Jacob Van Lunen began playing Magic in 1995. He has participated in organized play at every level of competition and was a member of the winning team at Pro Tour San Diego in 2007, thanks to an innovative draft strategy. As a writer, Van Lunen has had more than three hundred Magic strategy pieces published

5. (2) Owen Turtenwald Threatens to Summit the Top 25



Owen Turtenwald

No. 1-ranked Seth Manfield decided to take the weekend off for personal reasons, and No. 2-ranked Owen Turtenwald made it count by adding another Top 8 to his already impressive résumé. Turtenwald has been a Grand Prix Top 8 regular for the last decade, and this weekend is just another drop in his overflowing bucket of Magic accomplishments. Seth Manfield better get back out there if he wants to stay in the lead of the Top 25 standings!

4. Magic the Amatuering Goes Deep!



Meghan Wolff

Hosts of the popular Magic the Amatuering podcast Maria Bartholdi and Meghan Wolff both made their first Grand Prix Day 2 this weekend. Wolff brought a powerful White-Black Control deck to the table and piloted it all the way to 34th place. Bartholdi put up a solid performance with her personal take on Humans and ended up finishing in 105th place after a great Day 2 showing. Fans of the podcast will be excited to hear that their favorite Magic personalities now have some Pro Points, tournament money, and bragging rights to their names. Amatuering shmamatuering.

3. (11) Reid Duke Stays True to Himself



Reid Duke

Eleventh-ranked Reid Duke wasn’t thrilled with any of the “known” decks in Standard, so he decided to toss together a pile of his favorite legal cards and see how it fared. Not many people would be able to pull off a similar stunt and make it all the way to 31st place in a field of 1,530 players. Duke’s impressive run with a personalized brew is an inspiration to deck builders everywhere!

2. Takao Shreds His Way to the Finals



Shota Takao

Shota Takao brought an innovative version of Humans to the tables this weekend that takes full advantage of Reckless Bushwhacker, one of the most underrated cards in Standard. Once in the Top 8, Takao won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches in the blink of an eye as a crowd of onlookers watched with mouths agape. Takao’s incredible run eventually came to an end in the finals, but not before the world learned the power of Reckless Bushwhacker in Standard!

1. Johnson Defends Home Turf



Alex Johnson

Alexander Johnson was the only Minnesotan to make it into the Top 8 elimination rounds this weekend at Grand Prix Minneapolis. Johnson snuck into 8th place on tiebreakers and made it count by first defeating Max McVety in the quarterfinals, then smashing Matt Severa in the semifinals, and grinding Takao’s red-hot run to a halt in the finals. Minnesota rejoices as the trophy gets to stay on hallowed ground! Congratulations to Alex Johnson, your 2016 Grand Prix Minneapolis Champion!