Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir

Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir was the third Pro Tour of the 2014–15 season. It took place on 10–12 April 2015 in Brussels, Belgium. 407 players participated, and the event featured Dragons of Tarkir Booster draft and Standard. The tournament was won by Danish player Martin Dang, who became the first Dane to win a Pro Tour by defeating Japan's Shota Yasooka in the final.
==Day one==
A Dragons of Tarkir Booster draft kicked off the event; players who started the Pro Tour by winning their draft pod included Paul Rietzl, Patrick Chapin, Brian Kibler, Shota Yasooka, Olivier Ruel, Antoine Ruel, Jelger Wiegersma, and Player of the Year-hopeful Eric Froehlich. In the Standard portion of the tournament, several decks proved successful, such as Abzan Control, Green Devotion, Red-Green Dragons, and Mono-Red Aggro. Many players also had considerable success with blue Control decks, including Team ChannelFireball, who played an Esper Dragons deck featuring <c>Dragonlord Ojutai</c>; others, such as Adrian Sullivan, played Blue-Black Control without the Dragons. One player emerged from day one with a perfect 8–0 record: Rick Lee of Malaysia, with Abzan Aggro. Two more players were still undefeated at 7–0–1: Shota Yasooka and Felipe Valdivia, both playing blue Control decks built around Dragons.
The top eight players after day one:
Rank	Player 	Points	Rank	Player 	Points
1 	Rick Lee 	24 	5 	Ivan Floch 	21
2 	Shota Yasooka 	22 	6 	Stephen Madden 	21
3 	Felipe Valdivia	22 	7 	Adrian Sullivan	21
4 	Minh Nguyen 	21 	8 	Martin Dang 	21
==Day two==
After the second Dragons of Tarkir draft, three players stood atop the field, with 10–1 records: Adrian Sullivan, Martin Dang, and Andrew Ohlschwager. Sullivan had been known as a writer and theorist of the game since the mid-90s, but had never posted a significant Pro Tour finish. However, a 2–1–2 record in the last Standard portion of the Swiss rounds was enough to secure him a spot in the top eight, which he described as a "relief". Denmark's Martin Dang was the first to lock up a Sunday berth, though, as he was 12–1 after round 13. Eric Froehlich was close to making the top eight for the second straight Pro Tour; he needed to win one of the last two rounds, but lost both. Overnight leader Rick Lee had a difficult day, finishing the tournament 10–6 to end up in 49th-place.
Though the top eight didn't contain many players with past Pro Tour success, the top 16 did. Every player in 9th through 16th place had finished in the top eight of a Pro Tour previously. The 9th- to 16th-place finishers were, in order, Kyle Boggemes, Craig Wescoe, Josh Utter-Leyton, Sam Black, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Brad Nelson, Andrea Mengucci, and Seth Manfield.
==Top 8==
Japanese player Shota Yasooka received much attention as the clear star of the top eight; although he only had one previous Sunday appearance, he had several top 16 finishes, and many thought he was among the best in the game, and felt his second top eight was overdue. Young Czech player Ondřej Stráský posted his second Pro Tour top eight of the season, and had emerged as one of the new European stars, and was favored to take a spot at the 2015 World Championship. But it was Danish player and Atarka Red-wielding Martin Dang who would claim the top spot, defeating Yasooka and his Blue-Black Dragons deck in the final.
Place	Player 	Deck 	Prize 	Pro Points	Comment
1 	Martin Dang 	Atarka Red 	$40,000	30 	First Dane to win a Pro Tour
2 	Shota Yasooka 	Blue-Black Dragons	$20,000	26 	Second Pro Tour Top 8
3 	Ondřej Stráský 	Green Devotion 	$12,500	22 	Second Pro Tour Top 8
4 	Adrian Sullivan 	Blue-Black Control	$12,500	22 	
5 	Jason Chung 	Red-Green Dragons 	$10,000	18 	First New Zealander in a Pro Tour Top 8
6 	Marco Cammilluzzi 	Abzan Control 	$10,000	18 	
7 	Thomas Hendriks 	Green Devotion 	$10,000	18 	
8 	Andrew Ohlschwager	Esper Dragons 	$10,000	18 	
==Player of the Year Race==
Both Eric Froehlich and Sam Black made strong finishes at Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir, finishing 12th and 19th, respectively. Lee Shi Tian, the leader coming into the event, could only offer a modest 187th-place result, and had to see himself get passed by both Froehlich and Black.
Player 	Pro Points
Eric Froehlich 	60
Sam Black 	57
Lee Shi Tian 	56
Ari Lax 	54
Owen Turtenwald	53
==Controversy==
Patrick Chapin received a game loss in round six while on camera after forgetting to reveal a <c>Tasigur, the Golden Fang</c> that he found with <c>Ajani, Mentor of Heroes</c>. The game loss resulted in Chapin losing the match, and was widely debated within the Magic community; many felt it was too harsh a penalty given the circumstances.
Two players were disqualified from the event:
*Stephen Speck was disqualified for Manipulation of Game Materials. Speck had presented a 53-card deck, and had a plausible opening hand set to the side. Speck was subsequently suspended from the game for three years.
*Jérémy Dezani was disqualified in Round 8 for misrepresenting the game state to judges.
==Notable performances==
*Three players posted perfect 6–0 records in Booster draft: Steve Rubin, Kyle Boggemes, and Adrian Sullivan.
*The best Standard performers were Brad Nelson (Abzan Aggro), Chester Swords (Abzan Control), and Josh Utter-Leyton (Esper Dragons). They each finished 9–1, though none of them made it to the top eight.
==Trivia==
*Dirk Baberowski made his first Pro Tour appearance since Pro Tour San Juan 2010. He finished 379th. Ben Rubin also made his first appearance since the 2010 season, having not showed up since PT Amsterdam 2010. Rubin finished 170th.
*Although Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa had made nine Pro Tour top eights previously, his 13th-place finish was his first top 16 finish where he didn't make the top eight.
*Bob Maher, Jr. went 11–5 to end up 34th. This was his first money finish at a Pro Tour since Pro Tour Seattle 2004.
==External links==
*Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir coverage
*Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir final standings
*24-27 point Standard decklists
*21-23 point Standard decklists
*18-20 point Standard decklists
*Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir invitation list
*Video coverage playlist
==References==
P096