Intro

MTG organized play has returned in dramatic style this weekend at Pro Tour: Phyrexia. Pro Tour: Phyrexia is running from 17/02/2023-19/02/2023, as a part of MagicCon: Philadelphia. After the first day of the tournament, only one competitor emerged with a perfect 8-0 win record. Benton Madsen, a player from Manhatten who has been playing the game since 2012. Madsen states that he qualified for entry for Pro Tour: Phyrexia through an MTG Arena event which he completed on his phone. In the first event, a Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft, he built a White/Blue artifacts deck and went 3-0.

Madsen claimed in an interview after the match: “I was not very experienced with my deck or in the draft format, when it came to draft I picked a friend’s brain last night over dinner.”

He continued: “One of the things that was mentioned at the table was that Blue/White Artifacts felt meh but really good if you had the cranial plating cranial plating cranial plating Equipped creature gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control.
{B}{B}: Attach this Equipment to target creature you control.
Equip {1}
0/5 (a reference to the card Cephalopod Sentry Cephalopod Sentry Cephalopod Sentry Flying
Cephalopod Sentry's power is equal to the number of artifacts you control.
). I second picked that in the draft, largely on that advice, and it ended up panning out better than I could have hoped for.”

Madsen then went 5-0 in the second event, a Pioneer tournament where he piloted an off-meta aura-focused deck.

“Selesnya Auras”

All That Glitters

Madsen’s deck is a Boggles-like deck which he named: “Selesnya Auras“. The deck’s strategy revolves around attaching a number of low-cost but impactful auras such as All That Glitters All That Glitters All That Glitters Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each artifact and/or enchantment you control.
, Cartouche of Solidarity Cartouche of Solidarity Cartouche of Solidarity Enchant creature you control
When this Aura enters, create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with vigilance.
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and has first strike. (It deals combat damage before creatures without first strike.)
and Ethereal Armour to his creatures. Many of the creatures in the deck are designed to synergize with auras, like Lightpaws, Emperor’s Chosen, Generous Visitor Generous Visitor Generous Visitor Whenever you cast an enchantment spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. , and Sram Senior Edificer Sram Senior Edificer Sram Senior Edificer Whenever you cast an Aura, Equipment, or Vehicle spell, draw a card. . The deck also runs four copies of Gladecover Scout Gladecover Scout Gladecover Scout Hexproof (This creature can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.) a card that makes a good target for auras, as it has Hexproof and is thus difficult to remove. Finally, the deck contains four copies of Skrelv, Defector Mite Skrelv, Defector Mite Skrelv, Defector Mite Toxic 1 (Players dealt combat damage by this creature also get a poison counter.)
Skrelv can't block.
{W/P}, {T}: Choose a color. Another target creature you control gains toxic 1 and hexproof from that color until end of turn. It can't be blocked by creatures of that color this turn. ({W/P} can be paid with either {W} or 2 life.)
which is included in the deck due to its protection effect that also makes a creatures harder to block.

The deck also makes use of the companion card Jegantha, the Wellspring Jegantha, the Wellspring Jegantha, the Wellspring Companion — No card in your starting deck has more than one of the same mana symbol in its mana cost. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for {3} as a sorcery.)
{T}: Add {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}. This mana can't be spent to pay generic mana costs.
, a powerful mana dork. Jegantha, alongside three copies of Mana Confluence Mana Confluence Mana Confluence {T}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color. , enabled Madsen to run the off-color cards Kaya’s Ghostform Kaya’s Ghostform Kaya’s Ghostform Enchant creature or planeswalker you control
When enchanted permanent dies or is put into exile, return that card to the battlefield under your control.
and Hammerhands which were useful as an aura-based way of protecting creatures, and for pushing damage through respectively.

A particular card Madsen needed to watch out for was the Dominaria United enchantment Temporary Lockdown Temporary Lockdown Temporary Lockdown When this enchantment enters, exile each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. . As all of the cards in Madsen’s deck, apart from Jegantha, have a mana value of two or less, they are all susceptible to being removed by the lockdown. In a dramatic moment in his seventh game, Madsen played a copy of Boseiju, Who Endures Boseiju, Who Endures Boseiju, Who Endures {T}: Add {G}.
Channel — {1}{G}, Discard this card: Destroy target artifact, enchantment, or nonbasic land an opponent controls. That player may search their library for a land card with a basic land type, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
to destroy a Temporary Lockdown, returning the auras trapped beneath it to play, and making his attack lethal.

Madsen stated that the deck was inspired by a Regional Championship deck devised by Michael Letsch. He made some modifications, changing up the land base, a few cards from the sideboard, and removing Paradise Druid Paradise Druid Paradise Druid This creature has hexproof as long as it's untapped. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.)
{T}: Add one mana of any color.
in exchange for Skrelv, Defector Mite Skrelv, Defector Mite Skrelv, Defector Mite Toxic 1 (Players dealt combat damage by this creature also get a poison counter.)
Skrelv can't block.
{W/P}, {T}: Choose a color. Another target creature you control gains toxic 1 and hexproof from that color until end of turn. It can't be blocked by creatures of that color this turn. ({W/P} can be paid with either {W} or 2 life.)
. Skrelv is from Phyrexia: All Will Be One which had not been released when the original version of the deck was designed.

In an interview prior to his final match of the day, Madsen stated: “I expected roughly 0-8, maybe like a 2-6 “. He was pleased with his performance, modestly stating: “I’m happy to be here, I’ve no idea how it happened.”

Community Reactions

The MTG community have been hugely supportive of Maden’s results. With the Pro Tour returning Madsen’s story is being looked upon as an example of why organized play matters, and how it can provide previously unknown players with a chance to win big and become a part of Magic’s history.

On Reddit, Shinra_Temp wrote: “This is the dream the PT has always been trying to sell just with Arena added alongside your local LGS as the starting point. Glad to see it.”

ChestersJensen responded: “That’s very incredible stuff and exciting to see someone new burst into the scene like that. This sort of thing is the whole fun of the Pro Tour and now it’s back!”

These sentiments were echoed by F0me who wrote: “This is why competitive play is so great. It gives you something to aspire to. Commander is a great pastime with friends and beer, but organized play is where dreams are made.”

Conclusion

On the second day of Pro Tour: Phyrexia, Madsen’s undefeated win strike came to an end and he suffered three losses. Enduring these defeats, Madsen performed well enough to earn a place in the top eight and advance to the finals. Madsen ultimately finished Pro Tour: Phyrexia in second place, losing to Reid Duke’s Izzet Creativity deck in a dramatic final bout.

Read more: Never Before Seen MTG Con Exclusive Card Announced This Month!

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