| 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.
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 | — | — | — | |
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]
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]
| 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 |
Higashino Masayuki Kazuyuki Momose Satoshi Nakamura Itaru Ishida Toshiki Tsukamoto Ayumi Hidaka Hiroshi Harada Yuichi Taguchi Michael Pustilnik Mike Heffern Kyle Kloeckner Matthew Norton Adrian Sullivan David Jafari Ric Watts Matt Rauseo
Stephane Gentric
Rui Mariani Alex Shvartsman Kuniyoshi Ishii
Hector FuentesKyle 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]
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]
| 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 |
Tadayoshi Komiya Eisaku Itadani Katsuhiro Mori Fumihiko Sano Masashiro Kuroda Masayuki Higashino Takuichi Harino Toshiki Tsukamoto William Jensen
Gary Krakower David Williams Charles Kornblith Darwin Kastle John Yoo Trevor Blackwell Eric James
Rafael Assafi Alvarengi
Douglas Maioli Carlos Mao Alex Shvartsman Carlos Romão Eduardo Simao Teixeira F. Moreira Bandeira Rodrigo Jose Constanza Alex Shvartsman Nicolas Labarre Eric Vinh Franck Canu
Christer Ljones Camille Gleizes Thomas F. Gundersen
Ziga Fritz
William Cavaglieri Mario Delucis
Ivan Solaja Ivan CurinaBob 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]
Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 344
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks[4]
| 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 |
Au Yeung Hon Ming Bob Maher, Jr. Jeremy Brower Tim Kariel David Price Alex Shvartsman Jasar Elarar Mike Hron David Weitz Carlos Barrado Xavi Gonzales Alex Shvartsman Olivier Ruel Alex Dominguez Ramos Rui MarianiTrevor Blackwell defeated Chris Benafel in the finals to become Pro Tour Los Angeles champion.[2]
Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 337
Format: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques)
Head Judge: Dan Gray[4]
| 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 |
Tadayoshi Komiya Tsuyoshi Fujita Alex Shvartsman Satoshi Nakamura Tobey Tamber Trey Van Cleave Britt Fitch Scott McCord John Marks William Jensen David Roderer Brad Swan Michael Bernat Florent Jeudon
Antoine Ruel
Olivier Ruel2. New Wave
Alex Shvartsman
Thomas Preyer3. Legion of Rabbits
Nicolas Labarre
Manuel Bevand
Marie Laure Saulnier4. The Tightans
Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz
William Jensen
David Williams
Ryan Soh Tishen Tham Wai Kin Au Yong Tsuyoshi Ikeda Jun Nobushita Tsutomu Yamada Wei Ren Khoo
Martin Laznovsky
Ivan Stanoev
Libor Marek3. Trash A
Jakub Slemr
Ondrej Baurys
Tomas Kosicka4. Absolute Samuels
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]
Players: 310
Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis)
Location: New York State Armory
Head Judge: Cyril Grillon[4]
| 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 |
Sigurd Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being .
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 |
Alex Shvartsman
Trevor Blackwell
Goro Matsuo
Jun Nobushita
Tadayoshi Komiya3. Godzilla
Bob Maher, Jr.
David Williams
Mike Long4. Unluckys
Osamu Fujita
Ayumi Hidaka
Takayuki Nagaoka Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz Franck Canu
Peter Gysemans 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 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 HumpherysJon 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]
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]
| 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 |
United States (Jon Finkel, Chris Benafel, Frank Hernandez, Aaron Forsythe) Canada (Ryan Fuller, Murray Evans, Gabriel Tsang, Sam Lau)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 |