Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2007

2007 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Japan Tomoharu Saitou
Rookie of the Year Japan Yuuya Watanabe
World Champion Israel 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

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.

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
5 Jim Herold 0
4 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 United States Mike Hron $40,000 25
2 Japan Takuya Oosawa $22,000 20 2nd Final day
3 Japan Kenji Tsumura $15,000 16 5th Final day
4 Japan Shingou Kurihara $14,000 16
5 Belgium Marijn Lybaert $11,500 12
6 Germany Jim Herold $11,000 12
7 Brazil Willy Edel $10,500 12 3rd Final day
8 United States Ervin Tormos $10,000 12 2nd Final day

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

GP Dallas (24–25 February)
  • Format: Extended
  • Attendance: 748
  1. France Raphaël Lévy
  2. United States Paul Cheon
  3. Japan Kenji Tsumura
  4. United States John Pelcak
  5. United States Mark Herberholz
  6. United States Paul Nguyen
  7. United States Alex Ledbetter
  8. United States Jim Davis
GP Singapore (3–4 March)
  • Format: Extended
  • Attendance: 331
  1. France Raphaël Lévy
  2. Japan Shingou Kurihara
  3. France Antoine Ruel
  4. Japan Osamu Fujita
  5. France Olivier Ruel
  6. Japan Koutarou Ootsuka
  7. Japan Ryou Ogura
  8. Japan Tomoharu Saitou
GP Amsterdam (10–11 March)
  • Format: Two-headed Giant Limited
  • Attendance: 1336 (668 teams)
  1. Slovakia Richard Hornansky
    Slovakia Michael Havlik
  2. France Amiel Tenenbaum
    France Gabriel Nassif
  3. Netherlands Olaf Koster
    Netherlands Christian Kok
  4. Greece Vassilis Fatouros
    Greece Georgios Kapalos


GP Kyoto (17–18 March)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 859
  1. Japan Yuuya Watanabe
  2. Japan Yuusuke Iwasaki
  3. Japan Motokiyo Azuma
  4. Japan Tsubasa Tomii
  5. Japan Naoki Shimizu
  6. Japan Ren Ishikawa
  7. Japan Atsushi Wada
  8. Japan Katsuhiro Ide
GP Massachusetts (31 March – 1 April)
  • Format: Two-Headed Giant Limited
  • Attendance: 690 (345 teams)
  1. United States Matt Wang
    United States Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz
  2. United States Gerard Fabiano
    United States Eric Ziegler
  3. United States Ben Lundquist
    United States Timothy Aten
  4. United States Matt Rubin
    United States 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
5 Raphaël Lévy 1
4 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 France Guillaume Wafo-Tapa $40,000 25
2 Japan Kazuya Mitamura $22,000 20 2nd Final day
3 United States Mark Herberholz $15,000 16 4th Final day
4 Japan Tomoharu Saitou $14,000 16 4th Final day
5 Portugal Paulo Carvalho $11,500 12 2nd Final day
6 France Raphaël Lévy $11,000 12 3rd Final day
7 Japan Masashi Oiso $10,500 12 6th Final day
8 Germany Sebastian Thaler $10,000 12

Grands Prix – Stockholm, Columbus, Strasbourg, Montreal

GP Stockholm (5–6 May)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 713
  1. Russia Nicolay Potovin
  2. Germany André Müller
  3. Japan Kenji Tsumura
  4. Japan Oliver Oks
  5. Netherlands Bas Postema
  6. Norway Thomas Refsdal
  7. Germany Klaus Jöns
  8. Sweden Samuel Korsell
GP Colombus (19–20 May)
  • Format: Legacy
  • Attendance: 883
  1. United States Steve Sadin
  2. United States Owen Turtenwald
  3. United States Bill Stark
  4. United States Max Tietze
  5. United States Gadiel Szleifer
  6. United States Paul Nicolo
  7. Canada Ryan Trepanier
  8. United States Michael Belfatto
GP Strasbourg (19–20 May)
  • Format: Block Constructed
  • Attendance: 1155
  1. Japan Tomoharu Saitou
  2. Germany Raul Porojan
  3. Japan Shouta Yasooka
  4. Germany Florian Pils
  5. Switzerland Christoph Huber
  6. Germany Klaus Jöns
  7. Czech Republic Petr Martinek
  8. Austria Stefan Heigerer


GP Montreal (23–24 June)
  • Format: Block Constructed
  • Attendance: 739
  1. Brazil Celso Zampere Jr.
  2. United States Paul Cheon
  3. France Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
  4. Japan Kenji Tsumura
  5. United States Gabriel Schwarz
  6. Japan Koutarou Ootsuka
  7. United States Jason Imperiale
  8. Japan 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

Semifinals Finals
      
1 Eugene Harvey
John Fiorillo 		0
4 Yuuta Takahashi
Kentaro Yamamoto 		1
Yuuta Takahashi
Kentaro Yamamoto 		0
Chris Lachmann
Jacob van Lunen 		1
3 Masami Kaneko
Genki Taru 		0
2 Chris Lachman
Jacob van Lunen 		1

Final standings

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

Grand Prixs – San Francisco, Florence

GP San Francisco (25–26 August)
  • Format: Block Constructed
  • Attendance: 672
  1. United States Luis Scott-Vargas
  2. United States Jonathan Stocks
  3. Brazil Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  4. United States Brett Blackmann
  5. United States David Irvine
  6. United States Andrew Walden
  7. United States Zack Smith
  8. United States Paul Cheon
GP Florence (8–9 September)
  • Format: Block Constructed
  • Attendance: 1082
  1. Japan Masami Kaneko
  2. Portugal André Coimbra
  3. Italy Marco Cammilluzzi
  4. Italy Mido Kagawa
  5. Austria Armin Birner
  6. Switzerland Manuel Bucher
  7. Denmark Rasmus Sibast
  8. Austria 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
5 Tine Rus 2
4 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 France Remi Fortier $40,000 25
2 Germany André Müller $22,000 20 2nd Final day
3 Italy Giulio Barra $15,000 16
4 Japan Shuhei Nakamura $14,000 16 4th Final day
5 Japan Takayuki Koike $11,500 12 Pro Tour debut
6 Slovenia Tine Rus $11,000 12 1st Slovenian in a Top 8, Pro Tour debut
7 United States Sam Stein $10,500 12
8 Japan Makihito Mihara $10,000 12 2nd Final day

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

GP Brisbane (20–21 October)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 233
  1. Australia Anatoli Lightfoot
  2. Australia Shawn Rayson
  3. Portugal André Coimbra
  4. New Zealand Hassan Kamel
  5. Australia David Zhao
  6. Australia Norman McPherson
  7. Australia Andrew Eckermann
  8. Australia Chris Ninnes
GP Bangkok (27–28 October)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 314
  1. Japan Masahiko Morita
  2. Japan Shingou Kurihara
  3. Singapore Yong Han Choo
  4. Singapore Kok Seng Ong
  5. Japan Junya Iyanaga
  6. Japan Koutarou Ootsuka
  7. Singapore Steven Tan
  8. Japan Takuya Oosawa
GP Kraków (3–4 November)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 849
  1. United States Paul Cheon
  2. France Amiel Tenenbaum
  3. Austria Armin Birner
  4. France Olivier Ruel
  5. Slovakia Robert Jacko
  6. Italy David Besso
  7. France Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
  8. Slovakia Matej Zatlkaj

GP Kitakyuushuu (10–11 November)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 354
  1. Japan Junya Iyanaga
  2. Japan Shouta Yasooka
  3. Japan Akira Asahara
  4. France Olivier Ruel
  5. Japan Kazuya Hirabayashi
  6. South Korea Jun Young Park
  7. Japan Kenji Tsumura
  8. Japan Chih-Chun Tsai
GP Daytona Beach (17–18 November)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 636
  1. United States Seth Manfield
  2. Brazil Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  3. United States Tillman Bragg
  4. United States Tanon Grace
  5. United States Gabe Walls
  6. United States Steven Wolansky
  7. United States Kyle Miller
  8. United States Alex Lieberman

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

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
5 Katsuhiro Mori 0
4 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 Israel Uri Peleg $40,000 25 1st Israeli to win a Pro Tour
2 United States Patrick Chapin $22,000 20 3rd Final day
3 France Gabriel Nassif $15,000 16 8th Final day
4 Japan Koutarou Ootsuka $14,000 16
5 Switzerland Christoph Huber $11,000 12
6 Japan Yoshitako Nakano $10,000 12
7 Japan Katsuhiro Mori $9,000 12 3rd Final day
8 Netherlands Roel van Heeswijk $8,000 12

National team competition

  1. Switzerland Switzerland (Nico Bohny, Manuel Bucher, Raphael Genari, Christoph Huber)
  2. Austria 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 Japan Tomoharu Saitou 68
2 Japan Kenji Tsumura 62
3 France Guillaume Wafo-Tapa 59
4 Japan Shingou Kurihara 57
5 France 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 Japan 16 171 11 21 Tomoharu Saitou (68)
United States United States 9 330 37 21 Paul Cheon (52)
France France 4 108 27 7 Guillaume Wafo-Tapa (59)
Germany Germany 3 83 28 6 André Müller (36)
Italy Italy 1 61 61 0 Giulio Barra (18)
Netherlands Netherlands 1 54 54 7 Frank Karsten (37)
Spain 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. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  3. ↑ "Wafo-Tapa Tops Them All!". Wizards of the Coast. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Sliver Kids Stun San Diego". Wizards of the Coast. 1 July 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  5. ↑ "Fortier Reigns in Spain". Wizards of the Coast. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  6. ↑ "Historic Wins for Peleg, Swiss at Worlds". Wizards of the Coast. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  7. ↑ "2007 Player of the Year Race". Wizards of the Coast. 18 January 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2009.