation went well, because I felt totally lost in Pioneer. I believe the format is very balanced, with all of the big decks having strengths and weaknesses. You can fall in love with a deck after a good set of games, but if you play it long enough, you'll inevitably hit a bad run, or encounter a bad matchup that'll scare you off of it.

My goal was to choose a deck that was powerful, proactive, and for which we had a good deck list.

My favorite Pioneer deck, Mono-Blue Spirits, simply wasn't going to be a good choice in a world where Rakdos Midrange, Gruul, White Weenie and Rakdos Sac are among the top decks. Rakdos Midrange and Lotus Field appealed to me, and I had a good run when I played Gruul, but none of them really felt "special" as a deck that would give me an edge over the field.

In the end, I trusted my team when it came to the Izzet Indomitable Creativity deck. As a team, we'd put a ton of work into it (especially Mike Sigrist, who had played the most), so I knew it would be a solid choice.

Magic: The Gathering TCG Deck - Izzet Creativity by

'Izzet Creativity' - constructed deck list and prices for the Magic: The Gathering Trading Card Game from TCGplayer Infinite!

Created By:

Event: Pro Tour Phyrexia

Market Price: $261.18

Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.) Look at the top seven cards of your library. Put two of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.

{T}: Add {C}. {1}: Mutavault becomes a 2/2 creature with all creature types until end of turn. It's still a land.

Put any number of cards from your hand on the bottom of your library, then draw that many cards plus one.

Indestructible As long as your devotion to red and green is less than seven, Xenagos isn't a creature. At the beginning of combat on your turn, another target creature you control gains haste and gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is that creature's power.

Copy target instant or sorcery spell, then return it to its owner's hand. You may choose new targets for the copy.

Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}.

Spirebluff Canal enters tapped unless you control two or fewer other lands. {T}: Add {U} or {R}.

({T}: Add {R}.)

Trample When Worldspine Wurm dies, create three 5/5 green Wurm creature tokens with trample. When Worldspine Wurm is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

Flash This spell can't be countered. Whenever you cast a spell, choose up to one — • Return target spell you don't control to its owner's hand. • Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand.

{T}: Add {U}. Channel — {3}{U}, Discard Otawara, Soaring City: Return target artifact, creature, enchantment, or planeswalker to its owner's hand. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each legendary creature you control.

This spell can't be countered. Rending Volley deals 4 damage to target white or blue creature.

{T}: Add {C}. {T}: Add {U} or {R}. Shivan Reef deals 1 damage to you.

Fiery Impulse deals 2 damage to target creature. Spell mastery — If there are two or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard, Fiery Impulse deals 3 damage instead.

Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, create an X/X blue Shark creature token with flying, where X is that spell's mana value. Cycling {X}{1}{U} ({X}{1}{U}, Discard this card: Draw a card.) When you cycle Shark Typhoon, create an X/X blue Shark creature token with flying.

Choose target spell or permanent that's red or green. Its owner puts it on the top or bottom of their library.

Casualty 1 (As you cast this spell, you may sacrifice a creature with power 1 or greater. When you do, copy this spell and you may choose a new target for the copy.) Counter target spell unless its controller pays {2}.

This spell costs {2} less to cast if it targets a blue spell. Counter target spell unless its controller pays {3}.

Fire Prophecy deals 3 damage to target creature. You may put a card from your hand on the bottom of your library. If you do, draw a card.

({T}: Add {U} or {R}.) As Steam Vents enters, you may pay 2 life. If you don't, it enters tapped.

Investigate. If this spell was cast from a graveyard, investigate twice instead. (Create a Clue token. It's an artifact with "{2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.") Flashback {3}{U}

{T}: Add {R}. Channel — {3}{R}, Discard Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance: Create two 1/1 colorless Spirit creature tokens. They gain haste until end of turn. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each legendary creature you control.

{T}: Add {U}.

Counter target spell with mana value 4 or greater.

(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.) I — Create a 2/2 red Goblin Shaman creature token with "Whenever this creature attacks, create a Treasure token." II — You may discard up to two cards. If you do, draw that many cards. III — Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under your control.

As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card. Draw two cards and create two Treasure tokens. (They're artifacts with "{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.")

Counter target noncreature spell.

Destroy X target artifacts and/or creatures. For each permanent destroyed this way, its controller reveals cards from the top of their library until an artifact or creature card is revealed and exiles that card. Those players put the exiled cards onto the battlefield, then shuffle.

Look at the top four cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.

Spikefield Hazard deals 1 damage to any target. If a permanent dealt damage this way would die this turn, exile it instead.

If you control two or more other lands, Hall of Storm Giants enters tapped. {T}: Add {U}. {5}{U}: Until end of turn, Hall of Storm Giants becomes a 7/7 blue Giant creature with ward {3}. It's still a land. (Whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {3}.)

Stormcarved Coast enters tapped unless you control two or more other lands. {T}: Add {U} or {R}.

The Tournament

Red is my favorite color to draft in Phyrexia: All Will Be One , and I was fortunate to wind up with two solid red decks in the draft portions of the tournament.

First, I finished 3-0 in the first draft with R/G, which is a great start. I still had no expectations for how I'd finish in the event, but I was having fun, and it felt great to get a Pro Tour Draft "trophy" again after it had been so long.

After going 3-2 in the Pioneer rounds, I was thrilled to finish the day at 6-2. Before the event started, I would've been relatively happy with any result that let me play Day 2. At 6-2, I wasn't really picturing myself battling for Top 8, but I felt like I was at least on track for a solid finish.

In the day two draft portion, I went 2-1 with R/W (losing to R/G in the finals, humorously enough).

I rattled off three Pioneer wins, then defeated my teammate Gabriel Nassif in the "win-and-in" round to make the top 8!

Quarterfinals against Nathan Steuer

I drew a scary pairing for the first round of Top 8: World Champion Nathan Steuer with Lotus Field combo. The matchup is bad in game 1 because I only had "soft counters" like Make Disappear, while his deck could generate astronomical amounts of mana. This would force me to race towards my own combo, but that would also mean walking straight into Otawara, Soaring City on Worldspine Wurm, and there's basically no counterplay against that.

My 0-2 start against Nathan Steuer was discouraging, especially because I felt like I'd had pretty good positions at a couple of points in both games. Thankfully, I'm pretty good at keeping calm and staying focused, so I knocked the negative thoughts out of my head, continued playing my best, and managed to turn things around!

The first time the trophy felt within my reach was when I won the quarterfinals. Before that moment, I was just happy to be playing and was prepared for any outcome. But suddenly I felt like I could actually win the whole thing!

Semifinals and Finals

I thought my sideboarded games against Derrick Davis's Enigmatic Incarnation deck would be favorable, so when I was able to win one of the pre-sideboarded games, it boosted my confidence. I wasn't sure how the finals would go, since Selesnya Auras is a volatile and scary deck. Ben Madsen mulliganed a lot, and that influenced the outcome of the match. If he'd kept seven-card hands with Gladecover Scout every game, I suspect you'd be reading his tournament report instead of mine right now!

Winning the Pro Tour is a dream come true.  I don't attribute the result only to myself, but also to my team, and the great network of support I have in my life.

It didn't hit me right away when the finals ended, because I was still in "game mode," trying to stay calm and focused. It was only when Cedric Phillips called me to the front of the stage and announced, "Pro Tour Phyrexia Champion - Reid Duke," that it became real. I teared up a little at that moment.

In the next few days, I've been overwhelmed by the amount of support and encouragement I've received. Knowing how many people were cheering for me, and were happy to see me win – that's almost better than the win itself.

Thanks to all of you for following my progress over the years. Long live the Pro Tour!

On my way out from the tournament site, I stopped at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market to get something to eat. I sat down at a table next to a father and son who'd attended the convention. They recognized me and we started chatting. They had me sign a card, and I asked them how their weekend had been.

After about 10 minutes, they asked me, "So did you do the Pro Tour Qualifier today?"

"No," I said, "I won the Pro Tour."

There was a pause. "What do you mean? Like the main event?"

"Yeah," I said, "I won. The trophy's in that case right there."

They were duly impressed, and went home with some cool photos.

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Reid Duke is an American professional player from Sugar Loaf, New York.

• 1 Description
• 2.1 Beginnings
• 2.2 Rising stardom
• 2.3 Breakthrough performances
• 2.4 GP Richmond 2018, aka GP Reid Duke
• 2.5 Magic Pro League Era
• 2.6 Premier Play Era
• 3.1 Accomplishments
• 3.2 Pro Tour Results
• 4 Other Magic -related work
• 5 External links
• 6 References

Description [ | ]

Duke won the Magic Online Championship in 2011 and Pro Tour Phyrexia in 2023. [3] He has four Pro Tour top eight finishes, at PT Journey into Nyx , [4] PT Eldritch Moon , PT Rivals of Ixalan , and Mythic Championship Cleveland 2019 . Other results include a runner-up finish at the 2013 World Championships as well as wins at GP Nashville 2012, GP Miami 2013, GP Portland 2014, GP Oakland 2016, GP Louisville 2017, and GP Cleveland 2017. He also was a columnist for Magicthegathering.com , writing the article series "Level One". [5] These were also released as an e-book. [6]

Professional play [ | ]

Beginnings [ | ].

Reid Duke started playing in 1995, at age five, with his brother Ian Duke , [7] who is now a member of Magic R&D at Wizards of the Coast , and his cousin Logan Nettles , also a prolific and successful competitive player. For a time, he was primarily a Magic Online player, but made the transition to in-person competitive play. He qualified for Pro Tour Amsterdam 2010 via rating, [8] and won a Magic Online Championship Series (MOCS) event to qualify for the 2010 Magic Online World Championship, where he finished 5th, [9] as well as the 2010 Magic: The Gathering World Championships in Chiba, Japan. Although his finishes in his first Pro Tours were unspectacular, he has not missed a Pro Tour since Amsterdam 2010.

Rising stardom [ | ]

Duke first experienced success at paper Magic in 2011, when he reached the top eight of two Grand Prix events: Grand Prix Providence, where he finished fourth, and Grand Prix Montreal, where he finished fifth. He also won another MOCS event to requalify him for the Magic Online Championship, this year held in San Francisco concurrently with the 2011 World Championships. Duke ended up winning the event, defeating Florian Pils in the final. [3] This qualified him for the inaugural Players Championship event (later renamed the Magic World Championship). At Pro Tour Dark Ascension in Honolulu, Duke finished in the money at a Pro Tour for the first time, placing 38th. [10] From here, he would go on to finish in the money in eight consecutive Pro Tours. He also won his first Grand Prix when he defeated Todd Anderson in the final of Grand Prix Nashville. [11] He has since 2012 been a part of the team now known as The Pantheon , alongside players such as Jon Finkel , Kai Budde , and Gabriel Nassif . [12]

The 2012 Magic Players Championship did not go well for Duke; he finished the event with a 2–10 record, taking last place. [13] Following this failure, Duke made it his mission to redeem himself by qualifying for next year's event and putting up a better performance, [2] even going so far as to write down the mistakes he made in the tournament. [14] Thanks to three Grand Prix top eight finishes, in Charleston, San Antonio and Quebec City, as well as stellar performance on the Pro Tour, he succeeded in requalifying for the World Championship when he finished 9th at Pro Tour Dragon's Maze in San Diego. [15] He finished the 2012–13 season on 52 Pro Points, which was also sufficient for Platinum membership in the Pro Players Club .

Breakthrough performances [ | ]

Duke started the 2013–14 season well, winning his second Grand Prix, at GP Miami. [16] Duke went on to dominate the Swiss rounds of the 2013 World Championship, finishing in first place before the knockout rounds. [17] Duke faced Josh Utter-Leyton in the semifinals, defeating him 3–2. He was considered a substantial favorite against his final opponent, Shahar Shenhar , and did indeed take a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five match, but Shenhar came all the way back to beat Duke 3–2 in an upset. [18] Duke thus took second place in the event. He put up three more Grand Prix top eight finishes during the season, in Detroit, Barcelona and Philadelphia, before finally posting a top eight performance at a Pro Tour. At Pro Tour Journey into Nyx in Atlanta, Duke finished fifth, losing in the quarterfinals to Yuuki Ichikawa . [4] At this point, he was in position to win the 2013–14 Player of the Year title, but ultimately this was won by Jérémy Dezani . He was also overtaken by teammate Owen Turtenwald for captainship of the United States national team at the 2014 World Magic Cup when the latter made the top eight of the final event of the season, Pro Tour Magic 2015 .

The 2014–15 season started well for Duke, with him and his Peach Garden Oath teammates Owen Turtenwald and William Jensen winning the very first Grand Prix of the season, Grand Prix Portland. [19] At the 2014 World Championship , however, Duke posted a modest 14th-place finish, and his Pro Tour results throughout the season were average. He managed to reach two Grand Prix top eights, in Singapore and Montreal, towards the end of the season to retain Platinum status, but he did not qualify for the 2015 World Championship . In February 2015, Duke came close to a MOCS event trophy for the third time, but lost in the final. [20]

After failing to qualify for the 2015 World Championship, Duke had a much better 2015–16 season that included Grand Prix top eight finishes in Detroit; Quebec City; Washington, D.C.; and Barcelona, plus a win at GP Oakland. He was in the running for Grand Prix Player of the Year for almost the entire season, but ultimately the title went to Brian Braun-Duin . Duke still qualified for the 2016 World Championship , however, as his Pro Tour finishes were stellar. He came close to a second top eight at Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar , but lost in the last round to finish 19th. He would still get his second Pro Tour top eight, as he finished seventh at Pro Tour Eldritch Moon , the last event of the season.

2016–17 was also a strong season for Duke. He posted his fifth and sixth Grand Prix victories, at GP Louisville and at GP Cleveland (as a member of the Peach Garden Oath ), and while he didn't add to his tally of Pro Tour top eights, he posted stellar finishes, including a 10th-place, a 20th-place, and a 37th-place. This resulted in third-place overall in the Player of the Year race, and as the highest ranking American, qualification to the 2017 World Magic Cup as a member of the United States national team, where they finished 13th. Duke had strong Pro Tour finishes in 2017–18 as well, cashing all events and posting his third Pro Tour top eight at PT Rivals of Ixalan .

GP Richmond 2018, aka GP Reid Duke [ | ]

Towards the end of the season, Duke was in a three-person race for the Player of the Year title against Seth Manfield and Luis Salvatto . Due to an unusual structure, the last Pro Tour of the season was not the last event, which led to a unique Grand Prix coverage experience in Richmond, known to the community as "GP Reid Duke". Duke was scheduled to commentate the event, but upon realising his relative position to his rivals he attempted to withdraw; as an experiment and a compromise, Duke was featured in every round of the event as he competed, with either Marshall Sutcliffe or the second coverage pair commentating with Duke's hand and table audio. While the experiment was a success with the community as an innovative approach to coverage, Duke gained no ground on the weekend, with Manfield adding two points and Salvatto adding one. The last chance event was in Stockholm, but he couldn't add any points, and Salvatto won at PT Guilds of Ravnica after tying Manfield during Stockholm. That said, Duke's team's performance at the season's Pro Tours was good enough to qualify them for the Team Series finals in Las Vegas, where they ended up taking down the Hareruya Latin team to claim the title.

Magic Pro League Era [ | ]

In December 2018, it was announced that Duke would be one of the 32 players joining the 2019 Magic Pro League . He was also voted into the Hall of Fame in 2019, the last inductee as of yet. Because he finished in the Top 20 in the 2019 Magic Pro League , he could continue in the 2020 Season , but was relegated to the Rivals League for the final 2021 season.

Premier Play Era [ | ]

In the revamped Premier Play Era, Duke was the first winner of Pro Tour, defeating Benton Madsen in the Pro Tour Phyrexia in February 2023. This was his first Pro Tour Championship. [21] [22] He missed a back-to-back result on the last round of Pro Tour March of the Machine against David Olsen, but converted his Worlds invite into another Top Finish. Duke trailed Simon Nielsen for Player of the Year by a match going into the Top 8 and ended the race at second when he was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

League play [ | ]

Accomplishments [ | ].

→ Source: Wizards.com

Pro Tour Results [ | ]

Other magic -related work [ | ].

Reid Duke was a Star City Games columnist from December 2010 to January 2014, at which point he started producing content for ChannelFireball in the form of articles and Magic Online videos. He was also a columnist at Magicthegathering.com, writing the article series "Level One" in 2015. In recent years, he has been a frequent color commentator at Grand Prix coverage , including Grand Prix Richmond 2018, where he famously both played the event and provided play-by-play commentary, and all of his matches were covered. [23]

External links [ | ]

• Lifetime Top Finishes
• Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s
• Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders
• Reid Duke's column archive at ChannelFireball.com
• Reid Duke's column archive at Star City Games
• Reid Duke's column archive at Magicthegathering.com
• Reid Duke's Twitch channel

References [ | ]

• ↑ Player Profile: Reid Duke . Wizards of the Coast . Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ a b Player Profile: Reid Duke . Wizards of the Coast (2013-08-04). Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
• ↑ a b 2011 Magic Online Championship Final . Wizards of the Coast (2011-11-19). Retrieved on 2014-05-26.
• ↑ a b Pro Tour Journey Into Nyx Coverage . Wizards of the Coast (2014-05-18). Retrieved on 2014-09-03.
• ↑ Reid Duke (October 5, 2015). " Level One: The Full Course ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Blake Rasmussen (December 10, 2015). " Best of 2015 and Holiday Treats ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Player Profile: Reid Duke . Wizards of the Coast (2012-12-17). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Pro Tour–Amsterdam 2010 Invitation List . Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Magic Online World Championship Standings . Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ 2012 Pro Tour Dark Ascension Final Standings . Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Duke is King of Nashville . Wizards of the Coast (2012-03-18). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Team Pantheon . ChannelFireball. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Magic Players Championship 2012 Round 12 Standings . Wizards of the Coast (2012-08-29). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Kar Yung Tom (2013-03-13). " Captain’s Log #3 – It’s a Process ". Manadeprived. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Pro Tour Dragon's Maze Final Standings . Wizards of the Coast (2013-05-19). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Duke Draws Blood in Miami . Wizards of the Coast (2013-06-30). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Magic World Championship Round 12 Standings . Wizards of the Coast (2013-08-01). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Josh Bennett (2013-08-04). " Finals: Comeback of the Ages ". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ THE PANTHEON CONQUERS PORTLAND . Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Reid Duke (2015-02-23). " DRAFT WALKTHROUGH ". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
• ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 20, 2023). " Pro Tour Phyrexia Finals ". Magic.gg .
• ↑ Corbin Hosler (March 1, 2023). " A Legendary Win for a Legendary Player ". Magic.gg .
• ↑ Cameron Kunzelman (2018-09-01). " Magic: The Gathering's Pro-Focused Broadcast Experiment Is Paying Off ". Kotaku. Retrieved on 2018-09-03.
• 1 Duskmourn: House of Horror/Commander decks
• 2 Duskmourn: House of Horror
• 3 Valgavoth

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Pro Tour Phyrexia Top 8 Players and Decklists

From 218 players and two days of competition, the Top 8 of Pro Tour Phyrexia emerged–congratulations to the players returning for the Sunday Pioneer playoff!

Derrick Davis

Like fellow Top 8 competitor Nathan Steuer, Derrick Davis too came up via the Magic Online Championship Series, but he's been making the rounds in much more than that, including a Players Championship appearance at the NRG Series earlier this year. His run through the Pro Tour Phyrexia field was done largely off-camera as he battled up the standings, and his decisive victory in the final round over the ubiquitous Rakdos Midrange deck was enough to send one of the Enigmatic Fires players in the room to the Top 8.

Duke is an indomitable force in competitive Magic , notching a storied Magic Hall of Fame career totalling seven Top Finishes with Pro Tour Phyrexia. The 2011 Magic Online champion is renowned for his stalwart kindness and fierce focus on improving his play, which brought him within a match win of the Magic World Championship in 2013.

Now, he joins teammate Gabriel Nassif in a Top 8 showdown to claim his first Pro Tour trophy.

Chris Ferber

10 years of effort have come together for Ferber, a Regional Championship Top 8 competitor with years of experience on the Grand Prix circuit who is putting it all into action in a memorable Pro Tour Phyrexia run. After finding success at the Championship in Atlanta, he went back to the testing board and hit the Magic Online and Magic Arena queues to get in as much Phyrexia: All Will Be One draft as possible and leaned on the familiarity he had with Lotus Field combo to break through.

Benton Madsen

The last remaining undefeated player at Pro Tour Phyrexia, Benton Madsen was practical following his perfect 8-0 Day 1. "I could just as easily lose every round tomorrow," is how he put it; but when Saturday dawned, the Manhattan native was again up to the challenge, turning in a strong enough performance to pay off his excellent start and earn his first career Top Finish.

Takumi Matsuura

Another Regional Championship qualifier, another Top 8 appearance. Matsuura joins the crowd of RC Top 8 competitors who converted their chance at the Pro Tour, and he did it largely on his own, besting the online queues in preparation for his trip to the United States. On top of that, he spent most of Pro Tour Phyrexia playing under the feature match lights, a stressful experience that has undone many a fierce competitor before. But not Matsuura, and now his memorable run will continue into the Top 8.

Gabriel Nassif

A legendary Magic Hall of Famer from France, Nassif has seen the heights of the Pro Tour as both 2004's Player of the Year and Pro Tour Kyoto champion in 2009. Having taken a break from the game, Nassif returned to discover the joy of streaming Magic . His Top Finish at Pro Tour Phyrexia is his 16th.

He may need to find room for another trophy soon as well.

Nathan Steuer

The two-time Magic Online Champions Showcase winner and reigning Magic World Champion isn't showing any sign of slowing down, making back-to-back premier event Top Finishes with his Top 8 at Pro Tour Phyrexia. As a vanguard of Magic 's newest champions, it's easy to overlook Steuer's early play with his even younger success at Grand Prix San Diego back in 2015; a veteran of Sunday battles.

If anyone can stop Magic 's hottest player, it'll have to happen on a Pro Tour Sunday.

Shota Yasooka

Yasooka is one of Japan's most prestigious competitors, racking up his 12th Top Finish at Pro Tour Phyrexia across a career spanning titles such as Player of the Year and Pro Tour Kaladesh champion. The Magic Hall of Famer has been a Team Pro Tour champion (Charleston, 2006) and World Magic Cup team champion for Japan (2017). For nearly every event there has been for Magic , Yasooka has been incredible, including his qualification by making Top 8 at his Regional Championship.

A decorated veteran winning at the return of the Pro Tour would be history making history once again.