Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame explained

The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Fame was started in 2005 to honor the most successful Pro Tour players. The first inductions came on the tenth anniversary of the first Pro Tour event, and new Hall of Famers will be determined annually. Players who are eligible for the ballot (as below) can be voted in the Hall of Fame if they get more than 60% of the election committee's votes. As of 2018, there are 48 players from 12 countries in the Hall of Fame.

Eligibility

In order to appear on the Hall of Fame selection ballot, a player must meet the following five requirements (or the first four requirements if they never appeared in any previous ballots):[1] [2]

  1. The player must have participated in their first Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour at least 10 seasons prior to the current voting year.
  2. The player must have at least 150 lifetime Pro Tour Points. (Prior to 2013, the threshold was 100 lifetime Pro Tour Points.)
  3. The player must have at least 2 single-elimination round finishes in Pro Tours. (From 2017 onwards)
  4. The player must not currently be suspended from playing Magic or be under investigation by the DCI (Previous suspension does not disqualify a player from entering the Hall of Fame.)
  5. The player must not currently be removed from ballot by the voting committee. If they are currently removed by the ballot, they must finish with at least 4 Pro Points in period between the previous and current voting.

(* Pro Tour includes all Magic: The Gathering World Championship before year 2011)

Voting process

The Selection Committee votes on whom to induct into the Hall of Fame. The committee includes Wizards of the Coast employees, DCI members, judges, long-time reporters, developers, all Hall of Famers, and every Magic player with at least 150 Pro Points.[3] Every member of the Selection Committee gets to vote for up to five of the eligible players. Afterwards every player with at least 60% of the votes gets inducted into the Hall of Fame. If nobody gets 60% of the vote, the player with the most votes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

If a player received 10% or less of the votes in 3 consecutive votings, they will be removed from the Hall of Fame ballot. They will be eligible again if they score 4 Pro Tour Points during a specific period (roughly the same period between two consecutive votings).

Historical selection process

The selection procedure was changed several times. In 2005 the Selection Committee voted for five players, and the four players receiving the most votes were inducted. Then a Players' Committee voted for one player that was not already selected, and the player receiving the most votes was also inducted.

From 2006 members of the Selection Committee and the Players' Committee received the list of players eligible for induction. Each member selected five players for induction. The votes were tabulated by a weighted percentage: Selection Committee votes counted 2/3, and Players' Committee votes counted 1/3. In 2006 and 2007 the five players with the highest percentages were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Between 2008 and 2016 only the players with over 40% of the weighted votes were inducted or if no one meets this criterion the player with the highest percentage was inducted.

Benefits

The Hall of Fame inductees will receive a number of benefits for the rest of their life (unless suspended by the DCI). As of 2016–17 season, it includes the benefits below:

  1. A guaranteed entry to any Pro Tour event and World Magic Cup Qualifiers
  2. Appearance fee at the Pro Tour featuring the yearly Hall of Fame induction.
  3. Bye(s) in Grand Prix and World Magic Cup Qualifiers.
  4. Additional Magic Online Championship Series seasonal QPs.

If a Hall of Fame player is a current Platinum level member of the Pro Players Club, the higher reward will apply to them (i.e. they receive two instead of one bye in World Magic Cup Qualifiers, 20QP instead of 15QP in the Magic Online Championship Series).

Players who enter the Hall of Fame since will also receive a special commemorative ring at the induction ceremony.

Inductees

Class /
year
CountryInducteeWeighted
ballot %
Ballot rank
within class
2005 United StatesJon Finkel97.10%[4] 1
2005 United StatesDarwin Kastle62.32%2
2005 United StatesAlan Comer52.17%3
2005 FinlandTommi Hovi46.38%4
2005 SwedenOlle Råde34.78%5
2006 United StatesBob Maher60.01%[5] 1
2006 United StatesDave Humpherys56.78%2
2006 FranceRaphaël Lévy42.58%3
2006 CanadaGary Wise39.03%4
2006 United StatesRob Dougherty38.20%5
2007 GermanyKai Budde90.42%[6] 1
2007 United StatesZvi Mowshowitz62.28%2
2007 JapanTsuyoshi Fujita49.74%3
2007 NorwayNicolai Herzog41.50%4
2007 United StatesRandy Buehler35.58%5
2008 GermanyDirk Baberowski52.36%[7] 1
2008 United StatesMike Turian50.13%2
2008 NetherlandsJelger Wiegersma48.19%3
2008 FranceOlivier Ruel46.01%4
2008 United StatesBen Rubin45.62%5
2009 FranceAntoine Ruel63.43%[8] 1
2009 NetherlandsKamiel Cornelissen62.48%2
2009 NetherlandsFrank Karsten44.79%3
2010 FranceGabriel Nassif89.25%[9] 1
2010 United StatesBrian Kibler49.36%2
2010 NetherlandsBram Snepvangers40.03%[10] 4
2011 JapanShuhei Nakamura89.25%[11] 1
2011 SwedenAnton Jonsson69.81%2
2011 United StatesSteven O'Mahoney-Schwartz50.57%3
2012 BrazilPaulo Vitor Damo da Rosa85.65%[12] 1
2012 JapanKenji Tsumura81.76%2
2012 JapanMasashi Oiso76.18%3
2012 United StatesPatrick Chapin44.91%4
2013 United StatesLuis Scott-Vargas95.63%[13] 1
2013 United StatesWilliam Jensen59.97%2
2013 United StatesBen Stark58.96%3
2014 JapanMakihito Mihara86.80%1
2014 United StatesPaul Rietzl72.59%2
2014 FranceGuillaume Wafo-Tapa60.91%3
2015 United StatesEric Froehlich66.35%[14] 1
2015 JapanShouta Yasooka62.50%2
2015 BrazilWilly Edel47.60%3
2016 United StatesOwen Turtenwald70.93%[15] 1
2017 United StatesJosh Utter-Leyton86.31%[16] 1
2017 Czech RepublicMartin Jůza66.39%2
2018 United StatesSeth Manfield65.19%[17] 1
2018 Hong KongLee Shi Tian64.16%2
2019 United StatesReid Duke94.28%[18] 1

Controversies

Tomoharu Saito banning

In the ballot of 2010, Tomoharu Saito was voted into the Hall of Fame with a weighted percentage of 47.74%.[9] However, two weeks prior to the induction Saito was disqualified during Grand Prix Florence leading to an 18-month suspension from the game. The rules do not allow currently-suspended players to be voted into the Hall of Fame. Wizards announced without further explanation that Saito would not be part of the Hall of Fame based on the 2010 ballot.[19]

Bram Snepvangers miscalculation

In the original ballot results for 2010, Bram Snepvangers received a weighted percentage of 39.95%, barely missing the required 40%. However, in the days following the publication of results it was discovered that there had been an error in the calculations. Weights of 0.667 and 0.333 had been used for the votes from the Selection Committee and Players Committee respectively while the rules clearly stated that 0.67 and 0.33 were the correct numbers. After recalculating the scores Snepvangers landed at 40.03% and was inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Nassif and Kibler.[10]

Yuuya Watanabe removal

In April 2019, during a deck check at Mythic Championship II in London it was found that some of Watanabe's card sleeves had been marked in a distinct way. This led to his disqualification from the tournament. On May 9, 2019, Wizards of the Coast announced that Watanabe would be removed from the Hall of Fame for cheating, as well as receiving a 30-month ban from sanctioned events and being removed from the Magic Pro League.[20] This event made Watanabe the first and so far only player to ever be removed from the Hall of Fame.

Inductees by country

CountryNumber of inductees
United States21
Japan7
France5
Netherlands4
Germany2
Sweden2
Brazil2
Canada1
Finland1
Norway1
Czech Republic1
Hong Kong1

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Pro Tour Hall of Fame Updates Plus RPTQ Decks . . 8 June 2017 . 24 June 2017 .
  2. Web site: Hall of Fame Rules . . 16 June 2013 . 4 August 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081210063005/http://www.wizards.com/magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/rules. dead. December 10, 2008.
  3. Web site: Selection Committee . 2016 . 17 July 2016 . .
  4. Web site: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2005 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20081203121342/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/ballots05. dead. December 3, 2008. Wizards of the Coast. 2005-08-01. 2010-09-05.
  5. Web site: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2006 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20081203121301/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/06results. dead. December 3, 2008. Wizards of the Coast. 2005-08-01. 2010-09-05.
  6. Web site: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2007 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20081203121311/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/07results. dead. December 3, 2008. Wizards of the Coast. 2007-09-07. 2010-09-05.
  7. Web site: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2008 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20081203121316/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/08results. dead. December 3, 2008. Wizards of the Coast. 2008-09-05. 2010-09-05.
  8. Web site: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2009 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20100113083200/http://wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/09results. dead. January 13, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. 2010-09-05.
  9. Web site: Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame 2010 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20100913123302/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/10results. dead. September 13, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. 2010-09-05.
  10. Web site: Snepvangers Joins 2010 Hall of Fame Class. https://web.archive.org/web/20100912153024/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/other/091010a. dead. September 12, 2010. Wizards of the Coast. 2010-09-10. 2010-09-10.
  11. Web site: Introducing the 2011 Hall of Fame Class. https://web.archive.org/web/20110912012201/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/156. dead. September 12, 2011. Wizards of the Coast. 19 August 2011 . 19 August 2011 . David-Marshall . Brian.
  12. Web site: Introducing the 2012 Pro Tour Hall of Fame Class. https://web.archive.org/web/20120729183006/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/205. dead. July 29, 2012. Brian. David-Marshall. Wizards of the Coast. 2012-07-27. 2012-07-27.
  13. Web site: 2013 Ballot. https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053458/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/HallOfFame.aspx?x=mtgevent/hof/13results. dead. September 21, 2013. Wizards of the Coast. 2013-07-31.
  14. Web site: Voting Results. 31 July 2015. 1 August 2015. Wizards of the Coast.
  15. Web site: Voting Results. 6 August 2016. 7 August 2016. Wizards of the Coast.
  16. Web site: Votng Results. 28 July 2017. 11 September 2017. Wizards of the Coast.
  17. News: Hall of Fame 2018 Voting Results. Magic: The Gathering. 2018-11-11.
  18. News: Hall of Fame 2018 Voting Results. . 2018-11-11.
  19. Web site: Saito removed from Hall of Fame selection . . 8 December 2010 . 8 December 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101211205943/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/news/120810. dead. December 11, 2010.
  20. Web site: 9 May 2019 . Statement Regarding Yuuya Watanabe . 2024-07-25 . Magic.gg . Wizards of the Coast.