Hunter Ovington knew he was good enough to win a major Magic tournament. He's been at the game for years, grinding his way through the competitive ranks until he was a regular at the Regional Championship level. He's done all the Magic Online queues you could ask for. Heading into Magic Spotlight: Secret Lair in Indianapolis last weekend, he had put in the work to master his chosen deck—even if some of his friends weren't quite sold on that part yet.

But success didn't come quickly, and Ovington feared it might not come at all. Over the years, he watched friends putting in the same work celebrate earning their first Pro Tour invitations, and he couldn't help but feel like he was falling behind. He spent years practicing and imagining what it would be like to win a major tournament. But that breakthrough moment didn't come—no trophy, no Pro Tour invitation.

Everyone around Ovington, meanwhile, could see that he was just waiting for a break. So, when that break finally arrived at the Magic Spotlight Series last weekend, the only person surprised by it was Ovington himself.

The post-victory chaos certainly shocked him; he was whisked from the feature match area to the interview booth to a photographer to a Wizards of the Coast representative—the winner of Magic Spotlight: Secret Lair gets to consult on a future Secret Lair project—to commentators to the feature match area (again) and then finally to his waiting friends and teammates. This was the group who had committed to staying until shutdown to watch Ovington make good on a goal years in the making.

"After the event, my first thought was food and going home; we still had a 2-hour drive ahead of us. Corey Baumeister and Jim Davis talked to me afterward and generously invited me out to a barcade, but I was too tired at that point to go," Ovington explained. "In hindsight, I regret not going. I grew up watching Corey and Jim play. The next day I woke up and realized that two people I looked up to had told me how cool my deck was and congratulated me. That's when it set in that I won."

We have a winner at #SpotlightSecretLair! Hunter Ovington (Broodscale Combo) defeats Andrew Bailey (Reanimator) in the finals at #SCGINDY!

Congratulations to Ovington, who not only qualified for the Pro Tour but also earned the opportunity to consult on a future Secret Lair! pic.twitter.com/KR39DSxBk9

— PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) June 1, 2025

More than 700 players traveled to the SCG CON in Indianapolis last weekend to compete in this Spotlight Series event, an event with a $50,000 prize pool and Pro Tour invitations on the line. These open-invite events take no prior qualifications or tournament performances while offering players a chance to brush elbows with the best in the world while competing in high-stakes Magic.

With the chance to consult on a future Secret Lair drop on the line (plus the $10,000 that the winner receives) the stakes don't get much higher. Magic is famous for giving out some very unique prizes over the years: did you know there was once a car awarded at a Magic tournament, or that some events awarded game consoles in lieu of cash? And, of course, there's the treasured tradition of the Magic World Championship winner having their face immortalized on a Magic card. It adds something that can't be replicated when you cast a Dark Confidant and call it Bob or play Elite Spellbinder, also known as "Paulo Vitor Damo 'The GOAT' da Rosa." These cards stand out not just because of their gameplay, although we've had some very memorable designs over the years, but because they tell a story in a card.

The story that Ovington tells in that future Secret Lair drop is yet to be written, but the story he just told in Indianapolis is the kind that Magic dreams are made of.

"I have played Modern since 2016. I started by walking into a card shop and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to play in a SCG in Indy. I had never heard of Modern before and no idea about the format, my friend had me build Storm, and it did not go well," the Louisville native reflected. "Something did happen, though. I fell in love with Magic and the Modern format. I've played it ever since."

Ovington is now the reigning Modern master, piloting a Basking Broodscale-Blade of the Bloodchief combo deck despite misgivings from some of his friends. The combo debuted in Modern with the release of Modern Horizons 3 last year to some success, but no one had what Ovington had. The seeds of his victory in Indianapolis go back to an event last month in Minneapolis.

"I felt very good about this event and locked in my deck after a lackluster performance at the Regional Championship in Minneapolis," he recalled. "I was sitting at the airport and saw Mono-Green Broodscale had won a challenge on Magic Online. I instantly fell in love with the list and realized I could improve upon it. My teammates were not sure about the deck because they know I have soft spot for creature combo decks. But in the end, I was validated."

Four copies of Writhing Chrysalis in a Chord of Calling creature combo deck? A playset of Glaring Fleshrakers? Wait a minute, zero copies of Chord of Calling in the creature combo deck?

I told you Ovington had something no one else did.

"Even though the deck is named after Basking Broodscale and Blade of the Bloodchief, that's not the main game plan of the deck; the main plan is the other Eldrazi creatures and the Urza's Saga toolbox," he revealed. "That includes Chrysalis, Fleshraker, and my favorite card in the deck: Emrakul, the Promised End. Chrysalis and Fleshraker give you a great aggressive game plan, and Emrakul gives you a game-ending bomb that will kill the opponent (sooner or later). With Eldrazi Temple ramping you alongside Ancient Stirrings and Malevolent Rumble finding the pieces you're missing, the deck is very consistent."

These cards are not new to the format. In fact, there were a number of Eldrazi flavors to choose from in Indianapolis, from pure ramp to aggressive builds to "true" midrange. But every version of the deck plays what Ovington described as the best card in the deck: Kozilek's Command.

"When [Kozilek's Command] was previewed, my friends and I were confused about how it even got printed—it does everything you need it to," Ovington marveled. "It's removal, ramp, card selection, and graveyard hate. Plus, it's two card types for delirium. It gives the deck another infinite-mana outlet; you just scry your entire deck and put a Glaring Fleshraker or Walking Ballista into your hand.

"All of those factors make a deck that is hard to hate out and great against a lot of decks. In my Top 8 run, I felt unbeatable. Even in the finals, I had no fear I would lose, I just played Magic."

Ovington also shouted out his friends and teammates who grinded games with him in preparation for the tournament, including the trio of friends who made the now very memorable car ride together: Spencer Pittman, Ryder Hardison, and Tylor Thomas. The testing team included Charles Eiler, Brandon McArthur, and Zach McMicheaux. It's a group that has multiple Regional Championship Top 8 appearances and now a Spotlight Series trophy to its credit.

Now, Ovington has a Pro Tour to prepare for. His next goal is to find a Pro Tour testing team, but as the reality sets in and the trophy settles into its spot, Ovington is looking back at the Magic Spotlight Series grateful for the opportunity it afforded.

"I'm super excited to be the first to consult on a Secret Lair drop, and I hope to be a good example to show that this is a prize that they should keep offering. But even if I had not won the Spotlight, I still would have had a great time playing with my friends," he mused. "These events are a great chance to spend time with friends and test yourself. I couldn't have done this without them.

"This win means a lot to me, it will be my first Pro Tour, and I am very excited about it. My team believed in me, but in the back of my head, I wondered if I ever would get an invite. I wondered if it would be my fate to watch others have the success I craved, and I wondered if I would ever join them. This has been my goal this whole time, and I plan on making it happen."