Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 1997–98

The 1997–98 Pro Tour season was the third season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 30 August 1997 with Grand Prix Toronto, and ended on 16 August 1998 with the conclusion of 1998 World Championship in Seattle. The season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix, and five Pro Tours, located in Chicago, Mainz, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. At the end of the season Jon Finkel from the United States was awarded the Pro Player of the Year title.

1997–98 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Jon Finkel
Rookie of the Year Randy Buehler
World Champion Brian Selden
Pro Tours5
Grands Prix13
Start of season30 August 1997
End of season16 August 1998
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Grand Prix – Toronto, Copenhagen

Pro Tour – Chicago (10–12 October 1997)

Attending a Pro Tour for the first time, Randy Buehler defeated David Mills in the finals to win the inaugural Pro Tour of the 1997–98 season. Olle Råde's final eight appearance made him the first player to reach the Top 8 four times.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 324
Format: Extended

Final standings
Place Player Prize Comment
1 Randy Buehler $25,000 Pro Tour debut
2 David Mills $15,000 2nd Final day
3 Jon Finkel $10,000
4 Max Suver $8,000
5 Adrian Sayers $6,500
6 Justin Schneider $5,500
7 Kyle Rose $4,800
8 Olle Råde $4,300 4th Final day

Grand Prix – Como

GP Como (8–9 November)

  1. Michaël Debard
  2. Lukas Ladra
  3. Roger Leu
  4. Michael Suwald
  5. Luca Chiera
  6. David Kearney
  7. Pierre Vandercamere
  8. Gilles Martinau

Pro Tour – Mainz (5–7 December 1997)

Eventual Pro Player of the year Paul McCabe won Pro Tour Dallas. The Canadian defeated Jason Zila from the US in the final. Olle Råde had his third Top 8 appearance while playing only his fourth Pro Tour.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 291
Format: Rochester Draft (Tempest)

Final standings
Place Player Prize Comment
1 Matt Place $25,000 2nd Final day
2 Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz $15,000
3 Peer Kröger $10,000 2nd Final day
4 Kurt Burgner $8,000
5 John Ormerod $6,500 1st English in a Top 8
6 Chris Bishop $5,500
7 Mark Le Pine $4,800
8 Gabriele Pisicchio $4,300 1st Italian in a Top 8

Grand Prix – San Francisco, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Lyon, Melbourne

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (6–8 March 1998)

David Price won Pro Tour Los Angeles. In the finals he defeated Ben Rubin, who thus made it to the second place at his first Pro Tour attendance.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Players: 342
Format: Block Constructed (Tempest)

Final standings
Place Player Prize Comment
1 David Price $25,000
2 Ben Rubin $15,000 First Pro Tour Attendance
3 David Bachmann $10,000
4 Adam Katz $8,000
5 Kyle Rose $6,500 2nd Final day
6 Jakub Slemr $5,500 2nd Final day
7 Svend Geertsen $4,800 2nd Final day
8 Andrew Wolf $4,300

Grand Prix – Stockholm
GP Stockholm (21–22 March)
  1. Olle Råde
  2. Tuomo Nieminen
  3. Johan Franzen
  4. Jan Pieter Groenhof
  5. Manuel Bevand
  6. Viktor Forsman
  7. Ole Bergesen
  8. Sigurd Eskeland

Pro Tour – New York (17–19 April 1998)

In an all-American Top 8 Jon Finkel won his first Pro Tour. Mark Justice reached his fourth and as yet last final eight.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $151,635
Format: Booster Draft (Tempest-Stronghold)

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Jon Finkel 3
8 Casey McCarrel 2
Jon Finkel 3
David Bachmann 2
5 David Bachmann 3
4 Truc Bui 0
Jon Finkel 3
Dominic Crapuchettes 1
3 Dominic Crapuchettes 3
6 Nate Clark 0
Dominic Crapuchettes 3
John Chinnock 2
7 Mark Justice 0
2 John Chinnock 3

Final standings
Place Player Prize Comment
1 Jon Finkel $25,000 2nd Final day
2 Dominic Crapuchettes $15,000
3 John Chinnock $10,000 3rd Final day
4 David Bachmann $8,000 2nd Final day
5 Truc Bui $6,500 2nd Final day
6 Nate Clark $5,500 2nd Final day
7 Mark Justice $4,800 4th Final day
8 Casey McCarrel $4,300

Grand Prix – Atlanta, Antwerp, Zurich, Indianapolis

1998 World Championships – Seattle (12–16 August 1998)
Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship § 1998 World Championship

Brian Selden defeated fellow American Ben Rubin to become the 1998 World Champion. He played a Control-Combo deck revolving around Survival of the Fittest.[1] The Top 8 was one of the most star-studded final eights ever, with all players making at least one other Top 8 appearance, and four of them later becoming Hall of Famers.

The US national team, consisting of Matt Linde, Mike Long, Bryce Currence, and Jon Finkel won its third team title. Long thus won his third team title, too, as he had been precisely on those teams which had won the title.[1]

Tournament data

Players: 203
Format: Standard, Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight), Extended Individual formats: Booster Draft (Tempest-Stronghold-Exodus), Standard, Tempest Block Constructed (Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus)
Team formats: 4-Person Team Sealed (4 5th Edition Starter + 4 5th Edition Booster) – Swiss; Constructed (2x Tempest Block Constructed + 2x Standard) – Finals

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Jon Finkel 3
8 Alan Comer 0
Jon Finkel 1
Ben Rubin 3
5 Ben Rubin 3
4 Scott Johns 2
Ben Rubin 1
Brian Selden 3
3 Brian Selden 3
6 Chris Pikula 1
Brian Selden 3
Raphaël Lévy 1
7 Brian Hacker 2
2 Raphaël Lévy 3

Final standings
Place Player Prize Comment
1 Brian Selden $34,000 Pro Tour debut
2 Ben Rubin $22,000 2nd Final day
3 Jon Finkel $16,000 3rd Final day
4 Raphaël Lévy $13,000
5 Scott Johns $11,000 4th Final day
6 Chris Pikula $9,500 3rd Final day
7 Brian Hacker $8,250 2nd Final day
8 Alan Comer $7,250 2nd Final day

National team competition
  1. United States (Matt Linde, Mike Long, Bryce Currence, Jon Finkel)
  2. France (Pierre Malherbaud, Manuel Bevand, Marc Hernandez, Fabien Demazeau)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Jon Finkel was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[2]

Rank Player Pro Points
1 Jon Finkel 87
2 Randy Buehler 70
3 Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz 57
4 David Price 55
5 Matt Place 53

References
  1. Rosewater, Mark (26 July 2004). "On Tour, Part 1". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  2. "1997–1998 Player of the Year Standings". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
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