Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2009 explained

Season:2009 Pro Tour season
Ppoty: Yuuya Watanabe
Roty: Lino Burgold
Wc: André Coimbra
Pts:4
Gps:19
Start:17 January 2009
End:22 November 2009
Hof:Antoine Ruel
Kamiel Cornelissen
Frank Karsten
Prevseason:2008
Nextseason:2010

The 2009 Pro Tour season was the fourteenth season of the . It began on 17 January 2009 with Grand Prix Los Angeles, and ended on 22 November 2009 with the conclusion of the 2009 World Championship in Rome. The season consisted of nineteen Grand Prixs, and four Pro Tours, located in Kyoto, Honolulu, Austin, and Rome.[1] At the end of the season, Yuuya Watanabe was awarded the Pro Player of the Year, making him the first player to win both that title and the Rookie of the Year title which he had won two years prior.[2] Frank Karsten, Kamiel Cornelissen, and Antoine Ruel were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the world championships in Rome.[3]

Mode

Four Pro Tours and nineteen Grand Prixs will be held in the 2009 season. Further Pro Points will be awarded at national championships. These Pro Points will be used mainly to determine the Pro Player club levels of players participating in these events, but also decide which player will be awarded the Pro Player of the year title at the end of the season. Based on final standings Pro Points were awarded as follows:[4]

RankPro Points awarded at
Pro TourGrand PrixNationalsWorlds (Team)
12510106
220885
3–416664
5–812543
9–128422
13–168311
17–2472
25–3262
33–6451
65–1004
101–2003
201+2

Grand Prix – Los Angeles, Rotterdam

GP Los Angeles (17–18 January)
  1. Luis Scott-Vargas
  2. Brett Piazza
  3. Saul Alvarado
  4. Mat Marr
  5. Michael Jacob
  6. Carl Hendrix
  7. Mark Herberholz
  8. Asher Hecht
GP Rotterdam (21–22 February)
  1. Arjan van Leeuwen
  2. Robert van Meedevort
  3. Shuhei Nakamura
  4. Alex Fanghänel
  5. Aaron Brackmann
  6. Michal Hebky
  7. Tomas Langer
  8. Reinhold Kohl

Pro Tour – Kyoto (27 February – 1 March 2009)

Pro Tour veteran Gabriel Nassif defeated Luis Scott-Vargas in the finals of Pro Tour Kyoto, giving him his first individual title in his ninth Top 8.[5]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $230,795
Players: 381
Format: Standard, Booster Draft
Head Judge: Riccardo Tessitori[6]

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Gabriel Nassif$40,000259th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2 Luis Scott-Vargas$20,000202nd Final day
3 Akimasa Yamamoto$15,00016
4 Brian Robinson$13,00016Pro Tour debut
5 Matteo Orsini-Jones$11,00012
6 Cedric Philips$10,50012
7 Jan Ruess$10,000122nd Final day
8 Masayu Tanahashi$9,50012

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Luis Scott-Vargas30
2 Gabriel Nassif29
align=center rowspan=23 Brian Robinson16
Akimasa Yamamoto16
5 Martin Juza14

Grand Prixs – Chicago, Hanover, Singapore, Kobe, Barcelona, Seattle

GP Chicago (7–8 March)
  1. Gabriel Nassif
  2. Andrew Probasco
  3. Paul Rietzl
  4. James Mink
  5. Brian Kowal
  6. Tommy Kolowith
  7. David Caplan
  8. Brian Six
GP Kobe (18–19 April)
  1. Tomoharu Saitou
  2. Yuuya Watanabe
  3. Kuo Tzu-Ching
  4. Kentarou Yamamoto
  5. Katsuya Ueda
  6. Keiichi Kondou
  7. Kenji Hamamoto
  8. Ryouma Shiozu
GP Hanover (13–14 March)
  1. Lino Burgold
  2. Gaudenis Vidugiris
  3. Lukas Kraft
  4. Karim Bauer
  5. Kenny Öberg
  6. Pascal Vieren
  7. Helmut Summersberger
  8. Ondra Posolda
GP Barcelona (23–24 May)
  1. Joel Calafell
  2. Riccardo Neri
  3. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  4. Samuel Black
  5. Hugo De Jong
  6. Sean Og Murphy
  7. Ricardo Venancio
  8. George Paraskuopoulos
GP Singapore (21–22 March)
  1. Tomoharu Saitou
  2. Masaya Kitayama
  3. Chin Heng Tan
  4. Yuuta Takahashi
  5. Yong Han Choo
  6. Liang Chen
  7. Samuel Black
  8. Kuo Tzu-Ching
GP Seattle (30–31 May)
  1. Yann Massicard
  2. Benjamin Lundquist
  3. Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
  4. Charles Gendron Dupont
  5. Luis Scott-Vargas
  6. Nicolay Potovin
  7. Michael Jacob
  8. Ari Lax

Pro Tour Honolulu (5–7 June 2009)

In his second Pro Tour finals appearance, Kazuya Mitamura defeated Pro Tour newcomer Michal Hebky.[7]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $230,795
Players: 396
Format: Booster Draft, Block Constructed
Head Judge: Toby Elliot[8]

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Kazuya Mitamura$40,000253rd Final day
2 Michael Hebky$20,00020
3 Paul Rietzl$15,00016
4 Conley Woods$13,00016
5 Christophe Gregoir$11,00012
6 Zac Hill$10,50012
7 Brian Kibler$10,000122nd Final day
8 Tom Ross$9,50012

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Luis Scott-Vargas45
2 Gabriel Nassif44
3 Tomoharu Saitou36
4 Kazuya Mitamura32
5 Michal Hebky27

Grand Prixs – Sao Paulo, Boston, Brighton, Bangkok, Niigata, Prague, Melbourne

GP São Paulo (13–14 June)
  1. Daniel Almeida Alvez
  2. Andres Monsalve
  3. Guilherme Vieira
  4. Wendell Santini
  5. Allison Abe
  6. Diego Crusius
  7. Juan Veliz
  8. Daniel Frias
GP Bangkok (22–23 August)
  1. Shingou Kurihara
  2. Martin Juza
  3. Koutarou Ootsuka
  4. Matteo Orsini Jones
  5. Ruud Warmenhoven
  6. Yuuya Watanabe
  7. Ryan Luo
  8. Zhiyang Zhang
GP Melbourne (10–11 October)
  1. Yuuya Watanabe
  2. Tomoharu Saitou
  3. Marcus Teo
  4. Shane Daliston
  5. Brett Hughes
  6. Jacky Zhang
  7. Joel Piotto
  8. Steven Aplin
GP Boston (1–2 August)
  1. Marlon Egolf
  2. Ben Stark
  3. David Feinstein
  4. Jason Lundberg
  5. Jonathan Pearlman
  6. Brian Lynch
  7. Bradley Wojceshonek
  8. Zach Efland
GP Niigata (29–30 August)
  1. Tsuyoshi Ikeda
  2. Shingou Kurihara
  3. Ren Ishikawa
  4. Hajime Nakamura
  5. Sho Ishikawa
  6. Takaya Saitou
  7. Gaudenis Vidugiris
  8. Yuuya Watanabe
GP Brighton (8–9 August)
  1. Olivier Ruel
  2. Martin Juza
  3. Dennis Stone
  4. Mark Dictus
  5. Kevin Grove
  6. Robbert Menten
  7. Reinhold Kohl
  8. Joseph Jackson
GP Prague (5–6 September)
  1. Jan Schmidt
  2. Yuuya Watanabe
  3. Bojan Zunko
  4. Ognjen Cividini
  5. Julien De Graat
  6. Lukas Vozdecky
  7. Marcel Kondrk
  8. Radek Kaczmarczyk

Pro Tour Austin (16–18 October 2009)

Both enjoying a comeback to the top level of Magic, Brian Kibler and Tsuyoshi Ikeda met in the finals, with Kibler winning in his second top eight in 2009.[9]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $230,795
Players: 416[10]
Format: Extended, Booster Draft
Head Judge: Riccardo Tessitori[10]

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 Brian Kibler$40,000253rd Final day
2 Tsuyoshi Ikeda$20,000204th Final day
3 Naoki Shimizu$15,00016
4 Hunter Burton$13,00016
5 Evangelos Papatrarouchas$11,00012
6 Yuuya Watanabe$10,50012
7 Martin Juza$10,000122nd Final day
8 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa$9,500125th Final day

Pro Player of the year standings

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Yuuya Watanabe62
2 Martin Juza54
3 Tomoharu Saitou51
4 Gabriel Nassif50
align=center rowspan=25 Shuhei Nakamura48
Luis Scott-Vargas48

Grand Prixs – Tampa, Kitakyushu, Paris, Minneapolis

GP Tampa (24–25 October)
  1. Gaudenis Vidugiris
  2. Conley Woods
  3. John Skinner
  4. John May
  5. Gabriel Nassif
  6. Alex Majlaton
  7. Tom Ross
  8. Martin Juza
GP Minneapolis (14–15 November)
  1. Zohar Bhagat
  2. Matthew Sperling
  3. Brian Kibler
  4. Brad Nelson
  5. Owen Turtenwald
  6. David Ochoa
  7. Mike Gualtieri
  8. Tom Ross
GP Kitakyushu (31 October – 1 November)
  1. Taisuke Ishii
  2. Masashi Oiso
  3. Jun'ya Iyanaga
  4. Ken Yukuhiro
  5. Yuuya Watanabe
  6. Katsuhiro Mori
  7. Takeshi Takagi
  8. Hironobu Sugaya
GP Paris (7–8 November)
  1. Adrian Rosada
  2. Danny Ecker
  3. Lino Burgold
  4. Niels Viaene
  5. Herbert Engleitner
  6. Bernd Brendemühl
  7. Jérémy Dezani
  8. Gonzague Allouchery

2009 World Championships – Rome (19–22 November 2009)

The 2009 World Championship marked several firsts in Pro Tour history. For the first time ever, eight different countries were represented in the quarterfinals, and there were no American or Japanese players in the top eight. Playing in his second Worlds top eight, André Coimbra of Portugal defeated Austrian David Reitbauer to become World Champion. In the team event, Austria finished second as well, losing to the Chinese team in the final.[11]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $245,245 (individual) + $192,425 (teams)
Players: 409 (55 National teams)
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft, Extended
Team Formats: Standard, Extended, Legacy
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery[12]

Final standings

PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment
1 André Coimbra$45,000252nd Final day, first Portuguese player to win a Pro Tour
2 David Reitbauer$24,00020
3 Terry Soh$15,000163rd Final day
4 Bram Snepvangers$14,000164th Final day
5 William Cavaglieri$11,00012
6 Manuel Bucher$10,50012
7 Marijn Lybaert$10,000123rd Final day
8 Florian Pils$9,50012

National team competition

  1. China (Wu Tong, Bo Li, Zhiyang Zhang)
  2. Austria (Benedikt Klauser, Benjamin Rozhon, Bernhard Lehner)
  3. Czech Republic (Lukas Jaklovsky, Lukas Blohon, Jan Kotrla)
  4. Netherlands (Kevin Grove, Niels Noorlander, Tom van Lamoen)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship, Yuuya Watanabe was awarded the Pro Player of the year title, making him the fifth consecutive Japanese player to win the award.[2]

RankPlayerPro Points
1 Yuuya Watanabe78
2 Tomoharu Saitou66
3 Martin Juza64
4 Gabriel Nassif60
align=center rowspan=25 Shuhei Nakamura56
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa56
7 Luis Scott-Vargas52
8 Kazuya Mitamura50

Performance by country

The United States had the most Top 8 appearances at ten, but they also had by far the most players playing in the Pro Tour. With Japan at 17 they share the highest number of level 4+ professional Magic players, too.

CountryT8QQ/T8MGTBest Player (PPts)
United States1020817Luis Scott-Vargas (52)
Japan614917Yuuya Watanabe (78)
Germany21685Lino Burgold (32)
Belgium21914Marijn Lybaert (25)
Czech Republic21133Martin Juza (64)
France11985Gabriel Nassif (60)
Brazil11962Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (56)
Italy12482Riccardo Neri (24)

T8 = Number of players from that country appearing in a Pro Tour Top 8; Q = Number of players from that country participating in Pro Tours; M = Median finish over all PTs; GT = Gravy Trainers (aka players with a Pro Players Club level of 4 or more) from that country created in the 2009 season; Best Player (PPts) = Player with the most Pro Points from that country, Pro Points of that player in brackets.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tournaments and Events Schedule . Wizards of the Coast . 2009 . 31 March 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080904034156/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Article.aspx?x=mtg/tcg/events/schedule. dead. 4 September 2008.
  2. Web site: 2009 Pro Tour Player of the Year Standings. 25 November 2009. 26 November 2009. Wizards of the Coast. https://web.archive.org/web/20090402172211/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=protour/standings/poy09. dead. 2 April 2009.
  3. Web site: 2009 Pro Tour Hall of Fame Class . Wizards of the Coast . David-Marshall . Brian . 7 August 2009 . 9 August 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090810105218/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/twtw/50. dead. 10 August 2009.
  4. Web site: Magic: The Gathering Pro Points Structure . . 2009 . 21 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090119143007/http://wizards.com/Magic/TCG/Events.aspx?x=grandprix/points. dead. 19 January 2009.
  5. Web site: Nassif: The Greater Power . Wizards of the Coast . 1 March 2009 . 31 March 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090302061623/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptkyo09/welcome. dead. 2 March 2009.
  6. Web site: Photo Essay: The View from Kyoto . . 27 February 2009 . 21 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090302062701/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptkyo09/pe1. dead. 2 March 2009.
  7. Web site: Mitamura Finds Gold in Paradise. 5 June 2009. 16 November 2009. Wizards of the Coast. https://web.archive.org/web/20090611145959/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/pthon09/welcome. dead. 11 June 2009.
  8. Web site: Friday, June 5, 5:38 pm – What Makes a Judge Dance? . . 5 June 2009 . 21 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090611145925/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/pthon09/blog1#8. dead. 11 June 2009.
  9. Web site: Kibler Completes Comeback with Austin Victory. 18 October 2009. 16 November 2009. Wizards of the Coast. https://web.archive.org/web/20091019035255/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptaus09/welcome. dead. 19 October 2009.
  10. Web site: Pro Tour–Austin Feature: Anatomy of a Round . . Hagon . Rich . 16 October 2009 . 17 October 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091019035155/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptaus09/f-anatomy. dead. 19 October 2009.
  11. Web site: All Roads Lead to Victory for Coimbra, China. 22 November 2009. 22 November 2009. Wizards of the Coast. https://web.archive.org/web/20091122045338/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/worlds09/welcome. dead. 22 November 2009.
  12. Web site: Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships . XS4ALL . 16 November 2009 . 30 October 2009 .

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