Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2000–01

The 2000–01 Pro Tour season was the sixth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 23 September 2000 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Sapporo and Porto. It ended on 12 August 2001 with the conclusion of the 2001 World Championship in Toronto. The season consisted of 27 Grand Prixs and 6 Pro Tours, held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Barcelona, and Toronto. Also special Master Series tournaments were held at four Pro Tours. These tournaments featured huge cash prizes, but were open to only 32 players. At the end of the season Kai Budde was proclaimed Pro Player of the Year, making him the only player to win the title more than once.

Grand Prixs – Sapporo, Porto

 * GP Porto (23–24 September)
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 3) 🇺🇸 David Williams
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Michael Pustilnik
 * 5) 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 6) 🇪🇸 Paco Llopis
 * 7) 🇵🇱 Gromko Radoslaw
 * 8) Ru Mariani Rodrigues


 * GP Sapporo (23–24 September)
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Satoshi Nakamura
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Takamasa Fukata
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Maruyama
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Kazuyuki Momose
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Kiyoshi Sasanuma
 * 6) 🇯🇵 John Taro Kageyama
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Yuji Otsubo

Pro Tour – New York (29 September – 1 October 2000)
New York was the second team Pro Tour. Scott Johns made his fifth final day appearance. His team, "Potato Nation", did not lose a match throughout the tournament. At PT New York the master series had its debut. This was a tournament series featuring huge cash prizes, but open only to the very best players in the world. The 25 players with the most Pro Points and the 5 Players with the highest rating in the format of the Masters were invited. Additionally a gateway tournament was held on the day before the Pro Tour. In that tournament each Pro Player with at least six Pro Points could compete for one of two additional slots.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $202,200 Players: 330 (110 teams) Format: Team Sealed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Mercadian Masques-Nemesis-Prophecy) – final two days Head Judge: Dan Gray

Grand Prixs – Manchester, Helsinki, Dallas, Kyoto, Phoenix, Sydney, Florence, Buenos Aires

 * GP Manchester (7–8 October)
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Darwin Kastle
 * 2) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Ormerod
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Mark Le Pine
 * 4) Noah Boeken
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Justin Gary
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Marc Hernandez
 * 7) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Neil Rigby
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Zvi Mowshowitz


 * GP Helsinki (28–29 October)
 * 1) Noah Boeken
 * 2) 🇫🇮 Erno Ekebom
 * 3) 🇫🇮 Arto Hiltunen
 * 4) 🇸🇪 Rickard Österberg
 * 5) 🇸🇪 Messaoud Bouchaib
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Dominik Hothow
 * 7) 🇸🇪 Erik Leander
 * 8) 🇸🇪 Jens Thorén


 * GP Dallas (28–29 October)
 * 1) 🇨🇦 Matthew Vienneau
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Chris Benafel
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Dan Clegg
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Matt Linde
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Dustin Stern
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Ben Romig
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Peter Leiher
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Trevor Blackwell


 * GP Kyoto (11–12 November)
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Fujita
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Yuki Murakami
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 4) 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Eisaku Itadani
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Doyama
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Maruyama
 * 8) 🇹🇼 Tobey Tamber


 * GP Phoenix (11–12 November)
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Sean Fitzgerald
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Sean Smith
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Thomas Keller
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Scott Johns
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Robert Swarowski
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Joel Frank
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Terry Welty
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Chris Demaci


 * GP Sydney (18–19 November)
 * 1) 🇳🇿 Gordon Lin
 * 2) 🇦🇺 Will Copeman
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Satoshi Nakamura
 * 4) 🇦🇺 Joe Connolly
 * 5) 🇸🇬 Royce Chai
 * 6) 🇦🇺 Chris Allen
 * 7) 🇦🇺 Anatoli Lightfoot
 * 8) 🇦🇺 Kim Brebach


 * GP Florence (25–26 November)
 * 1) 🇦🇹 Benedikt Klauser
 * 2) Bram Snepvangers
 * 3) 🇩🇪 Kai Budde
 * 4) Martin Zürcher
 * 5) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ben Ronaldson
 * 6) 🇮🇹 Daniele Canavesi
 * 7) 🇮🇹 Mario Pascoli
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Lionel Benezech


 * GP Buenos Aires (25–26 November)
 * 1) 🇲🇽 Hugo Ariza
 * 2) 🇨🇱 Walter Witt
 * 3) 🇦🇷 Pablo Huerta
 * 4) 🇨🇱 Rafael Le Saux
 * 5) 🇦🇷 Diego Ostrovich
 * 6) 🇫🇷 José Barbero
 * 7) 🇦🇷 Emmanuel Duering
 * 8) 🇦🇷 Mathias Bollati

Pro Tour – Chicago (1–3 December 2000)
Chicago was the first Pro Tour featuring the Standard format since Dallas more than four years before. In a top eight which is considered to be one of the best ever, Kai Budde won the title against Kamiel Cornelissen. He thus became the third player to win two Pro Tours. With the exception of Jay Elarar, every player in the top eight now has at least three Pro Tour top eights, including a win. In the Masters event Ben Rubin defeated Jon Finkel in the final.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $200,130 Players: 332 Format: Standard Head Judge: Mike Donais

Grand Prixs – Singapore, New Orleans, Amsterdam, Hiroshima

 * GP Singapore (9–10 December)
 * 1) 🇸🇬 Sam Lau
 * 2) 🇸🇬 Jonathan Chan
 * 3) 🇹🇼 Kuo Tzu-Ching
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Masayuki Higashino
 * 5) 🇹🇼 Yi Jie Vice Lin
 * 6) 🇲🇾 Tishem Tham
 * 7) 🇸🇬 Boon Tat Elvin Eng
 * 8) 🇸🇬 Nicholas Wong


 * GP New Orleans (6–7 January)
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Bill Stead
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Michelle Bush
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Gary Rush
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Steven O'Mahoney Schwartz
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Casey McCarrel
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Eric Kesselman
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Jamie Parke
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Dustin Stern


 * GP Amsterdam (13–14 January)
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Chris Benafel
 * 2) 🇪🇸 Xavier Curto Vives
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Brian Davis
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Daniel O'Mahoney Schwartz
 * 5) 🇺🇸 David Price
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 7) Menno Dolstra
 * 8) Alexander Witt


 * GP Hiroshima (27–28 January)
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Masayuki Higashino
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masaya Mori
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Nobuaki Shikata
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Fujita
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Koby Okada
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Toshiki Tsukamoto

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (2–4 February 2001)
The 2001 Pro Tour Los Angeles was the last Pro Tour held on the Queen Mary, were all previous Pro Tours in Los Angeles had been held. In a final eight featuring three players, who had also been amongst the last eight in Chicago, Michael Pustilnik took the title and thus the lead in the Pro Player of the year standings. Kamiel Cornelissen also made his second consecutive second place Pro Tour finish, the first person to do so in Pro Tour history.

Tournament data
Players: 327 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Rochester Draft (Invasion) Head Judge: Collin Jackson

Grand Prixs – Kaohsiung, Valencia, Cologne, Boston, Prague, Rio de Janeiro

 * GP Kaohsiung (10–11 February)
 * 1) 🇹🇼 Tobey Tamber
 * 2) 🇹🇼 Kuo Tzu-Ching
 * 3) 🇭🇰 King Yim Kingston Tong
 * 4) 🇸🇬 Nick Wong
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Fumio Hoshino
 * 6) 🇹🇼 Granger Petersen
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Toshiki Tsukamoto
 * 8) 🇭🇰 Hon Ming Au Yeung


 * GP Valencia (10–11 February)
 * 1) 🇪🇸 Ricard Tuduri
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 3) Noah Boeken
 * 4) 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Michael Pustilnik
 * 6) Manuel Ramos
 * 7) 🇪🇸 Raul Mestre
 * 8) 🇪🇸 Raul Peret


 * GP Cologne (24–25 February)
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Jim Herold
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 3) Trey Van Cleave
 * 4) Joost Vollebregt
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Daniel Zink
 * 6) Frank Karsten
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Christoph Lippert
 * 8) 🇧🇪 Jan Doise


 * GP Boston (24–25 February)
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Tom Swan
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Scott Johns
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Alan Comer
 * 4) 🇨🇦 Matthew Vienneau
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Brian Hegstad
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Kurtis Hahn
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Kyle Rose
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Chris Benafel


 * GP Prague (10–11 March)
 * 1) 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 2) 🇸🇪 Jens Thoren
 * 3) 🇨🇿 Jakub Slemr
 * 4) Trey Van Cleave
 * 5) 🇦🇹 Thomas Preyer
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Kristian Kockott
 * 8) Noah Boeken


 * GP Rio de Janeiro (10–11 March)
 * 1) 🇧🇷 Carlos Romão
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Alex Shvartsman
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Justin Schneider
 * 4) 🇧🇷 Rafael Alvarenga
 * 5) 🇨🇱 Rafael Le Saux
 * 6) 🇦🇷 Ernesto Mingorance
 * 7) Damian Brown-Santirso
 * 8) 🇧🇷 Daniel Brasil do Carmo

Pro Tour – Tokyo (16–18 March 2001)
The 2001 Pro Tour Tokyo saw a number of interesting firsts for the Pro Tour. Canadian player Ryan Fuller became the first player to go undefeated in the Swiss rounds of a Pro Tour, finishing with a 14–0 record. Also, Tsuyoshi Fujita became the first Japanese player to make a Pro Tour Top 8. Ultimately it was future Hall of Fame member Zvi Mowshowitz who would take the title, winning his first individual Pro Tour.

Tournament data
Players: 270 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Invasion Block Constructed (Invasion, Planeshift) Head Judge: Chris Zantides

Grand Prixs – Gothenburg, Detroit, Moscow

 * GP Gothenburg (24–25 March)
 * 1) Jan Schreurs
 * 2) Josper Manne Thranne
 * 3) 🇫🇷 Raphaël Lévy
 * 4) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Scott Willis
 * 5) 🇳🇴 Eivind Nitter
 * 6) 🇸🇪 Marcus Angelin
 * 7) 🇳🇴 Sondre Ellingvåg
 * 8) 🇸🇪 Jimmy Öman


 * GP Detroit (31 March – 1 April)
 * 1) 🇨🇦 Matthew Vienneau
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Brock Parker
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Bob Maher, Jr.
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Dan Clegg
 * 5) 🇺🇸 William Jensen
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Adam Prokopin
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Aaron Breider
 * 8) 🇨🇦 Louis Boileau


 * GP Moscow (21–22 April)
 * 1) 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Iwan Tan
 * 3) 🇷🇺 Yuri Markin
 * 4) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 5) 🇷🇺 Eugene Okin
 * 6) 🇺🇸 David Williams
 * 7) 🇷🇺 Sergey Norin
 * 8) 🇷🇺 Rustam Bakirov

Pro Tour – Barcelona (4–6 May 2001)
In Barcelona Kai Budde became the first player to win three Pro Tours overall and also the first to win two Pro Tours in a single season. Ben Rubin won the Masters and thus became the only player to win two Masters tournaments.

Tournament data
Players: 335 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Booster Draft (Invasion-Planeshift) Head Judge: Thomas Bisballe

Grand Prixs – Yokohama, Turin, Taipei, Columbus

 * GP Yokohama (12–13 May)
 * 1. AlphaBetaUnlimited.com
 * 🇺🇸 Chris Benafel
 * 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 🇺🇸 David Williams
 * 2. Poor Shark
 * 🇯🇵 Masashiro Kuroda
 * 🇯🇵 Tomomi Otsuka
 * 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 3. Voice of Soul
 * 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Douyama
 * 🇯🇵 Tadayoshi Komiya
 * 🇯🇵 Takao Higaki
 * 4. Fire Beat
 * 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Ikeda
 * 🇯🇵 Toshiki Tsukamoto
 * 🇯🇵 Jun Nobushita


 * GP Turin (26–27 May)
 * 1. Team Clegg
 * 🇺🇸 Peter Szigeti
 * 🇺🇸 Brock Parker
 * 🇺🇸 Daniel Clegg
 * 2. AlphaBetaUnlimited.com
 * 🇨🇦 Ryan Fuller
 * 🇺🇸 Chris Benafel
 * Noah Boeken
 * 3. Angstschreeuw
 * Menno Dolstra
 * Jan Schreurs
 * Bram Snepvangers
 * 4. One Day Fly
 * Tom Van de Logt
 * Kamiel Cornelissen
 * Jelger Wiegersma


 * GP Taipei (21–22 July)
 * 1. www.alphabetaunlimited.com/
 * 🇺🇸 David Williams
 * 🇺🇸 Chris Benafel
 * 🇺🇸 Daniel Clegg
 * 2. Anchans
 * 🇯🇵 Osamu Fujita
 * 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 3. Team T.T.T.
 * 🇹🇼 Kuo Tzu-Ching
 * 🇹🇼 Chen Yu Wang
 * 🇹🇼 Dell Sun
 * 4. Dr. no-right
 * 🇹🇼 Jack Ho
 * 🇹🇼 Yen Chang Lee
 * 🇹🇼 Yang Bo Wang


 * GP Columbus (28–29 July)
 * 1. Your Move Games
 * 🇺🇸 Darwin Kastle
 * 🇺🇸 Dave Humpherys
 * 🇺🇸 Rob Dougherty
 * 2. The Ken Ho All-Stars
 * 🇺🇸 Daniel Clegg
 * 🇺🇸 Ken Ho
 * 🇺🇸 Lan D. Ho
 * 3. Dynasty
 * 🇨🇦 Gabriel Tsang
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Hacker
 * 🇺🇸 Ben Rubin
 * 4. The Ancient Kavus
 * 🇨🇦 Gary Krakower
 * 🇨🇦 Matthew Vienneau
 * 🇺🇸 Michael Pustilnik

2001 World Championships – Toronto (8–12 August 2001)
Tom Van de Logt won the World Championship while the United States took the team title. The final eight featured amongst several rather unknown players Antoine Ruel, Tommi Hovi, Mike Turian and David Williams, who had the dubious honour of becoming the first player to be disqualified from a Top 8.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $210,200 (individual) + $189,000 (national teams) Players: 296 Formats: Standard, Rochester Draft (Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse), Extended Head Judge: Mike Donais

Final standings

 * John Ormerod did not actually play in the final eight. When David Williams was disqualified he advanced to the eight place in the final standings, though.

National team competition

 * 1) 🇺🇸 United States (Trevor Blackwell, Brian Hegstad, Eugene Harvey)
 * 2) 🇳🇴 Norway (Nicolai Herzog, Oyvind Odegaard, Jan Pieter Groenhof)

Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Kai Budde was awarded the Pro Player of the year title. He thus became the first player to win the title more than once.