Pro Tour Aetherdrift
| Pro Tour Aetherdrift | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | February 21-23, 2025 | |||
| Location |
 Chicago, USA | |||
| Attendance | 348 | |||
| Format | Standard and Booster draft | |||
| Prize pool | $500,000 | |||
| Winner |
Matt Nass | |||
| ||||
Pro Tour Aetherdrift was the first Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour of the 2024–25 season. It took place on February 21-23, 2025, at Chicago MagicCon, USA.[1] The format was Aetherdrift Booster Draft and Standard Constructed. It would be the largest Pro Tour event since the beginning of the pandemic and Mythic Championship VI.
Standard
This would be the first returned Pro Tour season with Standard as the starting format, with Pro Tour Phyrexia and Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor having kicked off their seasons with Pioneer. The defining card of the World Championship, Unholy Annex, had completely fallen out of favor, being a huge liability against This Town Ain't Big Enough, one of the most played cards in the new Esper Nurturing Pixie self-bounce decks. Red aggro, headlined by Gruul Mice, led the field with 90 players, followed by Esper Pixie at 58 and Domain decks powered by Overlord of the Hauntwoods at 53. Abhorrent Oculus returned by Helping Hand made the next 30, and the rest had ten or fewer pilots, totaling nearly 100 pilots going off the beaten track.[2]
Day One
World Champion Javier Dominguez was the draft on camera, pulling together a Boros Cycling deck that only went 1-2. Pro Tour rookie David Frischer would win the pod. No archetype stood out in the Constructed rounds, with Domain Overlords being the best of the pillars but was by no means dominant. At the end of day one, veterans Matt Nass on Overlords and Ben Stark on Orzhov Pixie led the field, the first time the pair had been heard at the top tables since Mythic Invitational 2020 and the Players Tour Series 2, respectively. Allen Wu and Yuchen Liu headlined the 7-1s while Reid Duke would be the only player with a 6-1-1 finish.[3]
The top eight players after day one:
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Nass
|
24 |
| 2 | Ben Stark
|
24 |
| 3 |  Yuchen Liu
|
21 |
| 4 |  Dawson Courson
|
21 |
| 5 |  Toni Portolon
|
21 |
| 6 | Adam Brace
|
21 |
| 7 | Kyle Gonzales
|
21 |
| 8 | Allen Wu
|
21 |
Day Two
Ben Stark, featured drafter, drafted a slow Simic deck that struggled on playables, falling first to Nass's Izzet Cycling deck and ultimately failing to garner a win. Nass himself would go to the finals but lose to Liu, putting them at equal first with Pod 2 winner Matthew Giudes. Liu, Guides, Helena Brake, Andrea Mengucci, Hiroki Nakahara, and Zevin Faust all posted 6-0 in draft. Nass would take two more matches to be the first into the Top 8 in Round 13, followed by Faust in Round 14. Of the three big decks, Esper Pixie had a surprising failure to convert, with Overlords and Mice taking five of the eight slots. In Round 15, Kenta Harane defeats Vinícius Karam, Lucas Duchow defeats Liu, James Dimitrov defeats Matt Sperling and Christopher Leonard defeats Etienne Eggenschwiler. Liu would clinch his spot over William Araujo, and Ian Robb would take the last spot over Eggenschwiler. With about a hundred more players than its contemporary Pro Tours, four more players would end at 12 wins and hence qualify for Worlds: Abe Schnake, Ken Yukuhiro, Arne Huschenbeth and Karam. Additionally, three debutants would make the final day, a record for the modern Pro Tour system.[4]
Top 8
Up the Beanstalk was the card of the tournament, with three of the four decks using it making the top 4 and a fourth narrowly missing in the quarterfinals. First-seed and the most accomplished player in the field Nass played against Pro Tour debutant Dimitrov in the finals and despite a shaky Green-less opening hand, he made a 60-damage attack for victory just before Dimitrov turned the game around with the cards from a powerful Atraxa, Grand Unifier trigger.[5][6]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Matt Nass | 3 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Ian Robb | 1 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Matt Nass | 3 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Christopher Leonard | 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Lucas Duchow | 1 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Christopher Leonard | 3 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Matt Nass | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | James Dimitrov | 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Kenta Harane | 2 | |||||||||||
| 6 | James Dimitrov | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | James Dimitrov | 3 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Yuchen Liu | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Zevin Faust | 2 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Yuchen Liu | 3 | |||||||||||
Results
| Place | Player | Deck | Prize | Points | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Nass
|
Domain Overlords | $50,000 | 27 | Third Top Finish |
| 2 | James Dimitrov
|
Domain Overlords | $30,000 | 23 | Pro Tour debut |
| 3 | Christopher Leonard
|
Domain Overlords | $15,000 | 20 | First Top Finish |
| 4 | Yuchen Liu
|
Gruul Mice | $15,000 | 20 | Second Top Finish |
| 5 | Zevin Faust
|
Golgari Undergrowth | $9,000 | 20 | Pro Tour debut |
| 6 |  Kenta Harane
|
Jeskai Oculus | $9,000 | 20 | Second Top Finish |
| 7 | Lucas Duchow
|
Gruul Leyline | $9,000 | 18 | Second Top Finish |
| 8 | Ian Robb
|
Mono-Red Aggro | $9,000 | 18 | Pro Tour debut |
References
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (October 15, 2024). "The 2025 MagicCon and Pro Tour Schedule". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Frank Karsten (February 20, 2025). "Pro Tour Aetherdrift Standard Metagame Breakdown". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 22, 2025). "Pro Tour Aetherdrift Day One Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 23, 2025). "Pro Tour Aetherdrift Day Two Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 23, 2025). "Pro Tour Aetherdrift Top 8 Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 24, 2025). "The Finals of Pro Tour Aetherdrift". Magic.gg.