Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 1996–97

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1996–97 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the Year Canada Paul McCabe
Rookie of the Year none awarded
World Champion Czech Republic Jakub Slemr
Pro Tours 6
Grands Prix 5
Start of season 13 September 1996
End of season 17 August 1997
← 1996 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Pro Tour season was the second season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 13 September 1996 with Pro Tour Atlanta, and ended on 17 August 1997 with the conclusion of 1997 World Championship in Seattle. The season consisted of five Grand Prix, and six Pro Tours, located in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Paris, New York, and Seattle. At the end of the season Paul McCabe from Canada was awarded the Pro Player of the year title. It was the first season to host Grand Prix, which are major tournaments awarding cash prizes and Pro Points, but open to all players.

Mode

Six Pro Tours were held in the 1996–97 season. Five Grand Prixs were held in the season. However, they did not award Pro Points. Based on final Pro Tour standings Pro Points were awarded as follows:

Rank 1 2 3–4 5–8 9–16 17–32 33–64 65+
Pro Points 30 25 20 10 4 2 1 0

Pro Tour – Atlanta (13–15 September 1996)

Atlanta was the only Pro Tour ever to host an individual Sealed Deck competition as the main event. Furthermore, the cards were all previously unknown to the players as Mirage product was used, but Mirage had not been officially released yet. Also Atlanta was the first Pro Tour that allowed players to intentionally draw matches.[1][2] In the end German Frank Adler won Pro Tour Atlanta over Darwin Kastle.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $150,000 ($250,000 including Team Competition and scholarships for the Junior Division)[3]
Players: 192
Format: Sealed Deck (Mirage)

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Germany Frank Adler $26,000 1st German to win a Pro Tour
2 United States Darwin Kastle $16,000 2nd Final day
3 United States Aaron Muranaka $9,000
4 United States John Yoo $9,000
5 Canada Terry Borer $5,500
6 United States Mike Long $5,500
7 United States Chris Pikula $5,500
8 Canada Matthew Vienneau $5,500

Other divisions

Aaron Sounders won the Junior Division against Louis Beryl. Jason Gordon and David Connelly were the other semi-finalists. The quarter-finalists were David Lively, Trevor Blackwell, James Murphy, and Alexander Sutherland. The team of Mark Chalice, Scott Johns, Mark Justice, Preston Poulter, and Mario Robaina won the Team Competition against Dave Lyon, Mike Reinking, Kevin Stelzer, Jeff Sternal, and Chris Steler for a prize of $11,000. [3]

Pro Tour – Dallas (22–24 November 1996)

Eventual Pro Player of the year Paul McCabe won Pro Tour Dallas. The Canadian defeated Jason Zila from the USA in the final. Olle Råde had his third Top 8 appearance while playing only his fourth Pro Tour.[1] Pro Tour Dallas also featured a Type I (now Vintage) division, which Scott Johns won.[4] Justin Schneider won the Junior Division for $16,000 scholarship over Jeremy Baca in the finals. Eventual Hall of Famer Patrick Chapin and Jeff Simoneau lost in the semi-finals.[5]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $150,000 ($250,000 including Classic Division and Junior Division scholarships)[6]
Players: 242
Format: Standard

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Canada Paul McCabe $26,000 1st Canadian to win a Pro Tour
2 United States Jason Zila $16,000
3 United States Brian Hacker $9,000
4 United States Chris Pikula $9,000 2nd Final day
5 United States George Baxter $5,500 2nd Final day
6 Sweden Olle Råde $5,500 3rd Final day
7 United States Robert Thornburg $5,500
8 Germany Peer Kröger $5,500

Top 8

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Brian Hacker 2
8 Olle Rade 0
Brian Hacker
Paul McCabe
5 Paul McCabe 2
4 Robert Thornburg 0
Paul McCabe
Jason Zila
3 Chris Pikula 2
6 George Baxter 1
Chris Pikula
Jason Zila
7 Peer Kröger 0
2 Jason Zila 2

Junior Division

Justin Schneider won the finals of the Junior Division against Jeremy Baca for a $16,000 scholarship. The other semi-finalists were Patrick Chapin and Jeff Simoneau. The quarter-finalists were Jason Moungey, Vinnie Falcone, Yubin Tao, and Adam Jansen.[7]

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (28 February – 2 March 1997)

Tommi Hovi won Pro Tour Los Angeles, winning the final against David Mills. It was the only Pro Tour final ever to be decided by a disqualification. Mills was disqualified because he repeatedly tapped his lands after (rather than before) attempting to play a spell, which was not allowed at the time. Leading to an upset amongst the players it was eventually decided that Mills would be allowed to claim his prize, despite being originally disqualified without prize.

Los Angeles was also the first Pro Tour to use the so-called Paris Mulligan. Previously players were allowed to take a mulligan if they had an all-land or no-land starting hand. Instead players could now mulligan whenever they wished to do so, but had to draw an opening hand with one card less. The name Paris Mulligan actually refers to the subsequent Pro Tour in Paris, which was the first Constructed Pro Tour to use this rule.[1]

Jess Means won the finals of the Junior Division against eventual Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz.[8]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 236
Format: Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions)
Head Judge: Tom Wylie[9]

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Finland Tommi Hovi $26,000 2nd Final day, 1st Finn to win a Pro Tour
2 United States David Mills $16,000 Disqualified
3 United States Alan Comer $9,000
4 United States John Yoo $9,000 2nd Final day
5 United States Truc Bui $5,500
6 United States John Immordino $5,500 2nd Final day
7 United States Brian Weissman $5,500 2nd Final day
8 Belgium Ben Possemiers $5,500 1st Belgian in a Top 8

Grand Prix – Amsterdam

GP Amsterdam (22–23 March)

  1. France Emmanuel Vernay
  2. France David Nott
  3. Netherlands Wessel Oomens
  4. Netherlands Sven Dijt
  5. Netherlands Roeland Van der Hoevenen
  6. Netherlands Matt Henstra
  7. Germany Michael Huth
  8. Netherlands Dominique Coene

Pro Tour – Paris (11–13 April 1997)

Paris was the first Pro Tour held outside the United States. In the finals, the biggest names of Magic at the time (Mike Long and Mark Justice) met to determine the champion. Interestingly, both decks present in the final belonged to Long as he had previously loaned his deck to Justice. Eventually Long won the match, en route winning a game which his Combo deck was not capable of winning any more, but he convinced Justice to concede anyway.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 223
Format: Mirage Block Constructed (Mirage, Visions)

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 United States Mike Long $26,000 2nd Final day
2 United States Mark Justice $16,000 3rd Final day
3 United States Darwin Kastle $9,000 3rd Final day
4 Germany Henning Rimkus $9,000
5 Norway Sturla Bingen $5,500 1st Norwegian in a Top 8
6 United States Paul Ferker $5,500
7 United States Jason Gordon $5,500
8 United States Jason Zila $5,500 2nd Final day

Grand Prix – Washington D.C., Tokyo, Barcelona

GP Washington D.C. (26–27 April)

  1. United States Mike Long
  2. United States David Price
  3. United States Nate Clarke
  4. United States Chad Solo
  5. United States Scott Seville
  6. United States Michael Pustilnik
  7. Canada Terry Borer
  8. United States Dennis Bentley

GP Tokyo (4–5 May)

  1. Japan Kenichi Fujita
  2. Japan Toshiki Tsukamoto
  3. Japan Yoshiyuki Tsuruta
  4. Japan Yoshikazu Ishii
  5. Japan Goro Matsuo
  6. Japan Masami Ibamoto
  7. Japan Satoshi Nakamura
  8. Japan Takashi Niwa

GP Barcelona (4–5 May)

  1. France Pierre Fayard
  2. France Alain Fernandez
  3. Spain Ivan Garcia
  4. Spain Santiago Rodriguez
  5. France Mathieu Poujade
  6. France Nicholas Olivieri
  7. Spain Joaquim Casa
  8. France Michel Debard

Pro Tour – New York (30 May – 1 June 1997)

Canadian Terry Borer won Pro Tour New York, defeating Ivan Stanoev in the finals.[1] In the finals of Junior Division Ron Franke beat Jamie Parke.[10]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $150,000
Players: 259
Format: Booster Draft (5th Edition-Visions)

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Canada Terry Borer $26,000 2nd Final day
2 Czech Republic Ivan Stanoev $16,000 1st Czech in a Top 8
3 Canada Gabriel Tsang $9,000
4 Netherlands Jeroen Weyden $9,000 1st Dutch Player in a Top 8
5 United States Mark Chalice $5,500
6 United States John Chinnock $5,500
7 United States Michael Pustilnik $5,500
8 United States Patrick Chapin $5,500

Grand Prix – London

GP London (12–13 July)

  1. France Michel Sochon
  2. France Cyrille DeFoucaud
  3. England Ollie Schneider
  4. Scotland Graham Thomson
  5. Belgium Ben Possemiers
  6. Germany Daniel Brickwell
  7. England Robin McCandless
  8. France Frederic Bannach

1997 World Championships – Seattle (13–17 August 1997)

Jakub Slemr from the Czech Republic won the World Championship. He defeated Janosch Kühn from Germany in the final, playing a mainly black aggro-deck, dipping into all other colours for utility. Canada won the team competition in a final against Sweden.[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,000 (individual) + $50,000 (national teams)
Players: 153
Format: Standard, Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight), Extended

Final standings

Place Player Prize Comment
1 Czech Republic Jakub Slemr $34,000 1st Czech to win a Pro Tour
2 Germany Janosch Kühn $22,000 Pro Tour debut
3 Canada Paul McCabe $12,000 2nd Final day
4 Denmark Svend Geertsen $12,000 1st Dane in a Top 8
5 Canada Gabriel Tsang $8,000 2nd Final day
6 Sweden Nikolai Weibull $8,000
7 United States Nate Clarke $8,000
8 United States John Chinnock $8,000 2nd Final day

National team competition

  1. Canada Canada (Gary Krakower, Michael Donais, Ed Ito, Gabriel Tsang)
  2. Sweden Sweden (Nikolai Weibull, Mattias Jorstedt, Marcus Angelin, Johan Cedercrantz)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Paul McCabe was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.[1]

Rank Player Pro Points
1 Canada Paul McCabe 52
2 Canada Terry Borer 47
United States John Yoo 47
4 United States Mike Long 46
5 United States Darwin Kastle 45

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rosewater, Mark (26 July 2004). "On Tour, Part 1". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  2. ↑ Vienneau, Matthew (22 November 2005). "Pro Tour Atlanta 1996 Report. No, Really.". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Pro Tour-Atlanta Final Results". Wizards of the Coast. 1996. Archived from the original on 19 December 1996. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Kuta, Jeffrey (25 November 1996). "[Report] PT Dallas Type I Tournament". The Magic Dojo. Archived from the original on 18 February 1999. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Final Results, Magic: The Gathering® Pro TourTM-Dallas November 22-24, 1996". Wizards of the Coast. 1996. Archived from the original on 1 May 1997. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Pro Tour Tournament Formats". Wizards of the Coast. 1996. Archived from the original on 19 December 1996. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "Final Results, Magic: The Gathering Pro TourTM-Dallas". Wizards of the Coast. 1996. Archived from the original on 19 December 1996. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "Pro Tour Los Angeles Cybercast". Wizards of the Coast. 1997. Archived from the original on 1 May 1997. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Head Judges of Pro Tours and World Championships". XS4ALL. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  10. ↑ "The final standings from Pro Tour - New York.". Wizards of the Coast. 4 June 1997. Archived from the original on 6 June 1997. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
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