Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2009

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]

2009 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Yuuya Watanabe
Rookie of the Year Lino Burgold
World Champion André Coimbra
Pro Tours4
Grands Prix19
Hall of Fame inductionsAntoine Ruel
Kamiel Cornelissen
Frank Karsten
Start of season17 January 2009
End of season22 November 2009
← 2008 2010 →

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

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
5 Cedric Philips 0
4 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

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
5 Paul Rietzl 3
4 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

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
5 Martin Juza 2
4 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

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 different 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
5 Terry Soh 3
4 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 Lin, 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. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  2. "2009 Pro Tour Player of the Year Standings". Wizards of the Coast. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  3. David-Marshall, Brian (7 August 2009). "2009 Pro Tour Hall of Fame Class". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  4. "Magic: The Gathering Pro Points Structure". Wizards of the Coast. 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  5. "Nassif: The Greater Power". Wizards of the Coast. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  6. "Photo Essay: The View from Kyoto". Wizards of the Coast. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  7. "Mitamura Finds Gold in Paradise". Wizards of the Coast. 5 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. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  9. "Kibler Completes Comeback with Austin Victory". Wizards of the Coast. 18 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  10. Hagon, Rich (16 October 2009). "Pro Tour–Austin Feature: Anatomy of a Round". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  11. "All Roads Lead to Victory for Coimbra, China". Wizards of the Coast. 22 November 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2009.
  12. "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
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