Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2007

2007 Pro Tour season

Pro Player of the Year	Tomoharu Saitou
Rookie of the Year	Yuuya Watanabe
World Champion	Uri Peleg
Pro Tours	5
Grands Prix	16
Hall of Fame inductions	Kai Budde Zvi Mowshowitz Tsuyoshi Fujita Nicolai Herzog Randy Buehler
Start of season	9 February 2007
End of season	9 December 2007
← 2006 2008 →

The 2007 Pro Tour season was the twelfth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 9 February 2007 the season began with Pro Tour Geneva. It ended on 9 December 2007 with the conclusion of the 2007 World Championship in New York. The season consisted of 16 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in Geneva, Yokohama, San Diego, Valencia, and New York. At the end of the season Tomoharu Saitou from Japan was proclaimed Pro Player of the year. At the Worlds in New York the third class of the Hall of Fame was inducted. The inductees were Kai Budde, Zvi Mowshowitz, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Nicolai Herzog, and Randy Buehler.

Pro Tour – Geneva (9–11 February 2007)

Mike Hron of the United States won the Pro Tour, defeating Takuya Oosawa in the Japanese player's second finals appearance. Willy Edel of Brazil became the first South American player with three top eight finishes, and former of player of the year Kenji Tsumura reached the quarter finals for the fifth time.^[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 387
Format: Booster Draft (Time Spiral-Planar Chaos)
Head Judge: David Vogin^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Shingou Kurihara	3
	8	Ervin Tormos	1
							Shingou Kurihara	1
							Takuya Oosawa	3
	4	Jim Herold	0
	5	Takuya Oosawa	3
												Takuya Oosawa	2
												Mike Hron	3
	2	Kenji Tsumura	3
	7	Willy Edel	1
							Kenji Tsumura	1
							Mike Hron	3
	3	Mike Hron	3
	6	Marijn Lybaert	1

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Mike Hron	$40,000	25
2	Takuya Oosawa	$22,000	20	2nd Final day
3	Kenji Tsumura	$15,000	16	5th Final day
4	Shingou Kurihara	$14,000	16
5	Marijn Lybaert	$11,500	12
6	Jim Herold	$11,000	12
7	Willy Edel	$10,500	12	3rd Final day
8	Ervin Tormos	$10,000	12	2nd Final day

Grand Prixs – Dallas, Singapore, Amsterdam, Kyoto, Massachusetts

GP Dallas (24–25 February) Raphaël Lévy Paul Cheon Kenji Tsumura John Pelcak Mark Herberholz Paul Nguyen Alex Ledbetter Jim Davis

GP Singapore (3–4 March) Raphaël Lévy Shingou Kurihara Antoine Ruel Osamu Fujita Olivier Ruel Koutarou Ootsuka Ryou Ogura Tomoharu Saitou

GP Amsterdam (10–11 March) Richard Hornansky Michael Havlik Amiel Tenenbaum Gabriel Nassif Olaf Koster Christian Kok Vassilis Fatouros Georgios Kapalos

GP Kyoto (17–18 March) Yuuya Watanabe Yuusuke Iwasaki Motokiyo Azuma Tsubasa Tomii Naoki Shimizu Ren Ishikawa Atsushi Wada Katsuhiro Ide

GP Massachusetts (31 March – 1 April) Matt Wang Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Gerard Fabiano Eric Ziegler Ben Lundquist Timothy Aten Matt Rubin Rob DiPalma

Pro Tour – Yokohama (20–22 April 2007)

Frenchman Guillaume Wafo-Tapa won the second Pro Tour of the year, emerging from a Top eight in which every other contestant has at least twice appeared in a PT final eight. Masashi Oiso became only the fifth player to reach the quarter finals more than five times, Portugal's Paulo Carvalho put up his second top eight in three events, and Raphaël Lévy continued his hot streak with his first Pro Tour top eight since 1999.^[3]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 387
Format: Time Spiral Block Constructed
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Kazuya Mitamura	3
	8	Sebastian Thaler	0
							Kazuya Mitamura	3
							Tomoharu Saitou	2
	4	Raphaël Lévy	1
	5	Tomoharu Saitou	3
												Kazuya Mitamura	1
												Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	3
	2	Mark Herberholz	3
	7	Masashi Oiso	0
							Mark Herberholz	2
							Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	3
	3	Paulo Caravlho	2
	6	Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	$40,000	25
2	Kazuya Mitamura	$22,000	20	2nd Final day
3	Mark Herberholz	$15,000	16	4th Final day
4	Tomoharu Saitou	$14,000	16	4th Final day
5	Paulo Carvalho	$11,500	12	2nd Final day
6	Raphaël Lévy	$11,000	12	3rd Final day
7	Masashi Oiso	$10,500	12	6th Final day
8	Sebastian Thaler	$10,000	12

Gran Prixs – Stockholm, Columbus, Strasbourg, Montreal

GP Stockholm (5–6 May) Nicolay Potovin André Müller Kenji Tsumura Oliver Oks Bas Postema Thomas Refsdal Klaus Jöns Samuel Korsell

GP Colombus (19–20 May) Steve Sadin Owen Turtenwald Bill Stark Max Tietze Gadiel Szliefer Paul Nicolo Ryan Trepanier Michael Belfatto

GP Strasbourg (19–20 May) Tomoharu Saitou Raul Porojan Shouta Yasooka Florian Pils Christoph Huber Klaus Jöns Petr Martinek Stefan Heigerer

GP Montreal (23–24 June) Celso Zampere Jr. Paul Cheon Guillaume Wafo-Tapa Kenji Tsumura Gabriel Schwarz Koutarou Ootsuka Jason Imperiale Shouta Yasooka

Pro Tour – San Diego (29 June – 1 July 2007)

Pro Tour San Diego was the inaugural and as yet only event for the Two-Headed Giant format at the Pro Tour level. Chris Lachmann and Jacob van Lunen won the tournament, both in their first Pro Tour, playing an innovative sliver strategy. They won the elimination bracket in a combined nine turns making it the shortest semi-final and final ever.^[4]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,500
Players: 390 (195 teams)
Format: Two-Headed Giant Booster Draft (Time Spiral-Planar Chaos-Future Sight)
Head Judge: Toby Elliott^[2]

Top 4

	Semi-finals					Semi-finals
	Eugene Harvey John Fiorillo		0
	Yuuta Takahashi Kentaro Yamamoto		1
						Yuuta Takahashi Kentaro Yamamoto		0
						Chris Lachmann Jacob van Lunen		1
	Masami Kaneko Genki Taru		0
	Chris Lachman Jacob van Lunen		1

Final standings

Place	Players	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Chris Lachman	$50,000	20	Pro Tour debut
	Jacob van Lunen		20	Pro Tour debut
2	Yuuta Takahashi	$30,000	16
	Kentaro Yamamoto		16
3	John Fiorillo	$22,000	12
	Eugene Harvey		12	4th Final day
4	Masami Kaneko	$20,000	12
	Genki Taru		12

Grand Prixs – San Francisco, Florence

GP San Francisco (25–26 August) Luis Scott-Vargas Jonathan Stocks Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Brett Blackmann David Irvine Andrew Walden Zack Smith Paul Cheon

GP Florence (8–9 September) Masami Kaneko André Coimbra Marco Cammilluzzi Mido Kagawa Armin Birner Manuel Bucher Rasmus Sibast Ronald Guetl

Pro Tour – Valencia (12–14 October 2007)

Pro Tour Valencia began with a bumpy start. The first day of play to be canceled due to flooding. On the other two days the schedule had to be altered somewhat, including additional rounds on Saturday and three rounds on Sunday before Top 8. In the end, Frenchmen Remi Fortier defeated Germany's André Müller in the final, making Valencia the third consecutive extended Pro Tour to be won by a French player.^[5]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 424
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Giulio Barra	3
	8	Makihito Mihara	0
							Giulio Barra	1
							Remi Fortier	3
	4	Tine Rus	2
	5	Remi Fortier	3
												Remi Fortier	3
												André Müller	2
	2	Takayuki Koike	1
	3	Shuhei Nakamura	3
							Shuhei Nakamura	2
							André Müller	3
	3	André Müller	3
	6	Sam Stein	1

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Remi Fortier	$40,000	25
2	André Müller	$22,000	20	2nd Final day
3	Guilio Barra	$15,000	16
4	Shuhei Nakamura	$14,000	16	4th Final day
5	Takayuki Koike	$11,500	12	Pro Tour debut
6	Tine Rus	$11,000	12	1st Slovenian in a Top 8, Pro Tour debut
7	Sam Stein	$10,500	12
8	Makihito Mihara	$10,000	12	2nd Final day

Grand Prixs – Brisbane, Bangkok, Krakow, Kitakyuushuu, Daytona Beach

GP Brisbane (20–21 October) Anatoli Lightfoot Shawn Rayson André Coimbra Hassan Kamel David Zhao Norman McPherson Andrew Eckermann Chris Ninnes

GP Bangkok (27–28 October) Masahiko Morita Shingou Kurihara Yong Han Choo Kok Seng Ong Junya Iyanaga Koutarou Ootsuka Steven Tan Takuya Oosawa

GP Krakow (3–4 November) Paul Cheon Amiel Tenenbaum Armin Birner Olivier Ruel Robert Jacko David Besso Guillaume Wafo-Tapa Matej Zatlkaj

GP Kitakyuushuu (10–11 November) Junya Iyanaga Shouta Yasooka Akira Asahara Olivier Ruel Kazuya Hirabayashi Jun Young Park Kenji Tsumura Chih-Chun Tsai

GP Daytona Beach (17–18 November) Seth Manfield Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Tillman Bragg Tanon Grace Gabe Walls Steven Wolansky Kyle Miller Alex Lieberman

2007 World Championships – New York City (6–9 December 2007)

Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship#2007 World Championship

The World Championships began with the induction of the third class into the hall of fame. The inductees were Kai Budde, Zvi Mowshowitz, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Nicolai Herzog, and Randy Buehler. In the individual competition Uri Peleg became the first Israeli, not only to reach the top eight, but also to win a Pro Tour. For Mori it was his third consecutive Worlds Top 8 appearance. In the team competition, the Swiss defeated the Austrian team in the finals^[6]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $215,600 (individual) + $192,200 (national teams)
Players: 386
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Lorwyn), Legacy
Head Judge: Mike Guptil^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Christoph Huber	1
	8	Koutarou Ootsuka	3
							Koutarou Ootsuka	1
							Uri Peleg	3
	4	Katsuhiro Mori	0
	5	Uri Peleg	3
												Uri Peleg	3
												Patrick Chapin	1
	2	Gabriel Nassif	3
	7	Roel van Heeswijk	1
							Gabriel Nassif	2
							Patrick Chapin	3
	3	Yoshitako Nakano	2
	6	Patrick Chapin	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Uri Peleg	$40,000	25	1st Israeli to win a Pro Tour
2	Patrick Chapin	$22,000	20	3rd Final day
3	Gabriel Nassif	$15,000	16	8th Final day
4	Koutarou Ootsuka	$14,000	16
5	Christoph Huber	$11,000	12
6	Yoshitako Nakano	$10,000	12
7	Katsuhiro Mori	$9,000	12	3nd Final day
8	Roel van Heeswijk	$8,000	12

National team competition

1. Switzerland (Nico Bohny, Manuel Bucher, Raphael Genari, Christoph Huber)
2. Austria (Thomas Preyer, Stefan Stradner, David Reitbauer, Helmut Summersberger)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Tomoharu Saitou was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.^[7]

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Tomoharu Saitou	68
2	Kenji Tsumura	62
3	Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	59
4	Shingou Kurihara	57
5	Olivier Ruel	54

Performance by country

Japan players dominated the season, making 16 Top 8 appearances although they had only about half as many players on the Pro Tour as the United States, which had the secondmost Top 8 appearances at 9. Both countries generated 21 level 4+ pro players in this season. For the Netherlands despite having generated 7 level 4+ pro players in the season success on the Pro Tour was almost elusive with a single 8th place being their only Top 8 appearance.

Country	T8	Q*	Q/T8	GT	Best Player (PPts)
Japan	16	171	11	21	Tomoharu Saitou (68)
United States	9	330	37	21	Paul Cheon (52)
France	4	108	27	7	Guillaume Wafo-Tapa (59)
Germany	3	83	28	6	André Müller (36)
Italy	1	61	61	0	Guilio Barra (18)
Netherlands	1	54	54	7	Frank Karsten (37)
Spain	0	55	55	1	Saul Aguado (20)

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 (PT San Diego is missing as no country breakdown is available for that event); GT = Gravy Trainers (aka players with a Pro Players Club level of 4 or more) from that country generated in the 2007 season; Best Player (PPts) = Player with the most Pro Points from that country, Pro Points of that player in brackets.

References

1. ^ "Hron's Victory Years in the Making". Wizards of the Coast. 11 February 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptgen07/welcome. Retrieved 27 March 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. http://magic.wiki.xs4all.nl/index.php?title=Head_Judges_of_Pro_Tours_and_World_Championships. Retrieved 16 November 2009. 
3. ^ "Wafo-Tapa Tops Them All!". Wizards of the Coast. 22 April 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptyok07/welcome. Retrieved 27 March 2009. 
4. ^ "Sliver Kids Stun San Diego". Wizards of the Coast. 1 July 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptsdg07/welcome. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 
5. ^ "Fortier Reigns in Spain". Wizards of the Coast. 14 October 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/ptval07/welcome. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 
6. ^ "Historic Wins for Peleg, Swiss at Worlds". Wizards of the Coast. 9 December 2007. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Events.aspx?x=mtgevent/worlds07/welcome. Retrieved 28 March 2009. 
7. ^ "2007 Player of the Year Race". Wizards of the Coast. 18 January 2008. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=protour/standings/poy07. Retrieved 27 March 2009.