Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2007
The 2007 Pro Tour season was the twelfth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 9 February 2007 the season began with Pro Tour Geneva. It ended on 9 December 2007 with the conclusion of the 2007 World Championship in New York. The season consisted of 16 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in Geneva, Yokohama, San Diego, Valencia, and New York. At the end of the season Tomoharu Saitou from Japan was proclaimed Pro Player of the year. At the Worlds in New York the third class of the Hall of Fame was inducted. The inductees were Kai Budde, Zvi Mowshowitz, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Nicolai Herzog, and Randy Buehler.
Pro Player of the Year | |||
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Rookie of the Year | |||
World Champion | |||
Pro Tours | 5 | ||
Grands Prix | 16 | ||
Hall of Fame inductions | Kai Budde Zvi Mowshowitz Tsuyoshi Fujita Nicolai Herzog Randy Buehler | ||
Start of season | 9 February 2007 | ||
End of season | 9 December 2007 | ||
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Pro Tour – Geneva (9–11 February 2007)
Mike Hron of the United States won the Pro Tour, defeating Takuya Oosawa in the Japanese player's second finals appearance. Willy Edel of Brazil became the first South American player with three top eight finishes, and former of player of the year Kenji Tsumura reached the quarter finals for the fifth time.[1]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 387
Format: Booster Draft (Time Spiral-Planar Chaos)
Head Judge: David Vogin[2]
Top 8
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | ||||||||||||
1 | Shingou Kurihara | 3 | ||||||||||||
8 | Ervin Tormos | 1 | ||||||||||||
Shingou Kurihara | 1 | |||||||||||||
Takuya Oosawa | 3 | |||||||||||||
5 | Jim Herold | 0 | ||||||||||||
4 | Takuya Oosawa | 3 | ||||||||||||
Takuya Oosawa | 2 | |||||||||||||
Mike Hron | 3 | |||||||||||||
2 | Kenji Tsumura | 3 | ||||||||||||
7 | Willy Edel | 1 | ||||||||||||
Kenji Tsumura | 1 | |||||||||||||
Mike Hron | 3 | |||||||||||||
3 | Mike Hron | 3 | ||||||||||||
6 | Marijn Lybaert | 1 | ||||||||||||
Final standings
Place | Player | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
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1 | $40,000 | 25 | ||
2 | $22,000 | 20 | 2nd Final day | |
3 | $15,000 | 16 | 5th Final day | |
4 | $14,000 | 16 | ||
5 | $11,500 | 12 | ||
6 | $11,000 | 12 | ||
7 | $10,500 | 12 | 3rd Final day | |
8 | $10,000 | 12 | 2nd Final day |
Grand Prixs – Dallas, Singapore, Amsterdam, Kyoto, Massachusetts
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Pro Tour – Yokohama (20–22 April 2007)
Frenchman Guillaume Wafo-Tapa won the second Pro Tour of the year, emerging from a Top eight in which every other contestant has at least twice appeared in a PT final eight. Masashi Oiso became only the fifth player to reach the quarter finals more than five times, Portugal's Paulo Carvalho put up his second top eight in three events, and Raphaël Lévy continued his hot streak with his first Pro Tour top eight since 1999.[3]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 387
Format: Time Spiral Block Constructed
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery[2]
Top 8
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | ||||||||||||
1 | Kazuya Mitamura | 3 | ||||||||||||
8 | Sebastian Thaler | 0 | ||||||||||||
Kazuya Mitamura | 3 | |||||||||||||
Tomoharu Saitou | 2 | |||||||||||||
5 | Raphaël Lévy | 1 | ||||||||||||
4 | Tomoharu Saitou | 3 | ||||||||||||
Kazuya Mitamura | 1 | |||||||||||||
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa | 3 | |||||||||||||
2 | Mark Herberholz | 3 | ||||||||||||
7 | Masashi Oiso | 0 | ||||||||||||
Mark Herberholz | 2 | |||||||||||||
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa | 3 | |||||||||||||
3 | Paulo Caravlho | 2 | ||||||||||||
6 | Guillaume Wafo-Tapa | 3 | ||||||||||||
Final standings
Place | Player | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
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1 | $40,000 | 25 | ||
2 | $22,000 | 20 | 2nd Final day | |
3 | $15,000 | 16 | 4th Final day | |
4 | $14,000 | 16 | 4th Final day | |
5 | $11,500 | 12 | 2nd Final day | |
6 | $11,000 | 12 | 3rd Final day | |
7 | $10,500 | 12 | 6th Final day | |
8 | $10,000 | 12 |
Grands Prix – Stockholm, Columbus, Strasbourg, Montreal
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Pro Tour – San Diego (29 June – 1 July 2007)
Pro Tour San Diego was the inaugural and as yet only event for the Two-Headed Giant format at the Pro Tour level. Chris Lachmann and Jacob van Lunen won the tournament, both in their first Pro Tour, playing an innovative sliver strategy. They won the elimination bracket in a combined nine turns making it the shortest semi-final and final ever.[4]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,500
Players: 390 (195 teams)
Format: Two-Headed Giant Booster Draft (Time Spiral-Planar Chaos-Future Sight)
Head Judge: Toby Elliott[2]
Top 4
Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
1 | Eugene Harvey John Fiorillo | 0 | |||||||
4 | Yuuta Takahashi Kentaro Yamamoto | 1 | |||||||
Yuuta Takahashi Kentaro Yamamoto | 0 | ||||||||
Chris Lachmann Jacob van Lunen | 1 | ||||||||
3 | Masami Kaneko Genki Taru | 0 | |||||||
2 | Chris Lachman Jacob van Lunen | 1 | |||||||
Final standings
Place | Players | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
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1 | $50,000 | 20 | Pro Tour debut | |
20 | Pro Tour debut | |||
2 | $30,000 | 16 | ||
16 | ||||
3 | $22,000 | 12 | ||
12 | 4th Final day | |||
4 | $20,000 | 12 | ||
12 |
Grand Prixs – San Francisco, Florence
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Pro Tour – Valencia (12–14 October 2007)
Pro Tour Valencia began with a bumpy start. The first day of play to be canceled due to flooding. On the other two days the schedule had to be altered somewhat, including additional rounds on Saturday and three rounds on Sunday before Top 8. In the end, Frenchman Remi Fortier defeated Germany's André Müller in the final, making Valencia the third consecutive extended Pro Tour to be won by a French player.[5]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 424
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer[2]
Top 8
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | ||||||||||||
1 | Giulio Barra | 3 | ||||||||||||
8 | Makihito Mihara | 0 | ||||||||||||
Giulio Barra | 1 | |||||||||||||
Remi Fortier | 3 | |||||||||||||
5 | Tine Rus | 2 | ||||||||||||
4 | Remi Fortier | 3 | ||||||||||||
Remi Fortier | 3 | |||||||||||||
André Müller | 2 | |||||||||||||
2 | Takayuki Koike | 1 | ||||||||||||
3 | Shuhei Nakamura | 3 | ||||||||||||
Shuhei Nakamura | 2 | |||||||||||||
André Müller | 3 | |||||||||||||
3 | André Müller | 3 | ||||||||||||
6 | Sam Stein | 1 | ||||||||||||
Final standings
Place | Player | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
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1 | $40,000 | 25 | ||
2 | $22,000 | 20 | 2nd Final day | |
3 | $15,000 | 16 | ||
4 | $14,000 | 16 | 4th Final day | |
5 | $11,500 | 12 | Pro Tour debut | |
6 | $11,000 | 12 | 1st Slovenian in a Top 8, Pro Tour debut | |
7 | $10,500 | 12 | ||
8 | $10,000 | 12 | 2nd Final day |
Grand Prixs – Brisbane, Bangkok, Krakow, Kitakyuushuu, Daytona Beach
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2007 World Championships – New York City (6–9 December 2007)
The World Championships began with the induction of the third class into the hall of fame. The inductees were Kai Budde, Zvi Mowshowitz, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Nicolai Herzog, and Randy Buehler. In the individual competition Uri Peleg became the first Israeli, not only to reach the top eight, but also to win a Pro Tour. For Mori it was his third consecutive Worlds Top 8 appearance. In the team competition, the Swiss defeated the Austrian team in the finals[6]
Tournament data
Prize pool: $215,600 (individual) + $192,200 (national teams)
Players: 386
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Lorwyn), Legacy
Head Judge: Mike Guptil[2]
Top 8
Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Finals | ||||||||||||
1 | Christoph Huber | 1 | ||||||||||||
8 | Koutarou Ootsuka | 3 | ||||||||||||
Koutarou Ootsuka | 1 | |||||||||||||
Uri Peleg | 3 | |||||||||||||
5 | Katsuhiro Mori | 0 | ||||||||||||
4 | Uri Peleg | 3 | ||||||||||||
Uri Peleg | 3 | |||||||||||||
Patrick Chapin | 1 | |||||||||||||
2 | Gabriel Nassif | 3 | ||||||||||||
7 | Roel van Heeswijk | 1 | ||||||||||||
Gabriel Nassif | 2 | |||||||||||||
Patrick Chapin | 3 | |||||||||||||
3 | Yoshitako Nakano | 2 | ||||||||||||
6 | Patrick Chapin | 3 | ||||||||||||
Final standings
Place | Player | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
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1 | $40,000 | 25 | 1st Israeli to win a Pro Tour | |
2 | $22,000 | 20 | 3rd Final day | |
3 | $15,000 | 16 | 8th Final day | |
4 | $14,000 | 16 | ||
5 | $11,000 | 12 | ||
6 | $10,000 | 12 | ||
7 | $9,000 | 12 | 3rd Final day | |
8 | $8,000 | 12 |
National team competition
Switzerland (Nico Bohny, Manuel Bucher, Raphael Genari, Christoph Huber) Austria (Thomas Preyer, Stefan Stradner, David Reitbauer, Helmut Summersberger)
Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Tomoharu Saitou was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[7]
Rank | Player | Pro Points |
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1 | 68 | |
2 | 62 | |
3 | 59 | |
4 | 57 | |
5 | 54 |
Performance by country
Japan players dominated the season, making 16 Top 8 appearances although they had only about half as many players on the Pro Tour as the United States, which had the secondmost Top 8 appearances at 9. Both countries generated 21 level 4+ pro players in this season. For the Netherlands despite having generated 7 level 4+ pro players in the season success on the Pro Tour was almost elusive with a single 8th place being their only Top 8 appearance.
Country | T8 | Q* | Q/T8 | GT | Best Player (PPts) |
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16 | 171 | 11 | 21 | Tomoharu Saitou (68) | |
9 | 330 | 37 | 21 | Paul Cheon (52) | |
4 | 108 | 27 | 7 | Guillaume Wafo-Tapa (59) | |
3 | 83 | 28 | 6 | André Müller (36) | |
1 | 61 | 61 | 0 | Giulio Barra (18) | |
1 | 54 | 54 | 7 | Frank Karsten (37) | |
0 | 55 | 55 | 1 | Saul Aguado (20) |
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 (PT San Diego is missing as no country breakdown is available for that event); GT = Gravy Trainers (aka players with a Pro Players Club level of 4 or more) from that country generated in the 2007 season; Best Player (PPts) = Player with the most Pro Points from that country, Pro Points of that player in brackets.
References
- "Hron's Victory Years in the Making". Wizards of the Coast. 11 February 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
- "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
- "Wafo-Tapa Tops Them All!". Wizards of the Coast. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
- "Sliver Kids Stun San Diego". Wizards of the Coast. 1 July 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- "Fortier Reigns in Spain". Wizards of the Coast. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- "Historic Wins for Peleg, Swiss at Worlds". Wizards of the Coast. 9 December 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- "2007 Player of the Year Race". Wizards of the Coast. 18 January 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2009.