Josh Utter-Leyton

Josh Utter-Leyton is an American professional player. Perhaps most well known for his work with Team ChannelFireball, he was the American national champion in 2010 and 2013, the Player of the Year for the 2012–13 season, and won the 2016 Magic Online Championship. He has reached the top 8 of six Pro Tours, losing to the eventual champion each time. In 2017, he was voted into the Hall of Fame.

Professional play
Utter-Leyton started playing Magic in 1994, but remained a casual player until 2005 when he started playing Magic Online. He made his Pro Tour debut at Pro Tour Hollywood 2008, and although his Pro Tour finishes in 2008 and 2009 were unimpressive, he managed to remain qualified for all the events, and he was one of the original members of Team ChannelFireball. His breakout performance was his 5th-place finish at Pro Tour San Juan 2010, where he lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa. Three months later, Utter-Leyton won the United States National Championship, and in November he reached the top 8 of a Grand Prix for the first time. Though the US National Team would end up at a disappointing 15th place at the World Championships in Chiba, Utter-Leyton finished 16th individually, and with that earning Level 7 status in the Pro Players Club.

In the 2011 Pro Tour season, Utter-Leyton made two additional Pro Tour top 8s. At Pro Tour Philadelphia, he lost in the final to Samuele Estratti; his 2nd-place finish there being his best Pro Tour finish to date. It was followed up by a 7th-place finish at the very next Pro Tour, the 2011 World Championships. He ended the year tied for 7th on 52 points, and Level 8 in the Pro Players Club.

Utter-Leyton was a part of the inaugural Players Championship in 2012, later renamed the World Championship, where he finished 13th. He made a total of five Grand Prix top 8s in 2012, and when he finished 4th at Pro Tour Dragon's Maze in San Diego, Utter-Leyton became the 2012–13 Player of the Year. This also resulted in him being the US National Champion for 2013, making Utter-Leyton the first American player to be a two-time National champion.

At the 2013 World Magic Cup, Utter-Leyton once again failed to put up a result with Team USA, finishing 18th. At the World Championship, however, Utter-Leyton reached the semifinals, where he was narrowly defeated 2–3 by Reid Duke. Later in the season, he finished 3rd in his fifth Pro Tour top 8 at Pro Tour Journey into Nyx, and qualified for the 2014 World Championship. Utter-Leyton was one of three players to have qualified for all three World Championships since the 2012 format change, the other two being Reid Duke and Yuuya Watanabe. He finished 11th in the event. However, despite earning 53 Pro Points and Platinum status after the 2014–15 season, Utter-Leyton did not qualify for the 2015 World Championship. In 2015–16, Utter-Leyton failed to finish in the money of any Pro Tour events or top eight any Grand Prix and ended the season with Silver level in the Pro Players Club.

With the debut of the Magic Pro Tour Team Series, Utter-Leyton was recruited onto one half of the ChannelFireball group Team ChannelFireball Fire; however, with only Silver he stood to become a liability, being a teammate unable to play in PT Amonkhet. His invites to PT Kaladesh and Aether Revolt did not yield any invites, but with GP Vancouver - the second-last chance to qualify - Utter-Leyton not only made top eight to qualify but also secure himself his first GP win out of ten top eights. Two weeks later, he followed the GP win up with a victory at the 2016 Magic Online Championship, earning $25,000, Platinum status, and an invite to the 2017 World Championship (where he would end up finishing 3rd). A few months later, he was elected into the Hall of Fame as the top vote-getter.

In 2018, Utter-Leyton got his sixth Pro Tour top eight as he finished runner-up at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary with teammates Ben Stark and Martin Jůza.