Olivier Ruel

Olivier Ruel
Born	24 July 1981 Aubervilliers, France
Residence	Lille/Paris [1]
Nationality	French
Winnings	US$211,895[2]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8)	0 (5)[3]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8)	5 (26)[4]
Lifetime Pro Points	497[5]
Highest Constructed Rating	2276[6]
Matches played	3648[5]
Planeswalker Level	50 (Archmage)

Olivier Ruel (born 24 July 1981^[6] in Aubervilliers, France) is one of the most successful professional Magic: The Gathering players. He holds the record for most Grand Prix Top 8’s, and is one of twenty players with five or more Pro Tour top 8’s. After 2010 Pro Tour San Juan Olivier surpassed Kai Budde as the leader in lifetime Pro Points. However, Budde regained that title later that season.

Career

Born in Aubervilliers, France, Olivier and his brother Antoine started playing Magic in 1994. Olivier won the first Pro Tour Qualifier he attended and thereby qualified for Pro Tour Rome 1999. After a mid-table result there he teamed up with his brother and Florent Jeudon for Pro Tour Washington D.C., going under the name of "Phenome J". They finished eleventh at the Pro Tour and quickly followed that up with a victory at Grand Prix Cannes, now going as "Black Ops". These achievements were rewarded with a ranking-based invitation to the Masters Series at Pro Tour New York 2000. Again Black Ops prevailed defeating Game Empire consisting of Alan Comer, Brian Selden, and Kurt Burgner as well as the Antarctica-team of Jon Finkel, O'Mahoney-Schwartz brothers.^[7]

Their first major individual success came several month later when the Ruel brothers met in the final of Grand Prix Porto where Antoine defeated Olivier.^[7] Another few months later in May 2001 Olivier secured himself a place on the French national team by finishing third at French Nationals. His first Pro Tour Top 8 followed in March 2002 where he finished second at Pro Tour Osaka.^[7] Olivier has since racked up an unprecedented 26 Grand Prix Top 8 finishes, winning five. He also has five Pro Tour Top 8 finishes and won the French Nationals in 2004. In 2008, Olivier was voted in the Hall of Fame and was inducted at the World Championship in Memphis.

Accomplishments

Top 8 Appearances

Season	Event type	Location	Format	Date	Place
1999–00	Grand Prix	Madrid	Extended	2000-01-29 !29–30 January 2000	5
1999–00	Grand Prix	Cannes	Team Limited	2000-02-26 !26–27 February 2000	1
1999–00	Masters	New York	Team Limited	2000-04-16 !16 April 2000	1
2000–01	Grand Prix	Porto	Rochester Draft	2000-09-23 !23–24 September 2000	2
2000–01	Grand Prix	Valencia	Sealed and Booster Draft	2001-02-10 !10–11 February 2001	2
2000–01	Masters	Tokyo	Team Limited	2001-03-16 !16–18 March 2001	3
2000–01	Nationals	Avignon	Standard and Booster Draft	2001-05-12 !12–13 May 2001	3
2001–02	Grand Prix	Shizuoka, Shizuoka	Rochester Draft	2001-10-13 !13–14 October 2001	4
2001–02	Grand Prix	Biarritz	Rochester Draft	2001-11-24 !24–25 November 2001	8
2001–02	Grand Prix	Lisbon	Extended	2002-01-19 !19–20 January 2002	4
2001–02	Pro Tour	Osaka	Block Constructed	2002-03-15 !15–17 March 2002	2
2001–02	Grand Prix	Barcelona	Sealed and Booster Draft	2002-03-23 !23–24 March 2002	3
2001–02	Grand Prix	Naples	Sealed and Booster Draft	2002-04-06 !6–7 April 2002	4
2002–03	Nationals	Chambéry	Standard and Booster Draft	2003-05-03 !3–4 May 2003	3
2003–04	Pro Tour	Amsterdam	Rochester Draft	2004-01-16 !16–18 January 2004	4
2003–04	Grand Prix	Hong Kong	Sealed and Booster Draft	2004-03-06 !6–7 March 2004	2
2003–04	Nationals	Tours	Standard and Booster Draft	2004-07-17 !17–18 July 2004	1
2005	Pro Tour	Columbus	Extended	2004-10-29 !29–31 October 2004	4
2005	Grand Prix	Helsinki	Rochester Draft	2004-11-06 !6–7 November 2004	1
2005	Pro Tour	Philadelphia	Block Constructed	2005-05-06 !6–8 May 2005	4
2005	Grand Prix	Bologna	Sealed and Booster Draft	2005-06-11 !11–12 June 2005	1
2005	Grand Prix	Copenhagen	Extended	2005-11-05 !5–6 November 2005	5
2005	Grand Prix	Bilbao	Extended	2005-11-19 !19–20 November 2005	1
2005	Grand Prix	Beijing	Extended	2005-11-27 !26–27 November 2005	3
2006	Grand Prix	Dortmund	Sealed and Booster Draft	2006-02-18 !18–19 February 2006	7
2006	Pro Tour	Honolulu	Standard	2006-03-03 !3–5 March 2006	4
2006	Grand Prix	Barcelona	Sealed and Booster Draft	2006-04-08 !8–9 April 2006	5
2006	Grand Prix	Toulouse	Sealed and Booster Draft	2006-06-24 !24–25 June 2006	6
2007	Grand Prix	Singapore	Extended	2007-03-03 !3–4 March 2007	5
2007	Grand Prix	Krakow	Standard	2007-11-03 !3–4 November 2007	4
2007	Grand Prix	Kitakyuushuu	Sealed and Booster Draft	2007-11-10 !10–11 November 2007	4
2008	Grand Prix	Shizuoka, Shizuoka	Standard	2008-03-08 !8–9 March 2008	2
2008	Grand Prix	Buenos Aires	Standard	2008-06-28 !28–29 June 2008	6
2008	Nationals	Tours	Standard and Booster Draft	2008-08-02 !2–3 August 2008	2
2008	Grand Prix	Okayama	Sealed and Booster Draft	2008-11-20 !20–21 November 2008	6
2008	Grand Prix	Auckland	Sealed and Booster Draft	2008-12-06 !6–7 December 2008	5
2009	Nationals	Aix-en-Provence	Standard and Booster Draft	2009-07-26 !25–26 July 2009	6
2009	Grand Prix	Brighton	Sealed and Booster Draft	2008-09-08 !8–9 August 2009	1
2011	Nationals	La Rochelle	Standard and Booster Draft	2011-07-24 !22–24 July 2011	7

Last updated: 24 July 2011
Source: wizards.com

Other accomplishments

• Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008

References

1. ^ "France National Championship". Wizards of the Coast. 2008-08-03. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/frnat08/top8profiles. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
2. ^ "Lifetime Winnings Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. 2006-04-04. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=protour/standings/winnings. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
3. ^ "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. 2008-05-27. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=protour/standings/top8byplayer. Retrieved 2008-08-12. 
4. ^ "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. 2009-03-23. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=grandprix/standings/top8byplayer. Retrieved 2009-04-07. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "DCI Ratings and Rankings". Wizards of the Coast. 2010-05-10. http://webapp.wizards.com/ratings.aspx?Page=1&BrandRatedSeasons=37&ratingseasonid=37&Demographic=1%7C1&action=Search. Retrieved 2010-05-13. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Olivier Ruel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion)
7. ^ ^{a b c} Wise, Gary (May 2003). "Personal Profile Olivier Ruel". The Sideboard (Wizards of the Coast) 8 (46). 

Preceded by Stéphane Damizet

Magic French National Champion 2004

Succeeded by Julien Goron

Persondata
Name	Ruel, Olivier
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 July 1981
Place of birth	Aubervilliers, France
Date of death
Place of death