If you haven’t been paying close attention you might have missed out on a bit of news from Pro Tour Aether Revolt, namely the beginning of the soft launch test season of the Pro Tour Team Series. To catch you up to speed, 32 teams of six players each entered the competition. Each team has a chance at a $36,000 top prize for accumulating the most pro points across three pro tours. The Pro Tour Amonkhet Team Series will be the second of those events and Pro Tour Hour of Devastation will be the third. The top two teams will face off at the World Championship.
If you want to catch up the details of who is playing for each team, you’ll want to read this announcement from January and if you want to familiarize yourself with the standings after Pro Tour Aether Revolt you can do so here, but this page should get updated after Pro Tour Amonkhet.
The team series is a great addition to the Pro Tour. As long as competitive Magic has existed, players at all levels have prepared in teams, whether with friends at the kitchen table before a local event or with other pro players from across the world before a major event. Even though Magic is generally an individual competition, it is not a solo endeavor by any means. The collectible nature of the cards requires us to interact socially to acquire cards we need, and the social networks we build extend from there.
Beginning today and continuing through Thursday afternoon we’ll be counting down all 32 teams competing in the Pro Tour Team Series and preview the team members who’ll be at Pro Tour Amonkhet, where the team sits in the standings, and how far they stand to climb, or fall, in Nashville this weekend.
The soft launch, as we’ll see, is not without its flaws. However, as this was put together as a trial run of sorts, it will be understandable to see that some challenges were bound to occur. The inclusion of anyone qualified for Pro Tour Aether Revolt has had the expected result of some teams being short several players who were unable to qualify for Pro Tour Amonkhet. One team will be, unfortunately, completely absent.
Once the dust settles from this Pro Tour we’ll take a look ahead to Pro Tour Hour of Devastation and see what the future, at Pro Tour Ixalan, might hold for the Pro Tour Team Series. For now though, let’s begin the first four team previews, counting up from #32 to #29. Come back this afternoon for the continuation with #28 to #25 and every day this week until we preview the top eight teams on Thursday.
#32 NorCal
Kicking things off, Team NorCal unfortunately will be without four of its six members for Pro Tour Amonkhet. Jason Smyth, who finished strong at Pro Tour Kaladesh, earning him an invite to Pro Tour Aether Revolt, was not able to put up an equally strong performance, but was able to place highly enough at an RPTQ in Santa Clara to represent his team in Nashville. Harold Chow qualified for Pro Tour Aether Revolt through an RPTQ in Berkeley and finished strong at the same RPTQ as Jason Smyth to return to the Pro Tour.
NorCal is guaranteed to move up a few points from Smyth and Chow’s appearances, but will obviously hope for more. Smyth has shown he can play well at the Pro Tour in the past, and both players shouldn’t be written off. Even though they only collected 15 points at Pro Tour Aether Revolt, only 13 points currently separate the bottom 16 teams while 34 points separate NorCal from the #1 spot.
#31 Dave & Adam’s
The team sponsored by Dave & Adam’s Card World will also only be sending two of its representatives to Nashville this weekend. Joey Manner finished strong at Pro Tour Kaladesh earning him a spot at Pro Tour Aether Revolt. Since then he’s established himself in the Silver Pro Player Club which grants an invite to the next Pro Tour, which in this case will be Amonkhet. Joining Manner will be teammate Jacky Wang who won an RPTQ to earn a trip back to the Pro Tour.
With only 16 points in their bucket, Dave & Adam’s has a similarly but not impossible climb out of the basement as Manner and Wang will look to keep the team within striking distance, hoping their remaining teammates will be able to re-join them at Pro Tour Hour of Devastation.
#30 Mox Box Bowl
The Mox Box will be sending five of its six members to the Pro Tour in hopes of digging themselves up from a disappointing finish at Pro Tour Aether Revolt that saw them pick up only 18 pro points. The team consists of several Silver Club pros including Ben Friedman, Rob Pisano, and Paul Yeem. Alex Majlaton needed to win an RPTQ and Brandon Fischer needed to finish in the top eight of a Grand Prix but both players will be joining their teammates in Nashville.
Looking up from 18 points, Mox Box Bowl will hope to bring in more than the 15 points they’re guaranteed just for showing up, and they have the talent to do it. Having five of their members will certainly help separate them from some of the other teams in the bottom of the standings.
#29 Mutiny
Our last team for this preview is also our first team that will be sending all six of its members. That’s because five of the six members are in the Gold or Platinum Pro Player club, while the sixth member, Joshua Cho, has earned his invite through reaching Silver status this year. On the other hand, a team with a resume this strong should surely have been disappointed with only picking up 19 points at Pro Tour Aether Revolt.
David Ochoa, Joshua Cho, Gerry Thompson, Justin Cohen, Matthew Severa, and Samuel Black are all names you might be familiar with as they’ve all been very successful at the highest levels of competition in the past, and if any team has a chance to rocket back from the bottom of the standings this weekend, it’s this team for sure. Mutiny certainly isn’t an underdog pick, based on their talent level and expectations, but they could make a big move up the leaderboard in Nashville.
Make sure you come back this afternoon for the preview of teams #28 through #25 including Last Samurai, Ligamagic, Cardhoarder, and Top Level.