Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 1999–2000

1999–2000 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Bob Maher, Jr.
Rookie of the Year Brian Davis
World Champion Jon Finkel
Pro Tours 6
Grands Prix 20
Start of season 3 September 1999
End of season 6 August 2000
← 1998–99 2000–01 →

The 1999–2000 Pro Tour season was the fifth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 3 September 1999 with Pro Tour Boston and ended on 6 August 2000 with the conclusion of 2000 World Championship in Brussels. The season consisted of twenty Grand Prixs, and six Pro Tours, located in Washington D.C., London, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Brussels. At the end of the season Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.

Contents

Pro Tour – Washington D.C. (3–5 September 1999)

Washington D.C. was the first team Pro Tour. In a high-profile Top 8 featuring five players, who were later inducted into the Hall of Fame, all team Your Move Games (YMG) came out on top. YMG consisted of Dave Humpherys, Rob Dougherty, and Darwin Kastle, all eventual members of the Hall of Fame.[1]

Tournament data

Players: 243 (81 teams)
Format: Urza's Saga Team Sealed (Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Destiny) – first day, Urza's Saga Team Rochester Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny) – final two days
Head Judge: Mike Guptil[2]

Top 8

  Semi-finals Semi-finals
                 
1  Game Empire 2  
4  THL  
     Game Empire
   Your Move Games 2
2  Your Move Games 2
3  Antarctica  

Final standings

Place Team Player Prize Comment
1 Your Move Games Rob Dougherty $30,000 2nd Final day
Dave Humpherys 2nd Final day
Darwin Kastle 4th Final day
2 Game Empire Kurt Burgner 2nd Final day
Alan Comer 3rd Final day
Brian Selden 2nd Final day
3 Antarctica Jon Finkel 6th Final day
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz 3rd Final day
Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
4 THL Marc Aquino
Richard Jones
Drew McLean

Grand Prixs – Tohoku, Memphis, Lisbon

GP Tohoku (11–12 September)
  1. Higashino Masayuki
  2. Kazuyuki Momose
  3. Satoshi Nakamura
  4. Itaru Ishida
  5. Toshiki Tsukamoto
  6. Ayumi Hidaka
  7. Hiroshi Harada
  8. Yuichi Taguchi
GP Memphis (18–19 September)
  1. Michael Pustilnik
  2. Mike Heffern
  3. Kyle Kloeckner
  4. Matthew Norton
  5. Adrian Sullivan
  6. David Jafari
  7. Ric Watts
  8. Matt Rauseo
GP Lisbon (25–26 September)
  1. Helder Coelho
  2. Paolo Cruz
  3. Stephane Gentric
  4. Rui Mariani
  5. Pedro Marcos
  6. Alex Shvartsman
  7. Kuniyoshi Ishii
  8. Hector Fuentes

Pro Tour – London (15–17 October 1999)

Kyle Rose won Pro Tour London, defeating Austrian Thomas Preyer in the finals. Darwin Kastle's back to back Top 8 appearances in Washington and London brought him to five final day appearance in his career.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Urza's Saga Booster Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny)
Head Judge: Carl Crook[2]

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Kyle Rose $25,000 3rd Final day
2 Thomas Preyer $15,000
3 Mike Bregoli $10,000
4 Ben Rubin $8,000 3rd Final day
5 Gunnar Refsdal $6,500
6 William Jensen $5,500
7 Marc Hernandez $4,800
8 Darwin Kastle $4,300 5th Final day

Grand Prixs – Kyushu, Sao Paulo, Milan, San Diego, Tours

GP Kyushu (30–31 October)
  1. Tadayoshi Komiya
  2. Eisaku Itadani
  3. Katsuhiro Mori
  4. Fumihiko Sano
  5. Masashiro Kuroda
  6. Masayuki Higashino
  7. Takuichi Harino
  8. Toshiki Tsukamoto
GP San Diego (20–21 November)
  1. William Jensen
  2. Gary Krakower
  3. David Williams
  4. Charles Kornblith
  5. Darwin Kastle
  6. John Yoo
  7. Trevor Blackwell
  8. Eric James
GP São Paulo (6–7 November)
  1. Rafael Assafi Alvarengi
  2. Douglas Maioli
  3. Carlos Mao
  4. Alex Shvartsman
  5. Carlos Romão
  6. Eduardo Simao Teixeira
  7. F. Moreira Bandeira
  8. Rodrigo Jose Constanza
GP Tours (27–28 November)
  1. Alex Shvartsman
  2. Nicolas Labarre
  3. Eric Vinh
  4. Franck Canu
  5. Christer Ljones
  6. Camille Gleizes
  7. Thomas F. Gunderson
  8. Svend Geertsen
GP Milan (6–7 November)
  1. Ziga Fritz
  2. Raphael Gennari
  3. William Cavaglieri
  4. Mario Delucis
  5. Ivan Solaja
  6. Micha Schulte-Middelich
  7. Ivan Curina
  8. Sasa Zorc

Pro Tour – Chicago (3–5 December 1999)

Bob Maher, Jr. won Pro Tour Chicago playing a blue-green-white control deck. He defeated Brian Davis in the finals 3–2. First time Pro Tour attendant Davis reportedly played so horribly, that around spectators the joke went, that Davis was the first to have played 5–0 in the finals and lost, referring to their perception that he could and should have won every single game.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 344
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Christian Lührs 3  
8  Hector Fuentes 1  
   Christian Lührs 1  
   Bob Maher, Jr. 3  
5  Bob Maher, Jr. 3
  4  Dirk Baberowski 0  
     Bob Maher, Jr. 3
   Brian Davis 2
  3  Brian Davis 3  
6  Tony Dobson 1  
   Brian Davis 3
   Raphaël Lévy 0  
7  Raphaël Lévy 3
  2  Alan Comer 0  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Bob Maher, Jr. $25,000
2 Brian Davis $15,000 Pro Tour debut
3 Christian Lührs $10,000 2nd Final day
4 Raphaël Lévy $8,000 2nd Final day
5 Alan Comer $6,500 4th Final day
6 Dirk Baberowski $5,500 2nd Final day
7 Tony Dobson $4,800
8 Hector Fuentes $4,300 1st Spaniard in a Top 8

Grand Prixs – Manila, Seattle, Madrid

GP Manila (4–5 December)
  1. Christopher Parreñas
  2. Frederick Salazar
  3. Francis Robert Profeta
  4. Lawrence Lagman
  5. Au Yeung Hon Ming
  6. Andrew Buchanan
  7. Dino Eric Yu
  8. Ramon Allan Oca, Jr.
GP Seattle (15–16 January)
  1. Bob Maher, Jr.
  2. Jeremy Brower
  3. Tim Kariel
  4. David Price
  5. Alex Shvartsman
  6. Jasar Elarar
  7. Mike Hron
  8. David Weitz
GP Madrid (29–30 January)
  1. Carlos Barrado
  2. Xavi Gonzales
  3. Alex Shvartsman
  4. Tony Dobson
  5. Olivier Ruel
  6. Alex Dominguez Ramos
  7. Rui Mariani
  8. Patrick Mello

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (4–6 February 2000)

Trevor Blackwell defeated Chris Benafel in the finals to become Pro Tour Los Angeles champion.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 337
Format: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques)
Head Judge: Dan Gray[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Kurt Burgner 3  
8  Brian Selden 0  
   Kurt Burgner 0  
   Trevor Blackwell 3  
4  Trevor Blackwell 3
  5  Andrew Nishioka 0  
     Trevor Blackwell 3
   Chris Benafel 1
  3  Bruce Cowley 1  
6  Mike Long 3  
   Mike Long 2
   Chris Benafel 3  
2  Erno Ekebom 0
  7  Chris Benafel 3  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Trevor Blackwell $25,000
2 Chris Benafel $15,000
3 Kurt Burgner $10,000 3rd Final day
4 Mike Long $8,000 4th Final day
5 Erno Ekebom $6,500
6 Bruce Cowley $5,500
7 Andrew Nishioka $4,800
8 Brian Selden $4,300 3rd Final day

Grand Prix – Taipei, Philadelphia, Cannes, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt

GP Taipei (12–13 February)
  1. Tadayoshi Komiya
  2. Tsuyoshi Fujita
  3. Alex Shvartsman
  4. Jim Len
  5. Lucifar Sun
  6. Chi Jin Guo
  7. Satoshi Nakamura
  8. Tobey Tamber
GP Philadelphia (19–20 February)
  1. Trey Van Cleave
  2. Britt Fitch
  3. Scott McCord
  4. John Marks
  5. William Jensen
  6. David Roderer
  7. Brad Swan
  8. Michael Bernat
GP Cannes (26–27 February)

1. Black Ops

Florent Jeudon
Antoine Ruel
Olivier Ruel

2. New Wave

Alex Shvartsman
Bram Snepvangers
Thomas Preyer

3. Legion of Rabbits

Nicolas Labarre
Manuel Bevand
Marie Laure Saulnier

4. The Tightans

Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
William Jensen
David Williams
GP Kuala Lumpur (4–5 March)
  1. Ryan Soh
  2. Tishen Tham
  3. Wai Kin Au Yong
  4. Tsuyoshi Ikeda
  5. Jun Nobushita
  6. Tsutomu Yamada
  7. Albertus Law
  8. Wei Ren Khoo
GP Frankfurt (8–9 April)

1. III Heroes

Jim Herold
Sebastian Moises
Gunnar Refsdal

2. Hammer of Brno

Martin Laznovsky
Ivan Stanoev
Libor Marek

3. Trash A

Jakub Slemr
Ondrej Baurys
Tomas Kosicka

4. Absolute Samuels

Daniel Steinsdorfer
Demir Sejdiu
Patrick Jansen

Pro Tour – New York (14–16 April 2000)

Sigurd Eskeland won Pro Tour New York, defeating Warren Marsh in the finals.[1] Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being Rising Waters.[3] His opponent played the deck most present at this tournament, Rebels.[4] PT New York is considered to be the first time where there was a dominant deck at a Pro Tour, the deck did not win the tournament.

43% of the players entering the tournament had chosen rebel decks. On the second day of the tournament rebels were even more present, comprising and unprecedented 57% of the field. These numbers were again topped by the final eight where six of eight decks were rebel decks.[5] In contrast the winning Rising Waters deck comprised only 8.4% of the field on day one and 14.5% on day two. In the top eight the two non-rebel decks were both Rising Waters decks. Rising Waters on both days had the highest winning percantage of all decks played with 60% on day one and 53.8% on day two.[6]

Tournament data

Players: 310
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis)
Location: New York State Armory
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  John Larkin 1  
8  Mattias Kettil 3  
   Mattias Kettil 2  
   Sigurd Eskeland 3  
5  Sigurd Eskeland 3
  4  Travis Turning 1  
     Sigurd Eskeland 3
   Warren Marsh 1
  3  Mike Bregoli 0  
6  Warren Marsh 3  
   Warren Marsh 3
   Ben Rubin 1  
7  John Hunka 1
  2  Ben Rubin 3  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Sigurd Eskeland $25,000 1st Norwegian to win a Pro Tour
2 Warren Marsh $15,000
3 Ben Rubin $10,000 4th Final day
4 Mattias Kettil $8,000
5 John Larkin $6,500 1st Irish Player in a Top 8
6 Mike Bregoli $5,500 2nd Final day
7 Travis Turning $4,800
8 John Hunka $4,300

Winner's deck

Sigurd Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being Rising Waters.

Sigurd Eskeland – 1999–2000 Pro Tour New York champion
Main Deck: Sideboard:

4 Drake Hatchling
4 Stinging Barrier
4 Waterfront Bouncer
4 Eye of Ramos
3 Seal of Removal
4 Gush
4 Rising Waters
1 Brainstorm
3 Counterspell
4 Thwart
3 Daze

18 Island
4 Rishadan Port

2 Bribery
1 Counterspell
1 Hoodwink
2 Island
3 Misdirection
2 Rath's Edge
1 Seal of Removal
4 Stronghold Zeppelin

Team Challenge

The Team Challenge was a predecessor to the Masters Series events that were held from 2000 to 2003. These events were open only to the most accomplished players and awarded cash prizes even for entering the tournament. The Team Challenge at Pro Tour New York 2000 awarded $3,000 for entering the tournament, $9,000 to the runners-up team, and $15,000 to the winners. Four teams were invited to enter the tournament.[7] In a field composed of otherwise American teams the French team Black Ops defeated Game Empire and Antarctica to win the tournament.

  Semi-finals Finals
                 
 Antarctica 2  
 Your Move Games 1  
     Antarctica 1
   Black Ops 2
 Black Ops 2
 Game Empire 1  
Team Player Team Player
Antarctica Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz Game Empire Brian Selden
Jon Finkel Alan Comer
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Kurt Burgner
Black Ops Florent Jeudon Your Move Games Rob Dougherty
Antoine Ruel Dave Humpherys
Olivier Ruel Darwin Kastle

Grand Prixs – Nagoya, St. Louis, Copenhagen, Pittsburgh

GP Nagoya (22–23 April)

1. New Wave

Alex Shvartsman
Trevor Blackwell
Nick Wong

2. Masato Club

Goro Matsuo
Jun Nobushita
Tadayoshi Komiya

3. Godzilla

Bob Maher, Jr.
David Williams
Mike Long

4. Unluckys

Osamu Fujita
Ayumi Hidaka
Takayuki Nagaoka
GP Copenhagen (17–18 June)
  1. Niels Sanders Jensen
  2. Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
  3. Franck Canu
  4. Noah Boeken
  5. Gottlieb Yeh
  6. Gunnar Refsdal
  7. Tom van de Logt
  8. Peter Gysemans
GP St. Louis (13–14 May)

1. Antarctica

Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
Jon Finkel
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz

2. Dogma

Rob Liszka
Mike Heffern
Aaron Estrin

3. Your Move Games

Darwin Kastle
Rob Dougherty
Dave Humpherys

4. Hubbo

Ryan Carpenter
Bryan Hubble
Jason Opalka
GP Pittsburgh (24–25 June)

1. Huey, Ben, and Casey

William Jensen
Ben Rubin
Casey McCarrel

2. Dark Side of the Moon

Ray Tautic
Brian Lynch
Ben Halpren

3. Antarctica

Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz
Jon Finkel

4. Your Move Games

Darwin Kastle
Rob Dougherty
Dave Humpherys

2000 World Championships – Brussel (2–6 August 2000)

Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship#2000 World Championship

Jon Finkel won the 2000 World Championship, defeating teammate Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals. The second place allowed Maher to take the Pro Player of the year title, surpassing Darwin Kastle in the final standings. Finkel became the second player to win two Pro Tours and the first with seven Top 8 appearances. The US team won the national team competition, also with Finkel as reigning national champion at its head.[1]

Tournament data

Players: 273
Individual formats: Formats: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques-Nemesis-Prophecy), Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy), Standard
Team Format: Standard
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Dominik Hothow 3  
8  Nicolas Labarre 1  
   Dominik Hothow 0  
   Bob Maher, Jr. 3  
5  Helmut Summersberger 2
  4  Bob Maher, Jr. 3  
     Bob Maher, Jr. 2
   Jon Finkel 3
  3  Tom van de Logt 2  
6  Benedikt Klauser 3  
   Benedikt Klauser 1
   Jon Finkel 3  
7  Janosch Kühn 1
  2  Jon Finkel 3  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Jon Finkel $34,000 7th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2 Bob Maher, Jr. $22,000 2nd Final day
3 Dominik Hothow $16,000
4 Benedikt Klauser $13,000 2nd Final day
5 Tom van de Logt $11,000
6 Helmut Summersberger $9,500
7 Janosch Kühn $8,250 2nd Final day
8 Nicolas Labarre $7,250 3rd Final day

National team competition

  1. United States (Jon Finkel, Chris Benafel, Frank Hernandez, Aaron Forsythe)
  2. Canada (Ryan Fuller, Murray Evans, Gabriel Tsang, Sam Lau)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[8]

Rank Player Pro Points
1 Bob Maher, Jr. 72
2 Darwin Kastle 69
3 Jon Finkel 68
4 Alex Shvartsman 58
5 Trevor Blackwell 50
Ben Rubin 50

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Rosewater, Mark (26 July 2004). "On Tour, Part 1". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr134. Retrieved 1 December 2008. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. http://magic.wiki.xs4all.nl/index.php?title=Head_Judges_of_Pro_Tours_and_World_Championships. Retrieved 16 November 2009. 
  3. ^ "Top 8 Decks". 15 April 2000. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/top8decks. Retrieved 1 April 2009. 
  4. ^ "Day 1 Deck Breakdown". 14 April 2000. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/day1decks. Retrieved 1 April 2009. 
  5. ^ Buehler, Randy (June 2000). "Pro Tour–New York Back To The Armory". The Sideboard 5 (2): 4–7. 
  6. ^ "Hard Data". The Sideboard 5 (2): 18. June 2000. 
  7. ^ Buehler, Randy (16 April 2000). "Magic: The Gathering Team Challenge 2000 Semifinals". The Sideboard (online). http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/931teamsemisfeature. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
  8. ^ "1999–2000 Player of the Year Standings". Wizards of the Coast. 2000. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=protour/standings/9900. Retrieved 1 April 2009. 

List of Pro Tours

1996  • 1996–97 • 1997–98  • 1998–99  • 1999–00  • 2000–01  • 2001–02  • 2002–03  • 2003–04  • 2005  • 2006  • 2007  • 2008  • 2009  • 2010  • 2011  • 2012