Welcome to our latest look as the Magic Top 25 Pro Rankings. Shizuoka in Japan got the ball rolling with Limited, while Omaha was the setting for a North American Modern Grand Prix, so let's see how the weekend results affect the leaderboard. Owing to the GP schedule early in 2015, these early weeks are a great opportunity for North American and Asia-Pacific players to make their mark, while the Europeans will largely be keeping their powder dry until after Pro Tour Fate Reforged, when the EU GP year gets under way in Seville. Even so, fourteen of our Top 25 were in action last weekend.
The standout performance came in Shizuoka, where the sizzling-hot mega-streamer Yuuki Ichikawa almost went the distance, falling at the penultimate hurdle in the semifinals. He surged past multiple Pro Tour champions and Hall of Famers as he reached No. 17 this week. Kentaro Yamamoto wasn't far behind Ichikawa, just falling short of the Top 8 in 10th place, which takes him up five places to No. 15. Yuuya Watanabe missed the last local GP, but here he opened his 2015 account with a solid 41st place, which leaves him comfortably in the Top 10 in the list at No. 7. Finally, there was a European representative from the rankings in Shizuoka, but No. 2 Ivan Floch couldn't put together a Day Two run to bring him closer to leader Owen Turtenwald.
Turtenwald was one of ten ranked players in action at Omaha, with interest firmly in the Modern format that will be the centerpiece of Pro Tour Fate Reforged next month. It was actually a fairly disappointing event for the ten, including Turtenwald, who, like Floch, spent much of Day Two spinning his wheels, before eventually finishing 68th. Ahead of him, two-time World Champion Shahar Shenhar came closest to a huge finish, ending up 9th, which was still enough to rise four places to No. 4. Sam Black's 22nd place brought him to within a whisker of Pro Tour-winner Ari Lax, but Black remains at No. 11. William Jensen was as consistent as ever, and is this week's No. 8. As for Lax, he was among the half dozen ranked players (which also included Reid Duke, Josh Utter-Leyton, Paul Rietzl, Jacob Wilson, and Gaudenis Vidugiris) who were outside the Omaha Top 100 and came away empty-handed. Vidugiris falls out of the Top 25, replaced by Craig Wescoe, who is tied for No. 24 with control master Andrew Cuneo.
After a couple of quiet weeks, we'll be back in business with more cut and thrust, so join us next time as we bring you all the news from the Magic Top 25 Pro Rankings.
| Rank | Name | Points | Change | Previous | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Owen Turtenwald |
83.34 |  |
1 | |
| 2 |  Ivan Floch |
73.80 | |
2 | |
| 3 |  Shaun McLaren |
70.98 | |
3 | |
| 4 |  Shahar Shenhar |
64.07 |  +4 |
8 | |
| 5 | Reid Duke |
63.79 |  -1 |
4 | |
| 6 |  Lee Shi Tian |
62.80 | +3 |
9 | |
| 7 |  Yuuya Watanabe |
62.34 | |
7 | |
| 7 | William Jensen |
62.34 | -1 |
6 | |
| 9 |  Jeremy Dezani |
61.88 | -4 |
5 | |
| 10 | Ari Lax |
57.08 | |
10 | |
| 11 | Samuel Black |
56.80 | |
11 | |
| 12 | Eric Froehlich |
52.07 | |
12 | |
| 13 |  Stanislav Cifka |
51.62 | |
13 | |
| 14 | Jacob Wilson |
50.25 | |
14 | |
| 15 | Kentaro Yamamoto |
49.62 | +5 |
20 | |
| 16 | Patrick Chapin |
49.34 | -1 |
15 | |
| 17 | Yuuki Ichikawa |
47.80 | +6 |
23 | |
| 18 | Josh Utter-Leyton |
47.43 | -2 |
16 | |
| 19 | Ben Stark |
46.62 | -2 |
17 | |
| 20 |  Willy Edel |
46.35 | -2 |
18 | |
| 21 | Paul Rietzl |
45.89 | -2 |
19 | |
| 22 | Tom Martell |
45.43 | -1 |
21 | |
| 23 | Alexander Hayne |
44.62 | -1 |
22 | |
| 24 | Andrew Cuneo |
42.35 | |
24 | |
| 24 | Craig Wescoe |
42.35 | — |
NR | |
Dropped from rankings: Gaudenis Vidugiris