Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2012

2012 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Japan Yuuya Watanabe
Rookie of the Year Canada Alexander Hayne
Pro Tours 2 / 4
Grands Prix 16 / 26
Hall of Fame inductions n/a
Start of season 13 June 2011 / 7 January 2012
End of season 13 May 2012

The 2012 Pro Tour season is the seventeenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. Due to major changes in the Pro Tour systems the 2012 season was retroactively made to overlap with the 2011 season. Originally the 2012 season was supposed to begin on 7 January 2012 with Grand Prix Austin, but retroactively the events from after Pro Tour Nagoya on 10–12 June 2011 were made to count towards the 2012 season as well as the 2011 season. The major changes included a shift of the season. Instead of Pro Tour seasons aligning with the calendar year, beginning with the 2012–13 season Pro Tour seasons will be going from spring to spring. Also a major overhaul of the ratings system was conducted. A new bye policy based upon the new ratings system and a new invitation policy for the Pro Tour were introduced. Finally the number of Grand Prix tournaments was greatly increased.

Mode

Four Pro Tours will be held in the 2012 season. The amount of Grand Prix is still unknown as only Grand Prix tournaments through March have been announced yet.[1] The prize purse of future Pro Tours is also unknown, however Wizards of the Coast announced, that future Grand Prix tournaments will have a total prize pool of $10,000 to $40,000 instead of a flat $30,000 pool that was awarded at each Grand Prix in 2011.

Grand Prix: Austin, Orlando

GP Austin (7–8 January)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 1044
  1. France Raphaël Lévy
  2. United States Patrick Cox
  3. United States Craig Edwards
  4. United States Eric Downing
  5. Canada Jason Howden
  6. United States David Ochoa
  7. United States Austin Bursavich
  8. United States David Saylor

GP Orlando (14–15 January)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 926
  1. United States Conley Woods
  2. United States Patrick Chapin
  3. Brazil Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  4. United States Stephen Mann
  5. United States Gabriel Nieves
  6. United States Ben Friedman
  7. United States Javier Adorno
  8. United States David Ochoa

Pro Tour Dark Ascension – Honolulu (10–12 February 2012)

The first Pro Tour in the 2012 season is the first to have a proper name. Previously Pro Tours were referred to by their location and/or date. The name Dark Ascension refers to the Magic set with the same name that is to be released a week prior to the Pro Tour.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $233,500
Format: Standard, Booster Draft
Players: 445

Top 8

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 3
8 Jelger Wiegersma 0
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 3
Mamoru Nagai 1
5 Mamoru Nagai 3
4 Lucas Blohon 1
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 2
Brian Kibler 3
2 Denniz Rachid 1
7 Brian Kibler 3
Brian Kibler 3
Jon Finkel 2
3 Jon Finkel 3
6 Matthew Costa 1

Final standings

Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 United States Brian Kibler $40,000 30 5th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2 Brazil Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa $20,000 24 9th Final day
3 United States Jon Finkel $12,500 22 13th Final day
4 Japan Mamoru Nagai $12,500 22
5 Sweden Denniz Rachid $10,000 20
6 United States Matthew Costa $10,000 20
7 Czech Republic Lukas Blohon $10,000 20
8 Netherlands Jelger Wiegersma $10,000 20 4th Final day

Grand Prix: Kobe, Lincoln, Madrid, Baltimore, Lille, Seattle, Indianapolis, Nashville, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Melbourne, Salt Lake City, Turin, Manchester

GP Kobe (18–19 February)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 1117
  1. Japan Masahiro Hiraga
  2. Japan Ken Yukuhiro
  3. Japan Kouji Takeishi
  4. Japan Hiroaki Kitahara
  5. Japan Katsuhiro Mori
  6. Japan Hiroshi Ishida
  7. Japan Yuuya Watanabe
  8. Japan Takayuki Nagaoka
GP Baltimore (25–26 February)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 1545
  1. United States Matthew Costa
  2. United States David Shiels
  3. United States Jackie Lee
  4. United States Matt Scott
  5. Brazil Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  6. United States Max Tietze
  7. United States Eric Meng
  8. United States Adam Snook
GP Indianapolis (10–11 March)
  • Format: Legacy
  • Attendance: 1214
  1. United States Tom Martell
  2. United States Kenny Castor
  3. United States Dan Jordan
  4. United States Colin Chilbert
  5. United States Ando Ferguson
  6. United States Caleb Durward
  7. Canada Pascal Maynard
  8. United States Adam Yurchick
GP Mexico City (24–25 March)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 685
  1. United States Paul Rietzl
  2. Venezuela Humberto Patarca
  3. United States Craig Wescoe
  4. Mexico Daniel Hernandez
  5. Canada Pascal Maynard
  6. Mexico Mario Flores
  7. Germany Gottlieb Yeh
  8. Mexico Gustavo Nuñez Moreno
GP Turin (31 March–1 April)
  • Format: Modern
  • Attendance: 1063
  1. United States Antonino De Rosa
  2. Germany Michael Thiel
  3. Spain Jose Velazquez
  4. Italy Alessandro Lippi
  5. Italy Marco Cammilluzzi
  6. Switzerland Yann Blumer
  7. Italy Alessandro Portaro
  8. Switzerland David Progin

GP Lincoln (18–19 February)
  • Format: Modern
  • Attendance: 716
  1. United States Bronson Magnan
  2. United States Andrew Cuneo
  3. United States Luis Scott-Vargas
  4. United States Samuel Friedman
  5. United States Mary Jacobson
  6. United States Samuel Karls
  7. Canada Matt Mercier
  8. United States Derrick Rutledge
GP Lille (3–4 March)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 1505
  1. England Richard Parker
  2. France Simon Diaz
  3. Belgium Kristof Benaets
  4. Belgium Tom Valkeneers
  5. Germany Manuel Mayer
  6. Germany Jonas Köstler
  7. Poland Grzegorz Kowalski
  8. Germany Martin Zimmermann
GP Nashville (17–18 March)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 1037
  1. United States Reid Duke
  2. United States Todd Anderson
  3. United States Kyle Babin
  4. United States Josh Utter-Leyton
  5. United States Caleb Durward
  6. United States Robbie Cordell
  7. United States Lissa Jensen
  8. Japan Shuhei Nakamura
GP Melbourne (31 March–1 April)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 558
  1. Australia David Crewe
  2. Australia Geoff Zhao
  3. Australia Oliver Oks
  4. Australia Simon Harnden
  5. Australia Thomas Rafferty
  6. Australia Daniel Unwin
  7. Australia Jeremy Neeman
  8. Australia Hao Wu
GP Manchester (21–22 April)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 1028
  1. Belgium Alexandre Darras
  2. Italy Mario Pascoli
  3. Sweden Joel Larsson
  4. Denmark Lasse Nørgaard
  5. Germany André Müller
  6. Belgium Marijn Lybaert
  7. Italy Ciro Bonaventura
  8. South Africa Adam Katz

GP Madrid (25–26 February)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 1314
  1. Switzerland Ivo Grossholz
  2. Spain David Garcia Copete
  3. Netherlands Guido Sondag
  4. Portugal Fabio Rodrigues
  5. Germany Christian von Kalkstein
  6. Germany Florian Koch
  7. Italy Marco Frantuma
  8. Czech Republic Martin Juza
GP Seattle-Tacoma (3–4 March)
  • Format: Limited
  • Attendance: 1160
  1. Canada Robert Smith
  2. United States Iain Bartolomei
  3. United States Jason Huang
  4. United States James Nguyen
  5. United States Andrejs Prost
  6. United States Paul Rietzl
  7. United States Henry Romero
  8. United States Owen Turtenwald
GP Kuala Lumpur (24–25 March)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 612
  1. Japan Yuuya Watanabe
  2. China Xin Sui
  3. Thailand Sutti Lee
  4. China Chao Lu
  5. Thailand Sukhum Kiwanont
  6. Taiwan Kuo Tzu-Ching
  7. Hong Kong Kingston Tong King Yim
  8. Malaysia Jason Yap
GP Salt Lake City (31 March–1 April)
  • Format: Standard
  • Attendance: 1137
  1. United States Shahar Shenhar
  2. United States Michael Peterson
  3. United States Tom Martell
  4. United States James Cooper
  5. United States Michael Hetrick
  6. United States Bryan Olvera
  7. United States David Gleicher
  8. Canada Marcel Angelo Zafra

Pro Tour Avacyn Restored – Barcelona (11–13 May 2012)

Tournament data

Prize pool: $233,500
Format: Block Constructed, Booster Draft
Players: 379

Top 8

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Gaudenis Vidugiris 3
8 Naoki Shimizu 2
Gaudenis Vidugiris 3
Ken Yukuhiro 2
5 Ken Yukuhiro 3
4 Denniz Rachid 2
Gaudenis Vidugiris 2
Alexander Hayne 3
2 Jon Finkel 2
7 Alexander Hayne 3
Alexander Hayne 3
Joshua Cho 2
3 Joshua Cho 3
6 Thomas Holzinger 0

Final standings

Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Canada Alexander Hayne $40,000 30
2 Lithuania Gaudenis Vidugiris $20,000 24 2nd final day
3 United States Joshua Cho $12,500 22 Pro Tour debut
4 Japan Ken Yukuhiro $12,500 22
5 United States Jon Finkel $10,000 20 14th final day
6 Sweden Denniz Rachid $10,000 20 2nd final day
7 Austria Thomas Holzinger $10,000 20
8 Japan Naoki Shimizu $10,000 20 2nd final day

Invitees to the 2012 Players Championship

The following sixteen players received an invitation to the 2012 Players Championship due to their performance in the 2012 season.

Player Qualified due to
United States Owen Turtenwald 2011 Player of the year
Japan Jun'ya Iyanaga 2011 World Champion
United States Reid Duke 2011 Magic Online Champion
Italy Samuele Estratti Pro Tour Philadelphia winner
United States Brian Kibler Pro Tour Dark Ascension winner
Canada Alexander Hayne Pro Tour Avacyn Restored winner
United States Josh Utter-Leyton Pro Point leader North America
Brazil Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Pro Point leader Latin America
Czech Republic Martin Juza Pro Point leader Europe
Japan Yuuya Watanabe Pro Point leader Japan
Taiwan Kuo Tzu-Ching Pro Point leader APAC region
United States Jon Finkel Most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
United States Luis Scott-Vargas 2nd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
Japan Shouta Yasooka 3rd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
United States David Ochoa 4th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
Japan Shuhei Nakamura 5th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified

References

  1. "15 Grand Prix Highlight Early 2012 Schedule". Wizards of the Coast. August 23, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.}