Jon Finkel
{{short description|American magic: the gathering and professional poker player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox Magic: The Gathering Player
| name = Jon Finkel
| nickname = Jonny Magic{{Cite book| author=Kushner, David | title=Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids : how a gang of geeks beat the odds and stormed Las Vegas | publisher=Random House | year=2005 | isbn=1-4000-6407-4}}
The Machine{{Cite journal| title = Kai Leads Star-Studded Top 8 | issue = 45 | volume = 8 | last = Bennett | first = Josh |date=March 2003 | journal = The Sideboard | pages = 4–5}}
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =Finkel at Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar in 2015
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1978|5|18}}
| birth_place = Brockport, New York
| death_date =
| death_place =
| residence = New York, USA
| nationality = American
| debut = {{ubl
| 1996 Pro Tour New York (junior)
| 1996 Worlds–Seattle (senior)
}}
| pt_median_finish = 61
| pw_level = 48 (Archmage)
| matches_played =
| footnotes =
}}
Jon Finkel (born May 18, 1978)Jon Finkel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion) is an American Magic: The Gathering and poker player. Finkel is one of the most decorated players in the history of professional Magic: The Gathering play and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time.{{Cite news |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130129132802/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent%2Fhofplayer%2Fjfinkel |url = http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hofplayer/jfinkel |title = Jon Finkel: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame |publisher = Wizards of the Coast |archive-date = January 29, 2013 |access-date = May 12, 2012 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}{{cite web|last=David-Marshall|first=Brian|title=Hall of Fame Calisthenics|url=http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/200|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624005932/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/200|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2012|publisher=Wizards of the Coast|access-date=June 22, 2012|date=June 22, 2012}} During his career he has won three Grand Prix events and made the Top 8 of a record 16 Pro Tour events, winning three. In the year 2000, he became the Magic: The Gathering World Champion, as well as playing for the United States National Team, which won the team portion of the competition.
Career
Finkel was born in Brockport, New York, but moved with his family to Woking, UK, in the summer of 1992 and learned about Magic: The Gathering shortly thereafter at a local game shop named Fun and Games. After he returned to the New York area in 1995 Finkel quickly made friends with the "OMS brothers", Steven and Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz.
In 1996 the first Pro Tour was held in New York. Finkel competed in the Junior Division of the tournament, made it to the Top 8, and won a $1,000 scholarship. After reaching another Top 8 in the Junior Division of Pro Tour Columbus Finkel had his first appearance in the senior competition of the Pro Tour at the 1996 World Championship in Seattle. A ninth-place finish earned him $3,200.
Finkel had three Top 16 finishes in the 1996–97 season, but never made it to the finals. His first Top 8 appearance was at Pro Tour Chicago 1997. In the same season Finkel won his first Grand Prix title in Rio de Janeiro, his first Pro Tour title in New York; finished third at US Nationals and the World Championship,{{Cite web| title = Musings on the Pro Tour | last = Justice | first = Mark | author-link = Mark Justice | date = June 1, 2009 | access-date =July 20, 2009| url = http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/41e| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090601225103/https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/41e| url-status = dead| archive-date = June 1, 2009}} and eventually claimed the Pro Player of the Year title.
The 1998–99 season opened with Finkel winning another Grand Prix in Boston and making his third consecutive Top 8 appearance, a feat only once before achieved by Scott Johns. Finkel finished the season second to Kai Budde in the Pro Player of the Year race. At the first Team Pro Tour in Washington the following season Finkel finished third with his friends and teammates Daniel and Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz. After some mediocre finishes in the middle of the season Finkel won the US Nationals as well as the team and the individual portion of the World Championship. Eventually Finkel finished third in the Pro Player of the Year race. Later in 2000 Finkel also won the Magic Invitational, giving him the chance to design his own Magic card. His creation, {{mtgcard|Shadowmage Infiltrator}}, debuted in the Odyssey set and was later reprinted in Time Spiral and Modern Masters 2015 edition.{{Cite news|url = http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/207 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021027161029/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/207 |url-status = dead |archive-date = October 27, 2002 |title = Magic Invitational 2002 |publisher = Wizards of the Coast |date= October 17, 2002 |access-date =January 14, 2007}}
After two additional Top 8 appearances in the 2000–01 season Finkel's performances dropped in the 2001–02 season. Two Top 8s in 2002–03 were followed by another drop in 2003–04 and eventually by Finkel retiring from professional play. In 2005 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the vote leader of the inaugural class. This allowed him to attend further Pro Tours without having to qualify. In 2008 Finkel thus attended and won Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first player to win a Pro Tour after his induction into the Hall of Fame. Magic head designer Mark Rosewater commented on the occasion, "[Finkel] is the most naturally gifted player the game has ever seen. His accomplishments are rivaled by only one other man [Budde]".
In recent years, Finkel, like fellow Magic players David Williams and Noah Boeken, has been playing in high-level poker tournaments. He currently works as a managing partner at the hedge fund Landscape Capital Management.{{cite web | url=https://www.landscapecapital.com/our-team/ | title=Landscape }}
As of 2021, Finkel was the Treasurer of the board of directors of Gamers Helping Gamers, a nonprofit organization that assists aspiring college students who play Magic: The Gathering by awarding them tuition scholarships.{{Cite web|date=2017-06-21|title=Meet the 2017 Gamers Helping Gamers Scholarship Winners|url=http://www.fetchland.com/2017-gamers-helping-gamers/|access-date=2021-06-30|website=Fetchland|language=en-US}}
=Accomplishments=
{{update section|date=July 2019}}
{{MTG pth header}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1997-10-12|October 10–12, 1997}}
|l = Chicago
|et= pt
|f = e
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1998-02-01|January 31{{snd}}February 1, 1998}}
|l = Rio de Janeiro
|et= gp
|f = e
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1998-04-19|April 17–19, 1998}}
|l = New York
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1998-05-31|May 30–31, 1998}}
|l = Zurich
|et= gp
|f = l
|p = 6
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1998-07-03|July 3–5, 1998}}
|l = Columbus
|et= n
|f = sp
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1998-08-16|August 12–16, 1998}}
|et= w
|l = Seattle
|f = sp
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1997–98
|d = {{sort|1998-08-16|August 12–16, 1998}}
|l = Seattle
|et= w
|f = nt
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1998–99
|d = {{sort|1998-09-06|September 5–6, 1998}}
|l = Boston
|et= gp
|f = s
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1998–99
|d = {{sort|1998-09-27|September 25–27, 1998}}
|l = Chicago
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 5
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1998–99
|d = {{sort|1999-02-07|February 4–7, 1999}}
|l = Barcelona
|et= i
|f = sp
|p = 4
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1998–99
|d = {{sort|1999-02-28|February 26–28, 1999}}
|l = Los Angeles
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 2
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1998–99
|d = {{sort|1999-03-14|March 13–14, 1999}}
|l = Vienna
|et= gp
|f = e
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1998–99
|d = {{sort|1999-03-28|March 27–28, 1999}}
|l = Kansas City
|et= gp
|f = e
|p = 5
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|1999-09-05|September 3–5, 1999}}
|l = Washington D.C.
|et= pt
|f = tl
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|2000-03-02|March 2–5, 2000}}
|l = Kuala Lumpur
|et= i
|f = sp
|p = 2
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|2000-05-14|May 13–14, 2000}}
|l = St. Louis
|et= gp
|f = tl
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|2000-06-08|June 8–11 2000}}
|l = Orlando
|et= n
|f = sp
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|2000-06-25|June 24–25, 2000}}
|l = Pittsburgh
|et= gp
|f = tl
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|2000-08-06|August 2–6, 2000}}
|l = Brussels
|et= w
|f = sp
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 1999–00
|d = {{sort|2000-08-06|August 2–6, 2000}}
|l = Brussels
|et= w
|f = nt
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2000–01
|d = {{sort|2000-11-16|November 16–19, 2000}}
|l = Sydney
|et= i
|f = sp
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2000–01
|d = {{sort|2000-12-02|November 30{{snd}}December 1, 2000}}
|l = Chicago
|et= m
|f = l
|p = 2
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2000–01
|d = {{sort|2000-12-03|December 1–3, 2000}}
|l = Chicago
|et= pt
|f = s
|p = 5
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2000–01
|d = {{sort|2001-02-04|February 2–4, 2001}}
|l = Los Angeles
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 4
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2000–01
|d = {{sort|2001-05-06|May 4–6, 2001}}
|l = Barcelona
|et= m
|f = blc
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2002–03
|d = {{sort|2002-10-18|October 18–20, 2002}}
|l = Seattle
|et= i
|f = sp
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2002–03
|d = {{sort|2003-01-19|January 17–19, 2003}}
|l = Chicago
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2002–03
|d = {{sort|2003-05-11|May 9–11, 2003}}
|l = Yokohama
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 4
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2002–03
|d = {{sort|2003-06-08|June 7–8, 2003}}
|l = Amsterdam
|et= gp
|f = tl
|p = 2
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2002–03
|d = {{sort|2003-06-27|June 27–29, 2003}}
|l = San Diego
|et= n
|f = sp
|p = 7
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2003–04
|d = {{sort|2004-04-18|April 17–18, 2004}}
|l = Washington D.C.
|et= gp
|f = tl
|p = 4
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2008
|d = {{sort|2008-02-17|February 15–17, 2008}}
|l = Kuala Lumpur
|et= pt
|f = l
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2012
|d = {{sort|2012-02-12|February 10–12, 2012}}
|l = Honolulu
|et= pt
|f = s+bd
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2012
|d = {{sort|2012-05-13|May 11–13, 2012}}
|l = Barcelona
|et= pt
|f = blc+bd
|p = 5
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2012–13
|d = {{sort|2012-08-29|August 29–31, 2012}}
|l = Indianapolis
|et= pc
|f = sp
|p = 4
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2015–16
|d = {{sort|2015-10-18|October 16–18, 2015}}
|l = Milwaukee
|et= pt
|f = s+bd
|p = 3
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2015–16
|d = {{sort|2016-04-24|April 22–24, 2016}}
|l = Madrid
|et= pt
|f = s+bd
|p = 5
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2016–17
|d = {{sort|2017-07-23|July 22–23, 2017}}
|l = Kyoto
|et= gp
|f = l
|p = 4
}}
{{MTG pth event
|s = 2017–18
|d = {{sort|2018-09-23|September 23, 2018}}
|l = Las Vegas
|et= pt
|f = tl
|p = 1
}}
{{MTG pth footer
|u = October 25, 2023
|s = [https://web.archive.org/web/20080905235617/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtg/eventcoverage/main Wizards.com]
|date=July 2019}}
In addition, Finkel was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the class of 2005 vote leader. Finkel holds the highest vote percentage of any inductee.
In popular culture
Finkel is the subject of a 2005 biography by author David Kushner, entitled Jonny Magic & the Card Shark Kids—How a Gang of Geeks Beat the Odds and Stormed Las Vegas. The book recounts Finkel's rise to Magic stardom and his subsequent exploits as a poker player and Blackjack card counter.
In 2011, Alyssa Bereznak, an intern for tech website Gizmodo wrote an article about two dates she had with Finkel,{{Cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/5833787/my-brief-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player|title = My Brief OkCupid Affair with a World Champion Magic: The Gathering Player| date=August 29, 2011 }} which was picked up by Forbes, The Washington Post and CBS. The article was critical of Finkel for not revealing he played Magic on his OkCupid dating profile, eliciting negative comments against the writer from a number of people involved in tech and geek culture, notably actress Felicia Day and Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jon-finkel-talks-to-us-about-gizmodos-alyssa-bereznak-aka-mean-girl/ |title=Jon Finkel talks to us about Gizmodo's Alyssa Bereznak (a.ka. mean girl) – Tech Talk |first=Chenda |last=Ngak |work=CBS |date=September 1, 2011 |access-date=November 10, 2021}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2011/08/30/the-science-of-gawkers-nerd-baiting/ |title=The Science of Gawker's Nerd Baiting |first=Paul |last=Tassi |work=Forbes |date=August 30, 2011 |access-date=September 15, 2011}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgYbIN_kZbg&t=1582s |title=Sarah Underwood on Jon Finkel|first=Sarah |last=Underwood|work=Attack of the Show |date=August 31, 2011|access-date=November 10, 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=37217 Hendon Mob poker tournament results]
{{S-start}}
{{Succession box| title=Magic: The Gathering Team World Champion
With:
Matt Linde
Mike Long
Bryce Currence| before={{Flagicon|CAN}} Canada
Gary Krakower
Michael Donais
Ed Ito
Gabriel Tsang| years=1998| after={{Flagicon|USA}} United States
Kyle Rose
John Hunka
Zvi Mowshowitz
Charles Kornblith}}
{{Succession box| title=Pro Player of the Year | before={{Flagicon|CAN}} Paul McCabe | years=1997–98| after={{Flagicon|GER}} Kai Budde}}
{{Succession box| title=Magic US National Champion | before=Kyle Rose | years=2000| after=Trevor Blackwell}}
{{Succession box| title=Magic World Champion | before={{Flagicon|GER}} Kai Budde | years=2000| after={{Flagicon|NED}} Tom van de Logt}}
{{Succession box| title=Magic: The Gathering Team World Champion
With:
Chris Benafel
Frank Hernandez
Aaron Forsythe | before={{Flagicon|USA}} United States
Kyle Rose
John Hunka
Zvi Mowshowitz
Charles Kornblith | years=2000| after={{Flagicon|USA}} United States
Eugene Harvey
Trevor Blackwell
Brian Hegstad}}
{{Succession box| title=Magic Invitational Champion| before={{Flagicon|USA}} Chris Pikula | years=2000 | after={{Flagicon|GER}} Kai Budde}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkel, Jon}}
Category:American Magic: The Gathering players
Category:People from New York City
Category:People from Brockport, New York
Category:Players who have won the Magic: The Gathering World Championship