Austin Bursavich
| Austin Bursavich | |
|---|---|
| Demographics | |
| Nickname | Mtghofbot |
| Nationality |
 American |
| Professional Career | |
| Top Finishes | 4 (1 win) |
| GP top 8s | 3 (1 win) |
| Awards | |
| Grand Finals Champion | |
Austin Bursavich (pronounced "Bur-Savage") is an American professional Magic: The Gathering player.
Professional play
Austin Bursavich began playing Magic in 2005 and made his Pro Tour debut in 2009. He made his first Grand Prix Top 8 in 2011 and his second Grand Prix Top 8 in 2012. He won the Star City Games Dallas Open in 2017. Bursavich has been a mainstay on Magic Online for the majority of his Magic career, playing under the Magic Online screen name "THEsneakyhomunculous" and the MTG Arena screen name "PercsAlert". His career really gained traction in 2019 with his victory at Grand Prix Dallas. He then finished 5th at Mythic Championship VI Richmond in November 2019 and 6th at Players Tour Phoenix in February 2020, making the Top 8 of back-to-back high-level events. By finishing in the Top 16 of the Players Tour Finals in July 2020, he qualified for the 2020 Season Grand Finals, which took place in October 2020. He won the event, outlasting 31 other players to take down the trophy and 1st place prize.[1] Not long after, he was invited to participate in the 2020-21 Rivals League, replacing Eric Froehlich.[2] After Round 7 of the Zendikar Rising Championship on December 4, 2020, Bursavich reached the highest unofficial ELO rating in Magic's history, ousting previous leader Lukas Blohon's 2432 rating with a new record peak ELO rating of 2433.
Temporary suspension
On May 13, 2020, Bursavich posted a series of messages on Twitter detailing an outline of the upcoming organized play changes a week before Magic.gg released the information about cutting a lot of the professional tournament's prize pool and moving all paper tournaments to Arena. Bursavich claimed he had not seen the announcement but had heard the information from elite players who leaked it to him to do the right thing and let the public know. He was consequently suspended from the DCI, Magic Online, and Magic Arena after failing to cooperate with a Wizards of the Coast investigation.[3] His suspension caused an uproar in the community, because he was only the whistleblower on the fact that League players had unfairly benefited from the info.[4][5][6]
The suspension was lifted without further explanation on June 16, 2020.[7]
League play
| Season | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2020-21 Rivals League | 9 |
| 2021–22 Rivals League | 9 |
Accomplishments
| Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Dallas-Fort Worth | Standard | 9–10 April 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | Grand Prix | Austin | Limited | 7–8 January 2012 | 7 |
| 2018–19 | Grand Prix | Dallas-Fort Worth | Modern | 29–30 June 2019 | 1 |
| 2018-19 | Mythic Championship | Richmond | Standard and Booster Draft | 8-10 November 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | Players Tour | Phoenix | Pioneer and Booster Draft | 7-9 February 2020 | 6 |
| 2020 | Grand Finals | MTG Arena | Standard and Historic | 9-11 October 2020 | 1 |
| 2022-23 | Arena Championship | MTG Arena | Standard and Booster Draft | 27-28 May, 2023 | 5 |
→ Source: Wizards.com
References
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (October 15, 2020). "A Surprise 10 Year in the Making". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 20, 2020). "Austin Bursavich Invited To The 2020-21 Rivals League". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Nick Miller (May 25, 2020). "Bursavich Allegedly Suspended For Failing To Cooperate In Investigation". StarCityGames.com.
- ↑ Patric Kobeck (May 24, 2020). "WOTC Has Just Destroyed The Integrity Of Competitive Magic". Reddit.
- ↑ Marcus Luong (May 24, 2020). "Austin Bursavich banned from MTGO, MTGA, and paper magic for not revealing source for Organized Play changes". Reddit.
- ↑ Pascal Maynard (May 24, 2020). "Pro Player Gets Banned for Tweeting". Themythicstore.com.
- ↑ Nick Miller (June 16, 2020). "WotC Lifts Suspension Of Austin Bursavich". StarCityGames.com.