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Magic Spotlight: Foundations Highlights

January 06, 2025
Meghan Wolff

The first weekend of January ushered in both a new year and a new Magic event: the Magic Spotlight Series. The Georgia World Congress Center hosted over 1,400 players at this inaugural event, all of whom were ready to battle their way through fifteen rounds of Standard Constructed for a chance at the very first Spotlight trophy and an invite to the Pro Tour.

An Event for Everyone

Magic Spotlight: Foundations was an open registration Standard event with nine Swiss rounds on Day 1 and six Swiss rounds on Day 2 before a cut to the Top 8. The prizes matched the field's excitement; there was a $50,000 prize pool, eight invites to the Pro Tour, and a "year of Standard," meaning a Play Booster display case of each Standard-legal set released in 2025. The event drew in over 1,400 players from around the US and as far as Brazil and even New Zealand.

"I'm just here for the love of the game and the hangouts," said Matt Sikkink-Johnson, a frequent Pro Tour competitor.

It was a sentiment echoed by players through the event hall as they competed in the main event, compared notes with opponents after matches, checked in on their teammates, and chatted with friends between rounds. The very first Spotlight Series event drew longtime Pro Tour competitors, players getting a taste of their very first competitive event, and everyone in between.

Pro Tour The Lord of the Rings champion Jake Beardsley also competed in Spotlight: Foundations, but he didn't do so alone. Beardsley took on the competition with his father and brother.

"When I was growing up Grand Prix events were sort of my family vacation. My dad taught me how to play when I was four years old, so this is not only something that I do for fun and professionally, but also it's a family thing. My brother flew in from Dallas, my dad flew in from Southern California, and I flew down from Roanoke. It's a really nice excuse to see my brother, my dad, and other friends that I've made from the PT and growing up."

Anthony Lee, Pro Tour competitor and member of Team Handshake, also made the trip to Atlanta. Lee remained in good spirits even after a fourth loss on Day 1 meant he wouldn't make it to Day 2.

"I was just kind of excited about a big event. I already have the invitation for Pro Tour Aetherdrift, so I wasn't really playing for anything big. It's just kind of awesome. I get to see a lot of people I haven't seen for a long time. And look, everybody's here, right? I can talk to anybody here. It's awesome. It's been really good, even though I did poorly this tournament, it's been great, and a lot of my opponents have been super, super friendly. So yeah, I've enjoyed a lot."

Plus, Magic designer and superfan Gavin Verhey made a stop on his way back from Brazil just to visit the first Spotlight Series:

And Brian Kibler had an opponent younger than his lands:

These are just a few snapshots of the incredible Magic players and community that showed up for the very first Spotlight Series event.

What's Hot: Standard Edition

In the days leading up to Spotlight: Foundations, a new deck hit the Standard metagame. Esper Pixie, a deck built around cards like Hopeless Nightmare, Nurturing Pixie, and This Town Ain't Big Enough, drew the attention of players looking for an edge in an evenly matched Standard environment.

Esper Pixie was ultimately the fifth most-played deck at the event on Day 1, but rose up to be the third most played deck on Day 2. Another breakout build was Selesnya Tokens, a deck that made use of Llanowar Elves, a Foundations addition to Standard, as well as powerful token makers like Overlord of the Mistmoors and Pawpatch Recruit. In some ways it was an answer to the rise of Esper Pixie, with some lists running copies of Wilt-Leaf Liege to push Hopeless Nightmare.


Speaking of the Standard metagame, Dimir Midrange was the most popular deck of Day 1. Featuring excellent card advantage engines like Enduring Curiosity and Kaito, Bane of Nightmares, the deck paired those with cheap creatures and solid removal. Dimir Midrange has been a staple of the format in recent weeks.


Gruul Aggro was also a big winner at Magic Spotlight: Foundations. While Esper Pixie improved its representation into Day 2, it was Gruul Aggro that made the biggest impact in the Top 8.

The larger field of the Spotlight Series also made room for players to bring spicier decks that they hoped would take the field by surprise, and many inventive players competing in Atlanta rose to the challenge.

Several variations on blue Omniscience decks appeared this weekend, including this Sultai Combo deck piloted by Ethan Durham.

1 Forest 1 Plains 2 Island 2 Swamp 4 Omniscience 1 Llanowar Wastes 2 Yavimaya Coast 4 Fabled Passage 4 Founding the Third Path 4 Fallaji Archaeologist 3 Atraxa, Grand Unifier 1 Invasion of Arcavios 4 Picklock Prankster 1 Virtue of Persistence 3 Bitter Triumph 4 Squirming Emergence 4 Wail of the Forgotten 3 Restless Reef 1 Blooming Marsh 2 Botanical Sanctum 1 Underground Mortuary 2 Harvester of Misery 2 Overlord of the Floodpits 4 Gloomlake Verge 1 Terror Tide 1 This Town Ain't Big Enough 3 Three Steps Ahead 2 Ghost Vacuum 3 Dead Weight 3 Tear Asunder 2 Tishana's Tidebinder

A card like Doomsday Excrutiator was always going to inspire players to try to put together a win centered on milling themselves. Spencer Colling was excited by the deck's parallels to his past Modern favorite, Scapeshift, and made Day 2 with the combo.

3 Doomsday Excruciator 4 Jace, the Perfected Mind 2 Nowhere to Run 1 Anoint with Affliction 2 Cut Down 3 Deadly Cover-Up 4 Deduce 3 Go for the Throat 2 Malicious Eclipse 2 Phantom Interference 3 Quick Study 1 Sheoldred's Edict 4 Three Steps Ahead 2 Cavern of Souls 4 Darkslick Shores 1 Demolition Field 4 Gloomlake Verge 3 Restless Reef 6 Swamp 2 Undercity Sewers 4 Underground River 2 Chrome Host Seedshark 1 Cut Down 3 Dreams of Steel and Oil 1 Duress 2 Ghost Vacuum 1 Malicious Eclipse 2 Negate 2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 1 Tishana's Tidebinder

Brazilian player Loui Oriqui strayed even farther from the beaten path, putting together a Mardu Reanimator build that planned to bring back threats like Valgavoth, Terror Eater with Zombify.

2 Overlord of the Mistmoors 1 Nowhere to Run 2 Fabled Passage 4 Blazemire Verge 1 Restless Vents 1 Shadowy Backstreet 4 Zombify 3 Bitter Triumph 2 Cut Down 3 Atraxa, Grand Unifier 2 Overlord of the Balemurk 2 Valgavoth, Terror Eater 2 Swamp 3 Caves of Koilos 2 Concealed Courtyard 2 Plains 1 Raucous Theater 1 Liliana of the Veil 3 Fear of Missing Out 1 Virtue of Persistence 2 Valgavoth's Faithful 3 Bitter Reunion 1 Sulfurous Springs 1 Trumpeting Carnosaur 2 Mountain 1 Get Lost 1 Fountainport 1 Brotherhood's End 1 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse 1 Rakdos Joins Up 1 Kroxa and Kunoros 1 Etali, Primal Conqueror 1 Elegant Parlor 2 Duress 2 Authority of the Consuls 1 Harvester of Misery 1 Urabrask's Forge 1 Ghost Vacuum 2 Exorcise 1 The Stone Brain 1 Soul-Guide Lantern 1 Day of Judgment 1 Sheoldred's Edict 1 Pest Control 1 Legions to Ashes

The Top 8

After fifteen rounds of Swiss Standard play, eight players advanced into the Top 8 to battle for the trophy.

Nicholas Odenheimer from Tampa, Florida played Gruul Leyline, a take on Gruul Aggro with Leyline of Resonance, because "it seemed like the most broken thing to be doing in Standard and [I] wanted to prove it wasn't bad." It must not have been, because at the end of the Swiss he was at the top of the standings as the only player with thirteen wins.

Zhao Li from Gainsville, Florida came to the event hoping to qualify for his second Pro Tour. He achieved that goal play Azorius Tempo, which he felt had good matchups against many of the popular decks in the metagame.

Steve Rorabaugh from San Diego, California came for the chance to play competitive Magic and to help a friend fill out a room. He played Gruul because "it felt like there weren't decks that I would have no chance to beat while playing Gruul. Having agency to beat even 'bad' matchups is something I valued a lot."

Gray Payne from Baton Rouge, Louisiana was happy to play in a large event that was relatively close to her. She played Domain, and said "Overlord of the Hauntwoods makes this deck amazing, but my sleeper pick [for best card of the weekend] is Analyze the Pollen. The versatility is super underrated."

Scott McNamara from Austin, Texas came to the event because "Standard is great right now and I love competitive Magic." He played Dimir Enchantments because "my team and I noticed the powerful engine in the pixie deck and wanted to make it more consistent. We ended up with a hybrid 'Dimir Mid-Pixie' list that has the best elements of both."

Rei Zhang, a combo player with a lot of great finishes to their name including, most recently, a fifth place finish at Pro Tour Thunder Junction, played Temur Otters at Magic Spotlight: Foundations. "I was waffling between Otters and Gruul until the day of deck submission. Otters has to be pretty lucky to defeat Gruul but is decent into the rest of the metagame for the most part. I came up with a new sideboard plan for the Gruul matchup the day of deck submission, so I registered Otters," they said of their deck choice.

Eli Swafford, playing in his hometown of Atlanta, played in the Spotlight Series because it was only about twenty minutes from his house. He played Azorius Oculus because "Oculus is a deck I've seen as extremely strong since its printing in Duskmourn, and recently the popularity of the deck has been declining so people were less prepared for it."

Victor Moy, also from Atlanta, showed up because he'd made a promise to a friend to play a Constructed event. He chose Gruul Aggro because it was a proactive deck, and his best card of the weekend was Inti, Seneschal of the Sun because the "extra card choice, trample, and +1/+1 counters satisfy a lot of wants in this deck."


Congratulations to Winner, Nicholas Odenheimer!

Odenheimer made quick work of his opponents in the Top 8 with his Gruul Leyline deck. Its blazingly fast starts with Leyline of Resonance left little room for stumbling on the other side of the battlefield. Even when his opponents managed to mount a defense, the haste on cards like Slickshot Show-Off and Emberheart Challenger paired with late game reach like Cacophany Scamp and Heartfire Hero helped Odenheimer push through damage.

After defeating Steven Rorabaugh on Gruul Aggro in the quarterfinals, pushing through more damage thanks to his Leyline, Odenheimer then faced Gray Payne on Domain in the semifinals. There, Odenheimer took two more quick games to advance to the finals, where he took the match and the trophy in three games.

The First of Many

You can be part of the Magic too, whether you're hoping to try your hand at competitive play, have a dream of making the Pro Tour, or would like to play alongside your friends. The Spotlight Series lets you gather with your fellow players and compete on an equal playing field. You might just end up across the table from Brian Kibler.

The next event is Magic Spotlight: Modern in Utrecht, Netherlands, March 15-16. The next two Magic Spotlight Series events in the US are Magic Spotlight: Dragons, featuring Tarkir: Dragonstorm Limited in Denver, April 11-13, and Magic Spotlight: Secret Lair, featuring Modern in Indianapolis, May 30-June 1.

Until then, good games!

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