The Masters Series or simply Masters were single-elimination Magic: The Gathering tournaments open to the most accomplished players only. These tournaments awarded cash prizes upon entrance and were held at several Pro Tours each season. The first predecessor to the Masters Series, named Team Challenge, was held at the 2000 Pro Tour New York. In the following seasons Masters were held at four different Pro Tours each season. The last Masters was held at Pro Tour Yokohama. Ben Rubin was the most successful player at the Masters Series, being the only player to win two events.
After the 2002–03 season the cash that would have gone into the Masters Series prizes was instead used for a final payout at the end of the season based on Pro Points. This payout was in turn replaced by the Pro Player's Club two years later.
* | Elected to the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame |
Season | Location | Winner | Runner-up | Result | Format | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999–00 | New York City | Black Ops Antoine Ruel* Olivier Ruel* Florent Jeudon |
Antarctica Jon Finkel* Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz |
2–1 | Team Rochester Draft | [1][2] |
2000–01 | New York City | William Jensen | Jason Zilla | 2–1 | Extended | [3] |
2000–01 | Chicago | Ben Rubin* | Jon Finkel* | 2–0 | Booster Draft | [4] |
2000–01 | Tokyo | AlphaBetaUnlimited.com Chris Benafel Noah Boeken Ryan Fuller |
Panzer Hunter Reiji Ando Itaru Ishida Momose Kazuyuki |
2–1 | Team Rochester Draft | [5] |
2000–01 | Barcelona | Ben Rubin* | Jay Elarar | 2–0 | Block Constructed | [6] |
2001–02 | New Orleans | Michael Pustilnik | Chris Benafel | 2–0 | Booster Draft | [7] |
2001–02 | San Diego | Ryan Fuller | Dave Humpherys* | 2–0 | Standard | [8] |
2001–02 | Osaka | Phoenix Foundation Dirk Baberowski* Marco Blume Kai Budde* |
Panzer Hunter Reiji Ando Itaru Ishida Momose Kazuyuki |
2–1 | Team Rochester Draft | [9] |
2001–02 | Nice | Alexander Witt | Justin Gary | 2–1 | Extended | [10] |
2002–03 | Houston | Jens Thorén | Gary Wise* | 2–0 | Booster Draft | [11] |
2002–03 | Chicago | Franck Canu | Ken Ho | 2–0 | Standard | [12] |
2002–03 | Venice | PS2 Masahiro Kuroda Katsuhiro Mori Masahiko Morita |
2020 Elijah Pollock David Rood Steven Wolfman |
2–1 | Team Rochester Draft | [13] |
2002–03 | Yokohama | Bob Maher* | Gabriel Nassif* | 2–0 | Extended | [14] |