Utter-Leyton started playing Magic in 1994, but remained a casual player until 2005, when he started playing. He made his Pro Tour debut at, and although his Pro Tour finishes in and 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, where he lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa. Three months later, Utter-Leyton won the United StatesNational Championship, and in November he reached the top 8 of a Grand Prixfor the first time. Though the US National Team would end up at a disappointing 15th place at the, Utter-Leyton finished 16th individually, and with that earning Level 7 status in the Pro Players Club. In the, Utter-Leyton made two additional Pro Tour top 8s. At 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. 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 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 in San Diego, Utter-Leyton became the 2012–13 Player of the Year. This also made him the for 2013, making Utter-Leyton the first American player to be a two-time National champion. At the, 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, and qualified for the. 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 season, Utter-Leyton did not qualify for the.
