Hagon Rich - Grinder: The Brad Nelson Story

"**** Magic."

Brad Nelson

Chiba, Japan. December 12th, 2010the final day of the professional season, the final day of the Magic: The Gathering World Championship. Eight players have reached the Sunday stage, and they will battle for a combined payout of close to $250,000 dollars. The quarterfinals and semifinals are over. Now only two players remain, going head to head under the pitiless glare of spotlights both literal and metaphorical as they vie to secure the title before a global audience that spans hundreds of countries and contains millions of players and fans.

Away from the hundreds watching the arena on a giant video screen, away from his friends, and away from well-wishers he just doesn't want to have to deal with, one man paces. This lumbering giant of a man peers with intense blue eyes out of a rounded, deeply-forested face. It doesn't take a genius to look into those eyes and see a man whose world is slowly falling apart.

You would be hard-pressed to guess what he does for a living. If this were wrestling, he'd be "The Mountain Man" or "The Great Bear." Without the beard, maybe "The Baby-Faced Assassin." Perhaps he's a security guard. If so, you wouldn't want to pick a fight with himdrunk or sober. In truth, he most closely resembles an offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings.

Meet our hero, Brad Nelson.

Brad doesn't make his living with his body. He isn't a security guard or a football player, and this isn't wrestling. Yes, there's something Incredible about this Hulk, but it isn't the massive power generated from monolithic shoulders. This man's power lies elsewhere.

Where it counts, there is nothing slow about Brad Nelson. He has the speed of Usain Bolt, the fastest man alive, between his ears. His mind harbors the machine-like analysis of Peyton Manning, future Hall of Fame football quarterback. His eyes twinkle with the Machiavellian cunning of Phil Jackson, legendary Los Angeles basketball coach. He possesses a mathematical prowess that would put poker professional Daniel Negreanu to shame. Most of all, Brad bears the ruthless will to win that every truly great sportsman requires.

And he is losing.

It isn't meant to be like this. For most of 2010 he has been just about as dominant a force as a game played with cards will allow. The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour sees players from around the world bring personalized decks of cards to huge tournaments. There they compete for days, culminating in a Top 8 where the elite display their skills. With thousands of cards to choose from and an ever-changing landscape of available options, this is the ultimate test of gaming skill.

Hundreds of playerssometimes thousandscompete at each major event, but only eight will reach the knockout stages of the final day. The chances of reaching the hallowed Top 8 for the average player are miniscule.

In 2010, Brad's Top 8 success rate is close to 50%.

It's outrageous, unexpected, and completely unprecedented. As the Pro Tour has crisscrossed the globe from California to Kuala Lumpur, from San Diego to San Juan, from Sweden to Sydney, and at last to Japan for the end-of-year finale, Brad Nelson has built a virtually unassailable lead in the race for Player of the Year, Magic's ultimate accolade.

And yet...

And yet Guillaume Matignon, an unheralded twenty-nine year-old professional from Bordeaux, France, is systematically ruining what was meant to be a coronation. For Brad, it is rapidly turning into a wake. At the end of the first day of competition, Matignon sits so far back in the field that you almost need a telescope to see him. His Top 8 chances were balanced on the point where mathematical improbability intersects with mathematical impossibility. Since that precarious point, Matignon has done nothing but win, and win, and win again. Now, in the finals of the World Championship, he faces fellow Frenchman, fellow traveller, fellow roommate, and even fellow Guillaume: Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, a former Pro Tour Champion.