Almost two years ago, I was a Magic player trying to qualify for the Pro Tour.

One time in 2011, after a National Top 8, I qualify for the World Championships (in San Francisco) via ranking. After that, I never qualify again, despite some PTQ Top 8 and a few lost finals…

In 2014, I won a Super Sunday Series qualifier in Santiago de Chile, and after I won the Super Sunday Series Championship 2015 , but still without an invitation to the Pro circuit…

(Mike) Congratulations to Luis Salvatto, #MTGSuper champion! pic.twitter.com/VtMEKsIhxn

— Magic Pro Tour (@magicprotour) 2015年1月26日

With the new system of the RPTQ, I was unable to attend to the PPTQ because I use to work on weekends, and live 1 hour to them. Sometimes I went to play, and I won an invitation for the regional feeding the Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad, in Santiago de Chile also.

I made the Top 4, qualifying 8th for the Top 8, and also my friend Sebastian Pozzo, who qualify 2nd, so we had luck not to fight for the slot, and both of us won the invitation.

Sebastian Pozzo

Fortunately, I didn’t need to play anymore RPTQs after because I started my Pro Tour with an amazing Top 8, despite the strange deck we chose and I managed to 6-0 in draft and 6-4 in constructed, finishing in 7th position.

Congratulations Luis Salvatto on making his way to the Top 8 for #PTSOI – The crowd cheering his name as he walks up pic.twitter.com/yfOWXOecpa

— Magic Pro Tour (@magicprotour) 2016年4月23日

With this result, I reach the Silver Pro Level.

After, we have some trouble with the visas for Sydney, so I skip the following Pro Tour Eldritch Moon, and planned to start the next season with 2 invitations to the Pro Tour, with 1 plane ticket, and the national captain title.

At that moment my dream was to reach Gold Level next year, and was super excited to have at least 3 big travels to play in big tournaments.

A few weeks after, I receive an incredible invitation to play at Grand Prix Rotterdam 2016 with Marcio Carvalho and Javier Dominguez. I was in the sky because never expect the possibility to team up with both professional players. My next season was too promising!

I was having personal troubles in Argentina, so I couldn’t play too much before the Pro Tour Kaladesh in Honolulu (first of the season) and the draft testing was a bit uncomplete for me. I started that Pro Tour with an 0-3, but I found myself with the best deck in standard, major courtesy to Antonio Del Moral, who put me in that deck and made me a comeback winning the following 5 rounds of standard.

Antonio Del Moral
Image Copyright : Wizards of the Coast

Then I won the next draft (having luck in the finals, without Sam Pardee flooding, I would never could’ve won that match), then won 2 more, to put me 10-3. After, I lost making me 10-4 but won the last 2 rounds making me finish in 15th position, learning a lot about Magic and how to set your mind after a 0-3 draft.

What happened in the following months was insane. I came back from Honolulu, and the week after, I top 8 in Grand Prix Santiago 2016 at Chile (this city likes me, and I like the city also!). Then, I started the world cup travels, and we won the Grand Prix Rotterdam 2016 with Marcio and Javier . It was a dream come true, that means a lot to me because I prove them and myself that I have what you need to play at that category.

(Tobi) Congrats to Javier Dominguez, (2) Marcio Carvalho, and Luis Salvatto, who defeated Karsten/Vos/Melis to become champions of #gprdam! pic.twitter.com/E4ZlpDdwcj

— Magic Pro Tour (@magicprotour) 2016年11月13日

The next tournament was Grand Prix Prague 2017, when I finish 11-4 to set me at 31 pro points before the 2nd Pro Tour of the season in Dublin. There, I choose a really awful deck and didn’t make day 2.

At that point I was super excited about reaching platinum, and went to play in another Grand Prix in Porto Alegre 2017 which I managed to come in Top 8, losing to Francisco Sifuentes (who in the future become a close friend and a teammate to make finals in Grand Prix Madrid).

Finalistas del gp Madrid ! #hareruyapros #hareruyahopes pic.twitter.com/Ja2hSQZ3Qz

— Luis Salvatto (@LuisSalvatto) 2017年12月10日

This was the most exciting months in my entire life, winning and winning every tournament I play! I made 11-4 at least in all the Grand Prix’s of the season at that moment, but the things change after that.

I didn’t find enough time to test, and Magic teaches you in the hard way, I play another Pro Tour, but with an 8-8 finish in Nashville (Amonkhet) and that put me in 43 pro points, needing an 11-5 finish in the last Pro Tour Hour of Devastation to reach Platinum (I also didn’t have more slots of GPs, having 6-4-4-2-2-2, and another 2 without use it).

I play at the last Pro Tour of the season in Kyoto and finish 10-6 to finish the season with 49 pro points , placing 27th in the world rankings. 1 match short to platinum makes me feel a little sad, but I remember at the beginning of the season, the dream was reach Gold, so I was extremely happy to qualify for the next entire season, and learning a lot on the way.

All this season was incredible, not only for me, but also for Sebastian Pozzo , who finish with 47 pro points, qualifying for the World Championships 2017 with the Constructed Master title! He also was 1 match short to platinum, because he finishes 11-5 at Pro Tour Hour of Devastation in Kyoto. This means we traveled and played together all the season again, and the best part of Magic is sharing the experiences with good friends!

With good friends, Hareruya Latin
Image Copyright : Wizards of the Coast

I hope you find my history interesting, and in the next article I will tell you more about this starting season in which I already have 18 pro points. My goal for this year is repeat being a Gold Level Pro, and the extra is always welcome and who knows…maybe this year I will have my own tokens!

Thanks for reading, see you in the tournaments!

Luis Salvatto