Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2007

2007 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Tomoharu Saitou
Rookie of the Year Yuuya Watanabe
World Champion Uri Peleg
Pro Tours 5
Grands Prix 16
Hall of Fame inductions Kai Budde
Zvi Mowshowitz
Tsuyoshi Fujita
Nicolai Herzog
Randy Buehler
Start of season 9 February 2007
End of season 9 December 2007
← 2006 2008 →

The 2007 Pro Tour season was the twelfth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 9 February 2007 the season began with Pro Tour Geneva. It ended on 9 December 2007 with the conclusion of the 2007 World Championship in New York. The season consisted of 16 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in Geneva, Yokohama, San Diego, Valencia, and New York. At the end of the season Tomoharu Saitou from Japan was proclaimed Pro Player of the year. At the Worlds in New York the third class of the Hall of Fame was inducted. The inductees were Kai Budde, Zvi Mowshowitz, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Nicolai Herzog, and Randy Buehler.

Contents

Pro Tour – Geneva (9–11 February 2007)

Mike Hron of the United States won the Pro Tour, defeating Takuya Oosawa in the Japanese player's second finals appearance. Willy Edel of Brazil became the first South American player with three top eight finishes, and former of player of the year Kenji Tsumura reached the quarter finals for the fifth time.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 387
Format: Booster Draft (Time Spiral-Planar Chaos)
Head Judge: David Vogin[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Shingou Kurihara 3  
8  Ervin Tormos 1  
   Shingou Kurihara 1  
   Takuya Oosawa 3  
4  Jim Herold 0
  5  Takuya Oosawa 3  
     Takuya Oosawa 2
   Mike Hron 3
  2  Kenji Tsumura 3  
7  Willy Edel 1  
   Kenji Tsumura 1
   Mike Hron 3  
3  Mike Hron 3
  6  Marijn Lybaert 1  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Mike Hron $40,000 25
2 Takuya Oosawa $22,000 20 2nd Final day
3 Kenji Tsumura $15,000 16 5th Final day
4 Shingou Kurihara $14,000 16
5 Marijn Lybaert $11,500 12
6 Jim Herold $11,000 12
7 Willy Edel $10,500 12 3rd Final day
8 Ervin Tormos $10,000 12 2nd Final day

Grand Prixs – Dallas, Singapore, Amsterdam, Kyoto, Massachusetts

GP Dallas (24–25 February)
  1. Raphaël Lévy
  2. Paul Cheon
  3. Kenji Tsumura
  4. John Pelcak
  5. Mark Herberholz
  6. Paul Nguyen
  7. Alex Ledbetter
  8. Jim Davis
GP Singapore (3–4 March)
  1. Raphaël Lévy
  2. Shingou Kurihara
  3. Antoine Ruel
  4. Osamu Fujita
  5. Olivier Ruel
  6. Koutarou Ootsuka
  7. Ryou Ogura
  8. Tomoharu Saitou
GP Amsterdam (10–11 March)
  1. Richard Hornansky
    Michael Havlik
  2. Amiel Tenenbaum
    Gabriel Nassif
  3. Olaf Koster
    Christian Kok
  4. Vassilis Fatouros
    Georgios Kapalos
GP Kyoto (17–18 March)
  1. Yuuya Watanabe
  2. Yuusuke Iwasaki
  3. Motokiyo Azuma
  4. Tsubasa Tomii
  5. Naoki Shimizu
  6. Ren Ishikawa
  7. Atsushi Wada
  8. Katsuhiro Ide
GP Massachusetts (31 March – 1 April)
  1. Matt Wang
    Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz
  2. Gerard Fabiano
    Eric Ziegler
  3. Ben Lundquist
    Timothy Aten
  4. Matt Rubin
    Rob DiPalma

Pro Tour – Yokohama (20–22 April 2007)

Frenchman Guillaume Wafo-Tapa won the second Pro Tour of the year, emerging from a Top eight in which every other contestant has at least twice appeared in a PT final eight. Masashi Oiso became only the fifth player to reach the quarter finals more than five times, Portugal's Paulo Carvalho put up his second top eight in three events, and Raphaël Lévy continued his hot streak with his first Pro Tour top eight since 1999.[3]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 387
Format: Time Spiral Block Constructed
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Kazuya Mitamura 3  
8  Sebastian Thaler 0  
   Kazuya Mitamura 3  
   Tomoharu Saitou 2  
4  Raphaël Lévy 1
  5  Tomoharu Saitou 3  
     Kazuya Mitamura 1
   Guillaume Wafo-Tapa 3
  2  Mark Herberholz 3  
7  Masashi Oiso 0  
   Mark Herberholz 2
   Guillaume Wafo-Tapa 3  
3  Paulo Caravlho 2
  6  Guillaume Wafo-Tapa 3  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Guillaume Wafo-Tapa $40,000 25
2 Kazuya Mitamura $22,000 20 2nd Final day
3 Mark Herberholz $15,000 16 4th Final day
4 Tomoharu Saitou $14,000 16 4th Final day
5 Paulo Carvalho $11,500 12 2nd Final day
6 Raphaël Lévy $11,000 12 3rd Final day
7 Masashi Oiso $10,500 12 6th Final day
8 Sebastian Thaler $10,000 12

Grands Prix – Stockholm, Columbus, Strasbourg, Montreal

GP Stockholm (5–6 May)
  1. Nicolay Potovin
  2. André Müller
  3. Kenji Tsumura
  4. Oliver Oks
  5. Bas Postema
  6. Thomas Refsdal
  7. Klaus Jöns
  8. Samuel Korsell
GP Colombus (19–20 May)
  1. Steve Sadin
  2. Owen Turtenwald
  3. Bill Stark
  4. Max Tietze
  5. Gadiel Szliefer
  6. Paul Nicolo
  7. Ryan Trepanier
  8. Michael Belfatto
GP Strasbourg (19–20 May)
  1. Tomoharu Saitou
  2. Raul Porojan
  3. Shouta Yasooka
  4. Florian Pils
  5. Christoph Huber
  6. Klaus Jöns
  7. Petr Martinek
  8. Stefan Heigerer
GP Montreal (23–24 June)
  1. Celso Zampere Jr.
  2. Paul Cheon
  3. Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
  4. Kenji Tsumura
  5. Gabriel Schwarz
  6. Koutarou Ootsuka
  7. Jason Imperiale
  8. Shouta Yasooka

Pro Tour – San Diego (29 June – 1 July 2007)

Pro Tour San Diego was the inaugural and as yet only event for the Two-Headed Giant format at the Pro Tour level. Chris Lachmann and Jacob van Lunen won the tournament, both in their first Pro Tour, playing an innovative sliver strategy. They won the elimination bracket in a combined nine turns making it the shortest semi-final and final ever.[4]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,500
Players: 390 (195 teams)
Format: Two-Headed Giant Booster Draft (Time Spiral-Planar Chaos-Future Sight)
Head Judge: Toby Elliott[2]

Top 4

  Semi-finals Semi-finals
                 
 Eugene Harvey
John Fiorillo		 0  
 Yuuta Takahashi
Kentaro Yamamoto		 1  
     Yuuta Takahashi
Kentaro Yamamoto		 0
   Chris Lachmann
Jacob van Lunen		 1
 Masami Kaneko
Genki Taru		 0
 Chris Lachman
Jacob van Lunen		 1  

Final standings

Place Players Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Chris Lachman $50,000 20 Pro Tour debut
Jacob van Lunen 20 Pro Tour debut
2 Yuuta Takahashi $30,000 16
Kentaro Yamamoto 16
3 John Fiorillo $22,000 12
Eugene Harvey 12 4th Final day
4 Masami Kaneko $20,000 12
Genki Taru 12

Grand Prixs – San Francisco, Florence

GP San Francisco (25–26 August)
  1. Luis Scott-Vargas
  2. Jonathan Stocks
  3. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  4. Brett Blackmann
  5. David Irvine
  6. Andrew Walden
  7. Zack Smith
  8. Paul Cheon
GP Florence (8–9 September)
  1. Masami Kaneko
  2. André Coimbra
  3. Marco Cammilluzzi
  4. Mido Kagawa
  5. Armin Birner
  6. Manuel Bucher
  7. Rasmus Sibast
  8. Ronald Guetl

Pro Tour – Valencia (12–14 October 2007)

Pro Tour Valencia began with a bumpy start. The first day of play to be canceled due to flooding. On the other two days the schedule had to be altered somewhat, including additional rounds on Saturday and three rounds on Sunday before Top 8. In the end, Frenchmen Remi Fortier defeated Germany's André Müller in the final, making Valencia the third consecutive extended Pro Tour to be won by a French player.[5]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 424
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Giulio Barra 3  
8  Makihito Mihara 0  
   Giulio Barra 1  
   Remi Fortier 3  
4  Tine Rus 2
  5  Remi Fortier 3  
     Remi Fortier 3
   André Müller 2
  2  Takayuki Koike 1  
3  Shuhei Nakamura 3  
   Shuhei Nakamura 2
   André Müller 3  
3  André Müller 3
  6  Sam Stein 1  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Remi Fortier $40,000 25
2 André Müller $22,000 20 2nd Final day
3 Guilio Barra $15,000 16
4 Shuhei Nakamura $14,000 16 4th Final day
5 Takayuki Koike $11,500 12 Pro Tour debut
6 Tine Rus $11,000 12 1st Slovenian in a Top 8, Pro Tour debut
7 Sam Stein $10,500 12
8 Makihito Mihara $10,000 12 2nd Final day

Grand Prixs – Brisbane, Bangkok, Krakow, Kitakyuushuu, Daytona Beach

GP Brisbane (20–21 October)
  1. Anatoli Lightfoot
  2. Shawn Rayson
  3. André Coimbra
  4. Hassan Kamel
  5. David Zhao
  6. Norman McPherson
  7. Andrew Eckermann
  8. Chris Ninnes
GP Bangkok (27–28 October)
  1. Masahiko Morita
  2. Shingou Kurihara
  3. Yong Han Choo
  4. Kok Seng Ong
  5. Junya Iyanaga
  6. Koutarou Ootsuka
  7. Steven Tan
  8. Takuya Oosawa
GP Krakow (3–4 November)
  1. Paul Cheon
  2. Amiel Tenenbaum
  3. Armin Birner
  4. Olivier Ruel
  5. Robert Jacko
  6. David Besso
  7. Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
  8. Matej Zatlkaj
GP Kitakyuushuu (10–11 November)
  1. Junya Iyanaga
  2. Shouta Yasooka
  3. Akira Asahara
  4. Olivier Ruel
  5. Kazuya Hirabayashi
  6. Jun Young Park
  7. Kenji Tsumura
  8. Chih-Chun Tsai
GP Daytona Beach (17–18 November)
  1. Seth Manfield
  2. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  3. Tillman Bragg
  4. Tanon Grace
  5. Gabe Walls
  6. Steven Wolansky
  7. Kyle Miller
  8. Alex Lieberman

2007 World Championships – New York City (6–9 December 2007)

Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship#2007 World Championship

The World Championships began with the induction of the third class into the hall of fame. The inductees were Kai Budde, Zvi Mowshowitz, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Nicolai Herzog, and Randy Buehler. In the individual competition Uri Peleg became the first Israeli, not only to reach the top eight, but also to win a Pro Tour. For Mori it was his third consecutive Worlds Top 8 appearance. In the team competition, the Swiss defeated the Austrian team in the finals[6]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $215,600 (individual) + $192,200 (national teams)
Players: 386
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Lorwyn), Legacy
Head Judge: Mike Guptil[2]

Top 8

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
                           
  1  Christoph Huber 1  
8  Koutarou Ootsuka 3  
   Koutarou Ootsuka 1  
   Uri Peleg 3  
4  Katsuhiro Mori 0
  5  Uri Peleg 3  
     Uri Peleg 3
   Patrick Chapin 1
  2  Gabriel Nassif 3  
7  Roel van Heeswijk 1  
   Gabriel Nassif 2
   Patrick Chapin 3  
3  Yoshitako Nakano 2
  6  Patrick Chapin 3  

Final standings

Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Uri Peleg $40,000 25 1st Israeli to win a Pro Tour
2 Patrick Chapin $22,000 20 3rd Final day
3 Gabriel Nassif $15,000 16 8th Final day
4 Koutarou Ootsuka $14,000 16
5 Christoph Huber $11,000 12
6 Yoshitako Nakano $10,000 12
7 Katsuhiro Mori $9,000 12 3nd Final day
8 Roel van Heeswijk $8,000 12

National team competition

  1. Switzerland (Nico Bohny, Manuel Bucher, Raphael Genari, Christoph Huber)
  2. Austria (Thomas Preyer, Stefan Stradner, David Reitbauer, Helmut Summersberger)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Tomoharu Saitou was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[7]

Rank Player Pro Points
1 Tomoharu Saitou 68
2 Kenji Tsumura 62
3 Guillaume Wafo-Tapa 59
4 Shingou Kurihara 57
5 Olivier Ruel 54

Performance by country

Japan players dominated the season, making 16 Top 8 appearances although they had only about half as many players on the Pro Tour as the United States, which had the secondmost Top 8 appearances at 9. Both countries generated 21 level 4+ pro players in this season. For the Netherlands despite having generated 7 level 4+ pro players in the season success on the Pro Tour was almost elusive with a single 8th place being their only Top 8 appearance.

Country T8 Q* Q/T8 GT Best Player (PPts)
Japan 16 171 11 21 Tomoharu Saitou (68)
United States 9 330 37 21 Paul Cheon (52)
France 4 108 27 7 Guillaume Wafo-Tapa (59)
Germany 3 83 28 6 André Müller (36)
Italy 1 61 61 0 Guilio Barra (18)
Netherlands 1 54 54 7 Frank Karsten (37)
Spain 0 55 55 1 Saul Aguado (20)

T8 = Number of players from that country appearing in a Pro Tour Top 8; Q* = Number of players from that country participating in Pro Tours (PT San Diego is missing as no country breakdown is available for that event); GT = Gravy Trainers (aka players with a Pro Players Club level of 4 or more) from that country generated in the 2007 season; Best Player (PPts) = Player with the most Pro Points from that country, Pro Points of that player in brackets.

References

  1. ^ "Hron's Victory Years in the Making". Wizards of the Coast. 11 February 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptgen07/welcome. Retrieved 27 March 2009. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "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. ^ "Wafo-Tapa Tops Them All!". Wizards of the Coast. 22 April 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptyok07/welcome. Retrieved 27 March 2009. 
  4. ^ "Sliver Kids Stun San Diego". Wizards of the Coast. 1 July 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptsdg07/welcome. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 
  5. ^ "Fortier Reigns in Spain". Wizards of the Coast. 14 October 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptval07/welcome. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 
  6. ^ "Historic Wins for Peleg, Swiss at Worlds". Wizards of the Coast. 9 December 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/worlds07/welcome. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 
  7. ^ "2007 Player of the Year Race". Wizards of the Coast. 18 January 2008. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=protour/standings/poy07. Retrieved 27 March 2009. 

List of Pro Tours

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