Brad Nelson (gamer) explained

Brad Nelson
Nickname:FFfreaK
Birth Place:Fargo, North Dakota[1]
Residence:Seattle, United States
Nationality: American
Debut:2009 Pro Tour Honolulu
Winnings:US$186,480[2]
Pt Top 8:0 (3)[3]
Gt Top 8:2 (13)[4]
Pt Median Finish:57
Lifetime Pro Points:386[5]
Pw Level:50 (Archmage)

Brad Nelson is an American player. Also known by his name, FFfreaK, he has three Pro Tour top eights, and thirteen Grand Prix top eights, including two wins. In 2010, Nelson became the first non-Japanese player since Gabriel Nassif in 2004 and the first American player since Bob Maher in 2000 to earn the Player of the Year title. However, Nelson did not receive his title for Player of the Year 2010 until February 2011 after winning the first-ever Player of the Year Tie playoff match against Guillaume Matignon of France.[6]

Magic: The Gathering

Brad Nelson starting playing in high school, when his best friend William Lies introduced the game to him.[7] Nelson first came to prominence on under the screen name FFfreak,[8] a name inspired by his love for the Final Fantasy series of videogames. Whilst Brad was attempting to make it on to the Pro Tour he developed a friendship with 2005 Player of the Year Kenji Tsumura, who would send him his decks to help Brad win a Pro Tour Qualifier.[9] Brad considers Kenji to be his favorite player of all time.[9]

Brad made his Pro Tour debut at Pro Tour Honolulu in 2009, managing to come in 9th place.[7] Brad would also make his first Grand Prix Top 8 at Grand Prix Minneapolis that year. Brad would go on to further success on the Pro Tour in the 2010 season. Brad made his first Pro Tour Top 8 at Pro Tour San Juan, though was defeated in the quarterfinals by Guillaume Matignon. At Pro Tour Amsterdam, Brad made his second Pro Tour Top 8 of the year. In the quarterfinals, he became one of only three players to have beaten Kai Budde in the elimination rounds of a Pro Tour.[10] Brad would go on to make the finals of the tournament, losing to Paul Rietzl to take second place. After his performance in Amsterdam, Brad would become the front-runner in the Player of the Year standings. Brad had a 15-point lead going into the final event of the year, the 2010 World Championship. However, Nelson would come in 135th place at Worlds only adding 3 additional points to his overall total.[11] This allowed the 2010 World Champion Guillaume Matignon to earn enough points with his victory to equal Brad's total for an unprecedented Player of the Year tie.[12] The Pro Player of the Year title was decided in a special Player of the Match between Nelson and Matignon at Pro Tour Paris 2011. Nelson won the match 4-2 to claim the 2010 Player of the Year title, becoming the first American to win the title in ten years.

In the 2011 season, Brad had a disappointing year, failing to Top 8 any major events. Discussing his year in an interview with Tristan Shaun Gregson, Brad blamed a loss of confidence for his disappointing performance.[13]

Achievements

Other accomplishments

Media

After winning the Pro Player of the Year title, Richard Hagon wrote a biographical book entitled Grinder: The Brad Nelson Story about Nelson's road to becoming the Pro Player of the Year.[15]

Personal life

Brad Nelson is also the half-brother of Corey Baumeister,[16] a fellow player and three-time North Dakota State Champion.[17] Currently, Brad works for Star City Games in Virginia as an article writer and participates in various video content for the site; which includes various videos of him testing and playing decks against fellow Star City Games pro players like Todd Anderson and Gerry Thompson, and their show "Above the Curve", which is a weekly half-hour show that goes over happenings and news in the competitive Magic scene.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Top 8 Player Profiles. https://web.archive.org/web/20100908203037/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptams10/top8profiles. dead. September 8, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. November 6, 2011. September 4, 2010.
  2. Web site: Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders. Wizards of the Coast. October 30, 2014. October 2, 2014. September 13, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140913003521/http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/alltime. dead.
  3. Web site: Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s. August 7, 2014. Wizards of the Coast. October 30, 2014. April 16, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160416180813/http://magic.wizards.com/en/protour/standings/top8byplayer. dead.
  4. Web site: Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s. July 28, 2014. Wizards of the Coast. October 30, 2014. August 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808050545/http://magic.wizards.com/en/protour/standings/gptop8byplayer. dead.
  5. Web site: Planeswalker Points. October 30, 2014. October 30, 2014. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. Web site: Bennett. Josh. Player of the Year Match: The Full Nelson. https://web.archive.org/web/20110215121110/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptpar11/feature/poy. dead. February 15, 2011. Wizards of the Coast. February 12, 2011 . October 16, 2011.
  7. Web site: David-Marshall. Brian. Meet the December Twelve. https://web.archive.org/web/20101122094039/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/117. dead. November 22, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. November 7, 2011. November 19, 2010.
  8. Web site: Stark. Bill. Pro Tour–Honolulu Round 1: Getting FFreaky. https://web.archive.org/web/20090611150359/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/pthon09/fm1. dead. June 11, 2009. Wizards of the Coast. November 8, 2011. June 5, 2009.
  9. Web site: David-Marshall. Brian. Player of the Year: Q&A. https://web.archive.org/web/20110215121032/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/129. dead. February 15, 2011. Wizards of the Coast. November 8, 2011. February 11, 2011.
  10. Web site: Henke. Tobias. Quarterfinals: New Blood. https://web.archive.org/web/20100909151110/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptams10/qf4. dead. September 9, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. December 4, 2011. September 5, 2010.
  11. Web site: 2010 World Championships: Final Standings. https://web.archive.org/web/20101216012327/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/worlds10/standfinal. dead. December 16, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. November 7, 2011. December 11, 2010.
  12. Web site: Stark. Bill. 2010 Magic: The Gathering World Championships Feature: Player of the Year. https://web.archive.org/web/20101215174947/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/worlds10/featurePOY. dead. December 15, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. November 7, 2011. December 12, 2010.
  13. Web site: Magic TV: Extra - Brad Nelson Interview. ChannelFireball.com. November 14, 2011. Video. November 13, 2011.
  14. Web site: Magic Online Community Cup. https://web.archive.org/web/20100502135503/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/activity/440. dead. May 2, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. November 8, 2011. April 30, 2010.
  15. Web site: Grinder: The Brad Nelson Story . StarCityGames.com . November 4, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111020141720/http://www.starcitygames.com/pages/grinder/ . October 20, 2011 .
  16. Web site: Willoughby. Tim. On the Sidelines at the Player of the Year. https://web.archive.org/web/20110216201826/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptpar11/feature/poysidelines. dead. February 16, 2011. Wizards of the Coast. November 4, 2011. February 12, 2011.
  17. Web site: Corey Baumeister Player Profile . November 4, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425134756/http://paradoxcnc.com/2010/10/the2010s-top-8-decklists-player-profiles/ . April 25, 2012 . dead .

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