Christoffer Larsen is the Magic player who makes the Pro Tour fun.

Last weekend, more than 300 competitors qualified and braved the snow to compete in Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, and there was every kind of Magic player in attendance—which after over 30 years of competition is a very long list—from the human calculators to the unconventional deck builders to the grumpy vets of competitive Magic. It's all part of what makes the Pro Tour the Pro Tour, and it's why, even after three decades, thousands upon thousands of players across the world still chase that Pro Tour dream.

Larsen is a different kind of Magic player than what you might think of as the game's best. He's not a number cruncher like Frank Karsten, nor is he a combo genius like cftsoc. But as a Magic player, he is a quick thinker—and player—who can work through long lines in quick time, navigate novel board states and tricky combats, and keep up a friendly chat.

That brings us back to the lead here, and back to the finals of Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, when Larsen was sitting down for the biggest match of his already illustrious Magic journey. The tension of a Pro Tour Top 8 has cracked even the most hardened shells before, and with the literal spotlights beaming and every top deck drawing gasps from the crowd, there's nothing that can match a Magic Sunday stage. I've sat at Pro Tour finals tables where, for more than two hours there's scarcely a word spoken that isn't about the match at hand. I've watched players lock in and give everything they have, knowing their next competitive opportunity or chance at an enduring Magic legacy is the line.

But the finals of Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed between Larsen and Team Sanctum of All standout Toni Portolan were the polar opposite.

"Before the match even started, we were joking that it was the Pro Tour finals of the dads, the boomers. I played against Toni in the finals, a father of two with other priorities," Larsen laughed. "We had a super-relaxed attitude about it—he even played his hand face-up after I revealed it in a game, and it was great to have that relaxed finals match for really, really high stakes. I can respect anyone who is willing to play kitchen table Magic at the finals of a Pro Tour."

If there were one interaction to sum up Larsen's presence on the Pro Tour, that would be it. The affable Dane made his debut with a Top 8 at Grand Prix Miami in 2013 in an auspicious Top 8 that included Matthew Costa, Brad Nelson, and Reid Duke. That kickstarted a prolific string of Grand Prix appearances, acting as a stepping stone to the Pro Tour. In a six-year stretch from 2013–2019, Larsen would go on to amass an incredible eleven Grand Prix Top 8 appearances, with a title finally coming in 2017 at Grand Prix Lyon when he won the Limited event alongside teammates Thomas Enevoldsen and Michael Bonde.

Then came his Pro Tour run. Larsen's Top 8 appearances in two different online MTG Arena events in 2020 proved that he was just as adept on the MTG Arena streets as he was the tabletop realm, not to mention a Top 8 in a Magic Online Champions Showcase event.

But for all of Larsen's success in the game, Magic has always been a passion of his, but not the only one. A three-year gap in Top Finishes that came from 2020–2022 wasn't only the result of global challenges but of Larsen choosing to focus on other things in life—including his growing family.

And that brings us cleanly back to that final table in Richmond between two men who know exactly how fortunate they are to not just be at the Pro Tour finals, but to be at the Pro Tour at all. The events of the past few years have reminded us what a privilege it is to be able to play competitive Magic for high stakes, and the last two participants in the first Pro Tour of the season enjoyed every moment of it.

"We actually got paired in the Swiss rounds and had a 12-minute deck check where we just talked about our lives outside of Magic," Larsen recalled. "For me, I really appreciate my family, and my wife staying at home with two kids so I can travel for this tournament. It takes a lot of courage for her to let me travel around the world, just to kiss a flower."

And kiss a flower—a Black Lotus, to be exact—he did. Because after a Pro Tour that saw the top Badgermole Cub decks get roundly trounced by a slew of spicy decks, a Top 16 with fifteen different decks in it, and a metagame that had the Magic world buzzing, the finals somehow exceeded everything that came before. Portolan and Larsen went back and forth over the full five games, with twists and turns and doomsday demons along the way as Standard could morph into a Legacy Doomsday game in the blink of an Elemental.

For a player who had to skip a Pro Tour last year due to the impending birth of his daughter and subsequently missed out on the World Championship by the smallest possible margin, it's a storybook culmination of his career to this point.

"It's one hell of an accomplishment, and it feels wonderful," Larsen reflected in the days following his win—a win he still hasn't fully celebrated, as he wrapped the Pro Tour photo shoot about 80 minutes before boarding his flight home. "It's one of the big ones on the bucket list, and it means a lot to me personally. It won't change much for me in how my career plays out. I'll keep doing what I'm doing, play online with the team, and travel to the big tournaments. I have the same attitude and plans from winning that I would if I had just the made the Top 32 and qualified for the next one.

"But I'll tell you it felt really nice standing on that stage, holding the trophy. Kissing the Lotus was something."

Lorwyn Eclipsed released just two weeks before the Pro Tour, which meant there was little time for modern-day Pro Tour prep. That was doubly compounded for Larsen, as toddlers asking for a bedtime story aren't concerned about your sideboard plans.

"I've been coming into the tournaments later and really leaning on my team; I'm very thankful for them," Larsen explained. "We do a lot of pre-tournament testing online, and with the Prerelease coming so quickly before the tournament, it felt like the old days. Having a team is a big benefit for sure—the Spanish group of guys on our team made our deck with Lessons, Cub, and Reanimator in mind. We got a little lucky as well that our deck played fine into the Spellementals deck.

"Coming in, I said I don't want to play Badgermole Cub even though it's my style of deck. I didn't like the mirror, and the deck Tristan [Wylde-LaRue] had won the Regional Championship with the week before looked really good. Everyone at the tournament came to the same conclusion: beat the Cub decks."

They did. Whether it was Sunderflock or board wipes, the most popular green decks in the Pro Tour field severely underperformed on Day One, leading to the wide-open field that Larsen then sliced through with his Dimir Excruciator deck that also featured the sly combination of Deceit and Superior Spider-Man to attack opposing hands, and even Insatiable Avarice to make an opponent deck out after resolving Excruciator.

Doomsday Excruciator [1pcDEvJc7284KtVSVF5C2Y]
Insatiable Avarice

Check out Frank Karsten's Metagame Mentor article this week for everything you need to know about the evolving Standard metagame from the Pro Tour, complete with decklists.

As for Larsen, he's excitedly looking forward to the next chance he'll get to see his team, soak in another round of congratulations, and let it really sink in: he's a Pro Tour champion.

Won Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed!!!
Big daddy claims another 🏆😈😈😈

Thank you @CosmosMTG for carry!! pic.twitter.com/XlVwKck1Xo

— Christoffer Larsen (@ChrisTheDaneLa1) February 2, 2026