| Pro Player of the Year | Paul McCabe | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year | none awarded | ||
| World Champion | Jakub Slemr | ||
| Pro Tours | 6 | ||
| Grands Prix | 5 | ||
| Start of season | 13 September 1996 | ||
| End of season | 17 August 1997 | ||
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The 1996–97 Pro Tour season was the second season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 13 September 1996 with Pro Tour Atlanta, and ended on 17 August 1997 with the conclusion of 1997 World Championship in Seattle. The season consisted of five Grand Prixs, and six Pro Tours, located in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Paris, New York, and Seattle. At the end of the season Paul McCabe from Canada was awarded the Pro Player of the year title. It was the first seasons to host Grand Prixs, major tournaments awarding cash prizes and Pro Points, but open to all players.
German Frank Adler won Pro Tour Atlanta. It was the only Pro Tour ever to host an individual Sealed Deck competition as the main event. Actually the cards were all previously unknown to the players as Mirage product was used, but Mirage had not been officially released yet.[1]
Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 192
Format: Sealed Deck (Mirage)
| Place | Player | Prize | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Adler | $26,000 | 1st German to win a Pro Tour |
| 2 | Darwin Kastle | $16,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 3 | Aaron Muranaka | $9,000 | |
| 4 | John Yoo | $9,000 | |
| 5 | Terry Borer | $5,500 | |
| 6 | Mike Long | $5,500 | |
| 7 | Chris Pikula | $5,500 | |
| 8 | Matthew Vienneau | $5,500 |
Eventual Pro Player of the year Paul McCabe won Pro Tour Dallas. The Canadian defeated Jason Zila from the USA in the final. Olle Råde had his third Top 8 appearance while playing only his fourth Pro Tour.[1]
Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 242
Format: Standard
| Place | Player | Prize | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul McCabe | $26,000 | 1st Canadian to win a Pro Tour |
| 2 | Jason Zila | $16,000 | |
| 3 | Brian Hacker | $9,000 | |
| 4 | Chris Pikula | $9,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 5 | George Baxter | $5,500 | 2nd Final day |
| 6 | Olle Råde | $5,500 | 3rd Final day |
| 7 | Robert Thornburg | $5,500 | |
| 8 | Peer Kröger | $5,500 |
Tommi Hovi won Pro Tour Los Angeles, winning the final against David Mills. It was the only Pro Tour final ever to be decided by a disqualification. Mills was disqualified because he repeatedly tapped his lands after (rather than before) attempting to play a spell, which was not allowed at the time. Leading to an upset amongst the players it was eventually decided that Mills would be allowed to claim his prize, despite being originally disqualified without prize.
Los Angeles was also the first Pro Tour to use the so called Paris Mulligan. Previously players were allowed to take a mulligan if they had an all-land or no-land starting hand. Instead players could now mulligan whenever they wished to do so, but had to draw an opening hand with one card less. The name Paris Mulligan actually refers to the subsequent Pro Tour in Paris, which was the first Constructed Pro Tour to use this rule.[1]
Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 236
Format: Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions)
Head Judge: Tom Wylie[2]
| Place | Player | Prize | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommi Hovi | $26,000 | 2nd Final day, 1st Finn to win a Pro Tour |
| 2 | David Mills | $16,000 | Disqualified |
| 3 | Alan Comer | $9,000 | |
| 4 | John Yoo | $9,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 5 | Truc Bui | $5,500 | 2nd Final day |
| 6 | John Immordino | $5,500 | 2nd Final day |
| 7 | Brian Weissman | $5,500 | 2nd Final day |
| 8 | Ben Possemiers | $5,500 | 1st Belgian in a Top 8 |
GP Amsterdam (22–23 March)
Paris was the first Pro Tour held outside the United States. In the finals the biggest names of Magic at that time, Mike Long and Mark Justice, met determine the champion. Actually both decks present in the final belonged to Long as he had previously loaned his deck to Justice. Eventually Long won the match, en route winning a game which his Combo deck was not capable of winning any more, but he convinced Justice to concede anyway.[1]
Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 223
Format: Mirage Block Constructed (Mirage, Visions)
| Place | Player | Prize | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Long | $26,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 2 | Mark Justice | $16,000 | 3rd Final day |
| 3 | Darwin Kastle | $9,000 | 3rd Final day |
| 4 | Henning Rimkus | $9,000 | |
| 5 | Sturla Bingen | $5,500 | 1st Norwegian in a Top 8 |
| 6 | Paul Ferker | $5,500 | |
| 7 | Jason Gordon | $5,500 | 2nd Final day |
| 8 | Jason Zila | $5,500 | 2nd Final day |
GP Washington D.C. (26–27 April)
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GP Tokyo (4–5 May)
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GP Barcelona (4–5 May)
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Canadian Terry Borer won Pro Tour New York, defeating Ivan Stanoev in the finals.[1]
Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 259
Format: Booster Draft (5th Edition-Visions)
| Place | Player | Prize | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Borer | $26,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 2 | Ivan Stanoev | $16,000 | 1st Czech in a Top 8 |
| 3 | Gabriel Tsang | $9,000 | |
| 4 | Jeroen Weyden | $9,000 | 1st Dutch Player in a Top 8 |
| 5 | Mark Chalice | $5,500 | |
| 6 | John Chinnock | $5,500 | |
| 7 | Michael Pustilnik | $5,500 | |
| 8 | Patrick Chapin | $5,500 |
GP London (12–13 July)
Jakub Slemr from the Czech Republic won the World Championship. He defeated Janosch Kühn from Germany in the final, playing a mainly black aggro-deck, dipping into all other colours for utility. Canada won the team competition in a final against Sweden.[1]
Prize pool: $200,000 (individual) + $50,000 (national teams)
Players: 153
Format: Standard, Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight), Extended
| Place | Player | Prize | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jakub Slemr | $34,000 | 1st Czech to win a Pro Tour |
| 2 | Janosch Kühn | $22,000 | Pro Tour debut |
| 3 | Paul McCabe | $12,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 4 | Svend Geertsen | $12,000 | 1st Dane in a Top 8 |
| 5 | Gabriel Tsang | $8,000 | 2nd Final day |
| 6 | Nikolai Weibull | $8,000 | |
| 7 | Nate Clark | $8,000 | |
| 8 | John Chinnock | $8,000 | 2nd Final day |
After the World Championship Paul McCabe was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[1]
| Rank | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Paul McCabe |
| 2 (tie) | Terry Borer |
| 2 (tie) | John Yoo |
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