The 2020-21 season was a breakthrough year for Gavin Thompson-Exner. Finishing as one of the top challengers at the Zendikar Rising Championship put Thompson-Exner on a postseason collision course with the best players in the game. Rising through the Challenger Gauntlet to his finalist finish at the Rivals Gauntlet catapulted Thompson-Exner into the 2021-22 MPL, where he can prove himself to be the best of the freshman class of the league.