Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz is an American '' Magic: The Gathering'' player. At the height of his career in the late 1990s, he was considered one of the best players. He is well known as a friend and teammate to

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 ...

Career

O'Mahoney-Schwartz first qualified for the Pro Tour in its inaugural season, at Pro Tour Columbus. An unimpressive finish left him outside the top sixty-four needed to win money, and unqualified for the

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, ...

. The following season saw O'Mahoney-Schwartz make it back to the Pro Tour with a higher degree of success and consistency. He played five of seven events winning money at two of them. The following year was O'Mahoney-Schwartz's break-out season. He reached the quarter-finals 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 ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, the first event of the season. After a weak finish at Pro Tour

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, he made top eight of the second Pro Tour of the year in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. In the elimination bracket, he made it all the way to the finals before losing to Matt Place. A string of Grand Prix top eights including wins in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and Zurich put him in third place in the Player of the Year Race, at the end of the season. At Pro Tour Los Angeles the following year, he reached the top eight for a second time. He won the event, defeating

Mike Long Michael Long is a former professional Magic: The Gathering player who was a high-profile figure on the Pro Tour in its formative years. ''Magic: The Gathering'' ''Magic: The Gathering'' was released in 1993 and a Pro Tour launched the fol ...

, Terry Lau, and

in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals respectively. His other top finishes that season were at Grand Prix

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. A few months following his win, O'Mahoney-Schwartz made it to the elimination rounds of a Pro Tour for the third and final time. Going by the name Team Antarctica, O'Mahoney-Schwartz, his brother Dan, and

reached the top four of the first teams Pro Tour in Washington D.C. Antarctica lost in the semifinals to Your Move Games, consisting of

Darwin Kastle Darwin Kastle Mess (born 26 July 1971), more commonly known as simply Darwin Kastle, is a champion Magic: The Gathering player from the United States of America, and was a member of the inaugural class elected to the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tou ...

Rob Dougherty Robert R. Dougherty (born August 9, 1969Rob Dougherty 2007 Pro Player card) is a professional Magic: The Gathering player from Framingham, Massachusetts. He was inducted to the Magic Hall of Fame in November 2006. He is also a tournament organiz ...

, and Dave Humpherys who would go on to win the tournament. Following the 1999–2000 season, his career gradually slowed to retirement, although he won Grand Prix

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 2007. On August 19, 2011 it was announced that O'Mahoney-Schwartz will be inducted to the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame along with

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 ...

and Anton Jonsson. The ceremony took place at the Magic: The Gathering World Championships in November.

Achievements

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omahoney-Schwartz, Steven Living people American Magic: The Gathering players People from Brooklyn Year of birth missing (living people)