Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2012

The 2012 Pro Tour season is the seventeenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. Due to major changes in the Pro Tour systems the 2012 season was retroactively made to overlap with the 2011 season. Originally the 2012 season was supposed to begin on 7 January 2012 with Grand Prix Austin, but retroactively the events from after Pro Tour Nagoya on 10–12 June 2011 were made to count towards the 2012 season as well as the 2011 season. The major changes included a shift of the season. Instead of Pro Tour seasons aligning with the calendar year, beginning with the 2012–13 season Pro Tour seasons will be going from spring to spring. Also a major overhaul of the ratings system was conducted. A new bye policy based upon the new ratings system and a new invitation policy for the Pro Tour were introduced. Finally the number of Grand Prix tournaments was greatly increased.

2012 Pro Tour season
Pro Player of the YearJapan Yuuya Watanabe
Rookie of the YearCanada Alexander Hayne
Pro Tours2 / 4
Grands Prix16 / 26
Hall of Fame inductionsn/a
Start of season13 June 2011 / 7 January 2012
End of season13 May 2012

Mode

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Four Pro Tours will be held in the 2012 season. The amount of Grand Prix is still unknown as only Grand Prix tournaments through March have been announced yet.[1] The prize purse of future Pro Tours is also unknown, however Wizards of the Coast announced, that future Grand Prix tournaments will have a total prize pool of $10,000 to $40,000 instead of a flat $30,000 pool that was awarded at each Grand Prix in 2011.

Grand Prix: Austin, Orlando

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Pro Tour Dark Ascension – Honolulu (10–12 February 2012)

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The first Pro Tour in the 2012 season is the first to have a proper name. Previously Pro Tours were referred to by their location and/or date. The name Dark Ascension refers to the Magic set with the same name that is to be released a week prior to the Pro Tour.

Tournament data

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Prize pool: $233,500
Format: Standard, Booster Draft
Players: 445

Top 8

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 3
8 Jelger Wiegersma 0
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 3
Mamoru Nagai 1
4 Mamoru Nagai 3
5 Lukas Blohon 1
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa 2
Brian Kibler 3
2 Denniz Rachid 1
7 Brian Kibler 3
Brian Kibler 3
Jon Finkel 2
3 Jon Finkel 3
6 Matthew Costa 1

Final standings

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Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1   Brian Kibler $40,000 30 5th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win
2   Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa $20,000 24 9th Final day
3   Jon Finkel $12,500 22 13th Final day
4   Mamoru Nagai $12,500 22
5   Denniz Rachid $10,000 20
6   Matthew Costa $10,000 20
7   Lukas Blohon $10,000 20
8   Jelger Wiegersma $10,000 20 4th Final day

Grand Prix: Kobe, Lincoln, Madrid, Baltimore, Lille, Seattle, Indianapolis, Nashville, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Melbourne, Salt Lake City, Turin, Manchester

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Pro Tour Avacyn Restored – Barcelona (11–13 May 2012)

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Tournament data

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Prize pool: $233,500
Format: Block Constructed, Booster Draft
Players: 379

Top 8

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Finals
         
1 Gaudenis Vidugiris 3
8 Naoki Shimizu 2
Gaudenis Vidugiris 3
Ken Yukuhiro 2
4 Ken Yukuhiro 3
5 Denniz Rachid 2
Gaudenis Vidugiris 2
Alexander Hayne 3
2 Jon Finkel 2
7 Alexander Hayne 3
Alexander Hayne 3
Joshua Cho 2
3 Joshua Cho 3
6 Thomas Holzinger 0

Final standings

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Place Player Prize Pro Points Comment
1   Alexander Hayne $40,000 30
2   Gaudenis Vidugiris $20,000 24 2nd final day
3   Joshua Cho $12,500 22 Pro Tour debut
4   Ken Yukuhiro $12,500 22
5   Jon Finkel $10,000 20 14th final day
6   Denniz Rachid $10,000 20 2nd final day
7   Thomas Holzinger $10,000 20
8   Naoki Shimizu $10,000 20 2nd final day

Invitees to the 2012 Players Championship

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The following sixteen players received an invitation to the 2012 Players Championship due to their performance in the 2012 season.

Player Qualified due to
  Owen Turtenwald 2011 Player of the year
  Jun'ya Iyanaga 2011 World Champion
  Reid Duke 2011 Magic Online Champion
  Samuele Estratti Pro Tour Philadelphia winner
  Brian Kibler Pro Tour Dark Ascension winner
  Alexander Hayne Pro Tour Avacyn Restored winner
  Josh Utter-Leyton Pro Point leader North America
  Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Pro Point leader Latin America
  Martin Juza Pro Point leader Europe
  Yuuya Watanabe Pro Point leader Japan
  Kuo Tzu-Ching Pro Point leader APAC region
  Jon Finkel Most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
  Luis Scott-Vargas 2nd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
  Shouta Yasooka 3rd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
  David Ochoa 4th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
  Shuhei Nakamura 5th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified

References

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  1. ^ "15 Grand Prix Highlight Early 2012 Schedule". Wizards of the Coast. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2011.