Quick Facts
Biography
Raphaël Lévy is a professional Magic: The Gathering player. He was inducted to the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Fame in November 2006. He is the first player to have been inducted while active on the Pro Tour. He is one of only six players to have won a Grand Prix on three different continents (the others being Shuhei Nakamura, Alex Shvartsman, Carlos Romão, Yuuya Watanabe, and Martin Juza). He also currently holds the record for lifetime Pro Points.
Career
Raphaël Lévy began his Pro Tour career in 1997 at Pro Tour Paris. A 130th-place finish meant he did not qualify for the next Pro Tour. After missing Pro Tour New York, he qualified for the 1997 World Championship, and has not missed a Pro Tour since.
Lévy first began to attract attention the following season first by winning Grand Prix Lyon and then reaching the top eight of the World Championship. He was the only non-American in an impressive top eight whose players now have a combined 37 Pro Tour Sunday appearances.
In 1998-99, Lévy continued to perform well with fourth-place finishes in Grand Prix Barcelona and the European Championship in Berlin. Before the turn of the millennium, Lévy put up his second Pro Tour Top eight. A semifinal loss to Brian Davis saw Lévy put up yet another fourth-place finish.
Over the following six years, Lévy did well without standing out. He remained continuously qualified for the Pro Tour, and put up nine Grand Prix top eights. However, his third Pro Tour top eight would not come until seven years after his second. In 2006, Lévy's two Pro Tour Top eights and streak of then 47 consecutive Pro Tours attended were enough to get him inducted into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame. This honour served to reinvigourate Lévy's game. The following season, he won back to back Grand Prix in Dallas and Singapore. He made his third Pro Tour Top eight in Yokohama, making him the first Hall of Famer to make it back to the Sunday stage.
Since then, Lévy has returned to putting up solid Pro Tour finishes without reaching the top eight, and has put up five more Grand Prix top eights, one of which was his fourth Grand Prix title.
In 2012, at Pro Tour Dark Ascension Lévy earned 6 pro points equalling the 500 lifetime pro points record of Kai Budde. Raphael Levy also became the 2012 French National Champion by being the highest ranked French player after Pro Tour Avacyn Restored, and as a result was part of the French National Team at the inaugural 2012 World Magic Cup, where they finished in 10th place. Levy was in 2013 once again the highest ranking French player, and at the 2013 World Magic Cup he captained the French team to victory. The win qualified Levy for the 2014 World Championship, where he finished 17th.
Accomplishments
Top 8 appearances
| Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Grand Prix | Lyon | Extended | 1998-02-08 !7–8 February 1998 | 1 |
| 1997–98 | Worlds | Seattle | Special | 1998-08-16 !12–16 August 1998 | 4 |
| 1998–99 | Grand Prix | Barcelona | Sealed and Booster Draft | 1999-02-08 !6–7 February 1999 | 4 |
| 1998–99 | European Championship | Berlin | Special | 1999-07-12 !10–12 July 1999 | 4 |
| 1999–00 | Pro Tour | Chicago | Extended | 1999-12-05 !3–5 December 1999 | 4 |
| 1999–00 | European Championship | Paris | Special | 2000-07-16 !14–16 July 2000 | 2 |
| 2000–01 | Grand Prix | Gothenburg | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2001-03-25 !24–25 March 2001 | 3 |
| 2001–02 | Grand Prix | Barcelona | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2002-03-24 !23–24 March 2002 | 7 |
| 2001–02 | Grand Prix | Naples | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2002-04-07 !6–7 April 2002 | 7 |
| 2002–03 | Grand Prix | Prague | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2003-04-13 !12–13 April 2003 | 2 |
| 2003–04 | Grand Prix | Madrid | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2004-02-22 !21–22 February 2004 | 4 |
| 2005 | Grand Prix | Paris | Sealed and Rochester Draft | 2004-11-28 !27–28 November 2004 | 4 |
| 2005 | Nationals | Aix-en-Provence | Special | 2005-07-31 !30–31 July 2005 | 8 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Cardiff | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2006-03-26 !25–26 March 2006 | 7 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Barcelona | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2006-04-09 !8–9 April 2006 | 2 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Phoenix | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2006-09-03 !2–3 September 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 | Grand Prix | Dallas | Extended | 2007-02-25 !24–25 February 2007 | 1 |
| 2007 | Grand Prix | Singapore | Extended | 2007-03-04 !3–4 March 2007 | 1 |
| 2007 | Pro Tour | Yokohama | Block Constructed | 2007-04-22 !20–22 April 2007 | 6 |
| 2008 | Grand Prix | Brussels | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2008-05-04 !3–4 May 2008 | 3 |
| 2008 | Grand Prix | Birmingham | Block Constructed | 2008-06-01 !30 May–1 June 2008 | 3 |
| 2008 | Grand Prix | Manila | Block Constructed | 2008-08-30 !30–31 August 2008 | 7 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Milan | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2011-10-09 !8–9 October 2011 | 2 |
| 2012 | Grand Prix | Austin | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2012-01-08 !7–8 January 2012 | 1 |
| 2013–14 | World Magic Cup | Amsterdam | National team | 2013-08-04 !2–4 August 2013 | 1 |
| 2013–14 | Grand Prix | Prague | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2013-08-31 !31 August–1 September 2013 | 8 |
| 2015–16 | Grand Prix | Madison | Sealed and Booster Draft | 2015-10-11 !9-11 October 2015 | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Grand Prix | Manchester | Standard | 2016-05-28 !28-29 May 2016 | 1 |
| 2016-17 | Grand Prix | Rotterdam | Team Limited | 2016-11-12 !12–13 November 2016 | 3 |
Last updated: 3 December 2016
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com
Other accomplishments
- Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame class of 2006
- Most Lifetime Pro Points
- Most Pro Tour appearances (87 as of Pro Tour Magic Origins)