Barcelona hosted The Lord of the Rings Pro Tour tournament from July 28 to 30, showcasing the Modern format for the first time in years and multiple Magic: The Gathering World Champions securing a top-eight playoff finish.
Over 200 of the best Magic players from around the globe gathered in Barcelona for the final Pro Tour tournament of the 2022-2023 season. Players competed in a total of six rounds of Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Draft and up to 10 Swiss rounds of Modern Constructed, seeking a top eight finish and an invite to the 2022-2023 Magic World Championship that is scheduled to take place from Sept. 22 to 24 in Las Vegas.
Top-eight MTG players at Pro Tour Lord of the Rings
First to secure a top-eight finish at Pro Tour Lord of the Rings was Javier Dominguez. The MTG 2019 World Champion secured a seat at the top eight playoffs after having made the top eight at the previous Pro Tour March of the Machine tournament in Minneapolis. Dominguez brought the Mono-Green Tron deck to Pro Tour Lord Barcelona, defeating Kazune Kosaka on Rakdos Evoke to earn his thirteenth and final match win at the tournament.
Heading into the Barcelona tournament with seven Pro Tour wins and a World Championship title from 1999 was Kai Budde. Playing Temur Rhinos, Budde secured a top-eight finish at Pro Tour Lord of the Rings by defeating Sean Goddard on Five-Color Creativity. Joining Budde and Dominguez were six other top Magic players, including Nielsen and Calcano.
- First: Javier Dominguez from Spain playing Mono-Green Tron
- Second: Christian Calcano from the United States playing Mono-Green Tron
- Third: Simon Nielsen from Denmark playing Mono-Green Tron
- Fourth: Jake Beardsley from the United States playing Rakdos Evoke
- Fifth: Marco Del Pivo from Italy playing Temur Rhinos
- Sixth: Stefano Vinci from Italy playing Temur Rhinos
- Seventh: Kai Budde from Germany playing Temur Rhinos
- Eigth: Dominic Harvey from Canada playing Amulet Titan
Having already secured a World Championship invite to Las Vegas from the top-eight group was Simon Nielsen, who also went undefeated during day one of Pro Tour Barcelona. And standing out from the group was Harvey’s eighth-place finish on the only deck that wasn’t Mono-Green Tron, Rakdos Evoke, or Temur Rhinos.
Fans can watch the top eight playoff action unfold at Pro Tour Lord of the Rings on July 30, starting at 3am CT on Twitch.
