Javier Domínguez Gómez

Javier Domínguez Gómez, nicknamed "Thalai", is a Spanish card player, specializing in poker and Magic: The Gathering. He was twice a Magic: The Gathering World Champion, in 2018 and 2024, and Magic: The Gathering Player of the Year in 2024. In 2026 he was inducted into the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame .

Early life and education Javier Domínguez was born in Barcelona in 1987 and grew up in the village of Palau-solità i Plegamans. He began playing Magic: The Gathering aged 13 or 14, when his cousin brought some cards to a family meal, and played his first Pro Tour event in New Orleans in 2003 against Raphaël Lévy. In September 2006, at the age of 19, he won the Spanish National Magic Championship.

Domínguez read mathematics at university for a year and then psychology for two before dropping out. He said that Magic was more fun, while poker was more like work. By 2011 he had won a total of half a million dollars in online poker tournaments and was a teacher at online school EducaPoker.

In early 2011, Domínguez, using the user name "El_Cañonero", was selected for the PokerStars online team among 15 players out of 4500 applicants. That March, he came fifth in a PokerStars Sunday Million tournament and won $22,430. He won a Sunday Second Chance for $41,436 in July 2011, and then another PokerStars tournament for $16,000 that November. In March 2012, he won $13,000 in the European Poker Tour in Madrid, finishing 21st. He won a Legacy format MTG Grand Prix in Paris in 2014, then shared a Team Grand Prix win in Rotterdam in 2016 with Portuguese player Márcio Carvalho and Argentinian Luis Salvatto. so it was a surprise when he came second place at that year's Magic: The Gathering World Championship in Boston, He was the first Spanish player to win the Championship. He won $100,000, and the right to be featured on a Magic card; the red "Fervent Champion", released in Throne of Eldraine in 2019. He made the Top 8 of an MTG Grand Prix two weeks later. and in 2019, Domínguez won the second MTG Arena Mythic Championship, defeating French player Jean-Emmanuel Depraz in the finals.

Domínguez continued playing competitive poker even after becoming a Magic champion, taking third place in the Unibet Open Milano in 2022, and winning €40,000. He also played in the main event of the European Poker Tour in Prague in December 2024, though was eliminated in the first day. Playing poker alongside him was Czech Magic champion Martin Jůza.

In October 2024, Domínguez became the second player to ever win the Magic: The Gathering World Championship twice, matching Shahar Shenhar. He defeated American Seth Manfield in the semifinals, winning their last three games after losing the first two, By winning, Domínguez again won $100,000, and placement on a card to be determined later. In December 2024, Domínguez again won the Spanish National Magic Championship in Soria.

Magic philosophy

Domínguez says Magic teaches you how to lose, on the grounds that even professionals have winning percentages around 60%, He says some of his poker skills carry over to Magic, such as making plays specifically to conceal information from the opponent.