Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2009

2009 Pro Tour season

Pro Player of the Year	Yuuya Watanabe
Rookie of the Year	Lino Burgold
World Champion	André Coimbra
Pro Tours	4
Grands Prix	19
Hall of Fame inductions	Antoine Ruel Kamiel Cornelissen Frank Karsten
Start of season	17 January 2009
End of season	22 November 2009
← 2008 2010 →

The 2009 Pro Tour season was the fourteenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. 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]

Rank	Pro Points awarded at
	Pro Tour	Grand Prix	Nationals	Worlds (Team)
1	25	10	10	6
2	20	8	8	5
3–4	16	6	6	4
5–8	12	5	4	3
9–12	8	4	2	2
13–16	8	3	1	1
17–24	7	2
25–32	6	2
33–64	5	1
65–100	4
101–200	3
201+	2

Grand Prix – Los Angeles, Rotterdam

GP Los Angeles (17–18 January) Attendance: 834 Format: Extended Luis Scott-Vargas Brett Piazza Saul Alvarado Mat Marr Michael Jacob Carl Hendrix Mark Herberholz Asher Hecht

GP Rotterdam (21–22 February) Attendance: 1227 Format: Limited Arjan van Leeuwen Robert van Meedevort Shuhei Nakamura Alex Fanghänel Aaron Brackmann Michal Hebky Tomas Langer 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]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Luis Scott-Vargas	3
	8	Masayasu Tanahashi	0
						Luis Scott-Vargas		3
						Brian Robinson		1
	4	Cedric Philips	0
	5	Brian Robinson	3
											Luis Scott-Vargas		2
											Gabriel Nassif		3
	2	Matteo Orsini Jones	2
	7	Gabriel Nassif	3
						Gabriel Nassif		3
						Akimasa Yamamoto		1
	3	Akimasa Yamamoto	3
	6	Jan Ruess	2

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Gabriel Nassif	$40,000	25	9th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2	Luis Scott-Vargas	$20,000	20	2nd Final day
3	Akimasa Yamamoto	$15,000	16
4	Brian Robinson	$13,000	16	Pro Tour debut
5	Matteo Orsini-Jones	$11,000	12
6	Cedric Philips	$10,500	12
7	Jan Ruess	$10,000	12	2nd Final day
8	Masayu Tanahashi	$9,500	12

Pro Player of the year standings

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Luis Scott-Vargas	30
2	Gabriel Nassif	29
3	Brian Robinson	16
	Akimasa Yamamoto	16
5	Martin Juza	14

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

GP Chicago (7–8 March) Attendance: 1230 Format: Legacy Gabriel Nassif Andrew Probasco Paul Rietzl James Mink Brian Kowal Tommy Kolowith David Caplan Brian Six GP Kobe (18–19 April) Attendance: 545 Format: Extended Tomoharu Saitou Yuuya Watanabe Kuo Tzu-Ching Kentarou Yamamoto Katsuya Ueda Keiichi Kondou Kenji Hamamoto Ryouma Shiozu

GP Hanover (13–14 March) Attendance: 925 Format: Extended Lino Burgold Gaudenis Vidugiris Lukas Kraft Karim Bauer Kenny Öberg Pascal Vieren Helmut Summersberger Ondra Posolda GP Barcelona (23–24 May) Attendance: 1495 Format: Standard Joel Calafell Riccardo Neri Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Samuel Black Hugo De Jong Sean Og Murphy Ricardo Venancio George Paraskuopoulos

GP Singapore (21–22 March) Attendance: 370 Format: Extended Tomoharu Saitou Masaya Kitayama Chin Heng Tan Yuuta Takahashi Yong Han Choo Liang Chen Samuel Black Kuo Tzu-Ching GP Seattle (30–31 May) Attendance: 1127 Format: Standard Yann Massicard Benjamin Lundquist Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Charles Gendron Dupont Luis Scott-Vargas Nicolay Potovin Michael Jacob 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]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Christophe Gregoir	1
	8	Kazuya Mitamura	3
						Kazuya Mitamura		3
						Paul Rietzl		0
	4	Paul Rietzl	3
	5	Tom Ross	2
											Kazuya Mitamura		3
											Michal Hebky		2
	2	Brian Kibler	1
	7	Conley Woods	3
						Conley Woods		2
						Michal Hebky		3
	3	Zac Hill	2
	6	Michal Hebky	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Kazuya Mitamura	$40,000	25	3rd Final day
2	Michael Hebky	$20,000	20
3	Paul Rietzl	$15,000	16
4	Conley Woods	$13,000	16
5	Christophe Gregoir	$11,000	12
6	Zac Hill	$10,500	12
7	Brian Kibler	$10,000	12	2nd Final day
8	Tom Ross	$9,500	12

Pro Player of the year standings

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Luis Scott-Vargas	45
2	Gabriel Nassif	44
3	Tomoharu Saitou	36
4	Kazuya Mitamura	32
5	Michal Hebky	27

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

GP São Paulo (13–14 June) Attendance: 639 Format: Standard Daniel Almeida Alvez Andres Monsalve Guilherme Vieira Wendell Santini Allison Abe Diego Crusius Juan Veliz Daniel Frias GP Bangkok (22–23 August) Attendance: 414 Format: Limited Shingou Kurihara Martin Juza Koutarou Ootsuka Matteo Orsini Jones Ruud Warmenhoven Yuuya Watanabe Ryan Luo Zhiyang Zhang GP Melbourne (10–11 October) Attendance: 416 Format: Limited Yuuya Watanabe Tomoharu Saitou Marcus Teo Shane Daliston Brett Hughes Jacky Zhang Joel Piotto Steven Aplin

GP Boston (1–2 August) Attendance: 1503 Format: Limited Marlon Egolf Ben Stark David Feinstein Jason Lundberg Jonathan Pearlman Brian Lynch Bradley Wojceshonek Zach Efland GP Niigata (29–30 August) Attendance: 722 Format: Limited Tsuyoshi Ikeda Shingou Kurihara Ren Ishikawa Hajime Nakamura Sho Ishikawa Takaya Saitou Gaudenis Vidugiris Yuuya Watanabe

GP Brighton (8–9 August) Attendance: 760 Format: Limited Olivier Ruel Martin Juza Dennis Stone Mark Dictus Kevin Grove Robbert Menten Reinhold Kohl Joseph Jackson GP Prague (5–6 September) Attendance: 1541 Format: Limited Jan Schmidt Yuuya Watanabe Bojan Zunko Ognjen Cividini Julien De Graat Lukas Vozdecky Marcel Kondrk 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]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Tsuyoshi Ikeda	3
	8	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	2
						Tsuyoshi Ikeda		3
						Naoki Shimizu		1
	4	Martin Juza	2
	5	Naoki Shimizu	3
											Tsuyoshi Ikeda		0
											Brian Kibler		3
	2	Evangelos Papatrarouchas	2
	7	Brian Kibler	3
						Brian Kibler		3
						Hunter Burton		2
	3	Yuuya Watanabe	2
	6	Hunter Burton	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Brian Kibler	$40,000	25	3rd Final day
2	Tsuyoshi Ikeda	$20,000	20	4th Final day
3	Naoki Shimizu	$15,000	16
4	Hunter Burton	$13,000	16
5	Evangelos Papatrarouchas	$11,000	12
6	Yuuya Watanabe	$10,500	12
7	Martin Juza	$10,000	12	2nd Final day
8	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	$9,500	12	5th Final day

Pro Player of the year standings

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Yuuya Watanabe	62
2	Martin Juza	54
3	Tomoharu Saitou	51
4	Gabriel Nassif	50
5	Shuhei Nakamura	48
	Luis Scott-Vargas	48

Grand Prixs – Tampa, Kitakyushu, Paris, Minneapolis

GP Tampa (24–25 October) Attendance: 834 Format: Limited Gaudenis Vidugiris Conley Woods John Skinner John May Gabriel Nassif Alex Majlaton Tom Ross Martin Juza GP Minneapolis (14–15 November) Attendance: 1187 Format: Limited Zohar Bhagat Matthew Sperling Brian Kibler Brad Nelson Owen Turtenwald David Ochoa Mike Gualtieri Tom Ross

GP Kitakyushu (31 October – 1 November) Attendance: 501 Format: Limited Taisuke Ishii Masashi Oiso Jun'ya Iyanaga Ken Yukuhiro Yuuya Watanabe Katsuhiro Mori Takeshi Takagi Hironobu Sugaya

GP Paris (7–8 November) Attendance: 1961 Format: Limited Adrian Rosada Danny Ecker Lino Burgold Niels Viaene Herbert Engleitner Bernd Brendemühl Jérémy Dezani Gonzague Allouchery

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

Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship § 2009 World Championship

The 2009 World Championship marked several firsts in Pro Tour history. For the first time ever, eight 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]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	David Reitbauer	3
	8	Florian Pils	0
						David Reitbauer		3
						Terry Soh		2
	4	Terry Soh	3
	5	Manuel Bucher	2
											David Reitbauer		0
											André Coimbra		3
	2	William Cavaglieri	2
	7	Bram Snepvangers	3
						Bram Snepvangers		2
						André Coimbra		3
	3	André Coimbra	3
	6	Marijn Lybaert	1

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	André Coimbra	$45,000	25	2nd Final day, first Portuguese player to win a Pro Tour
2	David Reitbauer	$24,000	20
3	Terry Soh	$15,000	16	3rd Final day
4	Bram Snepvangers	$14,000	16	4th Final day
5	William Cavaglieri	$11,000	12
6	Manuel Bucher	$10,500	12
7	Marijn Lybaert	$10,000	12	3rd Final day
8	Florian Pils	$9,500	12

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]

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Yuuya Watanabe	78
2	Tomoharu Saitou	66
3	Martin Juza	64
4	Gabriel Nassif	60
5	Shuhei Nakamura	56
	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	56
7	Luis Scott-Vargas	52
8	Kazuya Mitamura	50

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.

Country	T8	Q	Q/T8	M	GT	Best Player (PPts)
United States	10	426	43	208	17	Luis Scott-Vargas (52)
Japan	6	175	29	149	17	Yuuya Watanabe (78)
Germany	2	73	37	168	5	Lino Burgold (32)
Belgium	2	34	17	191	4	Marijn Lybaert (25)
Czech Republic	2	35	18	113	3	Martin Juza (64)
France	1	81	81	198	5	Gabriel Nassif (60)
Brazil	1	39	39	196	2	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (56)
Italy	1	73	73	248	2	Riccardo 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.

References

1. "Tournaments and Events Schedule". Wizards of the Coast. 2009. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
2. "2009 Pro Tour Player of the Year Standings". Wizards of the Coast. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
3. David-Marshall, Brian (7 August 2009). "2009 Pro Tour Hall of Fame Class". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
4. "Magic: The Gathering Pro Points Structure". Wizards of the Coast. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
5. "Nassif: The Greater Power". Wizards of the Coast. 1 March 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
6. "Photo Essay: The View from Kyoto". Wizards of the Coast. 27 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
7. "Mitamura Finds Gold in Paradise". Wizards of the Coast. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
8. "Friday, June 5, 5:38 pm – What Makes a Judge Dance?". Wizards of the Coast. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
9. "Kibler Completes Comeback with Austin Victory". Wizards of the Coast. 18 October 2009. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
10. Hagon, Rich (16 October 2009). "Pro Tour–Austin Feature: Anatomy of a Round". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
11. "All Roads Lead to Victory for Coimbra, China". Wizards of the Coast. 22 November 2009. Archived from the original on 22 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
12. "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.