Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2003–04

The 2003–04 Pro Tour season was the ninth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 23 August 2003 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Yokohama and London. It ended on 5 September 2004 with the conclusion of the 2004 World Championship in San Francisco. Beginning with this season Wizards of the Coast moved the Pro Tour schedule farther backwards in the year to synchronize it with the calendar year. The season consisted of 26 Grand Prixs and 7 Pro Tours, held in Boston, New Orleans, Amsterdam, Kobe, San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco. Also the Master Series tournaments were discontinued and replaced by payout at the end of the year based on the Pro Player of the year standings. At the end of the season Gabriel Nassif was proclaimed Pro Player of the year, the first player after Kai Budde's three-year-domination period, and also the first player to win the title without winning a Pro Tour in the same season.

Grand Prixs – Yokohama, London, Atlanta

 * GP Yokohama (23–24 August)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Shu Komuro
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Kazuki Kato
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Masashiro Kuroda
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Yuichi Yamagishi
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Kazuyuki Momose
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Yusuke Osaka


 * GP London (23–24 August)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇦🇷 Diego Ostrovich
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Yann Hamon
 * 3) 🇮🇹 Mario Pascoli
 * 4) 🇳🇴 Eivind Nitter
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Antonino De Rosa
 * 6) 🇦🇷 Jose Barbero
 * 7) 🇨🇦 Josh Rider
 * 8) Frank Karsten


 * GP Atlanta (30–31 August)
 * Format: Standard
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Marco Blume
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Matt Linde
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Joshua Wagener
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Keith McLaughlin
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Zvi Mowshowitz
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Keith Thompson
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Sean Buckley
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Tim Bonneville

Pro Tour – Boston (12–14 September 2003)
"Phoenix Foundation" had its third consecutive Pro Tour Top 4 appearance, but this time they were eliminated by eventual champions "The Brockafellars". The team consisting of William Jensen, Matt Linde, and Brock Parker had allegedly not done a single practice draft in the format.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $200,100 Players: 399 (133 teams) Format: Team Sealed (Onslaught, Legions, Scourge) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Onslaught-Legions-Scourge) – final two days Head Judge: Collin Jackson

Grand Prixs – Genova, Sydney, Kansas City, Lyon

 * GP Genova (13–14 September)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Reinhard Blech
 * 2) 🇧🇪 Jan Doise
 * 3) 🇮🇹 Stefano Fiore
 * 4) 🇩🇪 André Müller
 * 5) 🇮🇹 Simone Carboni
 * 6) 🇮🇹 Alessandro Vegna
 * 7) 🇮🇹 Marco Benifei
 * 8) 🇩🇪 Martin Heidemann


 * GP Sydney (4–5 October)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * 1) 🇦🇺 Andrew Grain
 * 2) 🇦🇺 Andrew Gordon
 * 3) 🇦🇺 Lenny Collins
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Shun Jiang
 * 6) 🇨🇳 Jake Hart
 * 7) 🇦🇺 Daniel Turner
 * 8) 🇦🇺 Tim He


 * GP Kansas City (18–19 October)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Antonino De Rosa
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Nathan Heiss
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Ben Stark
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Brian Kibler
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Michael Krumb
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Gerry Thompson
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Justin Smith
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Jonathan Cassidy


 * GP Lyon (25–26 October)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Yann Hamon
 * 2) Bruno Carvalho
 * 3) Daniel Madan
 * 4) Jeroen Remie
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Kevin Desprez
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Loïc Degrau
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Sebastien Bernaud
 * 8) Jelger Wiegersma

Pro Tour – New Orleans (31 October – 2 November 2003)
After finishing second with his team in Boston, Rickard Österberg returned to win Pro Tour New Orleans. The Extended format of New Orleans is considered to be one of the most powerful of all time and Österberg's deck was built around the soon to be banned card, too.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $200,130 Players: 318 Format: Extended Head Judge: Mike Guptil

Top 8

 * Hamon and Labarre both had to catch a flight on the morning of the Top 8 and did not want to book two new flights. They thus played an unofficial match at their hotel on the preceding evening to decide who would officially concede to the other. Hamon won 3–2.

Grand Prixs – Shizuoka, Gothenburg, Munich, Anaheim

 * GP Shizuoka (8–9 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Kazuki Katou
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Satoshi Harada
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Koichiro Maki
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Tomohide Sasagawa
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Kei Ikeda
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Ken'Ichi Fujita
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Ryouma Shiozu
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Yusuke Sasaki


 * GP Gothenburg (22–23 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * 1) Jelger Wiegersma
 * 2) 🇫🇮 Tommi Hovi
 * 3) Daniel Bertelsen
 * 4) 🇩🇪 Kai Budde
 * 5) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sam Gomersall
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Daniel Zink
 * 7) 🇸🇪 David Linder
 * 8) 🇸🇪 Benjamin Lindqvist


 * GP Munich (6–7 December)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Yann Hamon
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Reinhard Blech
 * 3) Georgios Kapalas
 * 4) 🇩🇪 Stefan Schwaiger
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Tobias Kroll
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Hannes Scholz
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Steven Gouin
 * 8) 🇩🇪 Dirk Hein


 * GP Anaheim (13–14 December)
 * Format: Extended
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Ben Rubin
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Nathan Saunders
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Nick Meves
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Peter Szigeti
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Ben Stark
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Paul Rietzl
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Blake Quelle
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Gerard Fabiano

Pro Tour – Amsterdam (16–18 January 2004)
Norwegian Nicolai Herzog defeated Osamu Fujita in the finals to win Pro Tour Amsterdam. Other than Fujita and Herzog the final eight included only accomplished players with at least one other lifetime Pro Tour final day appearance.

Tournament data
Players: 347 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Rochester Draft (Mirrodin) Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk

Grand Prixs – Okayama, Oakland, Madrid

 * GP Okayama (24–25 January)
 * Format: Extended
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Kazuya Shiki
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Akira Asahara
 * 4) 🇰🇷 SangRyeol Lee
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Shinsuke Hayashi
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Asuka Doi
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Chikara Nakajima
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Kazura Hirabayashi


 * GP Oakland (7–8 February)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Ken Ho
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Dave Humpherys
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Mike Turian
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Ian Spaulding
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Mitchell Tamblyn
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Ben Rubin
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Paul Rietzl
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Gabe Walls


 * GP Madrid (21–22 February)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Kai Budde
 * 2) 🇧🇪 Bernardo Da Costa Cabral
 * 3) 🇩🇪 Dirk Hein
 * 4) 🇫🇷 Raphaël Lévy
 * 5) 🇳🇴 Thomas Gundersen
 * 6) 🇪🇸 Aniol Alcaraz
 * 7) 🇪🇸 Jaime Marrero
 * 8) 🇨🇭 Tommi Lindgren

Pro Tour – Kobe (27–29 February 2004)
On home turf Masashiro Kuroda won the first Pro Tour title for Japan, defeating Gabriel Nassif in the finals.

Tournament data
Players: 239 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Mirrodin Block Constructed (Mirrodin, Darksteel) Head Judge: Collin Jackson

Grand Prixs – Hong Kong, Sendai, Columbus, Birmingham, Washington DC, Bochum

 * GP Hong Kong (6–7 March)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * 1) 🇲🇾 Chuen Hwa Tan
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Gabe Walls
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Takuya Osawa
 * 6) 🇸🇬 Steven Tan
 * 7) 🇲🇾 Terry Soh
 * 8) 🇹🇼 Chi-Chung Hwang


 * GP Sendai (20–21 March)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Ichiro Shimura
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Yusuke Sasaki
 * 4) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Jin Okamoto
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Toshihisa Yamanaka
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Hiroto Yasutomi
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Ippei Sogabe


 * GP Columbus (27–28 March)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Mike Turian
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Craig Krempels
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Aaron Lipcynski
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Cedric Phillips
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Kate Stavola
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Matt Larson
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Brandon Rickard
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Brock Parker


 * GP Birmingham (27–28 March)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * 1) 🇦🇹 Stefan Jedlicka
 * 2) 🇩🇪 René Kraft
 * 3) Frank Karsten
 * 4) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 David Grant
 * 5) 🇸🇪 Mattias Jorstedt
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Jose Barbero
 * 7) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Kamman Janpiam
 * 8) 🇦🇹 Niki Jedlicka


 * GP Washington D.C. (17–18 April)
 * Format: Team Limited
 * 1. Thaaaat's me
 * 🇺🇸 Chris Fennell
 * 🇺🇸 Bill Stead
 * 🇺🇸 Charles Gindy
 * 2. Shenanigans
 * 🇺🇸 Adam Horvath
 * 🇺🇸 Osyp Lebedowicz
 * 🇺🇸 Patrick Sullivan
 * 3. Your Move Games/Illuminati
 * 🇺🇸 Darwin Kastle
 * 🇺🇸 Rob Dougherty
 * 🇺🇸 Alex Shvartsman
 * 4. Re-Elect Gore
 * 🇺🇸 Jon Finkel
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Kibler
 * 🇺🇸 Eric Froehlich


 * GP Bochum (17–18 April)
 * Format: Team Limited
 * 1. Schietkoe
 * Stijn Cornelissen
 * Tom van de Logt
 * Jesse Cornelissen
 * 2. Team Burkas
 * 🇳🇴 Nicolai Herzog
 * 🇸🇪 Anton Jonsson
 * 🇫🇮 Tuomo Nieminen
 * 3. The Unusual Suspects
 * 🇩🇪 David Brucker
 * 🇩🇪 Reinhard Blech
 * 🇩🇪 Dirk Hein
 * 4. NPC All Stars
 * 🇫🇷 Sylvain Lehoux
 * 🇫🇷 Alexandre Peset
 * 🇫🇷 Loic Degrou

Pro Tour – San Diego (14–16 May 2004)
The second Mirrodin Draft Pro Tour saw three players amongst the final four, who had already finished in the Top 8 in the first Mirrodin Draft Pro Tour. Nicolai Herzog even followed his Amsterdam win up with another win victory, thus taking home the title in both Mirrodin Draft Pro Tours.

Tournament data
Players: 312 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Mirrodin Booster Draft (Mirrodin-Darksteel) Head Judge: Collin Jackson

Grand Prixs – Brussels, Zurich

 * GP Brussels (29–30 May)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Tobias Henke
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Kai Budde
 * 3) Julien Nuijten
 * 4) Vasilis Fatouros
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Johannes Mitsios
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Xuan-Phi Nguyen
 * 7) 🇧🇪 Maxime Fays
 * 8) 🇮🇹 Stefano Fiore


 * GP Zurich (26–27 June)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇨🇭 Manuel Bucher
 * 2) 🇮🇹 Matteo Cirigliano
 * 3) 🇫🇷 Sebastien Roux
 * 4) Frank Karsten
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Leonard Barbou
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Bertrand Fagnoni
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Timo Groth
 * 8) 🇱🇺 Charles Delvaux

Pro Tour – Seattle (9–11 July 2004)
Team "Von Dutch" from the Netherlands defeated Japanese "www.shop-fireBall.com2" in the finals to become the 2004 Pro Tour Seattle champions. The team consisted of Jeroen Remie, Jelger Wiegersma, and Kamiel Cornelissen.

Tournament data
Players: 321 (107 teams) Prize Pool: $200,100 Format: Team Sealed (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Mirrodin-Darksteel-Fifth Dawn) Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk

Grand Prixs – Kuala Lumpur, Orlando, New Jersey, Nagoya

 * GP Kuala Lumpur (24–25 July)
 * Format: Standard
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 2) 🇸🇬 Kwan Ching Yuen
 * 3) 🇨🇳 Zhen Xing Gao
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Fujita
 * 5) 🇲🇾 Sim Han How
 * 6) 🇲🇾 Cheng Wee Pek
 * 7) 🇸🇬 Bernard Chan
 * 8) 🇲🇾 Khang Jong Kuan


 * GP Orlando (24–25 July)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Osyp Lebedowicz
 * 2) Michael Kuhmann
 * 3) Adam Chernoff
 * 4) Taylor Parnell
 * 5) 🇺🇸 William Jensen
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Antonino De Rosa
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Jeff Garza
 * 8) Harry Durnan


 * GP New Jersey (14–15 August)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Jeff Garza
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Brian Kibler
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Eugene Harvey
 * 4) Jeroen Remie
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Jan Holland
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Adam Horvath
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Alexandre Peset
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Ty Dobbertin


 * GP Nagoya (28–29 August)
 * Format: Standard
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Tatsunori Kishi
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Keisuke Hashimoto
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Masami Ibamoto
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Shun Iizuka
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Toru Takeshita
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Yuhi Kubota
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Masaki Yokoi
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou

2004 World Championships – San Francisco (1–5 September 2004)
Fifteen-year-old Julien Nuijten from the Netherlands won the 2004 World Championship, defeating Aeo Paquette in the finals. Gabriel Nassif had his third final eight appearance within the season and thus claimed Pro Player of the year title. It was also his and Kamiel Cornelissen's fifth overall Top 8. Germany won the national team competition, defeating Belgium in the finals.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $208,130 (individual) + $208,000 (national teams) Players: 304 Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Mirrodin-Darksteel-Fifth Dawn), Mirrodin Block Constructed (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn) Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk, Collin Jackson

National team competition

 * 1) 🇩🇪 Germany (Sebastian Zink, Torben Twiefel, Roland Bode)
 * 2) 🇧🇪 Belgium (Dilson Ramos Da Fonseca, Vincent Lemoine, Geoffrey Siron)

Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Gabriel Nassif was awarded the Pro Player of the year title. He was the first player to win the title without winning a Pro Tour in the same season.