The laughs came easily, and the jokes and sideboarding discussions flowed liberally. The players knew each other's lists, their general strategy for the matchup, and that neither of them was putting anything more into this match than what it was—just one of a million games between Christoffer Larsen and Nathan Steuer over the past year as Steuer has made his return to the Pro Tour (and already qualified for the Magic Limited Championship in 2027). They sideboarded face up in the mirror match and discussed the lines of play each could have taken in the previous game.

This was just like any of those games of kitchen-table Magic the duo had played, but with one small difference. They weren't at a table in their testing house surrounded by drinks, snacks, and sideboards. They were playing the finals of Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, and legacies were on the line.

For Steuer, the run to the finals was as improbable as anything else in his storybook journey through competitive Magic, and a win would cement the former champion as back at the height of his powers. For Larsen, a win would be something even more improbable: a second straight Pro Tour victory, the kind of run known over the years only to, well, Steuer and the legendary Kai Budde, who pulled off many such runs.

It was the kind of moment you can't write in a script. The odds of teammates meeting in the finals of a Pro Tour with the same deck are ludicrously low. Because of that it instantly becomes lore when it happens. Schemes of "breaking the tournament" in such a way are what Pro Tour competitors dream about—or just a way of keeping the rest of the car from drifting off to sleep on the way back from the RCQ.

But it all came together for one moment back in May; the circumstances around the match make it one of the most memorable Pro Tour finals not just in recent memory but in any memory. With Magic World Championship 32 just around the corner—the event kicks off on Friday, November 13, 2026, at MagicCon: Atlanta—the showdown between Steuer and Larsen that felt more like a match of Friday Night Magic stands out as one of the most memorable matches of the year. Before Larsen's runner-up finish at Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, he was bringing the same kitchen-table energy to his Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed finals match against Toni Portolan. That was memorable not just for Larsen's first title after several Top Finishes, but for being an incredible comeback moment for the Danish dad who missed a Pro Tour in 2025 for the birth of one of his children and ultimately missed out on the 2025 World Championship by a minuscule margin.

Won Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed!!! Big daddy claims another 🏆😈😈😈

Thank you @CosmosMTG for carry!! https://t.co/XlVwKck1Xo

— Christoffer Larsen (@ChrisTheDaneLa1) February 2, 2026

"I played against Toni in the finals, a father of two with other priorities. Before the match even started, we were joking that it was the Pro Tour finals of the dads, the boomers," Larsen said of the match. "We had a super-relaxed attitude about it—he even played his hand face up after I revealed it in a game, and it was great to have that relaxed finals match for really, really high stakes. I can respect anyone who is willing to play kitchen-table Magic at the finals of a Pro Tour."

That phrase—kitchen-table Magic—keeps popping up, and it's going to continue to. Because that's exactly how Steuer described the finals against Larsen, and it's exactly what made the match so memorable for Steuer and the thousands of Magic fans watching and listening to table banter.

"One highlight from that match is that going into it felt extremely relaxed, the same as if we were playing a draft together or cubing. I knew we were going to show up and it was going to be a good time and a friendly match," Steuer recalled. "We were sideboarding face up and genuinely giving the other person the best advice we could, which is not something you're going to get in a lot of Pro Tour finals or Pro Tour matches in general."

A memorable celebration, a champion handing the title off to his teammate, world-class competitors battling for the highest stakes, and doing it all as if it were no different from an afternoon game while watching sports? That's what keeps players coming back to the Pro Tour after three decades, and matches like Larsen and Steuer's are the purest glimpse into what the early Wizards like Skaff Elias imagined the Pro Tour could be, coming decades after Professor Richard Garfield wrote the power and toughness "2/4" onto a playtest card.

"Chris is just the nicest guy. He's a massive man, a towering figure, and his presence is known in every room—and he's the kindest person there is," Steuer gushed. "Being there and in that match, it was a little bit of an out-of-body experience. I can't say exactly what was going through our minds, but it was very emotional for both of us. Regardless of the outcome, we felt like we had won the tournament already, our team had built the best deck, and our team was going to win. It was an unforgettable experience."

And we could be in for another match like it. Steuer and Larsen are again working together for Magic World Championship 32, and both have big goals. For Larsen, who enters near the very top of the leaderboard for the race to the 2026 Player of the Year title and the Kai Budde Player of the Year trophy, it's simple.

"It's been an insane year for me, but it hasn't really changed much. I'm still just doing my daily living and routine, and honestly I credit all my success this year to the team," Larsen reflected. "But Player of the Year would be completely insane. Honestly, that's what I want. Every Magic player who says they don't want to win it is lying. [Winning] would be huge and I would be ecstatic. I'll still be happy with my year, of course, but it would mean a lot."

Larsen isn't being humble when he says his victories haven't changed much. For the famously easy-going Dane, he's still made the same choices he always would rather than playing to maximize his points. He's bringing his whole family to the World Championship. Win, lose, or play in the finals, Larsen has finally had a dominant Pro Tour season that's been building since his Top 8 appearance at Grand Prix Miami in 2013.

Of course, there were tons of matches outside of Pro Tour finals that World Championship competitors looked back on this year as most meaningful to them. For Mason Buonadonna, it came from an unexpected place: a modest table in the middle rounds of Pro Tour Secrets of Strixhaven, where he was paired against Pro Tour Phoenix Champion Corey Burkhart. And once again, that phrase is going to make an appearance.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Corey, who is very technically skilled and one of the nicest to ever pick up Magic cards and shuffle them: a true ambassador for the game," Buonadonna recalled. "I was playing against Corey, and the matchup was bad for him and he knew it. Well, at the Regional Championship in Charlotte, he would always just show his opponents the combo to save them some time. When I started a big turn, Corey started helping me keep track of my dice. He asked, 'Am I dead?' I told him, 'Well, you're not dead,' and continued the turn. After I passed with an overwhelming board state without winning, he joked, 'Oh, I'm just functionally dead.' I replied that it's not quite the same thing!

"We played our closest, tightest Magic, but this match would have looked the same at the kitchen table, all the way through. The finals of that Pro Tour between Nathan and Chris were played at the kitchen table ten times in a row before that match ever happened. You might be playing the best Magic you can to win the most you can, but even as the stakes rise and the competition and money rise, keeping the community first is what stands out as one of the best things about the Pro Tour. The coolest place you can cast spells is at the Pro Tour, and to get there and have it be that kind of moment, that's awesome."

Reflecting on my birthday today about how lucky I am to have a community of people that support and care for me and what an opportunity it has been to compete and travel for Magic at the highest level. Thanks everyone!

— Mason B (@mshadaro) August 13, 2026

We've had two epic Pro Tour finals this year involving Larsen, and now we head to the Magic World Championship, where every match he plays will be with the pressure of the possible Player of the Year title riding on it. But as we already know, the table isn't what makes the match.