Tommi Hovi

Tommi Hovi (born 5 January 1980)[1] is a former professional Magic: The Gathering player from Finland.[6] He was inducted into the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Fame in the inaugural class in 2005. Hovi was also the first player to win two Pro Tour championships.[7][8]

Tommi Hovi
Born5 January 1980
ResidenceHelsinki, Finland[1]
NationalityFinland Finnish
WinningsUS$103,185[2]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8)2 (4)[3]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8)0 (1)[4]
Median Pro Tour Finish32[1]
Lifetime Pro Points222[5]
Highest Constructed Rating2176[1]
Highest Limited Rating2150[1]
Planeswalker Level43 (Battlemage)

Deck

The deck that took Hovi to his win at Pro Tour Rome was of a type that is now considered the most powerful and "broken" in the game's history: The Academy Deck, named after its key card, Tolarian Academy. The card can be tapped to add 1 blue mana to its controller's mana pool for each artifact under that player's control. Decks of this type rely on large numbers of mana-producing artifacts (like Mox Diamond, Lotus Petal, Grim Monolith, and Thran Dynamo), mechanisms for repeatedly untapping the Academy and/or those artifacts (like Voltaic Key and Mind Over Matter), and ways to get more cards into the player's hand (like Stroke of Genius). Time Spiral was a particularly abusive card in this deck type because it replenishes the player's hand, recycles the graveyard, and untaps the Academy at the same time. The game ends when the Academy player generates enough mana to cast a 60-point (or so) Stroke of Genius on the opponent, resulting in the opponent getting "decked" and thereby losing the game. This deck type was so powerful that almost every card in it was put on the Restricted list, and even then, it continued to survive as "Neo-Academy".

Other notable deck (co-)created by Hovi was the Turbo-Stasis deck, which won him the Finnish Nationals in 1996. This deck got worldwide attention when several top spots at the US Nationals 1996 were playing copies of it.

Top 8 appearances
 Season   Event type   Location   Format   Date   Rank 
1996 Nationals Finland Standard and Booster Draft Exact date Unknown 1
1996 Worlds Seattle Special 14–18 August 1996 8
1996–97 Pro Tour Los Angeles Rochester Draft 28 February–2 March 1997 1
1997–98 Invitational Rio de Janeiro Special 29 January–2 February 1998 7
1998–99 Pro Tour Rome Extended 13–15 November 1998 1
1998–99 European Championship Berlin Special 10–12 July 1999 6
2000–01 Nationals Finland Standard and Booster Draft 27–28 May 2001 5
2000–01 Worlds Toronto Special 8–12 August 2001 8
2003–04 Grand Prix Göteborg Rochester Draft 22–23 November 2003 2

Last updated: 31 July 2009
Source: Wizards.com

Other accomplishments

Following Hovi's induction into the Pro Tour Hall of Fame, Mark Rosewater said that one of his fondest memories of Hovi was from an ill-fated interview conducted by Rosewater. The highly-talkative Rosewater asked several questions, to which the shy Hovi would only reply with one or two-word answers. Rosewater kept talking, trying to make the questions harder to answer succinctly but the interview ended after about a minute with Rosewater calling it off in a fit of laughter.

References
  1. Tommi Hovi 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering) Time Spiral expansion)
  2. "Lifetime Winnings Leaders". Archived from the original on March 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  3. "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Archived from the original on March 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  4. "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Archived from the original on January 17, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  5. "Lifetime Pro Points". Archived from the original on December 18, 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  6. Pearlman, Jeff (November 17, 1997). "Revenge of the Nerds". Sports Illustrated. Vol. 87, no. 20. p. 7. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  7. "Tommi Hovi — Hall of Fame Profile". Archived from the original on January 17, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
  8. "I'm a sports nut for Magic: The Gathering".
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