Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 1999–2000 explained

Season:	1999–2000 Pro Tour season
Ppoty:	Bob Maher, Jr.
Roty:	Brian Davis
Wc:	Jon Finkel
Pts:	6
Gps:	20
Start:	3 September 1999
End:	6 August 2000
Prevseason:	1998–99
Nextseason:	2000–01

The 1999–2000 Pro Tour season was the fifth season of the . It began on 3 September 1999 with Pro Tour Boston and ended on 6 August 2000 with the conclusion of 2000 World Championship in Brussels. The season consisted of twenty Grand Prixs, and six Pro Tours, located in Washington D.C., London, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Brussels. At the end of the season Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.

Mode

Six Pro Tours and 20 Grand Prix were held in the 1999–2000 season. Based on final standings Pro Points were awarded as follows:^[1]

Rank	Pro Points awarded at
	Pro Tour (individual)	Pro Tour (teams)	Grand Prix (individual)	Grand Prix (teams)	Worlds (team)
1	32	24	6	4	5
2	24	12	5	3	4
3–4	16	10	4	2	3
5–8	12	8	3	1	2
9–12	8	6	2	1	1
13–16	8	6	2	—	—
17–24	7	4	1	—	—
25–32	6	3	1	—	—
33–48	5	2	—	—	—
49–64	4	1	—	—	—
65–128	3	1	—	—	—
129+	2	1	—	—	—

Pro Tour – Washington D.C. (3–5 September 1999)

Washington D.C. was the first team Pro Tour. In a high-profile Top 8 featuring six players who were later inducted into the Hall of Fame, team Your Move Games (YMG) came out on top. YMG consisted of Dave Humpherys, Rob Dougherty, and Darwin Kastle, all eventual members of the Hall of Fame.^[2]

Tournament data

Players: 243 (81 teams)
Prize Pool: $100,230^[3]
Format: Urza's Saga Team Sealed (Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Destiny) – first day, Urza's Saga Team Rochester Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny) – final two days
Head Judge: Mike Guptil^[4]

Final standings

Place	Team	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Your Move Games	Rob Dougherty	$30,000	24	2nd Final day
		Dave Humpherys		24	2nd Final day
		Darwin Kastle		24	4th Final day
2	Game Empire	Kurt Burgner	$15,000	12	2nd Final day
		Alan Comer		12	3rd Final day
		Brian Selden		12	2nd Final day
3	Antarctica	Jon Finkel	$9,000	10	6th Final day
		Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz		10	3rd Final day
		Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz		10
4	THL	Marc Aquino	$7,500	10
		Richard Jones		10
		Drew McLean		10

Grand Prixs – Tohoku, Memphis, Lisbon

GP Tohoku (11–12 September)

1. Higashino Masayuki
2. Kazuyuki Momose
3. Satoshi Nakamura
4. Itaru Ishida
5. Toshiki Tsukamoto
6. Ayumi Hidaka
7. Hiroshi Harada
8. Yuichi Taguchi

GP Memphis (18–19 September)

1. Michael Pustilnik
2. Mike Heffern
3. Kyle Kloeckner
4. Matthew Norton
5. Adrian Sullivan
6. David Jafari
7. Ric Watts
8. Matt Rauseo

GP Lisbon (25–26 September)

1. Helder Coelho
2. Paolo Cruz
3. Stephane Gentric
4. Rui Mariani
5. Pedro Marcos
6. Alex Shvartsman
7. Kuniyoshi Ishii
8. Hector Fuentes

Pro Tour – London (15–17 October 1999)

Kyle Rose won Pro Tour London, defeating Austrian Thomas Preyer in the finals.^[5] Darwin Kastle's back to back Top 8 appearances in Washington and London brought him to five final day appearance in his career.^[2]

Tournament data

Players: 310^[6]
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Urza's Saga Booster Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny)
Head Judge: Carl Crook^[4]

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Kyle Rose	$25,000	32	3rd Final day
2	Thomas Preyer	$15,000	24
3	Mike Bregoli	$10,000	16
4	Ben Rubin	$8,000	16	3rd Final day
5	Gunnar Refsdal	$6,500	12
6	William Jensen	$5,500	12
7	Marc Hernandez	$4,800	12
8	Darwin Kastle	$4,300	12	5th Final day

Grand Prixs – Kyushu, Sao Paulo, Milan, San Diego, Tours

GP Kyushu (30–31 October)

1. Tadayoshi Komiya
2. Eisaku Itadani
3. Katsuhiro Mori
4. Fumihiko Sano
5. Masashiro Kuroda
6. Masayuki Higashino
7. Takuichi Harino
8. Toshiki Tsukamoto

GP San Diego (20–21 November)

1. William Jensen
2. Gary Krakower
3. David Williams
4. Charles Kornblith
5. Darwin Kastle
6. John Yoo
7. Trevor Blackwell
8. Eric James

GP São Paulo (6–7 November)

1. Rafael Assafi Alvarengi
2. Douglas Maioli
3. Carlos Mao
4. Alex Shvartsman
5. Carlos Romão
6. Eduardo Simao Teixeira
7. F. Moreira Bandeira
8. Rodrigo Jose Constanza

GP Tours (27–28 November)

1. Alex Shvartsman
2. Nicolas Labarre
3. Eric Vinh
4. Franck Canu
5. Christer Ljones
6. Camille Gleizes
7. Thomas F. Gundersen
8. Svend Geertsen

GP Milan (6–7 November)

1. Ziga Fritz
2. Raphael Gennari
3. William Cavaglieri
4. Mario Delucis
5. Ivan Solaja
6. Micha Schulte-Middelich
7. Ivan Curina
8. Sasa Zorc

Pro Tour – Chicago (3–5 December 1999)

Bob Maher, Jr. won Pro Tour Chicago playing a blue-green-white control deck. He defeated Brian Davis in the finals 3–2. First time Pro Tour attendant Davis reportedly played so horribly, that around spectators the joke went, that Davis was the first to have played 5–0 in the finals and lost, referring to their perception that he could and should have won every single game.^[2]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 344
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks^[4]

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Bob Maher, Jr.	$25,000	32
2	Brian Davis	$15,000	24	Pro Tour debut
3	Christian Lührs	$10,000	16	2nd Final day
4	Raphaël Lévy	$8,000	16	2nd Final day
5	Alan Comer	$6,500	12	4th Final day
6	Dirk Baberowski	$5,500	12	2nd Final day
7	Tony Dobson	$4,800	12
8	Hector Fuentes	$4,300	12	1st Spaniard in a Top 8

Grand Prixs – Manila, Seattle, Madrid

GP Manila (4–5 December)

1. Christopher Parreñas
2. Frederick Salazar
3. Francis Robert Profeta
4. Lawrence Lagman
5. Au Yeung Hon Ming
6. Andrew Buchanan
7. Dino Eric Yu
8. Ramon Allan Oca, Jr.

GP Seattle (15–16 January)

1. Bob Maher, Jr.
2. Jeremy Brower
3. Tim Kariel
4. David Price
5. Alex Shvartsman
6. Jasar Elarar
7. Mike Hron
8. David Weitz

GP Madrid (29–30 January)

1. Carlos Barrado
2. Xavi Gonzales
3. Alex Shvartsman
4. Tony Dobson
5. Olivier Ruel
6. Alex Dominguez Ramos
7. Rui Mariani
8. Patrick Mello

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (4–6 February 2000)

Trevor Blackwell defeated Chris Benafel in the finals to become Pro Tour Los Angeles champion.^[2]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 337
Format: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques)
Head Judge: Dan Gray^[4]

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Trevor Blackwell	$25,000	32
2	Chris Benafel	$15,000	24
3	Kurt Burgner	$10,000	16	3rd Final day
4	Mike Long	$8,000	16	4th Final day
5	Erno Ekebom	$6,500	12
6	Bruce Cowley	$5,500	12
7	Andrew Nishioka	$4,800	12
8	Brian Selden	$4,300	12	3rd Final day

Grand Prix – Taipei, Philadelphia, Cannes, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt

GP Taipei (12–13 February)

1. Tadayoshi Komiya
2. Tsuyoshi Fujita
3. Alex Shvartsman
4. Jim Len
5. Lucifar Sun
6. Chi Jin Guo (Tzu-Ching Kuo)
7. Satoshi Nakamura
8. Tobey Tamber

GP Philadelphia (19–20 February)

1. Trey Van Cleave
2. Britt Fitch
3. Scott McCord
4. John Marks
5. William Jensen
6. David Roderer
7. Brad Swan
8. Michael Bernat

GP Cannes (26–27 February)1. Black Ops

Florent Jeudon

Antoine Ruel

Olivier Ruel2. New Wave

Alex Shvartsman

Bram Snepvangers

Thomas Preyer3. Legion of Rabbits

Nicolas Labarre

Manuel Bevand

Marie Laure Saulnier4. The Tightans

Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz

William Jensen

David Williams

GP Kuala Lumpur (4–5 March)

1. Ryan Soh
2. Tishen Tham
3. Wai Kin Au Yong
4. Tsuyoshi Ikeda
5. Jun Nobushita
6. Tsutomu Yamada
7. Albertus Law
8. Wei Ren Khoo

GP Frankfurt (8–9 April)1. III Heroes

Jim Herold

Sebastian Moises

Gunnar Refsdal2. Hammer of Brno

Martin Laznovsky

Ivan Stanoev

Libor Marek3. Trash A

Jakub Slemr

Ondrej Baurys

Tomas Kosicka4. Absolute Samuels

Daniel Steinsdorfer

Demir Sejdiu

Patrick Jansen

Pro Tour – New York (14–16 April 2000)

Sigurd Eskeland won Pro Tour New York, defeating Warren Marsh in the finals.^[2] Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being .^[7] His opponent played the deck most present at this tournament, Rebels.^[8] PT New York is considered to be the first time where there was a dominant deck at a Pro Tour, the deck did not win the tournament.

43% of the players entering the tournament had chosen rebel decks. On the second day of the tournament rebels were even more present, comprising and unprecedented 57% of the field. These numbers were again topped by the final eight where six of eight decks were rebel decks.^[9] In contrast the winning Rising Waters deck comprised only 8.4% of the field on day one and 14.5% on day two. In the top eight the two non-rebel decks were both Rising Waters decks. Rising Waters on both days had the highest winning percentage of all decks played with 60% on day one and 53.8% on day two.^[10]

Tournament data

Players: 310
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis)
Location: New York State Armory
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon^[4]

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Sigurd Eskeland	$25,000	32	1st Norwegian to win a Pro Tour
2	Warren Marsh	$15,000	24
3	Ben Rubin	$10,000	16	4th Final day
4	Mattias Kettil	$8,000	16
5	John Larkin	$6,500	12	1st Irish Player in a Top 8
6	Mike Bregoli	$5,500	12	2nd Final day
7	Travis Turning	$4,800	12
8	John Hunka	$4,300	12

Winner's deck

Sigurd Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being .

Team Challenge

The Team Challenge was a predecessor to the Masters Series events that were held from 2000 to 2003. These events were open only to the most accomplished players and awarded cash prizes even for entering the tournament. The Team Challenge at Pro Tour New York 2000 awarded $3,000 for entering the tournament, $9,000 to the runners-up team, and $15,000 to the winners. Four teams were invited to enter the tournament.^[11] In a field composed of otherwise American teams the French team Black Ops defeated Game Empire and Antarctica to win the tournament.

Team	Player		Team	Player
Antarctica	Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz		Game Empire	Brian Selden
	Jon Finkel			Alan Comer
	Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz			Kurt Burgner
Black Ops	Florent Jeudon		Your Move Games	Rob Dougherty
	Antoine Ruel			Dave Humpherys
	Olivier Ruel			Darwin Kastle

Grand Prixs – Nagoya, St. Louis, Copenhagen, Pittsburgh

GP Nagoya (22–23 April)1. New Wave

Alex Shvartsman

Trevor Blackwell

Nick Wong2. Masato Club

Goro Matsuo

Jun Nobushita

Tadayoshi Komiya3. Godzilla

Bob Maher, Jr.

David Williams

Mike Long4. Unluckys

Osamu Fujita

Ayumi Hidaka

Takayuki Nagaoka

GP Copenhagen (17–18 June)

1. Niels Sanders Jensen
2. Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
3. Franck Canu
4. Noah Boeken
5. Gottlieb Yeh
6. Gunnar Refsdal
7. Tom van de Logt
8. Peter Gysemans

GP St. Louis (13–14 May)1. Antarctica

Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz

Jon Finkel

Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz2. Dogma

Rob Liszka

Mike Heffern

Aaron Estrin3. Your Move Games

Darwin Kastle

Rob Dougherty

Dave Humpherys4. Hubbo

Ryan Carpenter

Bryan Hubble

Jason Opalka

GP Pittsburgh (24–25 June)1. Huey, Ben, and Casey

William Jensen

Ben Rubin

Casey McCarrel2. Dark Side of the Moon

Ray Tautic

Brian Lynch

Ben Halpren3. Antarctica

Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz

Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz

Jon Finkel4. Your Move Games

Darwin Kastle

Rob Dougherty

Dave Humpherys

2000 World Championships – Brussels (2–6 August 2000)

Jon Finkel won the 2000 World Championship, defeating teammate Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals. The second place allowed Maher to take the Pro Player of the year title, surpassing Darwin Kastle in the final standings. Finkel became the second player to win two Pro Tours and the first with seven Top 8 appearances. The US team won the national team competition, also with Finkel as reigning national champion at its head.^[2]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $201,620 (individual) + $50,000 (national teams)^[12]
Players: 273
Individual formats: Formats: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques-Nemesis-Prophecy), Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy), Standard
Team Format: Standard
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon^[4]

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Jon Finkel	$34,000	32	7th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2	Bob Maher, Jr.	$22,000	24	2nd Final day
3	Dominik Hothow	$16,000	16
4	Benedikt Klauser	$13,000	16	2nd Final day
5	Tom van de Logt	$11,000	12
6	Helmut Summersberger	$9,500	12
7	Janosch Kühn	$8,250	12	2nd Final day
8	Nicolas Labarre	$7,250	12	3rd Final day

National team competition

1. United States (Jon Finkel, Chris Benafel, Frank Hernandez, Aaron Forsythe)
2. Canada (Ryan Fuller, Murray Evans, Gabriel Tsang, Sam Lau)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.^[13]

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Bob Maher, Jr.	72
2	Darwin Kastle	69
3	Jon Finkel	68
4	Alex Shvartsman	58
5	Trevor Blackwell	50
	Ben Rubin	50

Notes and References

1. Web site: DCI Invitation Policy For Magic: The Gathering Tournaments 1999 – 2000 Professional Season . Wizards of the Coast . 2000 . 29 April 2016 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20000818054439/http://www.wizards.com/protour/InvitePolicy.asp . 18 August 2000 .
2. Web site: Mark . Rosewater . On Tour, Part 1 . Wizards of the Coast . 26 July 2004 . 1 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081019011507/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr134. dead. 19 October 2008.
3. Web site: Pro Tour Results Archive Pro Tour – Washington DC, 1999 . Wizards of the Coast . 29 April 2016 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20010211100707/http://www.wizards.com/protour/Archive_PTDC_99-00.asp . 11 February 2001 .
4. Web site: Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships . XS4ALL . 16 November 2009 . 30 October 2009 .
5. Web site: Online Coverage Pro Tour London . 17 October 1999 . 29 April 2016 . Wizards of the Coast . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20000618095835/http://www.wizards.com/international/sideboard/ptlondon99/ptlondon.coverage.asp . 18 June 2000 .
6. Web site: Online Coverage Pro Tour London Round 1 Standings . 15 October 1999 . 29 April 2016 . Wizards of the Coast . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20010303081525/http://www.wizards.com/international/sideboard/ptlondon99/r1standings.asp . 3 March 2001 .
7. Web site: Top 8 Decks . 15 April 2000 . 1 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010502153640/http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/top8decks. dead. 2 May 2001.
8. Web site: Day 1 Deck Breakdown . 14 April 2000 . 1 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20011106132422/http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/day1decks. dead. 6 November 2001.
9. Buehler . Randy . Randy Buehler . June 2000 . Pro Tour–New York Back to the Armory . The Sideboard . 5 . 2 . 4–7 .
10. June 2000 . Hard Data. The Sideboard . 5 . 2 . 18 .
11. Web site: Magic: The Gathering Team Challenge 2000 Semifinals . The Sideboard (online) . Buehler . Randy . Randy Buehler . 16 April 2000 . 4 August 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20011103002837/http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/931teamsemisfeature. dead. 3 November 2001.
12. Web site: DCI Invitation Policy For Magic: The Gathering Tournaments 1999 – 2000 Professional Season . https://web.archive.org/web/20000818054439/http://www.wizards.com/protour/InvitePolicy.asp . 18 August 2000 . Appendix B: Prize Schedules . 2000 . 5 March 2018 . Wizards of the Coast . dead .
13. Web site: 1999–2000 Player of the Year Standings . Wizards of the Coast . 2000 . 1 April 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602041013/https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=protour/standings/9900. dead. 2 June 2009.

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