Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2002–03 explained

Season:2002–03 Pro Tour season
Ppoty: Kai Budde
Roty: Masashi Oiso
Wc: Daniel Zink
Pts:6
Gps:21
Masters:4
Start:24 August 2002
End:10 August 2003
Prevseason:2001–02
Nextseason:2003–04

The 2002–03 Pro Tour season was the eighth season of the . On 24 August 2002 the season began with Grand Prix Sapporo. It ended on 10 August 2003 with the conclusion of the 2003 World Championship in Berlin. The season consisted of 21 Grand Prixs and 6 Pro Tours, held in Boston, Houston, Chicago, Venice, Yokohama, and Berlin. Also Master Series tournaments were held at four Pro Tours. At the end of the season Kai Budde was proclaimed Pro Player of the Year for the third time in a row.

Grand Prixs – Sapporo, London, Cleveland

GP Sapporo (24–25 August)
  1. Shinichi Kumagai
  2. Masahiko Morita
  3. Satoshi Nakamura
  4. Itaru Ishida
  5. Kenji Kimoto
  6. Junichi Kinoshita
  7. Yuta Hirosawa
  8. Nobuaki Shikata
GP London (31 August – 1 September)
  1. Jakub Slemr
  2. Christoph Hölzl
  3. Bram Snepvangers
  4. Craig Stevenson
  5. Pedro Velhinho
  6. Christophe Haim
  7. Dario Minieri
  8. Gérard Garcia
GP Cleveland (7–8 September)
  1. Valentin Moskovich
  2. Gabriel Tsang
  3. Jeremy Pinter
  4. Matthew Schrempp
  5. Adam Prosak
  6. Dave Williams
  7. Brian Davis
  8. Rob Dougherty

Pro Tour – Boston (27–29 September 2002)

Boston saw Phoenix Foundation win once again. This put all team members on top in regards to overall Pro Tour victories as no other player had then won more than two Pro Tours. The victory was dryly commented as not surprising anyone anymore.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,100
Players: 363 (121 teams)
Format: Team Sealed (Odyssey, Torment, Judgment) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Odyssey-Torment-Judgment) – final two days
Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks[2]

Final standings

PlaceTeamPlayerPrizePro PointsComment
align=center rowspan=31align=center rowspan=3Phoenix Foundation Dirk Baberowskialign=center rowspan=3$60,000244th Final day, 3rd Pro Tour win
Kai Budde247th Final day, 6th Pro Tour win
Marco Blume242nd Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
align=center rowspan=32align=center rowspan=32020 Steven Wolfmanalign=center rowspan=3$30,00018
David Rood18
Elijah Pollock18
align=center rowspan=33align=center rowspan=3Courtney's Boys Gary Wisealign=center rowspan=3$18,000123rd Final day
Neil Reeves122nd Final day
Bob Maher, Jr.123rd Final day
align=center rowspan=34align=center rowspan=3Slay Pillage Gerrard Jonathan Sonnealign=center rowspan=3$15,00012
Gerard Fabiano12
Scott McCord12

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
align=center rowspan=31 Dirk Baberowski24
Marco Blume24
Kai Budde24
4 David Rood20
align=center rowspan=25 Elijah Pollock18
Steven Wolfman18

Grand Prixs – Hamburg, Utsonomiya, Copenhagen, Philadelphia

GP Hamburg (28–29 September)
  1. Simon Hockwin
  2. Arndt Meier
  3. Jens Krause
  4. Patrick Plößer
  5. Nico Wendt
  6. Piotr Sienko
  7. Dennis Schmitz
  8. Jean Charles Salvin
GP Utsonomiya (12–13 October)
  1. Rei Hashimoto
  2. Shuhei Nakamura
  3. Tsuyoshi Fujita
  4. Masashi Oiso
  5. Eiji Nomura
  6. Masanori Kobayashi
  7. Jin Okamoto
  8. Junichi Kinoshita
GP Copenhagen (12–13 October)
  1. Bob Maher, Jr.
  2. Jens Krause
  3. Kai Budde
  4. Fredrik Boberg
  5. Dirk Baberowski
  6. Jens Thorén
  7. David Linder
  8. Fleurent Jeudon
GP Philadelphia (26–27 October)
  1. Jeff Cunningham
  2. Shaun Doran
  3. Eli Aden
  4. Morgan Douglass
  5. Nick Eisel
  6. Craig Krempels
  7. Patrick Sullivan
  8. Jacob Rabinowitz

Pro Tour – Houston (8–10 November 2002)

Pro Tour Houston featured the Extended format. The Ice Age and Mirage-blocks had just rotated out of the format along with 5th Edition, thus removing several of the former key cards from the format. Also Onslaught had become legal for Extended play shortly before the tournament. The most played deck was a "Reanimator"-deck that aimed to get a big creature into the graveyard early via . Afterwards it would try to get that one into play with . Other much-played decks included a combo-deck revolving around and a green-black midrange control deck called "The Rock".[3]

Justin Gary won Pro Tour Houston with a deck revolving around . His teammates of "Your Move Games" (YMG), Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle, came in second and third. Instead of breaking the format with one kind of deck the YMG players in the top 8 even played all different decks, thereby losing games exclusively to one another.[4] It was Rob Dougherty's fifth final day appearance.[5]

Jens Thorén from Sweden won the final of the Master Series against Gary Wise.[6]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,130
Players: 351
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Rune Horvik

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Justin Gary$30,000323rd Final day
2 Rob Dougherty$20,000245th Final day
3 Darwin Kastle$15,000167th Final day
4 John Larkin$13,000163rd Final day
5 Peter Myrvig$9,50012
6 Mattias Jorstedt$8,50012
7 Bob Maher, Jr.$7,500124th Final day
8 Jeroen Remie$6,50012

Winner's deck

Justin Gary's deck, named Turbo Oath, was designed to get a huge into play with quickly. The deck and sideboard was mainly blue, but also included black and green.

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Justin Gary36
2 Dirk Baberowski34
3 Bob Maher, Jr.33
4 Kai Budde31
5 Rob Dougherty29

Grand Prixs – Melbourne, Los Angeles, Reims, New Orleans

GP Melbourne (23–24 November)
  1. Ben Seck
  2. Tristan Gall
  3. Jarron Puszet
  4. Shun Jiang
  5. Richard Grace
  6. Milton Jian Xiong Lin
  7. Chris Allen
  8. Jake Hart
GP Los Angeles (23–24 November)
  1. Philip Freneau
  2. Bob Maher, Jr.
  3. Brian Hegstad
  4. Ken Krouner
  5. Peter Swarowski
  6. Allen Sun
  7. Nick Eisel
  8. Gerardo Gordinez Estrada
GP Reims (30 November – 1 December)
  1. Alex Mack
  2. Benjamin Caumes
  3. Patrick Mello
  4. Emmanuel Vernay
  5. Hans Joachim Hoeh
  6. Régis Lavoisier
  7. Christoph Lippert
  8. Anton Jonsson
GP New Orleans (3–4 January)
  1. Zvi Mowshowitz
  2. Eugene Harvey
  3. Michael Pustilnik
  4. Diego Ostrovich
  5. Jeff Cunningham
  6. Morgan Douglass
  7. Carl Lobato
  8. Trey Van Cleave

Pro Tour – Chicago (17–19 January 2003)

In Chicago Kai Budde won his seventh Pro Tour. On his way to the title he defeated, William Jensen, Jon Finkel, and Nicolai Herzog, some of the most accomplished players in the game.[8] Finkel had his tenth Top 8 showing, a feat matched even today only by Kai Budde and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa.[5] In the Masters final Franck Canu defeated Ken Ho.[9]

Tournament data

Players: 349[10]
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Rochester Draft (Onslaught)
Head Judge: Mike Guptil

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Kai Budde$30,000328th Final day, 7th Pro Tour win
2 Nicolai Herzog$20,000242nd Final day
3 Jon Finkel$15,0001610th Final day
4 Dustin Stern$13,00016
5 Eugene Harvey$9,00012
6 Fabio Reinhardt$8,50012
7 Bram Snepvangers$8,000122nd Final day
8 William Jensen$7,500122nd Final day

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Kai Budde64
2 Dirk Baberowski42
3 Bob Maher, Jr.40
4 Justin Gary38
5 Nicolai Herzog34

Grand Prixs – Hiroshima, Sevilla, Boston

GP Hiroshima (25–26 January)
  1. Motokiyo Azuma
  2. Osamu Fujita
  3. Takao Higaki
  4. Kang Jisang
  5. Junichi Kinoshita
  6. Yoshitaka Nakano
  7. Tsuyoshi Fujita
  8. Atsushi Tabuchi
GP Sevilla (22–23 February)
  1. Anton Jonsson
  2. Carlos Romão
  3. Eivind Nitter
  4. Antoine Ruel
  5. Stan van der Velden
  6. Adriano Rohner
  7. David Brucker
  8. Javier Perez Fresnedo
GP Boston (22–23 February)
  1. Brian Kibler
  2. Matthew Cory
  3. Aaron Breider
  4. Mark Zajdner
  5. Ben Rubin
  6. Joshua Wagener
  7. Zvi Mowshowitz
  8. Eric James

Pro Tour – Venice (21–23 March 2003)

Osyp Lebedowicz won Pro Tour Venice with a white and red deck revolving around the Cycling mechanic. It was the second-most popular deck at the tournament trailing only the deck played by his opponent Tomi Walamies in the final. Walamies played a red deck with a Goblin theme.[11] The Masters was won by the Japanese team "PS2".[12]

Tournament data

Players: 310[13]
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Onslaught Block Constructed (Onslaught, Legions)
Head Judge: Collin Jackson[14]

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Osyp Lebedowicz$30,000322nd Final day
2 Tomi Walamies$20,000242nd Final day
3 Jordan Berkowitz$15,00016
4 William Jensen$13,000163rd Final day
5 Gabriel Nassif$9,000122nd Final day
6 Darwin Kastle$8,500128th Final day
7 Akihiro Kashima$8,00012
8 Mattias Jorstedt$7,500122nd Final day

Winner's decklist

Osyp Lebedowicz won the tournament with the following red and white deck revolving around the Cycling mechanism:

Masters – Team Rochester Draft

TeamPlayerTeamPlayer
2020 David RoodOutland Nicolai Herzog
Steve Wolfman Eivind Nitter
Elijah Pollock Bjørn Jocumsen
Courtney's Boys Gary WisePanzer Hunters Reiji Andou
Neil Reeves Kazuyuki Momose
Bob Maher, Jr. Itaru Ishida
Illuminati Alex ShvartsmanPhoenix Foundation Kai Budde
Zvi Mowshowitz Dirk Baberowski
Patrick Sullivan Marco Blume
Jokas Eric JamesPS2 Masahiro Kuroda
Kyle Rose Katsuhiro Mori
Norman Woods Masahiko Morita

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Kai Budde69
2 Dirk Baberowski48
3 Osyp Lebedowicz47
4 Justin Gary46
5 Bob Maher, Jr.42

Grand Prixs – Kyoto, Singapore, Prague

GP Kyoto (29–30 March)
  1. Akira Asahara
  2. Hisaya Tanaka
  3. Masashi Oiso
  4. Akihiro Takakuwa
  5. Itaru Ishida
  6. Shuhei Nakamura
  7. Ryouma Shiozu
  8. Yoshiaki Tashiro
GP Singapore (29–30 March)
  1. Mikael Polgary
  2. Terry Soh
  3. Kelvin Yew Teck Hoon
  4. Sam Lei Kang Lau
  5. Chang Chua
  6. Kai Cheong Tang
  7. Gary Talim
  8. Antonino De Rosa
GP Prague (12–13 April)
  1. Stefan Jedlicka
  2. Raphaël Lévy
  3. Thomas Gundersen
  4. David Jensen
  5. Jelger Wiegersma
  6. Gabriel Nassif
  7. Anton Jonsson
  8. Armin Birner

Pro Tour – Yokohama (9–11 May 2003)

Making the final eight for the third time this season Mattias Jorstedt won Pro Tour Yokohama. Jon Finkel also made another Top 8 appearance thus extending his lead in this category to eleven.[15] In the final of the last Masters tournament Bob Maher, Jr. defeated Gabriel Nassif.[16]

Tournament data

Players: 243
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Booster Draft (Onslaught-Legions)
Head Judge: Rune Horvik[2]

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Mattias Jorstedt$30,000323rd Final day
2 Masashi Oiso$20,00024
3 Tsuyoshi Ikeda$15,00016
4 Jon Finkel$13,0001611th Final day
5 Benjamin Caumes$9,00012
6 Jose Barbero$8,50012
7 Ben Seck$8,00012
8 Richard Hoaen$7,50012

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Kai Budde72
2 Mattias Jorstedt60
3 Dirk Baberowski52
4 Osyp Lebedowicz51
5 Justin Gary49

Grand Prixs – Pittsburgh, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Detroit

GP Pittsburgh (31 May – 1 June)
  • 1. Illuminati
  • Justin Gary
  • Zvi Mowshowitz
  • Alex Shvartsman
  • 2. Prodigy
  • James Duguid
  • Charles Gindy
  • Manny Orellana
  • 3. Phoque Foundation
  • Jean Charles Salvin
  • Pasquale Ruggiero
  • Jairo Liquidano
  • 4. Northern Lights No. 5
  • Justin Schneider
  • Michael Krzywicki
  • Mike Long
    GP Amsterdam (7–8 June)
  • 1. Rankko Bongo Wheshiwheshi
  • Wilfried Ranque
  • Carlos Romão
  • Jose Barbero
  • 2. Ace Ten Off
  • Kamiel Cornelissen
  • Jon Finkel
  • Eric Froehlich
  • 3. Object of Affection
  • Tomi Walamies
  • Jens Thorén
  • Anton Jonsson
  • 4. Boston Tea Party
  • André Delere
  • Rolf Ottovordemgentschenfelde
  • René Kraft
    GP Bangkok (12–13 July)
    1. Tsuyoshi Fujita
    2. Itaru Ishida
    3. Vincent Gan
    4. Osamu Fujita
    5. Masahiko Morita
    6. Tsutomu Yamada
    7. Peerapat Ekpoorthorn
    8. Noppadol Srirattana
    GP Detroit (12–13 July)
    1. Bob Maher, Jr.
    2. Eugene Harvey
    3. Joshua Ravitz
    4. Alex Shvartsman
    5. Mark Herberholz
    6. Matt Severa
    7. Morgan Douglass
    8. Derek Starleaf

    2003 World Championships – Berlin (6–10 August 2003)

    German Daniel Zink won the 2003 World Championship, defeating Jin Okamoto from Japan in the finals. Both players played manaheavy control decks built around . Kai Budde was declared Pro Player of the year for the third time in a row as none of his pursuers made significant points at this tournament. The United States won the national team competition, defeating Finland in the finals.[17]

    Tournament data

    Prize pool: $208,130 (individual) + $213,000 (national teams)
    Players: 309
    Formats: Standard, Rochester Draft (Onslaught-Legions-Scourge), Extended
    Head Judge: Rune Horvik[2]

    Final standings

    PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
    1 Daniel Zink$35,00032
    2 Jin Okamoto$23,00024
    3 Tuomo Nieminen$15,00016
    4 Dave Humpherys$13,000165th Final day
    5 Jeroen Remie$9,500122nd Final day
    6 Peer Kröger$8,500123rd Final day
    7 Wolfgang Eder$7,50012
    8 Gabe Walls$6,50012

    National team competition

    1. United States (Justin Gary, Gabe Walls, Joshua Wagner)
    2. Finland (Tomi Walamies, Tuomo Nieminen, Arho Toikka)

    Pro Player of the year final standings

    After the World Championship Kai Budde was awarded his fourth Pro Player of the year title.

    RankPlayerPro Points
    1 Kai Budde80
    align=center rowspan=22 Justin Gary64
    Mattias Jorstedt64
    4 Dirk Baberowski58
    5 Bob Maher, Jr.56

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Live Coverage of 2002 Pro Tour Boston . Wizards of the Coast . 29 September 2002 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011011950/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/ptbos02. dead. 11 October 2008.
    2. Web site: Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships . XS4ALL . 30 October 2009 .
    3. Your Move Game Dominates . Forsythe . Aaron . January 2003 . . 8 . 44 . 4–5.
    4. Web site: Live Coverage of 2002 Pro Tour Houston . 10 November 2002 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011012005/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/pthou02. dead. 11 October 2008.
    5. Web site: Mark . Rosewater . On Tour, Part 2 . Wizards of the Coast . 9 August 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090302090404/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr136. dead. 2 March 2009.
    6. Web site: Live Coverage of 2002 Houston Masters . 8 November 2002 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011011859/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastershou02. dead. 11 October 2008.
    7. Web site: 2002 Pro Tour Houston Top 8 Decks . . 10 November 2002 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090602175916/https://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/pthou02/t8decks. dead. 2 June 2009.
    8. Web site: Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Chicago . Wizards of the Coast . 19 January 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011012000/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/ptchi03. dead. 11 October 2008.
    9. Web site: Live Coverage of 2003 Masters Chicago . Wizards of the Coast . 19 March 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011011854/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/masterschi03. dead. 11 October 2008.
    10. Final Standings . 45 . 8 . March 2003 . . 9.
    11. 46 . 8 . May 2003 . . . Pro Tour–Venice Top 8 Decks . Budde . Kai . Kai Budde . 32–33.
    12. Web site: Live Coverage of 2003 Venice Masters . Wizards of the Coast . 23 March 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011011909/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastersven03. dead. 11 October 2008.
    13. 46 . 8 . May 2003 . . . Timmy Gets His Day . Forsythe . Aaron . 4–5.
    14. 46 . 8 . May 2003 . . . Event Coverage Pro Tour–Venice . 9.
    15. Web site: Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Yokohama . Wizards of the Coast . 11 May 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011012030/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/ptyok03. dead. 11 October 2008.
    16. Web site: Live Coverage of 2003 Yokohama Masters . Wizards of the Coast . 11 May 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011011914/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastersyok03. dead. 11 October 2008.
    17. Web site: Live Coverage of 2003 World Championship . Wizards of the Coast . 10 August 2003 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011012045/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/worlds03. dead. 11 October 2008.

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