Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2002–03

The 2002–03 Pro Tour season was the eighth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 24 August 2002 the season began with Grand Prix Sapporo. It ended on 10 August 2003 with the conclusion of the 2003 World Championship in Berlin. The season consisted of 21 Grand Prixs and 6 Pro Tours, held in Boston, Houston, Chicago, Venice, Yokohama, and Berlin. Also Master Series tournaments were held at four Pro Tours. At the end of the season Kai Budde was proclaimed Pro Player of the Year for the third time in a row.

2002–03 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Kai Budde
Rookie of the Year Masashi Oiso
World Champion Daniel Zink
Pro Tours6
Grands Prix21
Masters4
Start of season24 August 2002
End of season10 August 2003
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Grand Prixs – Sapporo, London, Cleveland

Pro Tour – Boston (27–29 September 2002)

Boston saw Phoenix Foundation win once again. This put all team members on top in regards to overall Pro Tour victories as no other player had then won more than two Pro Tours. The victory was dryly commented as not surprising anyone anymore.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,100
Players: 363 (121 teams)
Format: Team Sealed (Odyssey, Torment, Judgment) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Odyssey-Torment-Judgment) – final two days
Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks[2]

Top 4
Semi-finals Finals
      
1 Courtney's Boys 1
4 2020 2
2020 1
Phoenix Foundation 2
2 Phoenix Foundation 2
3 Slay Pillage Gerard 0

Final standings
Place Team Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Phoenix Foundation Dirk Baberowski $60,000 24 4th Final day, 3rd Pro Tour win
Kai Budde 24 7th Final day, 6th Pro Tour win
Marco Blume 24 2nd Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2 2020 Steven Wolfman $30,000 18
David Rood 18
Elijah Pollock 18
3 Courtney's Boys Gary Wise $18,000 12 3rd Final day
Neil Reeves 12 2nd Final day
Bob Maher, Jr. 12 3rd Final day
4 Slay Pillage Gerrard Jonathan Sonne $15,000 12
Gerard Fabiano 12
Scott McCord 12

Pro Player of the year standings
Rank Player Pro Points
1 Dirk Baberowski 24
Marco Blume 24
Kai Budde 24
4 David Rood 20
5 Elijah Pollock 18
Steven Wolfman 18

Grand Prixs – Hamburg, Utsonomiya, Copenhagen, Philadelphia

Pro Tour – Houston (8–10 November 2002)

Pro Tour Houston featured the Extended format. The Ice Age and Mirage-blocks had just rotated out of the format along with 5th Edition, thus removing several of the former key cards from the format. Also Onslaught had become legal for Extended play shortly before the tournament. The most played deck was a "Reanimator"-deck that aimed to get a big creature into the graveyard early via Entomb. Afterwards it would try to get that one into play with Reanimate. Other much-played decks included a combo-deck revolving around Aluren and a green-black midrange control deck called "The Rock".[3]

Justin Gary won Pro Tour Houston with a deck revolving around Oath of Druids. His teammates of "Your Move Games" (YMG), Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle, came in second and third. Instead of breaking the format with one kind of deck the YMG players in the top 8 even played all different decks, thereby losing games exclusively to one another.[4] It was Rob Dougherty's fifth final day appearance.[5]

Jens Thorén from Sweden won the final of the Master Series against Gary Wise.[6]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,130
Players: 351
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Rune Horvik[2]

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Justin Gary 3
8 Jeroen Remie 0
Justin Gary 3
John Larkin 0
5 John Larkin 3
4 Peter Myrvig 2
Justin Gary 3
Rob Dougherty 2
2 Rob Dougherty 3
7 Bob Maher, Jr. 0
Rob Dougherty 3
Darwin Kastle 0
3 Darwin Kastle 3
6 Mattias Jorstedt 0

Final standings
Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Justin Gary $30,000 32 3rd Final day
2 Rob Dougherty $20,000 24 5th Final day
3 Darwin Kastle $15,000 16 7th Final day
4 John Larkin $13,000 16 3rd Final day
5 Peter Myrvig $9,500 12
6 Mattias Jorstedt $8,500 12
7 Bob Maher, Jr. $7,500 12 4th Final day
8 Jeroen Remie $6,500 12

Winner's deck

Justin Gary's deck, named Turbo Oath, was designed to get a huge Cognivore into play with Oath of Druids quickly. The deck and sideboard was mainly blue, but also included black and green.

Turbo Oath by Justin Gary – Pro Tour Houston 2002[7]
Main Deck: Sideboard:

4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Brainstorm
2 Cognivore
4 Counterspell
3 Fact or Fiction
1 Foil
2 Forbid
3 Force Spike
2 Intuition
1 Krosan Reclamation
2 Living Wish
1 Mana Leak
4 Oath of Druids
3 Pernicious Deed

2 Forest
7 Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
4 Treetop Village
2 Underground River
4 Yavimaya Coast

2 Dust Bowl
3 Engineered Plague
2 Gilded Drake
2 Masticore
2 Naturalize
2 Palinchron
2 Powder Keg

Masters – Booster Draft
Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
               
Michael Pustilnik
32 Tomi Walamies 2
Tomi Walamies
Eric Froehlich 2
16 Eric Froehlich 2
17 Christophe Haim
Eric Froehlich 2
Jelger Wiegersma
8 Jelger Wiegersma 2
25 Antoine Ruel
Jelger Wiegersma 2
Brian Davis
9 Brian Davis 2
24 Eugene Harvey
Eric Froehlich
Jens Thorén 2
4 Jens Thorén 2
29 Marco Blume
Jens Thorén 2
Brian Kibler
13 Bram Snepvangers
20 Brian Kibler 2
Jens Thorén 2
Alex Shvartsman
5 Alex Shvartsman 2
28 Neil Reeves
Alex Shvartsman 2
Ferad Meraghni
12 Ken Ho
21 Ferad Meraghni 2
Jens Thorén 2
Gary Wise
2 Kai Budde
31 Alan Shuldiner 2
Allan Shuldiner
Gary Wise 2
15 Gary Wise 2
18 Patrick Mello
Gary Wise 2
Eivind Nitter
7 Eivind Nitter 2
26 Peter Szigeti
Eivind Nitter 2
Pierre Malherbaud
10 Rob Dougherty
23 Pierre Malherbaud 2
Gary Wise 2
Raphaël Lévy
3 Olivier Ruel 2
30 Carlos Romão
Olivier Ruel
Raphaël Lévy 2
14 Dirk Baberowski
19 Raphaël Lévy 2
Raphaël Lévy 2
Anton Jonsson
6 David Humpherys 2
27 Itaru Ishida
David Humpherys
Anton Jonsson 2
11 Anton Jonsson 2
22 Jin Okamoto

Pro Player of the year standings
Rank Player Pro Points
1 Justin Gary 36
2 Dirk Baberowski 34
3 Bob Maher, Jr. 33
4 Kai Budde 31
5 Rob Dougherty 29

Grand Prixs – Melbourne, Los Angeles, Reims, New Orleans

Pro Tour – Chicago (17–19 January 2003)

In Chicago Kai Budde won his seventh Pro Tour. On his way to the title he defeated, William Jensen, Jon Finkel, and Nicolai Herzog, some of the most accomplished players in the game.[8] Finkel had his tenth Top 8 showing, a feat matched even today only by Kai Budde and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa.[5] In the Masters final Franck Canu defeated Ken Ho.[9]

Tournament data

Players: 349[10]
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Rochester Draft (Onslaught)
Head Judge: Mike Guptil[10]

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Eugene Harvey 2
8 Dustin Stern 3
Dustin Stern 1
Nicolai Herzog 3
5 Bram Snepvangers 2
4 Nicolai Herzog 3
Nicolai Herzog 0
Kai Budde 3
2 Kai Budde 3
7 William Jensen 1
Kai Budde 3
Jon Finkel 1
3 Fabio Reinhardt 2
7 Jon Finkel 3

Final standings
Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Kai Budde $30,000 32 8th Final day, 7th Pro Tour win
2 Nicolai Herzog $20,000 24 2nd Final day
3 Jon Finkel $15,000 16 10th Final day
4 Dustin Stern $13,000 16
5 Eugene Harvey $9,000 12
6 Fabio Reinhardt $8,500 12
7 Bram Snepvangers $8,000 12 2nd Final day
8 William Jensen $7,500 12 2nd Final day

Masters – Standard
Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
               
1 Dave Humpherys 2
32 Ferad Meraghni 0
Dave Humpherys 2
Pierre Malherbaud 0
17 Pierre Malherbaud 2
16 Jelger Wiegersma 1
Dave Humpherys 0
Franck Canu 2
8 Dirk Baberowksi 1
25 Noah Boeken 2
Noah Boeken 0
Franck Canu 2
24 Franck Canu 2
9 Alex Shvartsman 1
Franck Canu 2
Antoine Ruel 0
5 Jens Thorén 0
28 Jin Okamoto 2
Jin Okamoto 0
Kamiel Cornelissen 2
21 Kamiel Cornelissen 2
12 Bram Snepvangers 1
Kamiel Cornelissen 0
Antoine Ruel 2
13 Bob Maher, Jr. 1
20 Antoine Ruel 2
Antoine Ruel 2
Olivier Ruel 0
29 Amiel Tenenbaum 1
4 Olivier Ruel 2
Franck Canu 2
Ken Ho 0
3 Rob Dougherty 0
30 Neil Reeves 2
Neil Reeves 2
Jeff Cunningham 1
19 John Larkin 1
14 Jeff Cunningham 2
Neil Reeves 2
Gary Wise 0
11 Gary Wise 2
22 Brian Davis 1
Gary Wise 2
Marco Blume 0
27 Marco Blume 2
6 Justin Gary 0
Neil Reeves 0
Ken Ho 2
7 Eivind Nitter 2
26 Ben Stark 0
Eivind Nitter 1
Ken Ho 2
23 Jeroen Remie 1
10 Ken Ho 2
Ken Ho 2
Kai Budde 1
15 Carlos Romão 2
18 Frank Karsten 1
Carlos Romão 1
Kai Budde 2
31 Eric Froehlich 1
2 Kai Budde 2

Pro Player of the year standings
Rank Player Pro Points
1 Kai Budde 64
2 Dirk Baberowski 42
3 Bob Maher, Jr. 40
4 Justin Gary 38
5 Nicolai Herzog 34

Grand Prixs – Hiroshima, Sevilla, Boston

Pro Tour – Venice (21–23 March 2003)

Osyp Lebedowicz won Pro Tour Venice with a white and red deck revolving around the Cycling mechanic. It was the second-most popular deck at the tournament trailing only the deck played by his opponent Tomi Walamies in the final. Walamies played a red deck with a Goblin theme.[11] The Masters was won by the Japanese team "PS2".[12]

Tournament data

Players: 310[13]
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Onslaught Block Constructed (Onslaught, Legions)
Head Judge: Collin Jackson[14]

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Gabriel Nassif 1
8 William Jensen 3
William Jensen 2
Osyp Lebedowicz 3
5 Osyp Lebedowicz 3
4 Akihiro Kashima 0
Osyp Lebedowicz 3
Tomi Walamies 0
3 Tomi Walamies 3
6 Mattias Jorstedt 1
Tomi Walamies 3
Jordan Berkowitz 0
7 Darwin Kastle 1
2 Jordan Berkowitz 3

Final standings
Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Osyp Lebedowicz $30,000 32 2nd Final day
2 Tomi Walamies $20,000 24 2nd Final day
3 Jordan Berkowitz $15,000 16
4 William Jensen $13,000 16 3rd Final day
5 Gabriel Nassif $9,000 12 2nd Final day
6 Darwin Kastle $8,500 12 8th Final day
7 Akihiro Kashima $8,000 12
8 Mattias Jorstedt $7,500 12 2nd Final day

Winner's decklist

Osyp Lebedowicz won the tournament with the following red and white deck revolving around the Cycling mechanism:

Astral Slide by Osyp Lebedowicz – Pro Tour Venice 2003[11]
Main Deck: Sideboard:

4 Akroma's Blessing
4 Akroma's Vengeance
4 Astral Slide
2 Daru Sanctifier
2 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Jareth, Leonin Titan
4 Lightning Rift
3 Renewed Faith
4 Starstorm

4 Forgotten Cave
9 Mountain
10 Plains
4 Secluded Steppe

2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Avarax
3 Demystify
3 Disciple of Grace
2 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Oblation

Masters – Team Rochester Draft
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Jokas
8 PS2 2
PS2 2
Panzer Hunters
5 Panzer Hunters 2
4 Phoenix Foundation
PS2 2
2020 1
3 Outland
6 2020 2
2020 2
Courtney's Boys
7 Courtney's Boys 2
2 Illuminati
Team Player Team Player
2020 David Rood Outland Nicolai Herzog
Steve Wolfman Eivind Nitter
Elijah Pollock Bjørn Jocumsen
Courtney's Boys Gary Wise Panzer Hunters Reiji Andou
Neil Reeves Kazuyuki Momose
Bob Maher, Jr. Itaru Ishida
Illuminati Alex Shvartsman Phoenix Foundation Kai Budde
Zvi Mowshowitz Dirk Baberowski
Patrick Sullivan Marco Blume
Jokas Eric James PS2 Masahiro Kuroda
Kyle Rose Katsuhiro Mori
Norman Woods Masahiko Morita

Pro Player of the year standings
Rank Player Pro Points
1 Kai Budde 69
2 Dirk Baberowski 48
3 Osyp Lebedowicz 47
4 Justin Gary 46
5 Bob Maher, Jr. 42

Grand Prixs – Kyoto, Singapore, Prague

Pro Tour – Yokohama (9–11 May 2003)

Making the final eight for the third time this season Mattias Jorstedt won Pro Tour Yokohama. Jon Finkel also made another Top 8 appearance thus extending his lead in this category to eleven.[15] In the final of the last Masters tournament Bob Maher, Jr. defeated Gabriel Nassif.[16]

Tournament data

Players: 243
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Booster Draft (Onslaught-Legions)
Head Judge: Rune Horvik[2]

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Mattias Jorstedt 3
8 Richard Hoaen 1
Mattias Jorstedt 3
Jon Finkel 0
5 Jon Finkel 3
4 Benjamin Caumes 1
Mattias Jorstedt 3
Masashi Oiso 0
3 Tsuyoshi Ikeda 3
6 Ben Seck 2
Tsuyoshi Ikeda 0
Masashi Oiso 3
7 Masashi Oiso 3
2 Jose Barbero 1

Final standings
Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Mattias Jorstedt $30,000 32 3rd Final day
2 Masashi Oiso $20,000 24
3 Tsuyoshi Ikeda $15,000 16
4 Jon Finkel $13,000 16 11th Final day
5 Benjamin Caumes $9,000 12
6 Jose Barbero $8,500 12
7 Ben Seck $8,000 12
8 Richard Hoaen $7,500 12

Masters – Extended
Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarter-final Semi-finals Finals
               
1 Alexander Witt
32 Zvi Mowshowitz 2
Zvi Mowshowitz 2
Jeroen Remie
17 Jeroen Remie 2
16 Mark Ziegner
Zvi Mowshowitz 0
Gabriel Nassif 2
12 John Larkin
21 Gabriel Nassif 2
Gabriel Nassif 2
Dirk Baberowski
28 Antoine Ruel
5 Dirk Baberowski 2
Gabriel Nassif 2
Tomi Walamies 1
6 Osyp Lebedowicz
27 Eugene Harvey 2
Eugene Harvey
Tomi Walamies 2
22 Tomi Walamies 2
11 Anton Jonsson
Tomi Walamies 2
Diego Ostrovich 0
15 Diego Ostrovich 2
18 Mathias Veron
Diego Ostrovich 2
Marco Blume
31 Marco Blume 2
2 Kai Budde
Gabriel Nassif 0
Bob Maher, Jr. 2
3 Eivind Nitter 2
30 Brian Kibler
Brian Kibler 2
Rob Dougherty
19 Jeff Cunningham
14 Rob Dougherty 2
Brian Kibler 0
Darwin Kastle 2
10 Carlos Romão
23 Darwin Kastle 2
Darwin Kastle 2
Kamiel Cornelissen
26 Kamiel Cornelissen 2
7 Bram Snepvangers
Darwin Kastle 0
Bob Maher, Jr. 2
8 Nicolai Herzog 2
25 Mattias Jorstedt
Nicolai Herzog
Pierre Malherbaud 2
24 Pierre Malherbaud 2
9 William Jensen
Pierre Malherbaud 0
Bob Maher, Jr. 2
13 Bob Maher, Jr. 2
20 Jelger Wiegersma
Bob Maher, Jr. 2
Justin Gary
29 Gary Wise
4 Justin Gary 2

Pro Player of the year standings
Rank Player Pro Points
1 Kai Budde 72
2 Mattias Jorstedt 60
3 Dirk Baberowski 52
4 Osyp Lebedowicz 51
5 Justin Gary 49

Grand Prixs – Pittsburgh, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Detroit

2003 World Championships – Berlin (6–10 August 2003)
Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship § 2003 World Championship

German Daniel Zink won the 2003 World Championship, defeating Jin Okamoto from Japan in the finals. Both players played manaheavy control decks built around Mirari's Wake. Kai Budde was declared Pro Player of the year for the third time in a row as none of his pursuers made significant points at this tournament. The United States won the national team competition, defeating Finland in the finals.[17]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $208,130 (individual) + $213,000 (national teams)
Players: 309
Formats: Standard, Rochester Draft (Onslaught-Legions-Scourge), Extended
Head Judge: Rune Horvik[2]

Top 8
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Tuomo Nieminen 3
8 Gabe Walls 2
Tuomo Nieminen 1
Jin Okamoto 3
5 Jin Okamoto 3
4 Peer Kröger 0
Jin Okamoto 0
Daniel Zink 3
2 Dave Humpherys 3
7 Wolfgang Eder 2
Dave Humpherys 0
Daniel Zink 3
3 Jeroen Remie 1
6 Daniel Zink 3

Final standings
Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1 Daniel Zink $35,000 32
2 Jin Okamoto $23,000 24
3 Tuomo Nieminen $15,000 16
4 Dave Humpherys $13,000 16 5th Final day
5 Jeroen Remie $9,500 12 2nd Final day
6 Peer Kröger $8,500 12 3rd Final day
7 Wolfgang Eder $7,500 12
8 Gabe Walls $6,500 12

National team competition
  1. United States (Justin Gary, Gabe Walls, Joshua Wagner)
  2. Finland (Tomi Walamies, Tuomo Nieminen, Arho Toikka)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Kai Budde was awarded his fourth Pro Player of the year title.

Rank Player Pro Points
1 Kai Budde 80
2 Justin Gary 64
Mattias Jorstedt 64
4 Dirk Baberowski 58
5 Bob Maher, Jr. 56

References
  1. "Live Coverage of 2002 Pro Tour Boston". Wizards of the Coast. 29 September 2002. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  2. "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  3. Forsythe, Aaron (January 2003). "Your Move Game Dominates". The Sideboard. 8 (44): 4–5.
  4. "Live Coverage of 2002 Pro Tour Houston". 10 November 2002. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  5. Rosewater, Mark (9 August 2004). "On Tour, Part 2". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  6. "Live Coverage of 2002 Houston Masters". 8 November 2002. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  7. "2002 Pro Tour Houston Top 8 Decks". Wizards of the Coast. 10 November 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
  8. "Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Chicago". Wizards of the Coast. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  9. "Live Coverage of 2003 Masters Chicago". Wizards of the Coast. 19 March 2003. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
  10. "Final Standings". The Sideboard. 8 (45): 9. March 2003.
  11. Budde, Kai (May 2003). "Pro Tour–Venice Top 8 Decks". The Sideboard. Wizards of the Coast. 8 (46): 32–33.
  12. "Live Coverage of 2003 Venice Masters". Wizards of the Coast. 23 March 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  13. Forsythe, Aaron (May 2003). "Timmy Gets His Day". The Sideboard. Wizards of the Coast. 8 (46): 4–5.
  14. "Event Coverage Pro Tour–Venice". The Sideboard. Wizards of the Coast. 8 (46): 9. May 2003.
  15. "Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Yokohama". Wizards of the Coast. 11 May 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  16. "Live Coverage of 2003 Yokohama Masters". Wizards of the Coast. 11 May 2003. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  17. "Live Coverage of 2003 World Championship". Wizards of the Coast. 10 August 2003. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
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