Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2008

The 2008 Pro Tour season was the thirteenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 15 December 2007, with Grand Prix Stuttgart, and ended on 14 December 2008, with the 2008 World Championship in Memphis. The season consisted of twenty-one Grand Prixs, and four Pro Tours, located in Kuala Lumpur, Hollywood, Berlin, and Memphis. The Grand Prixs from June until August were designated Summer Series Grand Prixs, awarding more prizes and additional Pro Points. At the end of the season, Shuhei Nakamura became the fourth consecutive Japanese player to win Pro Player of the year. Dirk Baberowski, Michael Turian, Jelger Wiegersma, Olivier Ruel, and Ben Rubin were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

2008 Pro Tour season

Pro Player of the Year	Shuhei Nakamura
Rookie of the Year	Aaron Nicastri
World Champion	Antti Malin
Pro Tours	4
Grands Prix	21
Hall of Fame inductions	Dirk Baberowski Mike Turian Jelger Wiegersma Olivier Ruel Ben Rubin
Start of season	15 December 2007
End of season	14 December 2008
← 2007 2009 →

Grand Prix – Stuttgart

GP Stuttgart (15–16 December 2007)

• Format: Limited
• Attendance: 1336

1. Shuhei Nakamura
2. Robert van Medevoort
3. Jonathan Bergström
4. Raul Porojan
5. Joel Calafell
6. Fried Meulders
7. Patrizio Golia
8. Marc Vogt

Pro Tour – Kuala Lumpur (15–17 February 2008)

Jon Finkel of the US won Kuala Lumpur, becoming the first Hall of Fame member to do so after his induction. The top eight is considered to be one of the best ever, with the players having a total of six Pro Tour wins between them prior to Kuala Lumpur.^[1]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $230,795
Players: 346
Format: Booster Draft (Lorwyn-Morningtide)
Head Judge: Toby Elliott^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Nicolai Herzog	2
	8	Marcio Carvalho	3
						Marico Carvalho		1
						Jon Finkel		3
	4	Jon Finkel	3
	5	Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	0
											Jon Finkel		3
											Mario Pascoli		1
	2	Mario Pascoli	3
	7	Mike Hron	0
						Mario Pascoli		3
						Ming Xu		2
	3	Ming Xu	3
	6	Joel Calafell	1

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Jon Finkel	$40,000	25	12th Final day, 3rd Pro Tour win
2	Mario Pascoli	$20,000	20
3	Marcio Carvalho	$15,000	16	2nd Final day
4	Ming Xu	$13,000	16	1st Chinese Player in a Top 8, Pro Tour debut
5	Guillaume Wafo-Tapa	$11,000	12	2nd Final day
6	Mike Hron	$10,500	12	2nd Final day
7	Joel Calafell	$10,000	12
8	Nicolai Herzog	$9,500	12	5th Final day

Grand Prixs – Vancouver, Shizuoka, Vienna, Philadelphia, Brussels

GP Vancouver (23–24 February) Format: Extended Attendance: 395 Paul Cheon Ben Lundquist Marc Bonnefoy Zack Hall Jason Fleurant Michael Guerney Aaron Paquette Hunter Coale GP Philadelphia (15–16 March) Format: Extended Attendance: 969 Gerard Fabiano Adam Yurchick Luis Scott-Vargas Tyler Mantey Paul Mathews Ben Wienburg Matt Hansen Jonathan Sonne

GP Shizuoka (8–9 March) Format: Standard Attendance: 827 Yuuta Takahashi Olivier Ruel Kenji Tsumura Ryousuke Masuno Kazuya Mitamura Shintarou Ishimura Taichi Fujimoto Akira Asahara GP Brussels (3–4 May) Format: Limited Attendance: 1430 Kamiel Cornelissen Gabriel Nassif Raphaël Lévy Antoine Ruel Gaetan Lefebvre Rogier Kleij Holger Lange Alexandre Peset

GP Vienna (15–16 March) Format: Extended Attendance: 1154 Mateusz Kopec Nikolaus Eigner Matija Vlahovic Tomoharu Saitou Gianluca Bevere Horst Winkelmann Wojciech Zuber Andras Nagy

Pro Tour Hollywood (23–25 May 2008)

Charles Gindy became the second American to win a Pro Tour in the 2008 season. Playing a green-black elf/rock deck, he defeated Germany's Jan Ruess, playing merfolk, in the finals.^[3]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $230,795
Players: 371
Format: Standard
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Shuhei Nakamura	3
	8	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	2
						Shuhei Nakamura		1
						Jan Ruess		3
	4	Jan Ruess	3
	5	Makihito Mihara	2
											Jan Ruess		0
											Charles Gindy		3
	2	Nico Bohny	2
	7	Charles Gindy	3
						Charles Gindy		3
						Yong Han Choo		2
	3	Marijn Lybaert	0
	6	Yong Han Choo	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Charles Gindy	$40,000	25
2	Jan Ruess	$20,000	20
3	Shuhei Nakamura	$15,000	16	5th Final day
4	Yong Han Choo	$13,000	16
5	Nico Bohny	$11,000	12
6	Makihito Mihara	$10,500	12	3rd Final day
7	Marijn Lybaert	$10,000	12	2nd Final day
8	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	$9,500	12	3rd Final day

Grand Prixs – Birmingham, Indianapolis, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Kobe, Denver, Copenhagen, Manila, Rimini, Kansas City, Paris

GP Birmingham (30 May – 1 June) Format: Block Constructed Attendance: 581 Lee Shi Tian Remi Fortier Raphaël Lévy Jelger Wiegersma Antti Malin Matthias Künzler Manuel Bucher Jonathan Randle

GP Summer Series Indianapolis (21–22 June) Format: Limited Attendance: 1124 Jelger Wiegersma Gaudenis Vidugiris Jamie Parke Tyler Mantey James Beltz Eric Franklin Randy Wright Ben Rasmussen

GP Summer Series Buenos Aires (28–29 June) Format: Standard Attendance: 580 Francisco Braga Felipe Alves Pellegrini Adrien Degaspare Damian Buckley Ivan Taroshi Fox Olivier Ruel Nicolas Bevacqua Sebastian Pozzo

GP Summer Series Madrid (26–27 July) Format: Limited Attendance: 1465 Lasse Nørgaard Daniel Martin Bermejo Manuel Bucher Romain Fenaux-briot Allan Christensen Sergio Salas Martinez Tommi Lindgren Geir Bakke

GP Summer Series Kobe (2–3 August) Format: Block Constructed Attendance: 811 Yuuta Takahashi Takayuki Takagi Masaya Tanahashi Shou Yoshimori Hirosi Yosida Katsuya Ueda Koutarou Ootsuka Tsuyoshi Ikeda

GP Summer Series Denver (9–10 August) Format: Block Constructed Attendance: 625 Gerry Thompson Lee Steht Nathan Elkins Kenneth Castor A.J. Sacher Kyle Bundgaard Antonino De Rosa Hunter Burton

GP Summer Series Copenhagen (23–24 August) Format: Standard Attendance: 610 David Larsson Tomoharu Saitou Jakub Jahoda Shuhei Nakamura Guillaume Wafo-Tapa William Cavaglieri Philipp Summereder Robert Van Meedevort

GP Summer Series Manila (30–31 August) Format: Block Constructed Attendance: 641 Hironobu Sugaya Shouta Yasooka Luis Magisa Shingou Kurihara Masami Kaneko Koutarou Ootsuka Raphaël Lévy Wai Keat Ken Lim

GP Rimini (13–14 September) Format: Block Constructed Attendance: 686 Emanuele Giusti Shuhei Nakamura Claudio Salemi Marcello Calvetto Matthias Künzler Rodrigo Renedo Joel Calafell Petr Nahodil

GP Paris (18–19 October) Format: Limited Attendance: 1838 Arjan van Leeuwen Pierre Rensonnet Menno Dolstra Simon Görtzen Niels Noorlander Romain Lisciandro Artur Cnotalski Jan De Coster

GP Kansas City (18–19 October) Format: Limited Attendance: 746 Tim Landale Carlos Romão Jonathan Sonne Sammy Batarseh Brandon Scheel Justin Meyer Chris Pait Willy Edel

Pro Tour Berlin (31 October – 2 November 2008)

Luis Scott-Vargas of the US, defeated Matej Zatlkaj in the finals of Pro Tour Berlin. Six of the eight quarter finalists, including all four semi-finalists, played variants on the Elf-Ball combo deck.^[4]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $230,795
Players: 454
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Kenny Öberg	2
	8	Luis Scott-Vargas	3
						Luis Scott-Vargas		3
						Tomoharu Saitou		2
	4	Tomoharu Saitou	3
	5	Jan Doise	1
											Luis Scott-Vargas		3
											Matej Zatlkaj		0
	2	Martin Juza	2
	7	Sebastian Thaler	3
						Sebastian Thaler		1
						Matej Zatlkaj		3
	3	Denis Sinner	2
	6	Matej Zatlkaj	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Luis Scott-Vargas	$40,000	25
2	Matej Zatlkaj	$20,000	20
3	Tomoharu Saitou	$15,000	16	5th Final day
4	Sebastian Thaler	$13,000	16	2nd Final day
5	Kenny Öberg	$11,000	12
6	Martin Juza	$10,500	12
7	Denis Sinner	$10,000	12
8	Jan Doise	$9,500	12

Grand Prixs – Atlanta, Okoyama, Taipei, Auckland

GP Atlanta (15–16 November) Format: Limited Attendance: 684 Luis Scott-Vargas Gerry Thompson Chris Fennell Steven Wolansky Brett Piazza Tomoharu Saitou Chris Pait Ken Adams GP Taipei (29–30 November) Format: Limited Attendance: 270 Shu Komuro Yoshitaka Nakano Osamu Fujita Homg Gi Tsai Tun Min Huang Sheng Xiu Jian Lee Shi Tian Kang Nien Chiang

GP Okoyama (22–23 November) Format: Limited Attendance: 635 Makihito Mihara Kazuya Mitamura Chikara Nakajima Tsuyoshi Ikeda Daisuke Muramatsu Olivier Ruel Akimasa Yamamoto Guillaume Wafo-Tapa GP Auckland (6–7 December) Format: Limited Attendance: 254 Dominic Lo Nick Tung Justin Cheung Jason Chung Olivier Ruel Joseph Combs Basam Tabet Chris Hay

2008 World Championships – Memphis (11–14 December 2008)

Main article: Magic: The Gathering World Championship § 2008 World Championship

The World Championships began with the induction of Dirk Baberowski, Michael Turian, Jelger Wiegersma, Olivier Ruel, and Ben Rubin, into the Hall of Fame. In the individual competition, Antti Malin of Finland emerged as the World Champion from a top eight including only one player without a prior Sunday appearance. In the team competition, it was the first time that the top four teams would play on Sunday, as opposed to only the top two. The US team defeated Australia in the finals.^[5]

Tournament data

Prize pool: $245,245 (individual) + $192,425 (national teams)
Players: 329
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Shards of Alara), Extended
Head Judge: Toby Elliott^[2]

Top 8

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	2
	8	Jamie Parke	3
						Jamie Parke		3
						Tsuyoshi Ikeda		0
	4	Frank Karsten	0
	5	Tsuyoshi Ikeda	3
											Jamie Parke		1
											Antti Malin		3
	2	Antti Malin	3
	7	Akira Asahara	1
						Antti Malin		3
						Hannes Kerem		2
	3	Kenji Tsumura	2
	6	Hannes Kerem	3

Final standings

Place	Player	Prize	Pro Points	Comment
1	Antti Malin	$45,000	25	2nd Final day
2	Jamie Parke	$24,000	20	2nd Final day
3	Tsuyoshi Ikeda	$15,000	16	3rd Final day
4	Hannes Kerem	$14,000	16	1st player from Estonia to Top Eight
5	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	$11,000	12	4th Final day
6	Kenji Tsumura	$10,500	12	6th Final day
7	Frank Karsten	$10,000	12	3rd Final day
8	Akira Asahara	$9,500	12	2nd Final day

National team competition

1. United States (Michael Jacob, Paul Cheon, Sam Black)
2. Australia (Aaron Nicastri, Brandon Lau, Justin Cheung)
3. Brazil (Willy Edel, Vagner Casatti, Luiz Guilherme de Michielli)
4. Japan (Masashi Oiso, Yuuya Watanabe, Akihiro Takakuwa)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship, Shuhei Nakamura was awarded the Pro Player of the year title, making Japan the first country to win the title in four consecutive years.^[6]

Rank	Player	Pro Points
1	Shuhei Nakamura	70
2	Olivier Ruel	58
	Luis Scott-Vargas
4	Marcio Carvalho	50
	Tomoharu Saitou

Performance by country

Japan had the most Top 8 appearances at 6 although they had less than half as many players on the Pro Tour in the season than the United States, which had the secondmost Top 8 appearances at 5.

Country	T8	Q	Q/T8	M	GT	Best Player (PPts)
Japan	6	154	26	155.5	19	Shuhei Nakamura (70)
United States	5	347	69	196.5	16	Luis Scott-Vargas (58)
Germany	3	74	25	208	3	Jan Ruess (35)
Belgium	2	30	15	158.5	3	Marijn Lybaert (33)
Brazil	2	28	14	185.5	4	Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa (42)
France	1	90	90	183.5	6	Olivier Ruel (58)
Italy	1	74	74	230	3	Mario Pascoli (40)
Spain	1	53	53	224	1	Joel Calafell (33)

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; M = Median finish over all PTs; GT = Gravy Trainers (aka players with a Pro Players Club level of 4 or more) from that country created in the 2009 season; Best Player (PPts) = Player with the most Pro Points from that country, Pro Points of that player in brackets.