Jon Finkel

Jon Finkel (born May 18, 1978[7]) is an American Magic: The Gathering and poker player.[1] Finkel is one of the most decorated players in the history of professional Magic: The Gathering play and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time.[8][9] During his career he has won three Grand Prix events and made the Top 8 of a record 16 Pro Tour events, winning three of those. In the year 2000, he became the Magic: The Gathering World Champion, as well as playing for the United States National Team, which won the team portion of the competition.

Jon Finkel
Nicknames	Jonny Magic[1] The Machine[2]
Born	(1978-05-18) May 18, 1978 Brockport, New York
Residence	New York, USA
Nationality	United States
Pro Tour debut	1996 Pro Tour New York (junior) 1996 Worlds–Seattle (senior)
Winnings	$431,884[3]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8)	3 (16)[4]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8)	3 (10)[5]
Median Pro Tour Finish	61
Lifetime Pro Points	628[6]
Planeswalker Level	48 (Archmage)

Career

Finkel was born in Brockport, New York, but moved with his family to Woking, UK, in the summer of 1992 and learned about Magic: The Gathering shortly thereafter at a local game shop named Fun and Games. After he returned to the New York area in 1995 Finkel quickly made friends with the "OMS brothers", Steven and Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz.[1]

In 1996 the first Pro Tour was held in New York. Finkel competed in the Junior Division of the tournament, made it to the Top 8, and won a $1,000 scholarship. After reaching another Top 8 in the Junior Division of Pro Tour Columbus Finkel had his first appearance in the senior competition of the Pro Tour at the 1996 World Championship in Seattle. A ninth-place finish earned him $3,200.

Finkel had three Top 16 finishes in the 1996–97 season, but never made it to the finals. His first Top 8 appearance was at Pro Tour Chicago 1997. In the same season Finkel won his first Grand Prix title in Rio de Janeiro, his first Pro Tour title in New York; finished third at US Nationals and the World Championship,[10] and eventually claimed the Pro Player of the Year title.

The 1998–99 season opened with Finkel winning another Grand Prix in Boston and making his third consecutive Top 8 appearance, a feat only once before achieved by Scott Johns. Finkel finished the season second to Kai Budde in the Pro Player of the Year race. At the first Team Pro Tour in Washington the following season Finkel finished third with his friends and teammates Daniel and Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz. After some mediocre finishes in the middle of the season Finkel won the US Nationals as well as the team and the individual portion of the World Championship. Eventually Finkel finished third in the Pro Player of the Year race. Later in 2000 Finkel also won the Magic Invitational, giving him the chance to design his own Magic card. His creation, Shadowmage Infiltrator, debuted in the Odyssey set and was later reprinted in Time Spiral and Modern Masters 2015 edition.[11]

After two additional Top 8 appearances in the 2000–01 season Finkel's performances dropped in the 2001–02 season. Two Top 8s in 2002–03 were followed by another drop in 2003–04 and eventually by Finkel retiring from professional play. In 2005 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the vote leader of the inaugural class. This allowed him to attend further Pro Tours without having to qualify. In 2008 Finkel thus attended and won Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first player to win a Pro Tour after his induction into the Hall of Fame. Magic head designer Mark Rosewater commented on the occasion, "[Finkel] is the most naturally gifted player the game has ever seen. His accomplishments are rivaled by only one other man [Budde]".

In recent years, Finkel, like fellow Magic players David Williams and Noah Boeken, has been playing in high-level poker tournaments. He currently works as a managing partner at the hedge fund Landscape Capital Management.

Accomplishments

Season	Event type	Location	Format	Date	Rank
1997–98	Pro Tour	Chicago	Extended	10–12 October 1997	3
1997–98	Grand Prix	Rio de Janeiro	Extended	31 January–February 1, 1998	1
1997–98	Pro Tour	New York	Limited	17–19 April 1998	1
1997–98	Grand Prix	Zurich	Limited	30–31 May 1998	6
1997–98	Nationals	Columbus	Special	3–5 July 1998	3
1997–98	Worlds	Seattle	Special	12–16 August 1998	3
1997–98	Worlds	Seattle	National team	12–16 August 1998	1
1998–99	Grand Prix	Boston	Standard	5–6 September 1998	1
1998–99	Pro Tour	Chicago	Limited	25–27 September 1998	5
1998–99	Invitational	Barcelona	Special	4–7 February 1999	4
1998–99	Pro Tour	Los Angeles	Limited	26–28 February 1999	2
1998–99	Grand Prix	Vienna	Extended	13–14 March 1999	3
1998–99	Grand Prix	Kansas City	Extended	27–28 March 1999	5
1999–00	Pro Tour	Washington D.C.	Team Limited	3–5 September 1999	3
1999–00	Invitational	Kuala Lumpur	Special	2–5 March 2000	2
1999–00	Grand Prix	St. Louis	Team Limited	13–14 May 2000	1
1999–00	Nationals	Orlando	Special	8–11 June 2000	1
1999–00	Grand Prix	Pittsburgh	Team Limited	24–25 June 2000	3
1999–00	Worlds	Brussels	Special	2–6 August 2000	1
1999–00	Worlds	Brussels	National team	2–6 August 2000	1
2000–01	Invitational	Sydney	Special	16–19 November 2000	1
2000–01	Masters	Chicago	Limited	30 November–December 1, 2000	2
2000–01	Pro Tour	Chicago	Standard	1–3 December 2000	5
2000–01	Pro Tour	Los Angeles	Limited	2–4 February 2001	4
2000–01	Masters	Barcelona	Block Constructed	4–6 May 2001	3
2002–03	Invitational	Seattle	Special	18–20 October 2002	3
2002–03	Pro Tour	Chicago	Limited	17–19 January 2003	3
2002–03	Pro Tour	Yokohama	Limited	9–11 May 2003	4
2002–03	Grand Prix	Amsterdam	Team Limited	7–8 June 2003	2
2002–03	Nationals	San Diego	Special	27–29 June 2003	7
2003–04	Grand Prix	Washington D.C.	Team Limited	17–18 April 2004	4
2008	Pro Tour	Kuala Lumpur	Limited	15–17 February 2008	1
2012	Pro Tour	Honolulu	Standard and Booster Draft	10–12 February 2012	3
2012	Pro Tour	Barcelona	Block Constructed and Booster Draft	11–13 May 2012	5
2012–13	Players Championship	Indianapolis	Special	29–31 August 2012	4
2015–16	Pro Tour	Milwaukee	Standard and Booster Draft	16–18 October 2015	3
2015–16	Pro Tour	Madrid	Standard and Booster Draft	22–24 April 2016	5
2016–17	Grand Prix	Kyoto	Limited	22–23 July 2017	4

Last updated: August 6, 2016
Source: Wizards.com

In addition Finkel was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the class of 2005 vote leader. Finkel holds the highest vote percentage of any inductee.

In popular culture

Finkel is the subject of a 2005 biography by author David Kushner, entitled Jonny Magic & the Card Shark Kids—How a Gang of Geeks Beat the Odds and Stormed Las Vegas. The book recounts Finkel's rise to Magic stardom and his subsequent exploits as a poker player and Blackjack card counter.

In 2011, Alyssa Bereznak, an intern for tech website Gizmodo wrote an article about two dates she had with Finkel,[12] which was picked up by Forbes, The Washington Post and CBS. The article was critical of Finkel for not revealing he played Magic on his OkCupid dating profile, eliciting negative comments against the writer from a number of people involved in tech and geek culture, notably actress Felicia Day and Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood.[13][14]

References

1. Kushner, David (2005). Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids : how a gang of geeks beat the odds and stormed Las Vegas. Random House. ISBN 1-4000-6407-4.
2. Bennett, Josh (March 2003). "Kai Leads Star-Studded Top 8". The Sideboard. 8 (45): 4–5.
3. "Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. August 27, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
4. "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. August 7, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
5. "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. July 28, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
6. "Planeswalker Points". Wizards of the Coast. September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
7. Jon Finkel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion)
8. "Jon Finkel: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2012.
9. David-Marshall, Brian (June 22, 2012). "Hall of Fame Calisthenics". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
10. Justice, Mark (June 1, 2009). "Musings on the Pro Tour". Retrieved July 20, 2009.
11. "Magic Invitational 2002". Wizards of the Coast. October 17, 2002. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
12. https://gizmodo.com/5833787/my-brief-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player
13. Ngak, Chenda (September 1, 2011). "Jon Finkel talks to us about Gizmodo's Alyssa Bereznak (a.ka. mean girl) – Tech Talk". CBS. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
14. Tassi, Paul (August 30, 2011). "The Science of Gawker's Nerd Baiting". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2011.

External links

• Hendon Mob poker tournament results

Preceded by Canada Gary Krakower Michael Donais Ed Ito Gabriel Tsang	Magic: The Gathering Team World Champion With: Matt Linde Mike Long Bryce Currence 1998	Succeeded by United States Kyle Rose John Hunka Zvi Mowshowitz Charles Kornblith
Preceded by Paul McCabe	Pro Player of the Year 1997–98	Succeeded by Kai Budde
Preceded by Kyle Rose	Magic US National Champion 2000	Succeeded by Trevor Blackwell
Preceded by Kai Budde	Magic World Champion 2000	Succeeded by Tom van de Logt
Preceded by United States Kyle Rose John Hunka Zvi Mowshowitz Charles Kornblith	Magic: The Gathering Team World Champion With: Chris Benafel Frank Hernandez Aaron Forsythe 2000	Succeeded by United States Eugene Harvey Trevor Blackwell Brian Hegstad
Preceded by Chris Pikula	Magic Invitational Champion 2000	Succeeded by Kai Budde