Brian Kibler
| Brian Kibler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Demographics | |
| Nickname | The Dragonmaster |
| Born | September 7, 1980 |
| Residence | Carmel Valley, California, U.S. |
| Nationality |
 American |
| Professional Career | |
| Pro Tour debut | Pro Tour Chicago 1997 |
| Winnings | $292,247 (as of 2018-08-06) |
| Top Finishes | 5 (2 wins) |
| GP top 8s | 13 (3 wins) |
| Median Pro Tour Finish | 90 |
| PTs Played | 60 |
| Lifetime Pro Points | 454 (as of 2018-08-14) |
| Awards | |
| Hall of Fame | |
| PT Champion | |
Brian Kibler is an American Game Designer, streamer, and member of the Hall of Fame after being inducted in 2010. He has won two Pro Tours and placed in the Top 8 of three other Pro Tours. He has also three wins in thirteen Top 8 finishes at the Grand Prix level to his name.[1]
History
Kibler's playing days go back to the very first Pro Tour in the Junior Division. It was not until 1998 that he got to play in the big leagues, when he achieved this by winning one of the toughest Grand Prix Top 8s of all time, the Chicago 1998 Grand Prix.
He played in two Pro Tours that first year, and despite a Top 64 finish in LA 1998, he did not get back there until the tail end of the 1999–00 Pro Tour Season, which he would close out with a Top 64 finish at Worlds. He would earn his first Top 8 and an indelible nickname: "The Dragonmaster". Playing in the semifinals of Chicago 2000, Kibler squared off against Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz in a Fires of Yavimaya Standard mirror match. Kibler won the match with exactly those two cards and earned a special place in the hearts of Magic players everywhere, and his third-place finish was the best Pro Tour showing of the second leg of his career. During that time he would make the Top 8 of a Grand Prix five times with two trophies to show for his efforts, make the Top 8 of Nationals multiple times, and become one of the most popular writers and personalities in the game before retiring at the end of the 2004 season—a year before the advent of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame.
When Kibler did not get into the Hall of Fame during his first couple of years of eligibility as a retired player, he experienced a new-found fire to play and suddenly found himself back in the PTQ trenches looking for a blue envelope that would let him start the third leg of his career. He won a PTQ and the right to compete in Pro Tour Honolulu and promptly made his second career Top 8. It was at his very next Pro Tour that he finally did what he had been trying to do for more than a decade and a half when he won Pro Tour Austin.
"I felt like I'd missed an opportunity when the Hall of Fame was announced after I'd stopped playing on the Pro Tour," said Kibler. "I knew that my past results wouldn't cut it, and I also knew that I could have done better. I think the biggest change in my game since my first run on the Pro Tour is just maturity. I have a much better perspective on the game and life in general, and it helps me stay focused at times that I may have otherwise gone off the rails in the past."
Despite having stepped back from most of the Magic scene around 2015 in favor of Hearthstone, he returned to regularly making Magic content in 2019 with Sean Plott's What The Deck and streaming multiplayer Commander, as well as a new YouTube show called Commander At Home.
At the 2023 MagicCon Philadelphia. Brian hosted the "Commander Showdown" of the Command Zone alongside content creator Voxy. At MagicCon Las Vegas 2025, he proposed to his girlfriend Olivia Gobert-Hicks.[2]
Accomplishments
| Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Grand Prix | Toronto | Block Constructed | 30–31 August 1997 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | Pro Tour | Chicago | Standard | 1–3 December 2000 | 3 |
| 2001–02 | Grand Prix | Houston | Extended | 5–6 January 2002 | 2 |
| 2001–02 | Grand Prix | Tampa | Limited | 23–24 February 2002 | 6 |
| 2001–02 | Grand Prix | Milwaukee | Standard | 11–12 May 2002 | 6 |
| 2002–03 | Grand Prix | Boston | Limited | 22–23 February 2003 | 1 |
| 2002–03 | Masters | Yokohama | Extended | 9–11 May 2003 | 7 |
| 2002–03 | Nationals | San Diego | Standard and Booster Draft | 27–29 June 2003 | 6 |
| 2003–04 | Grand Prix | Kansas City | Rochester Draft | 18–19 October 2003 | 4 |
| 2003–04 | Grand Prix | Washington, D.C. | Team Limited | 17–18 April 2004 | 4 |
| 2003–04 | Nationals | Kansas City | Standard and Booster Draft | 18–20 June 2004 | 6 |
| 2003–04 | Grand Prix | New Jersey | Block Constructed | 14–15 August 2004 | 2 |
| 2009 | Pro Tour | Honolulu | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 5–7 June 2009 | 6 |
| 2009 | Pro Tour | Austin | Extended and Booster Draft | 16–18 October 2009 | 1 |
| 2009 | Grand Prix | Minneapolis | Limited | 14–15 November 2009 | 3 |
| 2010 | Grand Prix | Sendai | Standard | 5–6 June 2010 | 1 |
| 2010 | Pro Tour | Amsterdam | Extended and Booster Draft | 3–5 September 2010 | 6 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Denver | Limited | 19–20 February 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | Pro Tour | Honolulu | Standard and Booster Draft | 10–12 February 2012 | 1 |
| 2012–13 | Grand Prix | Anaheim | Block Constructed | 26–27 May 2012 | 6 |
| 2012–13 | Grand Prix | San Diego | Modern | 16–17 March 2013 | 6 |
→ Source: Wizards.com
Pro Tour Results
| Season | Pro Tour | Format | Finish | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Chicago | Extended | 156 | |
| 1997–98 | Los Angeles | Block Constructed | 60 | $420 |
| 1999–00 | Los Angeles | Booster Draft | 80 | |
| 1999–00 | Worlds (Brussels) | Special | 62 | $510 |
| 2000–01 | New York | Team Limited | 91 | |
| 2000–01 | Chicago | Standard | 3 | $15,000 |
| 2000–01 | Los Angeles | Rochester Draft | 74 | |
| 2000–01 | Tokyo | Block Constructed | 88 | |
| 2000–01 | Barcelona | Booster Draft | 60 | $540 |
| 2000–01 | Worlds (Toronto) | Special | 100 | |
| 2001–02 | New York | Team Limited | 98 | |
| 2001–02 | New Orleans | Extended | 15 | $3,500 |
| 2001–02 | San Diego | Rochester Draft | 55 | $590 |
| 2001–02 | Osaka | Block Constructed | 92 | |
| 2001–02 | Nice | Booster Draft | 233 | |
| 2001–02 | Worlds (Sydney) | Special | 11 | $5,000 |
| 2002–03 | Boston | Team Limited | 81 | |
| 2002–03 | Houston | Extended | 158 | |
| 2002–03 | Chicago | Rochester Draft | 55 | $590 |
| 2002–03 | Venice | Block Constructed | 201 | |
| 2002–03 | Yokohama | Booster Draft | 36 | $1,050 |
| 2002–03 | Worlds (Berlin) | Special | 81 | |
| 2003–04 | Boston | Team Limited | 58 | |
| 2003–04 | New Orleans | Extended | 77 | |
| 2003–04 | Amsterdam | Rochester Draft | 146 | |
| 2003–04 | Kobe | Block Constructed | 51 | $645 |
| 2003–04 | San Diego | Booster Draft | 43 | $800 |
| 2003–04 | Seattle | Team Limited | 68 | |
| 2003–04 | Worlds (San Francisco) | Special | 164 | |
| 2005 | Atlanta | Team Limited | 48 | |
| 2005 | Philadelphia | Block Constructed | 75 | $425 |
| 2009 | Honolulu | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 7 | $10,000 |
| 2009 | Austin | Extended and Booster Draft | 1 | $40,000 |
| 2009 | Worlds (Rome) | Special | 166 | |
| 2010 | San Diego | Standard and Booster Draft | 228 | |
| 2010 | San Juan | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 152 | |
| 2010 | Amsterdam | Extended and Booster Draft | 6 | $10,500 |
| 2010 | Worlds (Chiba) | Special | 78 | |
| 2011 | Paris | Standard and Booster Draft | 110 | |
| 2011 | Nagoya | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 300 | |
| 2011 | Philadelphia | Modern and Booster Draft | 14 | $4,500 |
| 2011 | Worlds (San Francisco) | Special | 54 | $610 |
| 2012 | Dark Ascension in Honolulu | Standard and Booster Draft | 1 | $40,000 |
| 2012 | Avacyn Restored in Barcelona | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 188 | |
| 2012–13 | Return to Ravnica in Seattle | Modern and Booster Draft | 298 | |
| 2012–13 | Gatecrash in Montreal | Standard and Booster Draft | 80 | |
| 2012–13 | Dragon's Maze in San Diego | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 18 | $2,500 |
| 2013–14 | Theros in Dublin | Standard and Booster Draft | 416 | |
| 2013–14 | Born of the Gods in Valencia | Modern and Booster Draft | 103 | |
| 2013–14 | Journey into Nyx in Atlanta | Block Constructed and Booster Draft | 115 | |
| 2013–14 | Magic 2015 in Portland | Standard and Booster Draft | 49 | $1,500 |
| 2014–15 | Khans of Tarkir in Honolulu | Standard and Booster Draft | 320 | |
| 2014–15 | Fate Reforged in Washington, D.C. | Modern and Booster Draft | 59 | $1,000 |
| 2014–15 | Dragons of Tarkir in Brussels | Standard and Booster Draft | 214 | |
| 2014–15 | Magic Origins in Vancouver | Standard and Booster Draft | 73 | $1,000 |
| 2015–16 | Battle for Zendikar in Milwaukee | Standard and Booster Draft | 108 | |
| 2015–16 | Oath of the Gatewatch in Atlanta | Modern and Booster Draft | 240 | |
| 2015–16 | Shadows over Innistrad in Madrid | Standard and Booster Draft | 144 | |
| 2016–17 | Kaladesh in Honolulu | Standard and Booster Draft | 81 | |
| 2017–18 | 25th Anniversary in Minneapolis | Team Constructed | 57 | $1,000 |
→ Source: Wizards.com
References
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (November 7, 2010). "Brian Kibler - Hall of Fame". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Brian Kibler (June 22, 2025). "So our show went great. Especially the end.". Bluesky.