Wizards of the Coast
The second-ever Magic: The Gathering Player-of-the-Year playoff will take place in Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia on November 8.
The intense race for this year's Player-of-the-Year title ended up in a tie between Seth Manfield and Luis Salvatto so the two will face-off in a playoff, but it won't be just an ordinary match. Both players will submit four unique Standard decks without sideboards and they will play a best-of-seven match to determine who wins the Player-of-the-Year title. You can check more details here. Both players are already Pro Tour Champions so for them, this is just icing on the cake.
"I've been in high-pressure situations before," Manfield told Wizards of the Coast. "Playing against a competitor like Luis, that gets me even more excited. This is a special thing I'm going into it with the goal just have fun and not go crazy stressing out over it."
Manfield already has four Pro Tour Top 8's (including 1 win) and sixteen Grand Prix Top 8's (5 wins) but he still hasn't won the Player-of-the-Year title.
"You know, I don't feel like I really 'need' the title; to win it you have to have a lot of things go in your favor and my season was already great—I won a Pro Tour last season, that was the highlight and that's a pretty good one to have. Of course," he said, "it would be great to win."
His Argentinian opponent Luis Salvatto is known for winning Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan with his Lantern Control deck, and the pressure has been there for him since his Pro Tour win.
"When I saw we had finished tied, my first reaction was just full happiness—I didn't even plan on going to Stockholm at first, but in the end, it was my last shot so I took it," he admitted. "Being in this position is already a huge thing so I feel like I already won despite the result. Seth is one of the best in this game and I respect him a lot; he defeated [me] twice in the same Pro Tour. I'm glad to play against such a great player for one of the best titles in the game."
Salvatto is one of the recent standouts from Latin America, and he's loving every minute of his rise in Magic's pro scene.
"I think the three big accomplishments in this game are winning a Pro Tour, being the World Champion, and being the Player of the Year, so this could be the second of those lifetime achievements," he explained. "I never imagined this position a few years ago so I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can."
There's a recent documentary about Salvatto's journey, and you can watch it here.
I'm excited to see what decks they would build for the unique playoff. Which Magic pro are you rooting for?
Related: New Draft Format For Magic: The Gathering's Guilds of Ravnica Announced
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