It's been just over three years to the day since Magic players last gathered for a Pro Tour. After a celebratory Friday in Philadelphia, that countdown has ended–218 competitors came together for Pro Tour Phyrexia, and the best Magic players in the world haven't missed a beat.
As MagicCon kicked off down the hall in the Philadelphia Convention Center, the draft kicked off the Pro Tour. The moment when players laid out their first pack and picked up the array of Phyrexia: All Will Be One cards, the hype and nerves around the return to the Pro Tour faded away, and all that could be heard was the soft flicking of cardboard as competitors surveyed the choices that could make or break their Pro Tour dreams.
What followed was exactly what we've come to expect from the storied history of nearly three decades of the Pro Tour. We watched the best in the world square off against each in tense round after round, as they fought for the weeks of drafts and Pioneer preparation to pay off on the biggest stage. The room was full of Hall of Famers, row after row of tables littered with Pro Tour champions, past Grand Prix winners, and fresh Regional Champions all taking their shot as the 2023 Pro Tour season kicked off in earnest with a palpable excitement in the room from many first-time Pro Tour competitors.
It began with Phyrexia: All Will Be One draft, giving everyone who spent the last two weeks grinding drafts with their teams – many of whom did so in the traditional "Pro Tour House"–the chance to get a head start on the field before the more well-known Constructed format began. But after the draft came five rounds of Pioneer, and when it all wrapped up, there was just one player who stood atop the Pro Tour Phyrexia field.
A Perfect Day
Benton Madsen entered the Pro Tour with no expectations. The energetic Manhattan native got into Magic a decade ago, and was ecstatic when he finally qualified for the paper Pro Tour, several years after he competed in an online Mythic Championship. His goals were simple: have a good time and draft on Day Two.
A perfect 8-0 run later, and Madsen has done much more than that. His Selesnya Auras deck proved to be the perfect problem to present to Pioneer players stretched thin on interaction, and his devastating one-two punch of
"I've already accomplished everything I wanted to here," he marveled after the final round. "I know I could easily make mistakes or get unlucky, and nothing is stopping me from going 0-8 tomorrow, but I've met all my goals. I wanted to draft twice at the Pro Tour because it's such a unique experience – Top 8ing a tournament on Magic Online is amazing, but your heart isn't beating out of your chest the way it is in person.
"I like that discomfort."
All Will Be Won (in Draft)
We've had just a few short weeks with Phyrexia: All Will Be One; and in that time, opinions about the unique Limited environment have come in all over the spectrum. This laid a particularly interesting groundwork for the Pro Tour, where draft mastery can famously make or break a tournament run, and teams worked tirelessly to find an edge.
And about two dozen players did just that. Notable undefeated drafters included Reid Duke, Shota Yasooka, Gabriel Nassif, and of course, Madsen, who went against the grain, undefeated, with Blue-White Artifacts.
#PTPhyrexia competitors @KbolMagic, @MSigrist83, and @JimDavisMTG show off their favorite cards from the first draft!@MrChecklistcard shows off cards that “lost me so many games today” 😆😬😆 pic.twitter.com/pSPqL7AS2M
— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) February 17, 2023
There was a common belief among many teams in the field that blue was one of the weaker colors in the Limited format, and one they hoped to avoid. But Pro Tour drafts are infamous for turning expectations on their head, especially as many players head into the draft with some very particular directions they want to go. Of course, that never works out for everyone, and oftentimes the self-balancing nature of draft can produce some wild Pro Tour results.
3-0 and my first ever feature match at the pro tour. It’s good to be back🤩 Picture below, sb heavily used😇 #PTPhyrexia pic.twitter.com/mO8P3612bd
— Thomas Enevoldsen (@therealenevolds) February 17, 2023
To wit, blue was among the lead in undefeated decks, with four blue-white players turning in a perfect 3-0 finish. That performance was matched by red-white–confirming the supposition that white was very strong in the aggressive format–with four undefeated drafters, while four black-green pilots did the same.
"Going in, I thought the best decks were the toxic decks and Red-Green Oil, but I opened up
It was an auspicious start for the England native hailed by those who know him as one of the best rising players in the country, and one that ultimately qualified him for Day Two of the Pro Tour.
Three more rounds of Phyrexia: All Will Be One lead off Day Two of the Pro Tour, giving way to a final Pioneer sprint to determine the Top 8.
Pioneer in Progress
As Rohan put it, the top of the Pioneer format was incredibly balanced heading into Pro Tour Phyrexia. With no deck representing more than 15% of the metagame, and the addition of Phyrexia: All Will Be One shaking up both the top decks and the brews making up the 20+% of the field, the Rakdos Midrange decks that led the way had their own weaknesses that the rest of the field sought to exploit – and with the top handful of decks operating so differently from one another, it was difficult for anyone to prepare for everything.
We've come a long way from a format once thought to be dominated by Nytkhos, Shrine to Nyx and Mono-Green Devotion at the start of the Regional Championship season that qualified players for Pro Tour Phyrexia, and that diversity continued to show up in the top of the Day One standings. The decks among the 29 players who finished 6-2 showcased a dozen archetypes from across Pioneer, and set the stage perfectly for when play resumes Saturday morning.
As for Madsen, the auras deck he picked up and tuned from Regional Championship Top 4 competitor Michael Letsch was already powerful, but Phyrexia: All Will Be One imbued it with what Madsen deemed a major upgrade:
"The deck used to take sometimes double-digit damage from itself, just from
Nature is healing 🐸👖#PTPhyrexia pic.twitter.com/Zly2mK93NU
— Maria Bartholdi @ MagicCon Philly (@MissMariapants) February 17, 2023
Back for More
Now, Madsen enters Day Two as the lone undefeated. Eight more rounds stand between him and the Pro Tour Top 8, but the top is bunched with big names. The 7-1 bracket includes legends Gabriel Nassif and Shota Yasooka, plus recent Top Finishers including David Inglis and Tristan Wylde-LaRue.
It's a stacked field, and the tension will only grow as we move toward the Top 8. You can find all the coverage live at 11 A.M. ET at twitch.tv/magic!
