Antoine Ruel

Last updated
Antoine Ruel
AntoineRuel.JPG
Born (1979-10-31) 31 October 1979 (age 44)
Aubervilliers, France [1]
Nationality Flag of France.svg French
Pro Tour debut Pro Tour Washington D.C. 1999
Winnings$239,640 [2]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8)1 (4) [3]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8)2 (18) [4]
Median Pro Tour Finish113
Lifetime Pro Points403 [5]
Planeswalker Level 50 (Archmage)

Antoine Ruel (born 31 October 1979) [1] is a French professional Magic: The Gathering player. He has reached the top eight at the Pro Tour four times, including a win in Los Angeles in 2005. With eighteen Grand Prix top eights, he is among the most successful Grand Prix players of all time. In 2009, Ruel joined his brother Olivier in the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame.

Contents

Career

Born in Aubervilliers, France, Antoine and his brother Olivier started playing Magic in 1994. In the 1999-2000 Pro Tour season, he first began to attract attention in the new teams format alongside his brother and Florent Jeudon. As Phenomène J, they finished eleventh at the first teams Pro Tour in Washington, D.C., and followed with a win and Grand Prix Cannes under the name Black Ops. These two finishes qualified the three Frenchmen for a special event called the Magic: The Gathering Team Challenge. The event featured some very prominent players, with seven of the twelve players involved being future members of the Hall of Fame. Black Ops won the event, with Antoine defeating Jon Finkel in the final.

Antoine's first major individual success followed soon after. In September 2000, he won Grand Prix Porto defeating his brother in final. At the 2001 World Championships, Antoine had his first breakthrough at the Pro Tour level with a third-place finish. Although, his next high finish at the Pro Tour would not come until 2004, Antoine would continue to make top eight appearances at the Grand Prix Level. In 2004, he made the finals of Pro Tour San Diego, losing to Nicolai Herzog for whom it was the second Pro Tour win that season. The following year, Antoine won Pro Tour Los Angeles taking out Japanese giants Tsuyoshi Fujita and Kenji Tsumura in the quarter- and semifinals respectively. The semifinal match is known for a well played bluff on the part Antoine. He would then go on to sweep American Billy Moreno in the finals in three games. In 2005, he reached the top eight of Pro Tour Honolulu with his brother, making it the first time that brothers had reached the top eight of an individual Pro Tour together. Antoine would lose the quarterfinals to Craig Jones in what has been described as "the most lopsided match in the history of Pro Tour top eights."

In 2009, Antoine was inducted into the Hall of Fame, alongside Dutch players Frank Karsten and Kamiel Cornelissen.

Accomplishments

Top 8 Appearances

 Season  Event type  Location   Format    Date   Rank 
1999–00 Grand Prix CannesTeam Limited26–27 February 20001
1999–00 Masters New YorkTeam Limited16 April 20001
2000–01 Grand Prix PortoRochester Draft23–24 September 20001
2000–01 Grand Prix AmsterdamLimited13–14 January 20016
2000–01 Grand Prix CologneLimited24–25 February 20012
2000–01 Grand Prix PragueLimited10–11 March 20016
2000–01 Grand Prix MoscowStandard21–22 April 20014
2000–01 Worlds TorontoSpecial8–12 August 20013
2001–02 Grand Prix LondonBlock Constructed1–2 September 20017
2001–02 Grand Prix CuritibaExtended8–9 December 20013
2001–02 Grand Prix Sao PauloStandard13–14 July 20023
2002–03 Grand Prix SevillaSealed and Booster Draft22–23 February 20034
2003–04 Grand Prix SendaiBooster Draft20–21 March 20043
2003–04 Pro Tour San DiegoBooster Draft14–16 May 20042
2005 Grand Prix ViennaRochester Draft9–10 October 20042
2005 Invitational Los AngelesSpecial17–20 May 20056
2005 Pro Tour Los AngelesExtended28–30 October 20051
2006 Invitational Los AngelesSpecial10–12 May 20061
2006 Pro Tour HonoluluStandard3–5 March 20068
2006 Grand Prix CardiffSealed and Booster Draft25–26 March 20068
2006 Grand Prix TurinSealed and Booster Draft3–4 June 20062
2006 Grand Prix AthensSealed and Booster Draft14–15 October 20066
2006 Grand Prix YamagataSealed and Booster Draft18–19 November 20066
2007 Grand Prix SingaporeExtended3–4 March 20073
2007 Invitational EssenSpecial18–21 October 20073
2008 Grand Prix BrusselsSealed and Booster Draft3–4 May 20084
2010 Nationals ReimsStandard and Booster Draft24–25 July 20103

Last updated: 10 August 2009
Source: wizards.com

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References

  1. 1 2 Antoine Ruel 2007 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn expansion)
  2. ↑ "Top 200 All-Time Money Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  3. ↑ "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2016-04-16. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  4. ↑ "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  5. ↑ "Planeswalker Points (requires login)". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2014-12-16.[ dead link ]
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