Paolo Vitor Damo da Rosa, widely considered one of the best Magic: The Gathering players in history, recently posted a video on his YouTube channel where he ranked the top 10 MTG players of all time.
Damo da Rosa, also known as PVDDR, started his channel earlier this year. His channel is aimed at helping viewers improve their Magic skills both on tabletops and on Arena. Previous videos have covered deck archetypes, card evaluation, and general strategy.
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This time, he does something a little different, using a combination of raw results and his own experiences and opinions to rank the best of the best. You can watch his interesting and informative ranking video here:
Of course, PVDDR is one of the most successful players in this history of the game. He has racked up 16 Pro Tour Top 8s, winning 2 of them, and was Player of the Year in 2017. He has also won 2 Grand Prix, making Top 8 in 24 of them. Most recently, he was World Champion in 2019.
So, where did PVDDR rank himself among the game’s best players ever?
Japanese Pros Get The Recognition They Deserve
Notably, four of PVDDR’s top 10 players of all time are from Japan. According to him, there was a period in Magic‘s competitive history when Japanese players dominated the Pro Tour. In fact, from 2005 to 2009, the Players of the Year were all from Japan.
Damo da Rosa credits the little-known pro Masashi Oiso with spearheading the Japanese foray into the international Magic scene. According to PVDDR, Oiso was one of the first pros from the country who frequently traveled to events. His determination and success on the pro scene convinced other Japanese pros to follow in his footsteps.
Of the five Japanese players who won the Player of the Year award from 2005-2009, three of them are on PV’s list: Shouta Yasooka, Kenji Tsumura, and Shuhei Nakamura.
PVDDR Ranks The Top 5
PVDDR continues his ranking by stating that he believes the top 5 players are “set in stone.” While people may differ in terms of the order of these five players, PVDDR thinks that each of them deserves their place in the top half of the ranking.
Damo da Rosa ranked himself the third best player of all time, ahead of Gabriel Nassif and Luis Scott-Vargas. He noted that he considered leaving himself off his own list, but he realized that this would only be false modesty on his part. Given his long list of achievements and longevity in the game, he undoubtedly deserves a place in the top 3.
Meanwhile, Damo da Rosa ranked Jon Finkel above Kai Budde in his final ranking. There is some debate in the Magic community as to who is actually the best player of all time, but if you watch this video, you’ll likely have enough information to come to your own conclusions.
