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Zvi Mowshowitz
Demographics
Born January 8, 1979
Residence New York City, United States
Nationality {USA} American
Professional Career
Pro Tour debut Pro Tour Los Angeles 1998
Top Finishes 4 (1 win)
GP top 8s 9 (2 wins)
Awards
Hall of Fame
PT Champion

Zvi Mowshowitz is a former Magic: The Gathering professional player, columnist, and Magic R&D intern.

Professional play[ | ]

Zvi made Top 8 at 4 Pro Tour events, winning PT Tokyo 2001. He also made Top 8 at 8 Grand Prix events, winning 2 of them. His wins were at GP New Orleans 2003 and GP Pittsburgh 2003 (as part of the team Illuminati). Zvi has 236 Pro Points, amongst the Top 20 all time, and was voted into the Magic Invitational in 2004. His most notable decks include TurboZvi and My Fires. Ben Bleiweiss once said that Zvi "has broken more engine cards than any other player in Magic history". These include Yawgmoth's Bargain and Dream Halls. For his efforts, Zvi was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

Accomplishments[ | ]

Season Event type Location Format Date Rank
1998–99 Grand Prix Boston Block Constructed 5–6 September 1998 4
1998–99 Pro Tour New York Block Constructed 30 April–2 May 1999 3
1998–99 Grand Prix Washington, D.C. Limited 19–20 June 1999 4
1998–99 Nationals Standard and Booster Draft 2–4 July 1999 4
1998–99 Worlds Yokohama National team 4–8 August 1999 1
2000–01 Grand Prix Manchester Limited 7–8 October 2000 8
2000–01 Pro Tour Chicago Standard 1–3 December 2000 7
2000–01 Pro Tour Tokyo Block Constructed 16–18 March 2001 1
2000–01 Masters Barcelona Block Constructed 1–4 May 2001 4
2001–02 Masters New Orleans Booster Draft 31 October–3 November 2001 5
2001–02 Grand Prix New Jersey Team Limited 29–30 June 2002 2
2002–03 Grand Prix New Orleans Extended 3–4 January 2003 1
2002–03 Grand Prix Boston Limited 22–23 February 2003 7
2002–03 Masters Yokohama Extended 8–11 May 2003 5
2002–03 Grand Prix Pittsburgh Team Limited 31 May–1 June 2003 1
2003–04 Grand Prix Atlanta Standard 29–30 August 2003 5
2012–13 Grand Prix Portland Modern 11–12 May 2013 3

Source: Wizards.com

Pro Tour Results[ | ]

List of the Pro Tour results and winnings of Zvi Mowshowitz
Season Pro Tour Format Finish Winnings
1997–98 Los Angeles Block Constructed 12 $3,310
1998–99 Chicago Booster Draft 279
1998–99 Rome Extended 152
1998–99 Los Angeles Rochester Draft 38 $840
1998–99 New York Block Constructed 3 $10,000
1998–99 Worlds (Tokyo) Special 69
1999–00 Washington, D.C. Team Limited 38
1999–00 London Booster Draft 10 $3,750
1999–00 Chicago Extended 269
1999–00 Los Angeles Booster Draft 202
1999–00 New York Block Constructed 12 $3,310
1999–00 Worlds (Brussels) Special 10 $5,560
2000–01 New York Team Limited 82
2000–01 Chicago Standard 7 $8,000
2000–01 Los Angeles Rochester Draft 295
2000–01 Tokyo Block Constructed 1 $30,000
2000–01 Barcelona Booster Draft 319
2000–01 Worlds (Toronto) Special 14 $3,800
2001–02 New York Team Limited 3 $6,000
2001–02 New Orleans Extended 187
2001–02 San Diego Rochester Draft 35 $1,100
2001–02 Osaka Block Constructed 60 $540
2001–02 Nice Booster Draft 185
2001–02 Worlds (Sydney) Special 12 $4,500
2002–03 Boston Team Limited 21
2002–03 Houston Extended 139
2002–03 Chicago Rochester Draft 254
2002–03 Venice Block Constructed 32 $1,250
2002–03 Yokohama Booster Draft 140
2002–03 Worlds (Berlin) Special 135
2003–04 Boston Team Limited 74
2003–04 New Orleans Extended 99
2003–04 Kobe Block Constructed 164
2003–04 San Diego Booster Draft 127
2003–04 Seattle Team Limited 19 $500
2003–04 Worlds (San Francisco) Special 278
2005 Atlanta Team Limited 61
2007 Worlds (New York) Special 27 $1,500
2008 Kuala Lumpur Booster Draft 192
2008 Hollywood Standard 31 $1,400
2010 San Diego Standard and Booster Draft 242
2010 San Juan Block Constructed and Booster Draft 22 $2,400
2011 Paris Standard and Booster Draft 250
2011 Philadelphia Modern and Booster Draft 236
2012–13 Gatecrash in Montreal Standard and Booster Draft 29 $1,500
2012–13 Dragon's Maze in San Diego Block Constructed and Booster Draft 90
2013–14 Magic 2015 in Portland Standard and Booster Draft 34 $1,500
2014–15 Fate Reforged in Washington, D.C. Modern and Booster Draft 95
2014–15 Dragons of Tarkir in Brussels Standard and Booster Draft 86
2014–15 Magic Origins in Vancouver Standard and Booster Draft 51 $1,000
2015–16 Battle for Zendikar in Milwaukee Standard and Booster Draft 57 $1,000
2015–16 Oath of the Gatewatch in Atlanta Modern and Booster Draft 312
2016–17 Amonkhet in Nashville Standard and Booster Draft 131
2017–18 25th Anniversary in Minneapolis Team Constructed 97
2018–19 Guilds of Ravnica in Atlanta Standard and Booster Draft 412
2018–19 Mythic Championship Cleveland 2019 Standard and Booster Draft 471 $500

Source: Wizards.com

Columnist[ | ]

Zvi wrote for Brainburst from 2002 through 2004, for Star City Games, mostly during 2005 and The Play's The Thing column on magicthegathering.com from July 2005 through April 2006. The column addressed game situations which were often complicated.

R&D Intern[ | ]

Zvi served an internship with Magic R&D from August 2005 through April 2006. He worked on the Time Spiral block and argued that Damnation was a "mistake". He would later explain that he greatly regretted not being able to "build the deck or find the argument that would convince those with the power to pull this card that it should not have been printed."

He chose to quit R&D in April 2006, a decision explained on his blog: "I woke up and realized: I wasn't having any fun. I was having fun talking to my coworkers. I was having fun playing board games with them after work. I was having fun going to lunch with them and talking about stuff. But when it came down to the nuts and bolts of making a game, the same tasks that I'd dedicated myself to for years on end were not something I looked forward to. I was played out. When something went badly in a game of Magic I'd be sad, but when it went right I wouldn't be happy. Every deck and match seemed like another boring chore I had to get through. I was feeling tired all the time without doing anything outside of work beyond wind down, but I still felt I wasn't putting in the kind of work that I was capable of. Finally I realized: I'm just going through the motions. I aint got that swing. I don't want this job."

Designing[ | ]

Developing[ | ]

External links[ | ]

References[ | ]

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