Justin Hostutler

Little is known about Justin Hostutler's early life or background. Search results do not provide personal details such as birth date, education, or location specific to the Magic: The Gathering player. It is important to note that a separate obituary exists for a Justin Robert Hostutler (1986–2020), a teacher from Chesterland, Ohio, who is a different person.

Justin Hostutler made a notable appearance in the competitive Magic: The Gathering scene in early 2012. He competed in the StarCityGames.com Standard Open held in Tampa, Florida, on March 3–4, 2012. The tournament drew 355 players, and Hostutler finished in 7th place with his Frites deck—a reanimator strategy utilizing cards like Unburial Rites and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

His decklist was recorded on multiple Magic deck databases, including Deckcheck.de and mtgtop8.com, showcasing a 60-card main deck with a 15-card sideboard. The event featured top players such as David Sharfman (winner) and Andrew Wilson (runner-up).

Hostutler's Frites deck was a Standard variant of the reanimator archetype, leveraging graveyard recursion. Key cards included Faithless Looting, Tracker's Instincts, and Mulch to fill the graveyard, alongside Avacyn's Pilgrim and Birds of Paradise for mana acceleration. The primary win condition involved reanimating powerful creatures like Elesh Norn and Inferno Titan via Unburial Rites. The sideboard included answers to aggressive decks (e.g., Ancient Grudge, Thrun, the Last Troll) and combo pieces (Sword of Feast and Famine).

Hostutler's performance demonstrates a solid understanding of metagame positioning and graveyard mechanics, though no further tournament results are documented from search results.

No personal information about the Magic player is available beyond tournament records. The name Justin Hostutler is shared by an individual from Chesterland, Ohio, who passed away in 2020 at age 34 after battling pancreatic cancer—a teacher and sports enthusiast. However, there is no evidence linking this obituary to the Magic: The Gathering player.

Justin Hostutler's legacy is defined by a single but impressive result in a major Standard tournament. His Frites deck remains a notable example of the reanimator archetype in the Innistrad–Scars of Mirrodin Standard era. For Magic enthusiasts, his performance serves as a case study in graveyard-based strategies and sideboard construction.