Reid Duke is an American Magic: The Gathering player from Sugar Loaf, New York. He won the Magic: The Gathering Online Championship in 2011.[8] His best finishes include three Pro Tour Top 8s, at Pro Tour Journey Into Nyx,[9] Pro Tour Eldritch Moon,[10] and Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan,[11] a runner-up finish at the 2013 World Championships,[12] and wins at Grand Prix Nashville 2012, Grand Prix Miami 2013, Grand Prix Portland 2014, Grand Prix Oakland 2016, Grand Prix Louisville 2017, Grand Prix Cleveland and Pro Tour Phyrexia.

Reid Duke
Duke with young competitive Magic player Dana Fischer in 2019
Nicknamesreiderrabbit[1]

Reid "the Bones" Duke

The Dukeler[2]
Born (1989-09-08) September 8, 1989 (age 34)
ResidenceSugar Loaf, New York, USA[3]
NationalityUnited States American
Pro Tour debut2010 Pro Tour Amsterdam
WinningsUS$278,875[4]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8)1 (4)[5]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8)6 (23)[6]
Lifetime Pro Points285[7]
Planeswalker Level50 (Archmage)

Magic: The Gathering career edit

Commonly referred to as "The gentleman of the Magic world", Reid Duke started playing in 1995, at age five, with his brother Ian Duke,[13] who is now a member of the Magic: The Gathering R&D team at Wizards of the Coast. For a time, he was primarily a Magic: The Gathering Online player, but made the transition to in-person competitive play. He qualified for Pro Tour Amsterdam 2010 via rating,[14] and won a Magic Online Championship Series (MOCS) event to qualify for the 2010 Magic Online World Championship, where he finished 5th,[15] as well as the 2010 Magic: The Gathering World Championships in Chiba, Japan. Although his finishes in his first Pro Tour were unspectacular, he has not missed a Pro Tour since Amsterdam 2010.

Duke first experienced success at paper Magic in 2011, when he reached the top eight of two Grand Prix events: Grand Prix Providence, where he finished fourth, and Grand Prix Montreal, where he finished fifth. He also won another MOCS event to requalify him for the Magic Online Championship, this year held in San Francisco concurrently with the 2011 World Championships. Duke ended up winning the event, defeating Florian Pils in the final.[8] This qualified him for the inaugural Players Championship event (later renamed the Magic World Championship). At Pro Tour Dark Ascension in Honolulu, Duke finished in the money at a Pro Tour for the first time, placing 38th.[16] From here, he would go on to finish in the money in eight consecutive Pro Tours. He also won his first Grand Prix when he defeated Todd Anderson in the final of Grand Prix Nashville.[17] He has since 2012 been a part of the team now known as 'The Pantheon', alongside players such as Jon Finkel, Kai Budde and Gabriel Nassif.[18]

The 2012 Magic Players Championship did not go well for Duke; he finished the event with a 2–10 record, taking last place.[19] Following this failure, Duke made it his mission to redeem himself by qualifying for next year's event and putting up a better performance,[3] even going so far as to write down the mistakes he made in the tournament.[20] Thanks to three Grand Prix top eight finishes, in Charleston, San Antonio and Quebec City, as well as stellar performance on the Pro Tour, he succeeded in requalifying for the World Championship when he finished 9th at Pro Tour Dragon's Maze in San Diego.[21] He finished the 2012–13 season on 52 Pro Points, which was also sufficient for Platinum membership in the Pro Players Club.

Duke started the 2013–14 season well, winning his second Grand Prix, at GP Miami.[22] Duke went on to dominate the Swiss rounds of the 2013 World Championship, finishing in first place before the knockout rounds.[23] Duke faced Josh Utter-Leyton in the semifinals, defeating him 3–2. He was considered a substantial favorite against his final opponent, Shahar Shenhar, and did indeed take a 2–0 lead in the best-of-five match, but Shenhar came all the way back to beat Duke 3–2 in an upset.[24] Duke thus took second place in the event. He put up three more Grand Prix top eight finishes during the season, in Detroit, Barcelona and Philadelphia, before finally posting a top eight performance at a Pro Tour. At Pro Tour Journey into Nyx in Atlanta, Duke finished fifth, losing in the quarterfinals to Yuuki Ichikawa.[9] At this point, he was in position to win the 2013–14 Player of the Year title, but ultimately this was won by Jérémy Dezani. He was also overtaken by teammate Owen Turtenwald for captainship of the United States national team at the 2014 World Magic Cup when the latter made the top eight of the final event of the season, Pro Tour Magic 2015.

The 2014–15 season started really well for Duke, with him and his teammates Owen Turtenwald and William Jensen winning the very first Grand Prix of the season, Grand Prix Portland.[25] At the 2014 World Championships, however, Duke posted a modest 14th-place finish, and his Pro Tour results throughout the season were average. He managed to reach two Grand Prix top eights, in Singapore and Montreal, towards the end of the season to retain Platinum status, but he did not qualify for the 2015 World Championships. In February 2015, Duke almost won a MOCS event for the third time, but lost in the final.[26]

In 2019, Duke was elected into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame.[27]

In 2023, Duke won the Pro Tour Phyrexia, held in Philadelphia February 17-19.

Achievements edit

 Season   Event type   Location  Format Date  Rank 
2011 Grand Prix Providence Legacy May 28–29, 2011 3
2011 Grand Prix Montreal Limited September 17–18, 2011 5
2011 MOCS San Francisco Special November 17–20, 2011 1
2012 Grand Prix Nashville Limited March 17–18, 2012 1
2012–13 Grand Prix Charleston Standard November 17–18, 2012 5
2012–13 Grand Prix San Antonio Standard November 24–25, 2012 4
2012–13 Grand Prix Quebec City Standard February 22–23, 2013 4
2013–14 Grand Prix Miami Standard June 29–30, 2013 1
2013–14 Worlds Amsterdam Special July 31–August 4, 2013 2
2013–14 Grand Prix Detroit Modern September 14–15, 2013 2
2013–14 Grand Prix Barcelona Team Limited March 1–2, 2014 3
2013–14 Grand Prix Philadelphia Limited April 12–13, 2014 2
2013–14 Pro Tour Atlanta Block Constructed and Booster Draft May 16–18, 2014 5
2014–15 Grand Prix Portland Team Limited August 9–10, 2014 1
2014–15 Grand Prix Singapore Modern June 27–28, 2015 4
2014–15 Grand Prix Montreal Limited July 4–5, 2015 6
2015–16 Grand Prix Detroit Team Limited August 15–16, 2015 3
2015–16 Grand Prix Quebec City Standard October 23–25, 2015 5
2015–16 Grand Prix Oakland Standard January 9–10, 2016 1
2015–16 Grand Prix Washington, D.C. Team Limited March 12–13, 2016 3
2015–16 Grand Prix Barcelona Limited April 16–17, 2016 7
2015–16 Pro Tour Sydney Standard and Booster Draft August 5–7, 2016 7
2016–17 Grand Prix Louisville Legacy January 7–8, 2017 1
2016–17 Grand Prix San Antonio Team Unified Modern April 1–2, 2017 2
2016–17 Grand Prix Cleveland Team Limited June 24–25, 2017 1
2017–18 Grand Prix Providence Team Limited September 30 – October 1, 2017 2
2017–18 Grand Prix Phoenix Limited October 28–29, 2017 2
2017–18 Pro Tour Bilbao Modern and Booster Draft February 2–4, 2018 6
2018–19 Mythic Championship Cleveland Standard February 2–4, 2019 4
2023-24 Pro Tour Philadelphia Pioneer and Booster Draft February 17-19, 2023 1

Last updated: June 3, 2018
Source: Wizards.com

Personal life edit

Reid Duke is the brother of Ian Duke who is a developer at Wizards of the Coast and graduated from Dartmouth College in 2011.[28]

References edit

  1. ^ "Player Profile: Reid Duke". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  2. ^ "Magic the Gathering GP Atlanta 2018 Round 13 Modern". ggslive. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Player Profile: Reid Duke". Wizards of the Coast. August 4, 2013. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 13, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  5. ^ "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. August 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  6. ^ "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. May 14, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  7. ^ "Planeswalker Points". Wizards of the Coast. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.[dead link]
  8. ^ a b "2011 Magic Online Championship Final". Wizards of the Coast. November 19, 2011. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Pro Tour Journey Into Nyx Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. May 18, 2014. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  10. ^ "Pro Tour Eldritch Moon Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. August 7, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016.[dead link]
  11. ^ "Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. February 4, 2018. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  12. ^ "2013 World Championship | MAGIC: THE GATHERING". Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  13. ^ "Player Profile: Reid Duke". Wizards of the Coast. December 17, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2015.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Pro Tour–Amsterdam 2010 Invitation List". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved August 11, 2015.[dead link]
  15. ^ "Magic Online World Championship Standings". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  16. ^ "2012 Pro Tour Dark Ascension Final Standings". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved August 11, 2015.[dead link]
  17. ^ "Duke is King of Nashville". Wizards of the Coast. March 18, 2012. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  18. ^ "Team Pantheon". ChannelFireball. Archived from the original on December 9, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  19. ^ "Magic Players Championship 2012 Round 12 Standings". Wizards of the Coast. August 29, 2012. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  20. ^ Tom, Kar Yung (March 13, 2013). "Captain's Log #3 – It's a Process". ManaDeprived. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  21. ^ "Pro Tour Dragon's Maze Final Standings". Wizards of the Coast. May 19, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2015.[dead link]
  22. ^ "Duke Draws Blood in Miami". Wizards of the Coast. June 30, 2013. Archived from the original on August 1, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  23. ^ "Magic World Championship Round 12 Standings". Wizards of the Coast. August 1, 2013. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  24. ^ Bennett, Josh (August 4, 2013). "Finals: Comeback of the Ages". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  25. ^ "THE PANTHEON CONQUERS PORTLAND". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  26. ^ Duke, Reid (February 23, 2015). "DRAFT WALKTHROUGH". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on August 23, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  27. ^ "Reid Duke - Hall of Fame". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  28. ^ "Magic to Live By". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved July 19, 2022.