Wizards of the Coast revealed the ballot for Magic’s 2019 Hall of Fame class today. The ballot is led by Reid Duke, who is newly eligible for the Hall of Fame after celebrating his 10-year anniversary on the Pro Tour.
Update (9/14/19): Duke was elected to the Hall of Fame with 94.28% of the vote.
Duke is one of the most universally beloved players in Magic and has had an extremely successful career as a Magic pro. Of the 13 players added to the ballot this year, Duke has the most top finishes (six), the most Pro Points (530), the best three-year median Pro Tour finish (20th), as well as the most Player of the Year Top 10 finishes (five). When you include the returning players, Duke is second in top finishes, Pro Points, and three-year median Pro Tour finish, while being first in Player of the Year Top 10 finishes.
In 2007, Kai Budde only got 90% of the vote when he was inducted to the Hall of Fame. In 2012, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa only got 86% of the vote, and in 2013, LSV only got 96% of the vote. Can Reid Duke be the first unanimous selection into the Hall of Fame?
2019 Hall of Fame ballots were sent out to the over 300-member Selection Committee and voting will take place until September 3. A player needs to be selected by 60% or more of the ballots cast in order to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Those inductees will then be announced on MPL Weekly during the Ruby Division Top 4 on September 14, which will be followed by an induction ceremony at Mythic Championship VI Richmond in November.
Updates to Top Finishes
In addition to the Pro Point and 10-year career thresholds, the Hall of Fame also requires that a player earn at least two Top Finishes to be eligible.
Previously, a Top Finish was defined as a Pro Tour Top 8 or a (post-2011) World Championship Top 4. But with the rise of MTG Arena and digital Magic, Top Finishes are being revised to include Mythic Championship Top 8s/Top 4s, Mythic Invitational Top 4s, and Magic Online Championship Top 4s, as well as team Pro Tour Top 4s.
These changes were made to include MTG Arena-based tournmaents but also to add weight to previous accomplishments in digital Magic. As such, players like Marcio Carvalho, Carlos Romão, Brad Nelson, and Sam Black all receive bumps in their lifetime Top Finishes, which could help them in their bid to be a part of the Magic Hall of Fame.
The 2019 Hall of Fame Ballot
The 2019 Magic Hall of Fame ballot.
13 players became eligible for the Hall of Fame by having both made the Pro Tour debut more than 10 years ago, having more than 150 career Pro Points, and having at least two Top Finishes. They are:
- Akira Asahara
- Nico Bohny
- Jeremy Dezani
- Reid Duke
- Christophe Gregoir
- Yoshihiko Ikawa
- Joel Larsson
- Matt Linde
- Pascal Maynard
- Thiago Saporito
- Matthew Sperling
- Sebastian Thaler
- Gabriel Tsang
They join the 30 returning players:
- Samuel Black
- Lukas Blohon
- Marcio Carvalho
- Patrick Cox
- Andrew Cuneo
- Javier Dominguez
- Chris Fennell
- Ivan Floch
- Justin Gary
- Mark Herberholz
- Tsuyoshi Ikeda
- Masahiro Kuroda
- Marijn Lybaert
- Tom Martell
- Guillaume Matignon
- Andrea Mengucci
- Brad Nelson
- Jamie Parke
- Chris Pikula
- Andrejs Prost
- Carlos Ramao
- Tomoharu Saito
- Eduardo Sajgalik
- Mike Sigrist
- Geoffrey Siron
- Yuuta Takahashi
- Gerry Thompson
- Craig Wescoe
- Kentaro Yamamoto
- Ken Yukuhiro
Six players were removed from the ballot this year due to receiving less that 10% of the vote in any three years:
- Mike Hron
- Shaun McLaren
- Chikara Nakajima
- Takuya Osawa
- Gaudenis Vidugiris
- Conley Woods