Host Blake Rasmussen is back with a new WeeklyMTG, this time with a big announcement and two interviews with Pro Tour finalists Reid Duke and Benton Madsen.
Get Your Commander Decks Ready
CommandFest are returning in April!
These conventions are geared exclusively for players looking to play Commander, with all sorts of events and free play space to jam games with friends and strangers. Folks in America will be able to join CommandFest from April 14 to 16 at one of four locations across the US. Read more about the events, their pricing, and their promos!
Pro Tour Phyrexia Debrief
The bulk of this week’s WeeklyMTG is dedicated to interviews with both Reid Duke, recent Pro Tour Phyrexia winner, and Brenton Madsen, Pro Tour newcomer and runner-up to the tournament.
Duke played Izzet Creativity for the Pioneer portion of the three-day tournament, taking it to his first Pro Tour Victory.
Reid Duke's Pioneer Izzet Creativity (1st)
| Creatures (2) 1 Xenagos, God of Revels 1 Worldspine Wurm Spells (29) 4 Fiery Impulse 1 Secrets of the Key 1 Spell Pierce 2 Spikefield Hazard 4 Fire Prophecy 4 Impulse 3 Make Disappear 4 Indomitable Creativity 1 Valakut Awakening 4 Big Score 1 Dig Through Time Enchantments (5) 4 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker 1 Shark Typhoon | Lands (24) 1 Hall of Storm Giants 2 Mountain 2 Mutavault 1 Otawara, Soaring City 4 Riverglide Pathway 2 Shivan Reef 2 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance 3 Spirebluff Canal 4 Steam Vents 3 Stormcarved Coast Sideboard (15) 3 Rending Volley 1 Aether Gust 1 Disdainful Stroke 2 Narset’s Reversal 2 Negate 1 Mystical Dispute 3 Shark Typhoon 2 Hullbreaker Horror |
“The draft was great, it was like picking up where I left off,” Duke said of the Phyrexia: All Will Be One draft. “I navigated into my favorite color combination in this set which is Red and Green.” Duke described himself as more confident with the draft portion of the tournament, rather than the Pioneer portion.
Duke described his victory as a haze, with the reality of his victory not fully hitting him until Cedric Phillips brought him on stage. “I was in this totally dazed state, not really able to process what had happened. Cedric invited me onto the stage and he announced to the room ‘I want to introduce your Pro Tour Champion, Reid Duke. And I teared up a little bit in the moment.”
For a deeper look into Reid Duke’s Pro Tour experience, check out our coverage of the event.
Duke lost to Brenton Madsen earlier in the event, only to face him again in the finals. Rasmussen interviewed Madsen next, a relative newcomer to the Pro Tour scene, with Pro Tour Phyrexia being his first.
Madsen has been playing Magic since 2012, starting back with Magic 2013 starter decks. Since then, Madsen has been at SCG Invitationals, PTQs, GPs, and more, before finding success more recently playing Izzet Creativity on Magic: The Gathering Online.
Madsen attributes his success to food of all things, describing an event where he brought food with him to an event, met another player who brought something to eat before the finals, and has since brought his own food to events to reduce the stress and mental load of having to eat between rounds.
With him to the Pro Tour, Madsen brought Selesnya Auras, a relatively uncommon deck choice to the tournament. Madsen revealed that after taking a walk around Central Park he thought about Michael Leches Aura’s list from the Regional Championship, one of the last big Pioneer events. The deck had received a few new pieces since then and went with his gut on how the deck would perform.
Benton Madsen's Pioneer Selesnya Auras (2nd)
The two wrapped up their interview with questions from the chat, ending on one fan asking what their pre-match rituals might be.
“Do what you need to do to feel good,” Duke said. “Anything to get a mental reset and clear the plate from whatever happened in the previous match.”
Benton described his first ritual as drinking Ethiopian coffee before a big event, though it does make him jittery. After that, Madsen described his meditation process in the morning, twenty minutes to see how he is doing for the day. Then, Madsen enjoys a good, hard book between rounds, recommending Meditations by Marcus Aurelius as being particularly useful for him.