Meet the Pro Tour Top Eight
A brief profile of each player in the 2023 Philidelphia Pro Tour Top 8. Decklists inside!
The Sunday Hopefuls
This weekend 218 players descended on Philadelphia to see if they had what it took to reign supreme. Now, only eight remain; eight players left to battle it out leaving one final player remaining. Featuring multiple Hall of Famers and several new faces to the Magic Pro Tour scene, the player base for this Top 8 is as diverse as the Pioneer decks they brought with them. Let’s take a quick look at these Sunday hopefuls.
#1 Shota Yasooka
Adding a fifth Pro Tour Top 8 to his already extensive list of accomplishments, the Hall of Fame Pro from Japan is hosting turn this run into his third Pro Tour win. Piloting an unconventional build of Rakdos, Shota became the first player to punch their ticket after racking up his 12th match win in Round 13.
Shota’s build of Rakdos features three copies of Mutavault, and a mainboard copy of Duress. While we don’t know if this break from convention will be enough to secure the trophy at the end of the day, it was enough to leave him the last Rakdos Midrange player standing despite being the most played deck at the event.
Rakdos Midrange
Pioneer
5 mythic
48 rare
5 uncommon
2 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Planeswalkers (2)
Creatures (15)
Artifacts (1)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (26)
60 Cards
$812.98
Sideboard
15 Cards
$35.93
#2 Benton Madsen
From Magic Arena and thoughts of an 0-8 finish to Day One Points Leader, Benton Madsen’s Cinderella tale is one for the storybooks. Breaking from the more popular decks in the field by playing an updated take of Michael Letsch Selesnya Aura’s deck from the US Regional Championships, Madsen quickly became an overnight sensation. Magic fans will be eagerly tuning in Sunday to see if he can go all the way.
Selesnya Auras
Pioneer
0 mythic
28 rare
13 uncommon
19 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (17)
Enchantments (24)
Lands (19)
60 Cards
$278.56
Sideboard
15 Cards
$57.23
#3 Takuumi Matsuura
Like Shota, Takuumi Matsuura earned his seat at the Pro Tour from Japan’s Regional Championship. However, unlike Shota, Takuumi came to this event looking to make a name for himself in his first Pro Tour appearance. Takuumi’s updated Mono-White Humans deck featuring Skrelv and Ossification is poised to fight through the rest of the competition and bring this foray to an exciting conclusion.
Mono-White Humans
Pioneer
1 mythic
35 rare
10 uncommon
14 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (34)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$184.98
Sideboard
15 Cards
$111.95
#4 Reid Duke
“Good Guy” Reid Duke makes his fifth Pro Tour Top 8 appearance with the hopes of converting it in his first solo Pro Tour win. Reid has put on a clinic piloting this weekend’s breakout deck, Izzet Creativity. Can this grizzled young Hall of Famer take this previously fringe played deck to the winner’s circle?
Izzet Creativity
Pioneer
6 mythic
30 rare
2 uncommon
22 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (25)
Sorceries (4)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$501.1
Sideboard
15 Cards
$55.79
#5 Nathan Steuer
The reigning Magic World Champion wasn’t one to approach this event laying down, and enters Top 8 ahead of the rest of his Team Handshake teammates who put on a dominant performance this weekend with multiple places in the Top 16. Steuer brings to bear the explosively powerful Lotus Field combo deck. Forgoing the usual control killer Thought Distortion, Team Handshake decided to switch things up for the Pro Tour by packing Dragon Lord Dramoka as their big uncounterable spell.
Lotus Field Combo
Pioneer
3 mythic
26 rare
11 uncommon
20 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (10)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (23)
Enchantments (1)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$311.16
Sideboard
15 Cards
$85.83
#6 Chris Ferber
Another Regional Championships top finisher, Chris Ferber joins Nathan Steuer as the second Lotus player in the Top 8. Ferber’s build does differ slightly from Steuer’s by including a small selection of cards like Fae of Wishes and Baral, Chief of Compiance in the mainboard, and then still playing Thought distortion in the sideboard.
Lotus Field Combo
Pioneer
3 mythic
28 rare
12 uncommon
17 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Creatures (12)
Instants (4)
Sorceries (21)
Enchantments (1)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$298.34
Sideboard
15 Cards
$83.61
#7 Gabriel Nassif
Yellowhat joins fellow teammate and Hall of Famer Reid Duke in the Top 8 and also in playing Izzet Creativity. As the most decorated player in this Top 8 he’s sure to be many viewer’s odds on favorite, but we’ll see if Nassif can hold off claimants to the throne both old and new when the dust settles. Win or lose, take solid in knowing he has Twitch Chat’s best interest at heads.
Izzet Creativity
Pioneer
6 mythic
30 rare
2 uncommon
22 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Instants (25)
Sorceries (4)
Lands (24)
60 Cards
$501.1
Sideboard
15 Cards
$55.93
#8 Derrick Davis
The final player to lock their seat in Top 8 is Derrick Davis. Piloting Engimatic Incarnation, Derrick was well prepared to take on a meta where the #1 deck in the field was Rakdos Midrange. While he might has the matchup edge against Shota, can Enigmatic keep up against a Top 8 where one half of the deck count is combo decks?
Enigmatic Fires
Pioneer
4 mythic
62 rare
5 uncommon
9 common
0
1
2
3
4
5
6+
Companion
Creatures (16)
Enchantments (32)
Lands (32)
80 Cards
$728.06
Sideboard
15 Cards
$26.15
