Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 1998–99
1998–99 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year |
Kai Budde |
Rookie of the Year |
Dirk Baberowski |
World Champion |
Kai Budde |
Pro Tours |
5 |
Grands Prix |
14 |
Start of season |
5 September 1998 |
End of season |
8 August 1999 |
|
The 1998–99 Pro Tour season was the fourth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 5 September 1998 with Grand Prix Boston and ended on 8 August 1999 with the conclusion of 1999 World Championship in Tokyo. The season consisted of fourteen Grand Prix, and five Pro Tours, located in Chicago, Rome, Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. At the end of the season Kai Budde from Germany was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.
Grand Prix – Boston, Lisbon
Pro Tour – Chicago (25–27 September 1998)
As in the previous season a rookie won the inaugural Pro Tour. In the finals Dirk Baberowski defeated Casey McCarrel. Jon Finkel also had another final eight showing, his third in a row.[1]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Tempest Rochester Draft (Tempest-Stronghold-Exodus)[2]
Head Judge: Charlie Catino[3]
Final standings
Place |
Player |
Prize |
Comment |
1 |
Dirk Baberowski |
$25,000 |
Pro Tour debut |
2 |
Casey McCarrel |
$15,000 |
2nd Final day |
3 |
Jeff Fung |
$10,000 |
|
4 |
Benedikt Klauser |
$8,000 |
1st Austrian in a Top 8 |
5 |
Jon Finkel |
$6,500 |
4th Final day |
6 |
Ryan Fuller |
$5,500 |
|
7 |
Martin Cedercrantz |
$4,800 |
|
8 |
Dominique Coene |
$4,300 |
|
Grand Prix – Austin, Birmingham
- GP Austin (10–11 October)
- Gary Krakower
- Darwin Kastle
- Heath Kennel
- Richard Van Cleave
- Jeremy Baca
- Tony Tsai
- Sid Rao
- Jonathan Pechon
|
- GP Birmingham (17–18 October)
- Craig Jones
- Kai Budde
- Darwin Kastle
- Neil Rigby
- Arho Toikka
- Warren Marsh
- Andreas Jonsson
- Jean-Louis D'Hondt
|
Pro Tour – Rome (13–15 November 1998)
Tommi Hovi won Pro Tour Rome, thus becoming the first player to win two Pro Tours. Reportedly Hovi was particularly happy to win another Pro Tour, because he won his first due to a disqualification, and thus felt it was not a proper victory. Olle Råde became the first player to have five Top 8 appearances.[1]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Carl Crook[3]
Final standings
Place |
Player |
Prize |
Comment |
1 |
Tommi Hovi |
$25,000 |
3rd Final day, First player to win two Pro Tours |
2 |
Nicolas Labarre |
$15,000 |
|
3 |
Mark Le Pine |
$10,000 |
2nd Final day |
4 |
Federico Dato |
$8,000 |
|
5 |
Olle Råde |
$6,500 |
5th Final day |
6 |
Justin Gary |
$5,500 |
|
7 |
Erik Lauer |
$4,800 |
|
8 |
André Konstanczer |
$4,300 |
|
Grand Prix – Manila, Kyoto, San Francisco, Barcelona
- GP Manila (12–13 December)
- Toshiki Tsukamoto
- Scion Raguindin
- Josua Rivera
- Leo Gonzales
- Rozano Yu
- Francis Robert Profeta
- GeeVee Vegara
- Itaru Ishida
- GP San Francisco (23–24 January)
- Richard Van Cleave
- Mark Schick
- John Yoo
- Alan Comer
- Mike Craig
- Shawn Keller
- Hashim Bello
- Shawn Roush
|
- GP Kyoto (16–17 January)
- Yoshikazu Ishii
- Hiroshi Watanabe
- Masami Ibamoto
- Tsuyoshi Fujita
- Tadayoshi Komiya
- Hirobumi Nakamura
- Hideaki Amano
- Eisaku Sueyoshi
- GP Barcelona (6–7 February)
- Kai Budde
- Alex Shvartsman
- Roc Herms
- Raphaël Lévy
- Daniel Nuttal
- Matt Henstra
- Laurent Laclavie
- Gordon Benson
|
Pro Tour – Los Angeles (26–28 February 1999)
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz won Pro Tour Los Angeles defeating his friend and fellow New Yorker Jon Finkel in the final.[1]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 337
Format: Urza's Saga Rochester Draft (Urza's Saga)
Head Judge: Charlie Catino[3]
Top 8
|
Quarter-finals |
|
Semi-finals |
|
Finals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Lucien Bui |
1 |
|
|
8 |
Jon Finkel |
3 |
|
|
|
|
Jon Finkel |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Worth Wollpert |
1 |
|
|
4 |
Worth Wollpert |
3 |
|
|
5 |
Svend Geertsen |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Jon Finkel |
1 |
|
|
|
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz |
3 |
|
3 |
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz |
3 |
|
|
6 |
Mike Long |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Terry Lau |
2 |
|
|
2 |
Patrick Chapin |
0 |
|
|
7 |
Terry Lau |
3 |
|
Final standings
Place |
Player |
Prize |
Comment |
1 |
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz |
$25,000 |
2nd Final day |
2 |
Jon Finkel |
$15,000 |
5th Final day |
3 |
Worth Wollpert |
$10,000 |
|
4 |
Terry Lau |
$8,000 |
|
5 |
Lucien Bui |
$6,500 |
|
6 |
Patrick Chapin |
$5,500 |
2nd Final day |
7 |
Svend Geertsen |
$4,800 |
3rd Final day |
8 |
Mike Long |
$4,300 |
3rd Final day |
Grand Prix – Vienna, Kansas City, Oslo, Taipei
Pro Tour – New York (30 April – 2 May 1999)
In the finals of Pro Tour New York Casey McCarrel defeated Shawn Keller,[1] both playing nearly identical decks, which was designed by Ben Rubin, Lan D. Ho, and Terry Tsang, who also made the Top 8 with the deck. The concept of their decks was to quickly generate huge amounts of mana to play big spells. Rob Dougherty and David Humpherys played nearly identical decks, designed by YMG.[4]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Urza's Saga Block Constructed (Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy)
Head Judge: Dan Gray[3]
Top 8
|
Quarter-finals |
|
Semi-finals |
|
Finals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Zvi Mowshowitz |
3 |
|
|
8 |
Terry Tsang |
2 |
|
|
|
|
Zvi Mowshowitz |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Casey McCarrel |
3 |
|
|
5 |
Casey McCarrel |
3 |
|
|
4 |
Christian Lührs |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Casey McCarrel |
3 |
|
|
|
Shawn Keller |
1 |
|
3 |
Shawn Keller |
3 |
|
|
6 |
Nicolas Labarre |
1 |
|
|
|
|
Shawn Keller |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Dave Humpherys |
1 |
|
|
7 |
Dave Humpherys |
3 |
|
|
2 |
Rob Dougherty |
1 |
|
Final standings
Place |
Player |
Prize |
Comment |
1 |
Casey McCarrel |
$25,000 |
3rd Final day |
2 |
Shawn Keller |
$15,000 |
|
3 |
Zvi Mowshowitz |
$10,000 |
|
4 |
Dave Humpherys |
$8,000 |
|
5 |
Rob Dougherty |
$6,500 |
|
6 |
Christian Lührs |
$5,500 |
|
7 |
Nicolas Labarre |
$4,800 |
2nd Final day |
8 |
Terry Tsang |
$4,300 |
|
Grand Prix – Amsterdam, Washington D.C.
1999 World Championships – Tokyo (4–8 August 1999)
Kai Budde won the 1999 World Championship, defeating Mark Le Pine in the finals. The match went into the books as the shortest individual Pro Tour final ever, taking about 20 minutes. The title allowed Budde to take the Pro Player of the year title as well.[1]
The United States defeated Germany in the team finals to win the national team title.[1]
Tournament data
Players: 208
Format: Standard, Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight), Extended Individual formats: Urza's Saga Rochester Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny), Standard, Extended
Team formats: Team Sealed (Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Destiny) – Swiss; Standard – Finals
Head Judge: Charlie Catino[3]
Top 8
|
Quarter-finals |
|
Semi-finals |
|
Finals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Jakub Slemr |
2 |
|
|
8 |
Matt Linde |
3 |
|
|
|
|
Matt Linde |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mark Le Pine |
3 |
|
|
5 |
Mark Le Pine |
3 |
|
|
4 |
Gary Wise |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
Mark Le Pine |
0 |
|
|
|
Kai Budde |
3 |
|
3 |
Jamie Parke |
1 |
|
|
6 |
Kai Budde |
3 |
|
|
|
|
Kai Budde |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Raffaele Lo Moro |
0 |
|
|
7 |
Nicolai Herzog |
1 |
|
|
2 |
Raffaele Lo Moro |
3 |
|
Final standings
Place |
Player |
Prize |
Comment |
1 |
Kai Budde |
|
|
2 |
Mark Le Pine |
|
3rd Final day |
3 |
Raffaele Lo Moro |
|
|
4 |
Matt Linde |
|
|
5 |
Jakub Slemr |
|
3rd Final day |
6 |
Jamie Parke |
|
|
7 |
Gary Wise |
|
|
8 |
Nicolai Herzog |
|
|
National team competition
- United States (Kyle Rose, John Hunka, Zvi Mowshowitz, Charles Kornblith)
- Germany (Marco Blume, Patrick Mello, David Brucker, Rosario Maij)
Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Kai Budde was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[5]
References