| Shouta Yasooka 八十岡 翔太 |
|
|---|---|
| Residence | Shinjuku, Japan[1] |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Pro Tour debut | 2001 Pro Tour Barcelona |
| Pro Tour wins (Top 8) | 1 (1)[2] |
| Grand Prix wins (Top 8) | 1 (14)[3] |
| Lifetime Pro Points | 222[1] |
| Matches played | 2504[1] |
| Planeswalker Level | 48 (Archmage) |
Shouta Yasooka (八十岡 翔太) is a Japanese Magic: The Gathering player. He is best known for his success in the 2006 Pro Tour season, when he won Pro Tour Charleston with Tomohiro Kaji and Tomoharu Saitou,[4] as well as the Player of the Year title.[5]
When the Magic Online Player of the Year award was introduced in 2009, Yasooka with his account "yaya3" became the first player to win this honour.[6] He also won the 2009 Magic Online Champion – Sealed title.[7]
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Yasooka's Pro Tour career began in 2001 at Pro Tour Barcelona. It would be three years until he played his second Pro Tour in 2004 in Kobe. The following season, he put up two more unimpressive Pro Tour finishes in Nagoya, and Atlanta, before finishing in the top sixteen at that year's World Championship.[8] This finish qualified for Pro Tour Honolulu, and served as a catalyst for a spectacular run the following season.
After another solid finish in Honolulu, Yasooka first came into the spotlight at Grand Prix Hamamatsu. Along with Akira Asahara and Masaya Kitayama, he finished in second at the team event.[9] To follow up on this finish, Yasooka made the top eight individually at the next premier event held in Asia, Grand Prix Kuala Lumpur. Just a week later, Yasooka put up the best finish of his Pro Tour career at Pro Tour Charleston with Tomoharu Saitou, and Tomohiro Kaji. Despite losing his finals match to Willy Edel, Yasooka's team, Kajiharu80, still won the event.[4] At this event, his teammates accurately predicted that he would win the Player of the Year title that season. The latter half of the season took Yasooka all over the world. He added three more Grand Prix top eights to his resume, in Sydney, Toulouse, and New Jersey, before the end of the season. Going into the World Championship, Yasooka had the lead in the Player of the Year race, and despite earning only the minimun two Pro Points there, no one was able to pass him. Yasooka became the second of four Japanese players to win the Player of the Year title.[5]
Since then, Yasooka has continued to play on the Pro Tour, but without the same degree of success of the 2006 season. He top eighted three more Grand Prix, Strasbourg, Montreal, and Kitakyushu, in the 2007 season, and Grand Prix Manila in 2008, but is yet to return to the top eight at the Pro Tour level.
In 2009, Yasooka would be invited to play in the first Magic Online World Championship as a result of becoming Magic Online Player of the Year. The event took place at the same time as the 2009 World Championship. Yasooka would reach the finals of the tournament but ultimately lost to Anssi Myllymäki.[10]
| Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Hamamatsu | Team Constructed | 8–9 April 2006 | 2 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Kuala Lumpur | Sealed and Booster Draft | 3–4 June 2006 | 6 |
| 2006 | Pro Tour | Charleston, South Carolina | Team Constructed | 16–18 June 2006 | 1 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Toulouse | Sealed and Booster Draft | 24–25 June 2006 | 7 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | Sydney | Sealed and Booster Draft | 7–8 October 2006 | 7 |
| 2006 | Grand Prix | New Jersey | Sealed and Booster Draft | 11–12 November 2006 | 8 |
| 2007 | Grand Prix | Strasbourg | Block Constructed | 19–20 May 2007 | 3 |
| 2007 | Grand Prix | Montreal | Block Constructed | 23–24 June 2007 | 8 |
| 2007 | Invitational | Essen | Special | 18–21 October 2007 | 8 |
| 2007 | Grand Prix | Kitakyushu | Sealed and Booster Draft | 10–11 November 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | Grand Prix | Manila | Block Constructed | 30–31 August 2008 | 2 |
| 2010 | Grand Prix | Kuala Lumpur | Standard | 13–14 March 2010 | 5 |
| 2010 | Grand Prix | Sendai | Standard | 5–6 June 2010 | 3 |
| 2010 | Nationals | Kyoto | Standard and Booster Draft | 2–4 July 2010 | 5 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Kobe | Extended | 23–24 April 2011 | 1 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Singapore | Standard | 4–5 June 2011 | 5 |
| 2011 | Nationals | Osaka | Special | 15–17 July 2011 | 6 |
| 2011 | Grand Prix | Brisbane | Standard | 15–16 October 2011 | 8 |
Last updated: 16 October 2011
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com
Other accomplishments
| Preceded by Kenji Tsumura |
Pro Player of the Year 2006 |
Succeeded by Tomoharu Saitou |
| Preceded by n/a |
Magic Online Player of the Year 2009 |
Succeeded by Bing Luke |