Masters Series (Magic: The Gathering)

The Masters Series or simply Masters were single-elimination Magic: The Gathering tournaments open to the most accomplished players only. These tournaments awarded cash prizes upon entrance and were held at several Pro Tours each season. The first predecessor to the Masters Series, named Team Challenge, was held at the 2000 Pro Tour New York. In the following seasons Masters were held at four different Pro Tours each season. The last Masters was held at Pro Tour Yokohama. Ben Rubin was the most successful player at the Masters Series, being the only player to win two events.

After the 2002–03 season the cash that would have gone into the Masters Series prizes was instead used for a final payout at the end of the season based on Pro Points. This payout was in turn replaced by the Pro Player's Club two years later.

Masters champions

*	Elected to the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame

Season	Location	Winner	Runner-up	Result	Format	Ref.
1999–00	New York City	Black Ops Antoine Ruel* Olivier Ruel* Florent Jeudon	Antarctica Jon Finkel* Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz	2–1	Team Rochester Draft	[1][2]
2000–01	New York City	William Jensen	Jason Zilla	2–1	Extended	[3]
2000–01	Chicago	Ben Rubin*	Jon Finkel*	2–0	Booster Draft	[4]
2000–01	Tokyo	AlphaBetaUnlimited.com Chris Benafel Noah Boeken Ryan Fuller	Panzer Hunter Reiji Ando Itaru Ishida Momose Kazuyuki	2–1	Team Rochester Draft	[5]
2000–01	Barcelona	Ben Rubin*	Jay Elarar	2–0	Block Constructed	[6]
2001–02	New Orleans	Michael Pustilnik	Chris Benafel	2–0	Booster Draft	[7]
2001–02	San Diego	Ryan Fuller	Dave Humpherys*	2–0	Standard	[8]
2001–02	Osaka	Phoenix Foundation Dirk Baberowski* Marco Blume Kai Budde*	Panzer Hunter Reiji Ando Itaru Ishida Momose Kazuyuki	2–1	Team Rochester Draft	[9]
2001–02	Nice	Alexander Witt	Justin Gary	2–1	Extended	[10]
2002–03	Houston	Jens Thorén	Gary Wise*	2–0	Booster Draft	[11]
2002–03	Chicago	Franck Canu	Ken Ho	2–0	Standard	[12]
2002–03	Venice	PS2 Masahiro Kuroda Katsuhiro Mori Masahiko Morita	2020 Elijah Pollock David Rood Steven Wolfman	2–1	Team Rochester Draft	[13]
2002–03	Yokohama	Bob Maher*	Gabriel Nassif*	2–0	Extended	[14]

References

1. ^ "Magic: The Gathering Team Challenge 2000 Finals". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTNY9900/927teamfinalsfeature. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
2. ^ "Magic: The Gathering Team Challenge 2000". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Sideboard/mtg_article.asp?sb20000225b. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
3. ^ "Masters Series Coverage: New York 2000". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=MASTERSNY00/welcome. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
4. ^ "2000 Chicago Masters Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/event.asp?event=MASTERSCHI00. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
5. ^ "2001 Tokyo Masters Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/event.asp?event=MASTERSTOK01. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
6. ^ "2001 Barcelona Masters Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/event.asp?event=MASTERSBAR01. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
7. ^ "2001 New Orleans Masters Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/event.asp?event=MASTERSNOR01. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
8. ^ "2002 Masters Series San Diego Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/event.asp?event=MASTERSSD02. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
9. ^ "Pro Tour Osaka Masters Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastersosa02. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
10. ^ "Pro Tour Nice Masters Coverage". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastersnice02. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
11. ^ "Live Coverage of 2002 Houston Masters". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastershou02. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
12. ^ "Live Coverage of 2003 Masters Chicago". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/masterschi03. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
13. ^ "Live Coverage of 2003 Venice Masters". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastersven03. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 
14. ^ "Live Coverage of 2003 Yokohama Masters". Wizards of the Coast. http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=sideboard/events/mastersyok03. Retrieved 2009-08-16.