Pro Tour-New York Preview

Randy Buehler

The Pro Tour returns to New York April 14-16. It's been over four years since new Englanders Mike Loconto and "Hammer" regnier won the very first two Pro Tours (in New York and L.A.). A lot has changed since then, but one thing is very much the same: the center of the competitive Magic universe is in New England. Boston area players like Darwin Kastle, Dave Humpherys, Justin Gary, Rob Dougherty, Billy Jensen, and Michelle Bush have been having a great season. All these players work together and frequent the same store: Your Move Games.

The crowd from Boston started their run last year at Pro Tour New York IV when they unveiled "The Utility Belt." Their twist on the Tinker/Wildfire deck put both Rob Dougherty and Dave Humpherys into the Top 8. A few months later Humpherys piloted one of the very first Replenish decks to another Top 8 finish at U.S. Nationals. At the beginning of this season Humpherys and Dougherty teamed up with Darwin Kastle to win the first team Pro Tour.

A little over a month later Kastle was one of three -- count them, three! -- Boston area players to make the Top 8 at Pro Tour London. While that was the first Top 8 for Mike Bregoli and Billy Jensen, it marked Darwin's 5th trip to the final day of a Pro Tour. Only Jon Finkel has more with six.

In Chicago, Your Move Games unveiled yet another innovative deck for the third Pro Tour of the season. Their Recur/Survival deck with a side of "Fruity Pebbles" (nicknamed "Wheaties") didn't put anyone in the Top 8, but it did have the highest overall winning percentage of any archetype in Chicago. Early in the Extended qualifier season that followed Chicago, Michelle Bush handed a new combo deck to Darwin and Rob before they flew off to Grand Prix Seattle. Her Trix (AKA Necro/Donate for you oatmeal-eaters) deck put them both in the top 16 of that Grand Prix, and went on to totally define the format. Only Darwin and Rob played Trix in Seattle, but by Grand Prix Philadelphia the deck was so successful that 10 of the top 17 players played it. Five of them were Boston area players: Michelle herself (qualifying for New York), Darwin, Rob, Dave, and Billy Jensen (who was fresh off a win at Grand Prix San Diego).

Darwin Kastle was very much in contention to win the last Pro Tour- he fell one Howling Wolf short of advancing to tie Finkel's record six Sunday appearances. He did pad his lead in the Player of the Year race though. (His 56 points puts him well ahead of Alex Shvartsman at 44. Dougherty, Humpherys, Jensen, and Justin Gary are also all very much in the thick of the race.) Flash-forward a few more weeks to the Invitational and Dave Humpherys not only finished in a tie for second, but winner Chris Pikula was playing Dave's decks! I, for one, am very curious to find out what amazing deck this group has come up with for Pro Tour New York this year. They've had excellent decks for every major event since...? Well, one could date their current string of success at constructed events back to Humpherys' "Free Whaley" deck at Pro Tour Rome. Or even to Darwin's Intuition/Living Death deck at PT LA III - it was so good that even Adam Katz played it into the top 8. That was also about the time Darwin won the Invitational ... All in all, the men and women from Your Move Games have an amazing track record and they have to be among the most feared players going into this Pro Tour.

Other players to watch:

Jon Finkel - Some have begun to question Finkel's game because he's missed the cut to the second day twice this season. However, he did finish in the top sixteen in Chicago and he finished 2nd at the Invitational. An invitation to the Team Challenge being held in conjunction with this Pro Tour has him motivated to practice. If he shows up with his "A" game, look out. Finkel did win his hometown Pro Tour the last time it was held at the NY Armory.

Mike Long - I'll take "Pro Tour Trivia" for $800. OK, what was the last constructed Pro Tour (not counting Worlds) Mike Long played? The answer is... PT LA III - the one David Price won. But now, buoyed by his success in LA, Long appears ready to return to Tour as a full-time competitor. There's still a good group of Magic minds in Virginia so anything is possible. However, the lack of any good beatdown creatures doesn't exactly play to the strengths of Virginia players like Kyle Rose.

Dave Price - The King of Qualifiers still hasn't missed a Pro Tour that had qualifiers. He's only managed 2 top 32 finishes in that stretch of time, but I have to tip my hat to his streak.

Alex Shvartsman - Alex needs a good finish in NY if he wants to catch Kastle in the Player of the Year race. He only has one top 16 (and no top 8's) in his Pro Tour career, but you can't make EIGHT Grand Prix Top 8's without knowing how to play Magic.

Scott Johns, Gab Tsang, Brian Weissman - Welcome back to the Tour; it's been a while. Scott had stayed heavily involved in the game while he took some time off from actually competing. Given his affiliation with Mogg Squad, he should be ready. It'll be interesting to see if Weissman and Tsang can shake the rust off of their games, which were once among the best in the world.

Other lost lambs returning to the PT fold -- Andy Wolf (that dead ringer for the Cackling Fiend), Sigurd Eskelund (after a stretch devoted to academics), and Dominic Crapuchettes (who returns to the site of his greatest success - a 2nd place finish two years ago at the Armory).

Alan Comer and Zvi Mowshowitz - What will these guys come up with next?! Whatever their new deck is, expect most of Mogg Squad to play it and expect someone to do well with it. Comer already has 2 Top 8 appearances this season (giving him a career total of 4) and he's finally getting recognition as one of the very best players in the world.

Kai Budde - Kai was on fire last summer, but hasn't done much since PT London. He is without a doubt one of the hardest working players on Tour and I'm sure he'll be well practiced for this event.

The English - The last constructed Pro Tour was also the first time all the top British players worked together. Their Cocoa Pebbles deck (AKA Skull Catapult) was the talk of the tournament and the direct ancestor of the Trix deck that forced the DCI to ban Mana Vault and Dark Ritual. Can they recapture that magic? We'll find out in a few weeks.

Tune in to the Sideboard Online all weekend. We'll have round by round coverage of the Pro Tour including feature match reports, pictures, decklists, pairings, and standings.