Youth Served in a Flash

2013 World Championship

Youth Served in a Flash

August 2-4, 2013

2013 World Championship


Shahar Shenhar came to the World Championship as the youngest player in a field filled with Hall of Famers, Pro Tour Champions, and multiple Player-of-the-Year winners. After five days of grueling competition, the 19-year-old from Israel defeated Reid Duke to become the Magic World Champion. Shenhar's Blue-white-red Flash deck appeared to be a major underdog against Duke's Hexproof deck, yet Shenhar found a way to win in a thrilling five-game final.

The top overall seed heading into the Top 4, Duke defeated reigning Player of the Year Josh Utter-Leyton in the semifinals while Shenhar dispatched 2013 Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame-elect Ben Stark in the other half of the bracket. Shenhar then came back from losing the first two games of the finals to to defeat Duke.

Battling over three days across four formats tested these 16 players unlike any tournament before. Playing against 15 of his peers, Shenhar demonstrated skill, creativity, and passion seldom seen in a player of his age. Duke, also a young master at the age of 23, came up one game short on his mission of redemption after his last-place finish in the 2012 Players Championship.

Shenhar and Duke represent the new age of Magic pro, tempered by Magic Online, hours of preparation with think-tank superteams, and a desire always to get better. Through this performance and their bright futures, expect Shenhar and Duke to be in many more amazing matches like this in the years to come.

VIDEO ARCHIVES

Worlds Week 2013 Recap

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top 8 bracket

Semi-finals

(1) Reid Duke

(4) Josh Utter-Leyton

(2) Ben Stark

(3) Shahar Shenhar

Finals

Reid Duke, 3-2

Shahar Shenhar, 3-1

Champion

Shahar Shenhar, 3-2

Player Profiles

TOP 4
Reid Duke Shahar Shenhar Ben Stark Josh Utter-Leyton
COMPETITORS
Dmitriy Butakov Stanislav Cifka Willy Edel Eric Froehlich
Martin Jůza Brian Kibler Tom Martell Shuhei Nakamura
David Ochoa Lee Shi Tian Yuuya Watanabe Craig Wescoe

Pairings, Results and Standings

Final

Pairings

12 11 10 9 8 7

6 5 4 3 2 1

Results

12 11 10 9 8 7

6 5 4 3 2 1

Standings

12 11 10 9 8 7

6 5 4 3 2 1

EVENT COVERAGE

Sunday

  • by Nate Price and Frank Karsten
    Top 5 Cards of Worlds Weekend
  • by Josh Bennett
    Finals:
    Comeback of the Ages
    Reid Duke (Hexproof) vs.
    Shahar Shenhar (Blue-White-Red Control)
  • by Frank Karsten
    Semifinals:
    Daybreak Dreams
    Reid Duke (Hexproof) vs.
    Josh Utter-Leyton (Redless Jund)
  • by Nate Price
    Semifinals:
    Flashes of Lightning
    Shahar Shenhar (UWR Flash) vs.
    Ben Stark (UWR Flash)
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    Worlds Week Video Highlights
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    Modern Metagame Overview and Analysis
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Decklists:
    Top 4

Thursday

  • by Rich Hagon and Brian David-Marshall
    Feature:
    Day 2 Recap
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    Magic 2014 Draft Pod 1 Recap
  • by Josh Bennett
    Round 12:
    No Pressure
    Reid Duke (Hexproof) vs.
    Ben Stark (Blue-White-Red Control)
  • by Nate Price
    Round 11:
    Good Ol' Rock
    Josh Utter-Leyton (Rock) vs.
    Craig Wescoe (Black-White Tokens)
  • by Frank Karsten
    Round 10:
    Honest Battles
    Brian Kibler (Green-White Hatebears) vs.
    Craig Wescoe (Black-White Tokens)
  • by Nate Price
    Feature:
    Best of Five
  • by Josh Bennett
    Round 9:
    Full of Hot Air
    Dmitri Butakov vs. Josh Utter-Leyton
  • by Frank Karsten
    Round 8:
    Put Up Your Dukes
    Reid Duke vs. Shahar Shenhar (Draft)
  • by Nate Price
    Feature:
    Meet Lee Shi Tian
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    Two-Color Combos in Magic 2014 Draft
  • by Nate Price
    Round 7:
    Wars and Raids
    Willy Edel vs. Ben Stark (Draft)
  • by Josh Bennett
    Feature:
    5 Little Magic 2014 Cards with a Big Impact
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Draft Viewer:
    Draft 2, Pod 1
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    Standard Metagame Overview and Analysis
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Info:
    Magic 2014 Booster Draft 2: Packs
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Info:
    Magic 2014 Booster Draft 1: Packs
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Info:
    Cumulative Tiebreak Explanation

Wednesday

  • by Rich Hagon and Brian David-Marshall
    Feature:
    Day 1 Recap
  • by Frank Karsten
    Round 6:
    Anything But a Flash
    Shahar Shenhar (Blue-White-Red Flash) vs.
    Yuuya Watanabe (Blue-White-Red Flash)
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    Modern Masters Pod 2 Recap
  • by Josh Bennett
    Feature:
    Modern Masters Pod 1 Recap
  • by Nate Price
    Feature:
    Teaming up: Preparing for the Best in the World
  • by Mike Rosenberg
    Round 5:
    Hellriding the Waves
    Brian Kibler (Domri Gruul) vs.
    David Ochoa (Jund)
  • by Josh Bennett
    Round 4:
    Flash Back, Flash By
    Eric Froehlich (Jund) vs.
    Stanislav Cifka (Blue-White-Red Flash)
  • by Frank Karsten
    Round 3:
    Value Town
    Eric Froehlich vs. Josh Utter-Leyton
  • by Josh Bennett
    Round 2:
    Thunderclouds Over the Battlefield
    Willy Edel vs. Shahar Shenhar (Draft)
  • by Nate Price
    Round 1:
    The Predatory Leash
    Martin Jůza vs. Ben Stark (Draft)
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Draft Viewer:
    Pod 2
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Draft Viewer:
    Pod 1
  • by Frank Karsten
    Feature:
    2012 Players Championship Highlights
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Info:
    Modern Masters Booster Draft 2: Packs
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Info:
    Modern Masters Booster Draft 1: Packs
  • by Rich Hagon
    Preview Feature:
    The Greatest Show on Earth
  • by Marshall Sutcliffe
    Column:
    Worlds Week
  • by Brian David-Marshall
    Column:
    Worlds Week Coverage Roundtable
  • by Brian David-Marshall
    Column:
    Sunday Puzzle
  • by Event Coverage Staff
    Info:
    Event Information