The 1999–2000 Pro Tour season was the fifth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 3 September 1999 with Pro Tour Boston and ended on 6 August 2000 with the conclusion of 2000 World Championship in Brussels. The season consisted of twenty Grand Prixs, and six Pro Tours, located in Washington D.C., London, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Brussels. At the end of the season Bob Maher, Jr. was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.
Mode
Six Pro Tours and 20 Grand Prix were held in the 1999–2000 season. Based on final standings Pro Points were awarded as follows:
RankPro Points awarded atPro Tour(individual)Pro Tour(teams)Grand Prix(individual)Grand Prix(teams)Worlds(team)13224645224125343–416104235–81283129–128621113–16862——17–24741——25–32631——33–4852———49–6441———65–12831———129+21———
Pro Tour – Washington D.C. (3–5 September 1999)
Washington D.C. was the first team Pro Tour. In a high-profile Top 8 featuring six players who were later inducted into the Hall of Fame, team Your Move Games (YMG) came out on top. YMG consisted of Dave Humpherys, Rob Dougherty, and Darwin Kastle, all eventual members of the Hall of Fame.
Tournament data
Players: 243 (81 teams) Prize Pool: $100,230 Format: Urza's Saga Team Sealed (Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Destiny) – first day, Urza's Saga Team Rochester Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny) – final two days Head Judge: Mike Guptil
Top 8
Final standings
PlaceTeamPlayerPrizePro PointsComment1Your Move Games Rob Dougherty$30,000242nd Final day Dave Humpherys242nd Final day Darwin Kastle244th Final day2Game Empire Kurt Burgner$15,000122nd Final day Alan Comer123rd Final day Brian Selden122nd Final day3Antarctica Jon Finkel$9,000106th Final day Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz103rd Final day Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz104THL Marc Aquino$7,50010 Richard Jones10 Drew McLean10
Grand Prixs – Tohoku, Memphis, Lisbon
GP Tohoku (11–12 September) Higashino Masayuki Kazuyuki Momose Satoshi Nakamura Itaru Ishida Toshiki Tsukamoto Ayumi Hidaka Hiroshi Harada Yuichi Taguchi
GP Memphis (18–19 September) Michael Pustilnik Mike Heffern Kyle Kloeckner Matthew Norton Adrian Sullivan David Jafari Ric Watts Matt Rauseo
GP Lisbon (25–26 September) Helder Coelho Paolo Cruz Stephane Gentric Rui Mariani Pedro Marcos Alex Shvartsman Kuniyoshi Ishii Hector Fuentes
Pro Tour – London (15–17 October 1999)
Kyle Rose won Pro Tour London, defeating Austrian Thomas Preyer in the finals. Darwin Kastle's back to back Top 8 appearances in Washington and London brought him to five final day appearance in his career.
Tournament data
Players: 310 Prize pool: $151,635 Format: Urza's Saga Booster Draft (Urza's Saga-Urza's Legacy-Urza's Destiny) Head Judge: Carl Crook
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Kyle Rose$25,000323rd Final day2 Thomas Preyer$15,000243 Mike Bregoli$10,000164 Ben Rubin$8,000163rd Final day5 Gunnar Refsdal$6,500126 William Jensen$5,500127 Marc Hernandez$4,800128 Darwin Kastle$4,300125th Final day
Grand Prixs – Kyushu, Sao Paulo, Milan, San Diego, Tours
GP Kyushu (30–31 October) Tadayoshi Komiya Eisaku Itadani Katsuhiro Mori Fumihiko Sano Masashiro Kuroda Masayuki Higashino Takuichi Harino Toshiki Tsukamoto
GP San Diego (20–21 November) William Jensen Gary Krakower David Williams Charles Kornblith Darwin Kastle John Yoo Trevor Blackwell Eric James
GP São Paulo (6–7 November) Rafael Assafi Alvarengi Douglas Maioli Carlos Mao Alex Shvartsman Carlos Romão Eduardo Simao Teixeira F. Moreira Bandeira Rodrigo Jose Constanza
GP Tours (27–28 November) Alex Shvartsman Nicolas Labarre Eric Vinh Franck Canu Christer Ljones Camille Gleizes Thomas F. Gundersen Svend Geertsen
GP Milan (6–7 November) Ziga Fritz Raphael Gennari William Cavaglieri Mario Delucis Ivan Solaja Micha Schulte-Middelich Ivan Curina Sasa Zorc
Pro Tour – Chicago (3–5 December 1999)
Bob Maher, Jr. won Pro Tour Chicago playing a blue-green-white control deck. He defeated Brian Davis in the finals 3–2. First time Pro Tour attendant Davis reportedly played so horribly, that around spectators the joke went, that Davis was the first to have played 5–0 in the finals and lost, referring to their perception that he could and should have won every single game.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635 Players: 344 Format: Extended Head Judge: Nat Fairbanks
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Bob Maher, Jr.$25,000322 Brian Davis$15,00024Pro Tour debut3 Christian Lührs$10,000162nd Final day4 Raphaël Lévy$8,000162nd Final day5 Alan Comer$6,500124th Final day6 Dirk Baberowski$5,500122nd Final day7 Tony Dobson$4,800128 Hector Fuentes$4,300121st Spaniard in a Top 8
Grand Prixs – Manila, Seattle, Madrid
GP Manila (4–5 December) Christopher Parreñas Frederick Salazar Francis Robert Profeta Lawrence Lagman Au Yeung Hon Ming Andrew Buchanan Dino Eric Yu Ramon Allan Oca, Jr.
GP Seattle (15–16 January) Bob Maher, Jr. Jeremy Brower Tim Kariel David Price Alex Shvartsman Jasar Elarar Mike Hron David Weitz
GP Madrid (29–30 January) Carlos Barrado Xavi Gonzales Alex Shvartsman Tony Dobson Olivier Ruel Alex Dominguez Ramos Rui Mariani Patrick Mello
Pro Tour – Los Angeles (4–6 February 2000)
Trevor Blackwell defeated Chris Benafel in the finals to become Pro Tour Los Angeles champion.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635 Players: 337 Format: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques) Head Judge: Dan Gray
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Trevor Blackwell$25,000322 Chris Benafel$15,000243 Kurt Burgner$10,000163rd Final day4 Mike Long$8,000164th Final day5 Erno Ekebom$6,500126 Bruce Cowley$5,500127 Andrew Nishioka$4,800128 Brian Selden$4,300123rd Final day
Grand Prix – Taipei, Philadelphia, Cannes, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt
GP Taipei (12–13 February) Tadayoshi Komiya Tsuyoshi Fujita Alex Shvartsman Jim Len Lucifar Sun Chi Jin Guo (Tzu-Ching Kuo) Satoshi Nakamura Tobey Tamber
GP Philadelphia (19–20 February) Trey Van Cleave Britt Fitch Scott McCord John Marks William Jensen David Roderer Brad Swan Michael Bernat
GP Cannes (26–27 February) 1. Black Ops Florent Jeudon Antoine Ruel Olivier Ruel 2. New Wave Alex Shvartsman Bram Snepvangers Thomas Preyer 3. Legion of Rabbits Nicolas Labarre Manuel Bevand Marie Laure Saulnier 4. The Tightans Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz William Jensen David Williams
GP Kuala Lumpur (4–5 March) Ryan Soh Tishen Tham Wai Kin Au Yong Tsuyoshi Ikeda Jun Nobushita Tsutomu Yamada Albertus Law Wei Ren Khoo
GP Frankfurt (8–9 April) 1. III Heroes Jim Herold Sebastian Moises Gunnar Refsdal 2. Hammer of Brno Martin Laznovsky Ivan Stanoev Libor Marek 3. Trash A Jakub Slemr Ondrej Baurys Tomas Kosicka 4. Absolute Samuels Daniel Steinsdorfer Demir Sejdiu Patrick Jansen
Pro Tour – New York (14–16 April 2000)
Sigurd Eskeland won Pro Tour New York, defeating Warren Marsh in the finals. Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being . His opponent played the deck most present at this tournament, Rebels. PT New York is considered to be the first time where there was a dominant deck at a Pro Tour, the deck did not win the tournament.
43% of the players entering the tournament had chosen rebel decks. On the second day of the tournament rebels were even more present, comprising and unprecedented 57% of the field. These numbers were again topped by the final eight where six of eight decks were rebel decks. In contrast the winning Rising Waters deck comprised only 8.4% of the field on day one and 14.5% on day two. In the top eight the two non-rebel decks were both Rising Waters decks. Rising Waters on both days had the highest winning percentage of all decks played with 60% on day one and 53.8% on day two.
Tournament data
Players: 310 Prize pool: $151,635 Format: Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis) Location: New York State Armory Head Judge: Cyril Grillon
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Sigurd Eskeland$25,000321st Norwegian to win a Pro Tour2 Warren Marsh$15,000243 Ben Rubin$10,000164th Final day4 Mattias Kettil$8,000165 John Larkin$6,500121st Irish Player in a Top 86 Mike Bregoli$5,500122nd Final day7 Travis Turning$4,800128 John Hunka$4,30012
Winner's deck
Sigurd Eskeland played a blue control-deck with the centerpiece of the deck being .
Sigurd Eskeland – 1999–2000 Pro Tour New York champion Main Deck: Sideboard: 4 Drake Hatchling 4 Stinging Barrier 4 Waterfront Bouncer 4 Eye of Ramos 3 Seal of Removal 4 Gush 4 Rising Waters 1 Brainstorm 3 Counterspell 4 Thwart 3 Daze 18 Island 4 Rishadan Port 2 Bribery 1 Counterspell 1 Hoodwink 2 Island 3 Misdirection 2 Rath's Edge 1 Seal of Removal 4 Stronghold Zeppelin
Team Challenge
The Team Challenge was a predecessor to the Masters Series events that were held from 2000 to 2003. These events were open only to the most accomplished players and awarded cash prizes even for entering the tournament. The Team Challenge at Pro Tour New York 2000 awarded $3,000 for entering the tournament, $9,000 to the runners-up team, and $15,000 to the winners. Four teams were invited to enter the tournament. In a field composed of otherwise American teams the French team Black Ops defeated Game Empire and Antarctica to win the tournament.
TeamPlayerTeamPlayerAntarctica Daniel O'Mahoney-SchwartzGame Empire Brian Selden Jon Finkel Alan Comer Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Kurt BurgnerBlack Ops Florent JeudonYour Move Games Rob Dougherty Antoine Ruel Dave Humpherys Olivier Ruel Darwin Kastle
Grand Prixs – Nagoya, St. Louis, Copenhagen, Pittsburgh
GP Nagoya (22–23 April) 1. New Wave Alex Shvartsman Trevor Blackwell Nick Wong 2. Masato Club Goro Matsuo Jun Nobushita Tadayoshi Komiya 3. Godzilla Bob Maher, Jr. David Williams Mike Long 4. Unluckys Osamu Fujita Ayumi Hidaka Takayuki Nagaoka
GP Copenhagen (17–18 June) Niels Sanders Jensen Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz Franck Canu Noah Boeken Gottlieb Yeh Gunnar Refsdal Tom van de Logt Peter Gysemans
GP St. Louis (13–14 May) 1. Antarctica Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz Jon Finkel Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz 2. Dogma Rob Liszka Mike Heffern Aaron Estrin 3. Your Move Games Darwin Kastle Rob Dougherty Dave Humpherys 4. Hubbo Ryan Carpenter Bryan Hubble Jason Opalka
GP Pittsburgh (24–25 June) 1. Huey, Ben, and Casey William Jensen Ben Rubin Casey McCarrel 2. Dark Side of the Moon Ray Tautic Brian Lynch Ben Halpren 3. Antarctica Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Jon Finkel 4. Your Move Games Darwin Kastle Rob Dougherty Dave Humpherys
2000 World Championships – Brussels (2–6 August 2000)
Jon Finkel won the 2000 World Championship, defeating teammate Bob Maher, Jr. in the finals. The second place allowed Maher to take the Pro Player of the year title, surpassing Darwin Kastle in the final standings. Finkel became the second player to win two Pro Tours and the first with seven Top 8 appearances. The US team won the national team competition, also with Finkel as reigning national champion at its head.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $201,620 (individual) + $50,000 (national teams) Players: 273 Individual formats: Formats: Mercadian Masques Booster Draft (Mercadian Masques-Nemesis-Prophecy), Mercadian Masques Block Constructed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy), Standard Team Format: Standard Head Judge: Cyril Grillon
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Jon Finkel$34,000327th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win2 Bob Maher, Jr.$22,000242nd Final day3 Dominik Hothow$16,000164 Benedikt Klauser$13,000162nd Final day5 Tom van de Logt$11,000126 Helmut Summersberger$9,500127 Janosch Kühn$8,250122nd Final day8 Nicolas Labarre$7,250123rd Final day
National team competition