Through two days and 12 rounds of competition, reigning world champion Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa and Stanislav Cifka emerged as the leaders in the Magic Pro League and Rivals League, respectively, after the first Kaldheim Split League Weekend.
Magic Esports league play continued this weekend highlighted by Damo da Rosa’s stellar performance piloting Gruul Aggro to a 10-2 record and finishing the weekend at 28 points this season. He holds his narrow one-match lead over Gabriel Nassif who finished with a 9-3 record. Seth Manfield and Brad Nelson earned 10-2 records, pushing their way into the top four with 24 points despite relatively slow starts during the Zendikar Rising Split.
Rei Sato continued his slump, earning only four points this weekend after being a top-eight points leader during the last split. Brian Braun-Duin and Javier Dominguez improved their MPL standings with 8-4 records and are knocking on the door of the top 10.
Here are the top 10 MPL players at the end of the first day of the January Kaldheim League Weekend.
- Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 28
- Gabriel Nassif 27
- Brad Nelson 24
- Seth Manfield 24
- Martin Jůza 23
- Ondřej Stráský 23
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz 22
- Andrea Mengucci 21
- Marcio Carvalho 21
- Reid Duke 21
Cifka continued to run hot over the weekend and ended with 24 points to sit atop the Rivals League. There is a three-way tie for second between Eli Kassis, Matt Sperling, and Zachary Kiihne. Kiihne and Kassis were midtable players but earned 9-4 records, moving up six places to land in the top four. Luis Scott-Vargas struggled over the weekend only earning four points. Scott-Vargas isn’t in a horrible place, however, due to his strong performances during Zendikar Rising split.
Luis Salvatto and Corey Burkhart are also winners of the weekend. Both players shook off poor performances last split to rise into the top half of the Rivals League, within striking distance of the top four. Shintaro Ishimura and his off-meta pick of Kethis Combo also had a strong weekend ending with 20 points.
Here are the top 10 Rivals League players at the end of the first day.
- Stanislav Cifka 24
- Eli Kassis 23
- Matt Sperling 23
- Zachary Kiihne 23
- Barnardo Santos 22
- Luis Scott-Vargas 22
- Christian Hauck 22
- Corey Burkhart 21
- Luca Magni 21
- Ivan Floch 20
The next League Weekend of Kaldheim Split is scheduled for Feb. 27 to 28 and will be played in Standard Constructed format. This will include the new cards from Kaldheim, which releases on Magic Arena and Magic Online on Jan. 28 with a full tabletop release on Feb. 5. This is all leading up to the Kaldheim Championship on March 26 to 28.
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