Finkel was born in
Brockport,
New York, but moved with his family to
Woking, UK, in the summer of 1992 and learned about
Magic: The Gathering shortly thereafter at a local game shop named Fun and Games. After he returned to the New York area in 1995 Finkel quickly made friends with the "OMS brothers", Steven and Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz. and eventually claimed the
Pro Player of the Year title. The
1998–99 season opened with Finkel winning another Grand Prix in Boston and making his third consecutive Top 8 appearance, a feat only once before achieved by Scott Johns. Finkel finished the season second to
Kai Budde in the Pro Player of the Year race. At the first Team Pro Tour in Washington the following
season Finkel finished third with his friends and teammates Daniel and Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz. After some mediocre finishes in the middle of the season Finkel won the
US Nationals as well as the team and the individual portion of the
World Championship. Eventually Finkel finished third in the Pro Player of the Year race. Later in 2000 Finkel also won the
Magic Invitational, giving him the chance to design his own Magic card. His creation, , debuted in the
Odyssey set and was later reprinted in
Time Spiral and Modern Masters 2015 edition. After two additional Top 8 appearances in the
2000–01 season Finkel's performances dropped in the
2001–02 season. Two Top 8s in
2002–03 were followed by another drop in
2003–04 and eventually by Finkel retiring from professional play. In 2005 he was inducted into the
Hall of Fame as the vote leader of the inaugural class. This allowed him to attend further Pro Tours without having to qualify. In 2008 Finkel thus attended and won
Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first player to win a Pro Tour after his induction into the Hall of Fame. Magic head designer
Mark Rosewater commented on the occasion, "[Finkel] is the most naturally gifted player the game has ever seen. His accomplishments are rivaled by only one other man [Budde]". In recent years, Finkel, like fellow Magic players
David Williams and
Noah Boeken, has been playing in high-level
poker tournaments. He currently works as a managing partner at the
hedge fund Landscape Capital Management. As of 2021, Finkel was the Treasurer of the board of directors of
Gamers Helping Gamers, a nonprofit organization that assists aspiring college students who play Magic: The Gathering by awarding them tuition
scholarships.
Accomplishments {{MTG pth footer In addition, Finkel was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the class of 2005 vote leader. Finkel holds the highest vote percentage of any inductee. ==In popular culture==