Pro Tour The Lord of the Rings
Pro Tour The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth | ||||
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Date | July 28-30, 2023 | |||
Location | Barcelona, Spain | |||
Attendance | 266 | |||
Format | Modern and Booster draft | |||
Prize pool | $500,000 | |||
Winner | Jake Beardsley | |||
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Pro Tour the Lord of the Rings was the final Pro Tour of the 2022–23 season. It took place on July 28-30, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. It followed the release of the straight-to-Modern set The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, and the first Modern Pro Tour after the return of the Pro Tour Label. Additionally, it was the final Pro Tour before 2023 World Championship, so it was the final chance to earn AMP and lock up a slot.
Modern
With most of Constructed Magic being relegated to MTG Arena from 2020 to 2023, Modern had been upended multiple times as to be basically unrecognizable from Mythic Championship IV Barcelona, especially with the release of Modern Horizons 2.
The One Ring and Orcish Bowmasters, released in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, were expected to make waves in the now turbulent format, by upgrading Tron and Rakdos decks, respectively. Additionally, the land-cycling spells introduced in The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth were additions to the Living End and Crashing Footfalls decks. Delighted Halfling and Samwise Gamgee made appearances in select decks as a mana-dork and combo piece, respectively.
Day One
Featured drafters: Nathan Steuer
The top eight players after day one:
Rank | Player | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Simon Nielsen | 24 |
2 | Gregory Orange | 22 |
3 | Martin Dominguez | 21 |
4 | Zachary Kiihne | 21 |
5 | Christian Calcano | 21 |
6 | Jake Beardsley | 21 |
7 | Kai Budde | 21 |
8 | Kosaka Kazune | 21 |
Day Two
Featured drafters: Kai Budde
Top 8
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
1 | Javier Dominguez | 1 | |||||||||||
8 | Dominic Harvey | 3 | |||||||||||
8 | Dominic Harvey | 1 | |||||||||||
4 | Jake Beardsley | 3 | |||||||||||
4 | Jake Beardsley | 3 | |||||||||||
5 | Marco Del Pivo | 1 | |||||||||||
4 | Jake Beardsley | 3 | |||||||||||
2 | Christian Calcano | 2 | |||||||||||
3 | Christian Calcano | 3 | |||||||||||
6 | Kai Budde | 0 | |||||||||||
6 | Christian Calcano | 3 | |||||||||||
7 | Simon Nielsen | 2 | |||||||||||
2 | Simon Nielsen | 3 | |||||||||||
7 | Stefano Vinci | 1 |
Javier Dominguez and Simon Nielsen make it back-to-back Pro Tour Top 8's, joined by two Italian players in Marco Del Pivo and Stefano Vinci. Additionally, Kai Budde would reach his tenth career top eight. Sadly, on this Sunday, the promise "Kai does not lose" would be broken, as Christian Calcano would beat him in the quarterfinals, en route to the finals, piloting a Mono-Green Tron deck. There he would face Jake Beardsley, who in his first Pro Tour, cheered on by commentators and fans, would win the day with a Rakdos Evoke Deck.
Place | Player | Prize | Pro Points | Decks | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jake Beardsley | $50,000 | 40 | Rakdos Evoke | First Pro Tour |
2 | Christian Calcano | $30,000 | 40 | Mono-Green Tron | Second Pro Tour Top 8 |
3 | Simon Nielsen | $15,000 | 40 | Mono-Green Tron | Back-to-Back Top 8s |
4 | Dominic Harvey | $15,000 | 39 | Amulet Titan | |
5 | Javier Dominguez | $10,000 | 45 | Mono-Green Tron | Back-to-Back Top 8s, Third in Total |
6 | Marco Del Pivo | $10,000 | 39 | Temur Rhinos | |
7 | Stefano Vinci | $10,000 | 39 | Temur Rhinos | |
8 | Kai Budde | $10,000 | 39 | Temur Rhinos | Tenth Pro Tour Top 8 |