The first Pro Tour Sunday of 2025 is here.

More than 340 competitors opened Boosters and shuffled Standard decks at Pro Tour Aetherdrift at MagicCon: Chicago, the first Pro Tour of the season doubling as the largest in years. That meant it was anyone's race as the field dug into Aetherdrift Draft and a Standard Constructed, and after 16 intense round of competition the Top was finally set.

With all eight players now qualified for the World Championship, there were no major invitations left for these players to chase: just the title of Pro Tour champion.

Matt Nass vs. Ian Robb

We opened with the top-seeded player, Matt Nass, as he faced off against Ian Robb and his lightning-quick Mono-Red Aggro deck. The aggressive deck was thought to be favored against the Domain Overlords deck that Nass and a pair of others had piloted to the Top 8, and there was a distinct possibility that the Domain deck that had performed the best of the "big three" over the weekend would meet its end.

Maybe–but it wouldn't be here. The following set of games was a masterclass in Domain play by Nass. In both of his previous Top Finishes, Nass's run ended in the quarterfinals, and he sat down as the top seed on Sunday looking to change that in Chicago.

Robb's deck attempted to blitz Nass out of the game, but by virtue of having the play in the opening game and a hand with just enough sweepers to hold down the fort, Nass fell into what would become the familiar pattern: Robb plays a small threat, and Nass gives a mana-efficient answers a turn or two later while developing his own game plan with Up the Beanstalk or an impending Overlord.

Those plays offered only small windows for Robb to try and punch through, and it was only in the second game that he managed to put together a lethal attack. As the players' sideboards entered the fray, every new piece of cardboard picked up by Nass seemed to be a removal spell like Ride's End or Get Lost or a massive Overlord (or Zur, Eternal Schemer). With the exile effects tacked onto most of his removal, even the death triggers from Robb's Heartfire Heroes couldn't hit their targets. With all parts of his game plan pressured, the Mono-Red Aggro deck simply couldn't keep up, and Nass took the first quarterfinal in four quick games.

This victory wasn't without Pro Tour dramatics. Nass fell down to 2 life in the final game before a Temporary Lockdown cleared the board and sent home a mana-flooded Robb.

Kenta Harane vs. James Dimitrov

That sent us over to the second table, where one of the most unique decks in the Standard format was attempting to take down another Overlords player; Kenta Harane's Jeskai Abhorrent Oculus deck cruised to the Top 8 and would now attempt to get under James Dimitrov's defenses.

But James Dimitrov was no pushover. The New York native may have been playing in his first Pro Tour, but he showed no hesitation this weekend. That fighting spirit paid off early, with Dimitrov bouncing back from an opening-game loss to even things out with Harane in the best-of-five match.

This match's dynamic was a treat to watch; Dimitrov provided the inevitability with his Overlords and Harane was focused on a midrange goal of developing the board with an eye toward bringing back Abhorrent Oculus with a Helping Hand. His deck was full of discard outlets and reanimation spells, but things didn't always line up after sideboarding, especially as every turn without an Oculus meant another counter coming off of Dimitrov's Overlords.

Back and forth they went, with Dimitrov seemingly always just one step ahead. While the Oculus deck could get ahead on the board with a fast flyer, the board wipes from the Domain deck could undo all of that work in one sweep. And that's exactly what the American was able to do in the final game, with the perfect follow-up of Overlord of the Mistmoors slamming the door shut on Harane's semifinal hopes.

Lucas Duchow vs. Christopher Leonard

With half of the semifinals settled, we turn to Lucas Duchow and Christopher Leonard, as the third Domain player tried to outlast Duchow's hyper-aggressive Gruul Leyline deck. While much of the Pro Tour field had opted to bring the traditional Gruul build with the full suite of Bloomburrow's Mice, Duchow used the classic Leyline of Resonance as an added combo element that could end games with a giant final flourish of spells.

In other words, exactly what the Domain deck was prepared for. Leonard's copies of Elspeth's Smite worked overtime in the matchup. After Leonard took the first game, those Smites came in clutch in the pivotal second game. Despite falling to just a scant 3 life while staring down a Leyline of Resonance, Leonard's one white mana represented the key removal spell and gave him control of the match from there.

During the next game, Duchow fought back to get on the board, but it all went Leonard's way. After taking an early hit from an unchecked Slickshot Show-Off and falling to 14 life, he impended an Overlord of the Hauntwoods and followed it up with a Day of Judgment to clear the board. That cleared the way for an Authority of the Consuls which, for Leonard's Domain deck, was the perfect way to pump the brakes on Duchow's creatures. With his life total secure and the crucial board wipe deployed, Leonard became the last of three Domain players to advance to the semifinals.

Yuchen Liu vs. Zevin Faust

But there was still one semifinalist left to find, and so we jumped into the match between Yuchen Liu's Gruul Mice against first-time Pro Tour competitor Zevin Faust's Golgari Graveyard deck. The graveyard deck had been making waves all weekend, and Faust's first Pro Tour experience had turned into quite the memorable show.

And that last quarterfinals match had it all. Both decks went the distance in a full five-game set. Removal spells, late-game Hollow Marauders, hasty Mice—and a close race until the very last moment. The quarterfinals ended when an unchecked Screaming Nemesis got loose to give Liu the upper hand on board. While Faust was still digging for a clear answer, Liu revealed Burst Lightning, kicking through the final 4 points of damage to Faust's face.

With that, the quarterfinals were wrapped. Eight hopeful Pro Tour winners had become four, and soon only two finalists would remain.

James Dimitrov vs. Yuchen Liu

The first match was Dimitrov and Liu, with Dimitrov attempting to eke out a win with his Overlords. Doing so against the proactive Gruul list Liu piloted would be his toughest test yet; he played against just one Gruul deck in the Swiss rounds—and won–but was now facing off against the talented Liu.

The first game went according to plan for Dimitrov. He had a good mix of early removal and, eventually, an unchecked Overlord. The second was the inverse; Liu showed off the explosive power of his deck and evened out the match.

And so, it came to their sideboards. Authority of the Consuls was the big hitter for Dimitrov as the lifegain it provided over the course of the game proved pivotal. After several removal spells stabilized Dimitrov's life total–if you call 3 life stable– the game reached its key turn. Liu drew for the turn and surveyed his board of small creatures. Checking and double-checking his mana, the experienced Pro Tour player found the line and acted without fear: he activated Soulstone Sanctuary to enter the red zone and push through the final points of damage.

Now down a game, Dimitrov relied on one of his best catchup cards in the next one. Beza, the Bounding Spring does everything a player behind on board can ask for. Lifegain, tokens, and a hefty body stabilized the game. Dimitrov was able to resolve not just one, but two back-to-back Beza, and he needed every bit of it. A massive attack from Liu left Dimitrov at just 3 life. It looked like it might give us our first finalist, but with a shocking Elspeth's Smite and a Leyline Binding, Dimitrov was able to completely upend the board in a game-deciding combat step.

And so, it would come down to a fifth and final game. And that game went long–Liu was able to pressure Dimitrov down to 8 life, but after a flurry of removal all Liu had left to finish the job was a lone Emberheart Challenger.

And then, Dimitrov's impending Overlords... impended. Overlord of the Mistmoors's tokens provided a stalwart defense against any hasty threats as the Domain deck pulled ahead. The power provided by the Overlords turned from defense to offense, and when the top of Liu's deck–which had traded bounceback plays for explosiveness–failed to turn up a miraculous answer, he extended his hand and congratulated Dimitrov on becoming the first finalist of Pro Tour Aetherdrift.

Matt Nass vs. Christopher Leonard

The other semifinal match? It went much, much more slowly, though it was also less in doubt than its speedy counterpart. Domain players had dominated all weekend;the deck was by far the best-performing of the big three—Domain, Gruul, and Pixie—but the mirror match looked to be an under-explored area of the metagame. Especially in an untimed, best-of-five setting like the semifinals.

Both players settled in for a slog. Hands full of Overlords ran into removal. Massive spells were rendered moot by Negate or Get Lost. Map tokens accumulated on both sides of the board. And throughout it all, every turn represented a possible inflection point in the match, with two masters of their craft locked deep into a nearly two-hour battle for the finals.

In the end, it was their sideboard choices that made all the difference. After splitting the games played with just the main deck, Nass was able to slowly pull away through the malaise that was the back-and-forth battle for the board thanks to a pair of sideboard cards in the fourth game: Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Nissa, Ascended Animist.

These cards and their ability to go over the top meant that Nass could outlast Leonard if the games went late. His detailed theorycrafting played out perfectly as he closed out the match over Leonard.

That meant the final match of Chicago was set: Nass and Dimitrov, playing for the trophy and title of Pro Tour Aetherdrift champion!