Competitive Magic: The Gathering in 2022 was at a turning point between the end of the Magic Esports era and the return of a traditional, tabletop-focused Pro Tour system. Throughout all the changes, including fewer Magic Pro League and Rivals League events, it was still a standout year of competition.
The 2022 Magic World Championship was the culmination of the Magic esports experiment and crowned several new stars going into the next phase of competitive Magic. The year also brought competitive Alchemy to the stage in a solid Neon Dynasty Championship that surprised the fanbase watching the much-maligned format.
Magic wouldn’t be anything without its players and the year gave the scene some great players that excelled throughout the Magic Online and Magic Arena tournaments. Unlike recent years, familiar faces like Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa or Reid Duke aren’t at the top of the Magic world. A new crop of high-level players has built on successful 2021 performances and came into their own in 2022.
Here are the best competitive Magic players in 2022.
Nathan Steuer
There have been few runs in Magic history as great as Steuer’s in 2022. The prolific young star capped his campaign off with the biggest prize of them all by winning the Magic World Championship with a stellar lower-bracket run to defeat Eli Kassis in the finals. He qualified for the World Championship as a top challenger player. He began the year with an undefeated victory in the Magic Online Champion’s Showcase in February and followed that up with another MOCS win in October, two weeks before the World Championship.
What sets Steuer apart is his ability to excel in a variety of formats and platforms. He was the king of digital Magic by winning major events on both Magic Online and Magic Arena. This diversity extends to the formats he played in. Through his three tournament wins this year Steuer competed in Vintage Cube, Modern Cube, Pioneer, Modern, Explorer; Standard; and Dominaria United Draft. Each format requires a different set of skills and an entirely new card pool to master. Split-format tournaments are the norm for large-scale events, but Steuer’s ability to shine in multiple formats throughout an entire year is a remarkable achievement worthy of a world champion.
Eli Kassis
This year’s World Championship runner-up put up an impressive run following his breakout 2021. After qualifying for his first World Championship last year, earning a top-eight finish, Kassis entered 2022 with greater expectations for his performance from fans and analysts alike. He was a consistent force in the Magic Esports landscape with one major tournament victory at the Neon Dynasty Set Championship by defeating Zach Dunn 2-1. It was a notable victory because he helped put Orzhov Adventures on the map. At the time, the Alchemy was a format that still in flux and Kassis found a list that allowed him to storm through the tournament.
His World Championship run was fantastic. He made it to the finals with a dominant upper-bracket run. He also defeated Steuer two times at the tournament before their finals matchup. With back-to-back years of success on Magic Arena, it’ll be interesting to see how Kassis continues to play as Magic shifts to prioritizing tabletop play in 2023.
Jan Merkel
Merkel was in a similar spot as Steuer back in 2006 as a great young player competing at the highest ranks of the game. He won his first Pro Tour that year and then went on a long drought without a high-level top finish. 16 years later, Merkel earned his second Pro Tour victory at the New Capenna Championship, earning him a spot at the World Championship tournament. It was another solid year for the resurgent Merkel after his remarkable 2021 run that included two major tournament victories. While Merkel only notched one tournament win this year, he was consistently fighting for a top-eight spot and was one of the toughest outs in all of competitive Magic.
Sam Rolph
Rolph is a veteran player that’s well-known to close followers of the competitive scene. He’s an elite player whose patient game plans produce some of the best moments of a tournament. His biggest achievement came by winning at the first Arena Championship in September, earning him a spot at the World Championship. He expertly piloted Rakdos Midrange in a gauntlet of grindy matches to secure that tournament. It was one of the more herculean efforts in competitive Magic this year, playing matches that hinge on minuscule advantages to come out ahead.
Jim Davis
The years of Davis being a hardcore tournament grinder are past him. The high-level competitor turned streamer showed in 2022 that his skills are still sharp. He earned a top-eight finish in the Neon Dynasty Championship off a 12-0 Swiss round performance. It was one of the biggest stories of the tournament and thrust Davis into the 2022 World Championship. It was a nice return to the spotlight for one of Magic’s most notable content creators.
