Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3
| Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | June 28-30, 2024 | |||
| Location |
 Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |||
| Attendance | 243 | |||
| Format | Modern and Booster draft | |||
| Prize pool | $500,000 | |||
| Winner |
 Simon Nielsen | |||
| ||||
Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 was the final Pro Tour of the 2023–24 season. It took place on June 28-30, 2024 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It followed the release of the straight-to-Modern set Modern Horizons 3 and was the last chance to acquire invitations for the 2024 World Championship.
Modern
While the gap between the previous Modern Pro Tour was not as far as the one before, the metagame once again took a reshaping, given the much higher power level of Modern Horizons 3 in comparison to The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth: whereas power players in the latter slotted into various existing decks, the ones the new set formed new or reinvigorated old archetypes around them. Storm combo returned to the top tables with Ruby Medallion and Ral, Monsoon Mage, eschewing Blue entirely, with the second-most piloted deck at 9.5%. Nadu, Winged Wisdom's ostensible card tax turns into a combo kill when combined with free targeting effects such as Shuko and Outrider En-Kor, posting a combined 26% of the field, with 5% splashing black. Eldrazi Tron, a Chalice of the Void deck that had fallen when such measures failed, gained another two-mana land in Ugin's Labyrinth alongside a myriad of new options, returned as a 5.8% deck. Various forms of Energy decks in Red and White made up nearly 25% of the field as well but splintered more than that of the Nadu decks; Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury is a regular presence of those decks as well.
Day One
Featured drafters: Yoshihiko Ikawa
Ikawa was the focus of the first draft, putting together a very low-curve three-color Energy deck headlined by two Dreamtide Whale that would go 2-1. Thomas White, regular Magic Online Premier Play Program finalist, would top the pod with a classic Blue-Black control deck, having defeated Ikawa in Round 2. At the end of Round 8, Jacob Nagro would be the last one standing with the leading contender Nadu Combo, leading a murderers' row of 7-1 players including two World Champions and a finalist. Half of them would use Nadu, Jeskai Control, Mono-Black, and Prowess would make the other half. In the Player of the Year race, all of the Top 10 would make Day 2 except Ikawa.[1]
The top eight players after day one:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jacob Nagro
|
24 |
| 2 |  Eli Kassis
|
21 |
| 3 |  Jean-Emmanuel Depraz
|
21 |
| 4 | Brian Boss
|
21 |
| 5 |  Javier Dominguez
|
21 |
| 6 | Jason Ye
|
21 |
| 7 |  No Ah Ma
|
21 |
| 8 | David González
|
19 |
Day Two
Featured drafters: Jacob Nagro Nagro could only hold onto the lead until Round 11 and put up 1-2, while former Rivals Leaguer No Ah Ma took the trophy for the pod. Ma would be the first to pick up a Top 8 spot in Round 13. Seth Manfield, Ken Yukuhiro, and Lorenzo Pucci had undefeated Draft records this weekend. Eli Kassis would be the second to qualify after defeating Ken Yukuhiro, followed by Jason Ye defeating Carlos Oliveros and Dominguez defeating Tomasz Sodomirski. In the final round, Manfield also defeated Oliveros, Simon Nielsen also defeated Yukuhiro, and Sam Pardee defeated Brian Boss for the 12-win threshold. Daniel Goetschel outranked Matt Sperling on tiebreaks at 11-4-1; notably, Sperling posted a flawless 10-0 record in Modern with Esper Goryo's Vengeance hampered by a poor draft showing. This was followed closely by Mark Stanton with a 9-0-1 record.[2]
An uncorrected error by Bart Van Etten in Round 13 warranted a disqualification after investigation, the changed result letting Javier Dominguez to later advance into the top eight.[3]
Top 8
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | No Ah Ma | 2 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Daniel Goetschel | 3 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Daniel Goetschel | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Simon Nielsen | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Javier Dominguez | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Simon Nielsen | 3 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Simon Nielsen | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Sam Pardee | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Jason Ye | 2 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Sam Pardee | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Sam Pardee | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Eli Kassis | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Eli Kassis | 3 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Seth Manfield | 1 | |||||||||||
Playoffs
Nadu was the clear runaway, with high win rates despite being the number one deck going in. Metagame choices of Mono-Black Necro and Jeskai Control were dispatched in the quarters, as the tutor-heavy Bant deck kept it running while the others had their occasional awkward draws, like failing to draw Necrodominance or missing on Supreme Verdict. Nielsen's win, an appropriate birthday gift, put him in with a strong position going into the World Championship at 57. Further down were a closer group, with Karlov Manor Champion Manfield at 48 and triple Top-16 players Ye at 47 and Dominguez at 45.
Results
| Place | Player | Deck | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Nielsen
|
Bant Nadu | $50,000 | 27 | Sixth Top Finish |
| 2 | Sam Pardee
|
Bant Nadu | $20,000 | 23 | Seventh Top Finish |
| 3 |  Daniel Goetschel
|
Four-Color Nadu | $15,000 | 20 | |
| 4 | Eli Kassis
|
Bant Nadu | $15,000 | 20 | Fourth Top Finish |
| 5 | No Ah Ma
|
Mono-Black Necro | $10,000 | 18 | |
| 6 | Jason Ye
|
Bant Nadu | $10,000 | 18 | Second Top Finish |
| 7 | Javier Dominguez
|
Jeskai Control | $5,000 | 18 | Tenth Top Finish |
| 8 | Seth Manfield
|
Mono-Black Necro | $5,000 | 18 | Twelfth Top Finish |
References
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (June 28, 2024). "Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 Day One Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (June 29, 2024). "Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 Day Two Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (June 29, 2024). "Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 Round 14 Disqualification". Magic.gg.