Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (born September 29, 1987) is a Brazilian Magic: The Gathering player. In 2011, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa became the youngest player to ever reach 300 lifetime Pro Points. He was elected into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame in 2012 as the first player from South America, and has seventeen Pro Tour Top 8 finishes (with three wins among them), which puts him second for the most Pro Tour Top 8s of all time, and in 2020 Da Rosa won the world championship for the 2019 season. Da Rosa is the all-time leader in prize money won playing professional-level Magic.

Magic: The Gathering career

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa began his professional Magic: The Gathering career at the 2003

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. A 55th-place finish put da Rosa at the bottom of the money winning places. A year later, he made his second Pro Tour appearance, again at the World Championship. It was not until

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

that he began to attract attention, when he reached the top 8 of

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

, his hometown. The following season da Rosa had his breakthrough. Alongside teammates Willy Edel and Celso Zampere, he made the finals of Pro Tour Charleston, before losing to Tomohiro Kaji,

Tomoharu Saitou is one of the most successful professional Magic: The Gathering players and the owner of Hareruya Store in Tokyo. Career Saitou debuted at Pro Tour Chicago 2000. An 83rd-place finish meant he fell just short of making money. Later the same seas ...

, and

Shouta Yasooka is a Japanese Magic: The Gathering player. He is best known for his success in the 2006 Pro Tour season, when he won Pro Tour Charleston with Tomohiro Kaji and Tomoharu Saitou, as well as the Player of the Year title. In 2015, Yasooka was elec ...

. Just two events later, da Rosa made the top eight again. At Worlds in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion,

Makihito Mihara is a Japanese ''Magic: The Gathering'' player best known for winning the 2006 World Championship, 2011 Team World Championship and being inducted into the 2014 Hall of Fame. Mihara's resume includes four more Pro Tour top eights, and eight Grand ...

, who drew exactly the right card at the last possible moment to win the match. Da Rosa also captained the Brazilian national team to a fourth-place finish. This finish earned him level six, then the highest level in the pro players club, qualified

Carlos Romão Carlos Eduardo Romão is a Brazilian Magic: The Gathering player. He is known for his win at the 2002 World Championships. Along with Diego Ostrovich, he is widely regarded as the first South American to achieve success on the Pro Tour, and was t ...

for all Pro Tour events the following season, and earned invitations to Pro Tour

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

for the other two members of the team.

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

was a slower year for da Rosa. He failed to make the top eight of any Pro Tour, and failed to earn money at a Pro Tour for the first time at Pro Tour Yokohama. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

he returned to the top eight. At Pro Tour

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

he reached the quarterfinal, losing to eventual player of the year

Shuhei Nakamura is one of the most successful professional Magic: The Gathering players. He has reached the Top 8 of six Pro Tours and won seven Grands Prix, as well as being the 2008 Pro Player of the Year. In 2011, he was inducted into the Magic: The G ...

. Playing almost the same deck, he repeated this feat at the World Championship in Memphis. Despite being considered a heavy favourite, he lost his quarterfinal match to American player Jamie Parke.

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

started weakly for da Rosa, with day one exits at Pro Tours

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, and

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. However, da Rosa excelled off the Pro Tour, with two Grand Prix top eights and a win at the Brazilian

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. At Pro Tour

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, da Rosa made the top eight again, making him the first South American to reach the top eight of five Pro Tours. He made yet another quarterfinal exit, losing to

Tsuyoshi Ikeda is a Japanese Magic: The Gathering player. His success include four top eights at the Pro Tour level, and six on the Grand Prix level, including one win. He is ranked 12th on lifetime pro points. Career Tsuyoshi Ikeda began his Pro Tour career ...

. In the 2010 season, da Rosa became only the seventh player to reach six Pro Tour top eights when he won Pro Tour

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. At the

that year, da Rosa reached his seventh top eight, losing to the eventual champion, Guillaume Matignon, in the semifinals. Another Grand Prix top eight followed in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

in the 2011 season, and just a week later he won Grand Prix

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Da Rosa went on to make his eighth Pro Tour Top 8 at the 2011 World Championship. Paulo made a strong start to the 2012 season, placing 3rd at Grand Prix Orlando and reaching the finals of his ninth Pro Tour Top 8 at Pro Tour Dark Ascension in

. Da Rosa was invited to the first Players Championship as the highest ranked South American player, where he finished 3rd. The same year, da Rosa was voted into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame, receiving 85.65% of the votes. His induction was conducted at Pro Tour Return to Ravnica in October 2012. The following seasons were less successful for da Rosa. He made no further Pro Tour top 8s, and at the end of the 2012–13 Pro Tour season he only had 28 points, resulting in Silver level status in the Pro Players Club, where he previously had Platinum status or the equivalent of Platinum since 2006. He maintained his Silver status after the 2013–14 Pro Tour season, collecting 33 points. He did put up three Grand Prix top 8 finishes in 2014, however, after none in 2013, and qualified for the 2014 World Championships, where he finished 23rd. After two disappointing seasons, the 2014–15 season was a successful one for da Rosa. Although he didn't finish in the top 8 of any Pro Tours, he made the top 8 of three Grand Prix events, winning one, and put up a strong 13th-place finish at Pro Tour ''Dragons of Tarkir''. Most of his top finishes during this season were with the deck called 'Esper Dragons'. By the season's end, da Rosa had amassed 51 Pro Points, good enough for Platinum status in the Pro Players Club, captainship of the Brazilian National team, and an invitation to the 2015 World Championship. The 2015–16 season, Paulo took 11th place at 2015 World Championship. He would go on to make his tenth Pro Tour Top 8 at Pro Tour Battle For Zendikar, the first Pro Tour of the season. As such, Paulo was at that point in joint second for the most Pro Tour Top 8s of all time alongside

Kai Budde Kai Budde (born 28 October 1979),Kai Budde 2005 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Ravnica expansion) is a semi-retired professional Magic: The Gathering player, who holds the record for Pro Tour victories, and for a long time held ...

. Paulo would also be joined in the Top 8 by the man with the most Pro Tour Top 8s,

Jon Finkel Jon Finkel (born May 18, 1978)Jon Finkel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion) is an American ''Magic: The Gathering'' and poker player. Finkel is one of the most decorated players in the history of professio ...

, who extended his own record to 16 Pro Tour Top 8s. In the 2016–17 season, Paulo gained two more Grand Prix placements (Top 4 at Team GP Rotterdam, and finalist at GP Prague), before breaking from Kai Budde's record to gain his eleventh Pro Tour Top 8 at Pro Tour Aether Revolt. In the final Pro Tour of the season (Pro Tour Hour of Devastation) he gained his twelfth Pro Tour Top 8 and second Pro Tour win, with this last accomplishment also making him the Player of the Year.

Achievements

Other accomplishments * Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame class of 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damo Da Rosa, Paulo Vitor Living people Magic: The Gathering players Sportspeople from Porto Alegre 1987 births Tempo Storm players