Professional players of the competitive collectible card game Magic: the Gathering descended on Richmond, Virginia from all over the world this weekend to compete in the pro tour for the current expansion set, Dominaria, which was released in April. This was the third of four events this season leading up to this year’s World Championship.
Out of the 460 competitors, all there by invite only, top honors went to 23-year-old Wyatt Darby, originally from Ainsworth, now living in Iowa City. In addition to a cash prize and pro points (which govern benefits such as automatic invitations to subsequent events), Darby’s pro tour win awards him the opportunity to compete in the World Championship. He’ll join the 23 other top players of the season in Las Vegas this September for the year’s highest competition for individual players.
Magic: The Gathering has been engaging fans of highly strategic gameplay since it debuted from Wizards of the Coast in 1993. The game remains popular among both casual players and competitive professional players; WotC estimates around 20 million people play worldwide. Magic involves skills in both gameplay and deck construction. Several new sets of cards are released each year, from which players build decks of creatures, artifacts, spells and other play tricks designed in a fantasy setting that they use to battle each other in duels.
Darby eked out a 3-2 finals victory in Richmond last night in a tense game five against Portugal’s Gonçalo Pinto. Pro Tour Dominaria kicked off with booster drafts, where players each received three packs of the current set to create a playable deck of cards, and continued in standard, a constructed format where players competed with decks built prior to the competition. Days one and two, this past Friday and Saturday, each consisted of three rounds of booster draft followed by five rounds of standard. Players had to achieve 12 match points to advance to Saturday’s play.
The top eight players then advanced to Sunday’s standard format, single elimination bracket play. All top eight matches were played three out of five. On reaching the finals, Darby won his first two games against Pinto handily, the efficiency of his mono red aggro deck on full display. The next two games went to Pinto, forcing a game five, which was very close, coming down to the last few cards that Darby drew to gain advantage and take the win, after being brought down to just one life point. With both players running aggressive decks (Pinto was piloting one of the four black-red aggro decks in the top eight), the finals moved at breakneck speed, making for exciting gameplay.
Darby turned heads during the competition with his cool and collected demeanor. Despite Pro Tour Dominaria marking his first ever top eight appearance, Darby maintained an impressive outward calm, frequently remarked on by the commentators. Earlier on Sunday, he drew David vs. Goliath comparisons for his semi-finals win against Magic superstar Owen Turtenwald, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
In addition to cementing his own place as a star on the rise in the world of professional play, Darby’s pro tour win, believed to be a first for an Iowan, elevates Iowa’s status on the national and world stages as a formidable training ground for competitive Magic players. There is also hope among local players that successes like Darby’s might eventually attract tournament events like Pro Tour or Grand Prix to Iowa.
