Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2005

The 2005 Pro Tour season was the tenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 10 September 2004 the season began with Grand Prix Rimini. It ended on 4 December 2005 with the conclusion of the 2005 World Championship in Yokohama and was thus the longest Pro Tour season ever. The season consisted of 31 Grand Prixs and 7 Pro Tours, held in Columbus, Nagoya, Atlanta, Philadelphia, London, Los Angeles, and Yokohama. At the end of the season Kenji Tsumura was proclaimed Pro Player of the year as the first Japanese player. Also the first class of the Hall of Fame was inducted. The inductees were Jon Finkel, Darwin Kastle, Tommi Hovi, Alan Comer, and Olle Råde.

Grand Prixs – Rimini, Vienna, Austin

 * GP Rimini (10–11 September)
 * Format: Standard
 * Attendance: 750
 * 1) 🇮🇹 Domingo Ottati
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Florian Pils
 * 3) 🇮🇹 Giovanni Gesiot
 * 4) 🇭🇷 Luka Gasparac
 * 5) 🇮🇹 Davide Ghini
 * 6) 🇨🇿 Jan Brodzak
 * 7) 🇮🇹 Andrea Paselli
 * 8) 🇮🇹 Luca Cialini


 * GP Vienna (9–10 October)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 979
 * 1) 🇦🇹 Nicolaus Eigner
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 3) 🇩🇪 René Kraft
 * 4) Sasha Zorc
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Sebastian Aljiaj
 * 6) 🇮🇹 Daniele Canavesi
 * 7) 🇮🇹 Dario Minieri
 * 8) 🇦🇹 Stefan Jedlicka


 * GP Austin (9–10 October)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 386
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Jonathan Sonne
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Eugene Levin
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Chris Prochak
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Gerry Thompson
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Jim Finstrom
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Neil Reeves
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Michael Jacob
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Mike Thompson

Pro Tour – Columbus (29–31 October 2004)
Pierre Canali from France won the inaugural Pro Tour of the season, which was also the first Pro Tour he attended. His deck was an aggressive all-artifact deck called "Affinity". For the first time Japan had three players amongst the final eight while the USA had in the Top 8 for the first time in three Pro Tours.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $200,130 Players: 286 Format: Extended Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer

Grand Prixs – Helsinki, Brisbane, Yokohama, Porto Alegre, Paris, Chicago, Osaka

 * GP Helsinki (6–7 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 455
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 2) 🇫🇮 Mikko Leiviskä
 * 3) 🇫🇷 Jean Charles Salvin
 * 4) 🇩🇰 Ulrik Tarp
 * 5) 🇸🇪 Anton Jonsson
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Wenzel Krautmann
 * 7) 🇧🇪 Pavlos Akritas
 * 8) 🇫🇮 Erkki Siira


 * GP Brisbane (13–14 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 222
 * 1) 🇦🇺 Will Copeman
 * 2) 🇦🇺 Anatoli Lightfoot
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Masami Ibamoto
 * 4) 🇦🇺 Andrew Grain
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Tom Hay
 * 6) 🇦🇺 Andrew Varga
 * 7) 🇦🇺 Jarrod Bright
 * 8) 🇦🇺 Bryce Trevilyan


 * GP Yokohama (20–21 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 707
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Kazuki Katou
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Kaji
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Akira Asahara
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Koutarou Ootsuka
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Rei Hashimoto
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Takashi Akiyama
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Ren Ishikawa


 * GP Porto Alegre (20–21 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 342
 * 1) 🇦🇷 Jose Barbero
 * 2) 🇦🇷 Gabriel Caligaris
 * 3) 🇦🇷 Mauro Kina
 * 4) 🇧🇷 Rafael Mendonça
 * 5) 🇧🇷 Guilherme Fonseca
 * 6) 🇧🇷 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
 * 7) 🇧🇷 Renato Wholers
 * 8) 🇧🇷 Adilson de Oliveira


 * GP Paris (27–28 November)
 * Format: Rochester Draft
 * Attendance: 1594
 * 1) Wilco Pinkster
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Bastien Perez
 * 3) Wessel Oomens
 * 4) 🇫🇷 Raphael Lévy
 * 5) 🇮🇹 Giuseppe Reale
 * 6) 🇨🇿 Arnost Zidek
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Stephan Meyer
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Jean-Baptiste Gouesse


 * GP Chicago (18–19 December)
 * Format: Team Limited
 * Attendance: 474 (158 teams)
 * 1. :B
 * 🇺🇸 Timothy Aten
 * 🇺🇸 Gadiel Szleifer
 * 🇺🇸 John Pelcak
 * 2. Gindy's Sister's Fan Club
 * 🇺🇸 Adam Chambers
 * 🇺🇸 Zach Parker
 * 🇺🇸 Charles Gindy
 * 3. The Max Fischer Players
 * 🇺🇸 Igor Frayman
 * 🇺🇸 Joshua Ravitz
 * 🇺🇸 Chris Pikula
 * 4. Voracious Cobra
 * 🇺🇸 Bob Allbright
 * 🇺🇸 Mike Hron
 * 🇺🇸 Paul Artl


 * GP Osaka (8–9 January)
 * Format: Team Limited
 * Attendance: 480 (160 teams)
 * 1. P.S.2
 * 🇯🇵 Masashiro Kuroda
 * 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 2. FireBall.Pros
 * 🇯🇵 Jin Okamoto
 * 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Ikeda
 * 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 3. Gatas Brilhantes
 * 🇯🇵 Ichiro Shimura
 * 🇯🇵 Shu Komuro
 * 🇯🇵 Tomohide Sasagawa
 * 4. One Spin
 * 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Kaji
 * 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura
 * 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou

Pro Tour – Nagoya (28–30 January 2005)
Pro Tour Nagoya was the last Pro Tour employing the Rochester Draft format. Shu Komuro from Japan defeated Anton Jonsson in the finals to win the tournament.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $200,130 Players: 236 Format: Rochester Draft (Champions of Kamigawa) Head Judge: Collin Jackson

Grand Prixs – Boston, Eindhoven, Seattle

 * GP Boston (5–6 February)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 699
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Lucas Glavin
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Keith McLaughlin
 * 4) Benjamin Dempsey
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Osyp Lebedowicz
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 7) Anthony Impellizzierei
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz


 * GP Eindhoven (26–27 February)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 1012
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Sebastien Roux
 * 2) Rogier Maaten
 * 3) 🇩🇪 Xuan-Phi Nguyen
 * 4) 🇩🇪 Tobias Radloff
 * 5) Kamiel Cornelissen
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Michael Leicht
 * 7) 🇨🇿 Petr Nahodil
 * 8) Bas Postema


 * GP Seattle (5–6 March)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 390
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Ernie Marchesano
 * 2) 🇨🇦 Taylor Putnam
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Max McCall
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Grant Struck
 * 6) 🇨🇦 John Ripley
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Fujita
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Ryan Cimera

Pro Tour – Atlanta (11–13 March 2005)
The Canadian French cooperation team "Nova" won Pro Tour Atlanta, defeating the American team "We Add" in the final. "Nova" consisted of Gabriel Tsang, David Rood, and Gabriel Nassif. For Nassif it was the first Pro Tour victory after five previous final day appearances including three second places. Atlanta was the last Pro Tour using the three-person team Limited format, although it was still used for the team competition at the World Championship that year and the next.

Tournament data
Players: 357 (119 teams) Prize Pool: $200,100 Format: Team Kamigawa Block Sealed (Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa) – first day, Team Kamigawa Block Rochester Draft (Champions of Kamigawa-Betrayers of Kamigawa) – final two days Head Judge: Sheldon Menery

Grand Prixs – Singapore, Leipzig, Lisbon, Detroit

 * GP Singapore (19–20 March)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 373
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 2) 🇲🇾 Shih Chien Chang
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Ichirou Shimura
 * 4) 🇭🇰 Yeung Sun Kit
 * 5) 🇮🇳 Dennis Yuliadinata
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Shu Komuro
 * 7) 🇦🇺 Oliver Oks
 * 8) 🇸🇬 Gabriel Kang


 * GP Leipzig (26–27 March)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * Attendance: 899
 * 1) 🇷🇺 Rustam Bakirov
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Rosario Maij
 * 3) 🇩🇪 Max Bracht
 * 4) 🇦🇹 Niki Jedlicka
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Philip Fetzer
 * 6) Sune Ellegard
 * 7) 🇧🇪 Bernardo Da Costa Cabral
 * 8) 🇵🇱 Mateusz Dabkowski


 * GP Lisbon (23–24 April)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * Attendance: 1169
 * 1) Marcio Carvalho
 * 2) Luis Sousa
 * 3) 🇸🇪 Mikael Polgary
 * 4) 🇪🇸 David Blazquez
 * 5) Joao Martins
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Pierre-Jerome Meurisse
 * 7) Marco Manuel
 * 8) 🇸🇪 Anton Jonsson


 * GP Detroit (23–24 April)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * Attendance: 491
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Jordan Berkowitz
 * 2) 🇨🇦 Richard Hoaen
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Michael Krumb
 * 4) Jeroen Remie
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Osyp Lebedowicz
 * 6) 🇺🇸 William Postlethwait
 * 7) 🇬🇧 Sam Gomersall
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Patrick Sullivan

Pro Tour – Philadelphia (6–8 May 2005)
Pro Tour Philadelphia featured a tournament system different from those of other Pro Tours. While Swiss system was still used all players with three or more losses and/or draws were automatically dropped from the tournament. Prizes were given out not in relation to the final standings, but for the individual matches won, where matches in later rounds of the tournament were worth more than those in the earlier rounds. It was also announced in the week prior to Pro Tour Philadelphia, that the end of the year payout based on Pro Points would be dropped after the season in favor of the Pro Club. Under the new system a player would receive special benefits based on the total number of Pro Points he had acquired in a season.

16-year-old Gadiel Szleifer defeated 18-year-old Kenji Tsumura in the final to win the tournament. Szleifer played a control deck built around. Former Pro Player of the year Kai Budde received a lot of attention for being undefeated after day one, but was eliminated after he picked up three losses in the first three rounds of day two.

Tournament data
Players: 311 Prize Pool: $194,898 Format: Kamigawa Block Constructed (Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa) Head Judge: Mike Guptil

Grand Prixs – Matsuyama, Bologna

 * GP Matsuyama (14–15 May)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * Attendance: 420
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Akira Asahara
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Kentarou Nonaka
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Takayuki Toochika
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Osamu Fujita
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Jun'ya Takahashi


 * GP Bologna (11–12 June)
 * Format: Sealed and Booster Draft
 * Attendance: 654
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 2) 🇩🇪 David Brucker
 * 3) 🇮🇹 Giulio Barra
 * 4) 🇨🇭 Leonard Barbou
 * 5) 🇨🇿 Tomas Klimes
 * 6) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Quentin Martin
 * 7) 🇮🇹 Bruno Panara
 * 8) 🇮🇹 Marco Castellano

Pro Tour – London (8–10 July 2005)
Geoffrey Siron from Belgium won Pro Tour London, defeating Tsuyoshi Fujita in the finals. In the Top 8 Siron did not lose a single game.

Tournament data
Players: 314 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Booster Draft (Champions of Kamigawa-Betrayers of Kamigawa-Saviors of Kamigawa) Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer

Grand Prixs – Minneapolis, Niigata, Taipei, Salt Lake City, Mexico City, Nottingham

 * GP Minneapolis (16–17 July)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * Attendance: 404
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Alex Lieberman
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Mark Herberholz
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Dustin Marquis
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Adam Yurchick
 * 5) 🇧🇷 Celso Zampere
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Andrew Stokinger
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Gerry Thompson
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Sean Inlow


 * GP Niigata (23–24 July)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * Attendance: 476
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Aridome
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Akira Asahara
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Takuya Oosawa
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Ryouma Shiozu
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Suhan Yun


 * GP Taipei (6–7 August)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * Attendance: 261
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Osamu Fujita
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Jun'ichirou Bandou
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Shu Komuro
 * 5) 🇹🇼 Tai Chi Huang
 * 6) Aik Seng Khoo
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Masahiro Kuroda


 * GP Salt Lake City (27–28 August)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * Attendance: 250
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Antonino De Rosa
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Karl Briem
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Mark Ioli
 * 5) Frank Karsten
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Gadiel Szleifer
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Gabe Walls
 * 8) Rogier Maaten


 * GP Mexico City (3–4 September)
 * Format: Block Constructed
 * Attendance: 305
 * 1) Julien Nuijten
 * 2) 🇲🇽 Edgar Leiva
 * 3) Frank Karsten
 * 4) 🇻🇪 Maximiliano Liprandi
 * 5) 🇺🇸 William Postlethwait
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Gerard Fabiano
 * 7) 🇻🇪 Daniel Fior
 * 8) Rasmus Sibast


 * GP Nottingham (3–4 September)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 560
 * 1) 🇨🇿 Nikola Vavra
 * 2) Roel van Heeswijk
 * 3) 🇦🇹 Nikolaus Eigner
 * 4) 🇦🇹 Philip Reich
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Jean Charles Salvin
 * 6) 🇪🇸 Ricard Tuduri
 * 7) 🇸🇮 Jure Trunk
 * 8) 🇪🇸 Alfred Benages

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (28–30 October 2005)
Antoine Ruel defeated Billy Moreno in the finals to become champion of Pro Tour Los Angeles. He played a blue-black control deck, built around Psychatog.

Tournament data
Players: 340 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Extended Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk

Grand Prixs – Melbourne, Copenhagen, Kitakyuushuu, Philadelphia, Bilbao, Beijing

 * GP Melbourne (5–6 November)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 140
 * 1) 🇦🇺 James Zhang
 * 2) 🇦🇺 Paul Chalder
 * 3) 🇦🇺 Tim He
 * 4) 🇦🇺 David Zhao
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Andrew Vance
 * 6) 🇦🇺 Hugh Glanville
 * 7) 🇦🇺 Ben Fleming
 * 8) 🇦🇺 Sam Atkinson


 * GP Copenhagen (5–6 November)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 340
 * 1) Julien Nuijten
 * 2) 🇫🇮 Kim Valori
 * 3) Alexandre Rathcke
 * 4) Wessel Oomens
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 6) 🇫🇮 Pasi Virtanen
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Bodo Rösner
 * 8) Nikolaos Lahanas


 * GP Kitakyuushuu (5–6 November)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 272
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Tomohiro Kaji
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Ryo Ogura
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Makihito Mihara
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Masahiko Morita
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Jin Okamoto
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Akira Asahara


 * GP Philadelphia (12–13 November)
 * Format: Legacy
 * Attendance: 495
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Jonathan Sonne
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Chris Pikula
 * 3) 🇨🇦 Pasquale Ruggiero
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Tom Smart
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Paul Serignese
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Pat McGregor
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Ben Goodman
 * 8) 🇨🇦 Lam Phan


 * GP Bilbao (19–20 November)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 938
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 2) Marcio Carvalho
 * 3) 🇧🇪 Geoffrey Siron
 * 4) 🇪🇸 Jacob Arias Garcia
 * 5) Rogier Maaten
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Jonathan Rispal
 * 7) 🇪🇸 Gonzalo Domingo
 * 8) 🇪🇸 Sergi Herrero


 * GP Beijing (26–27 November)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 159
 * 1) 🇨🇳 Dong Zhong
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 3) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 5) 🇨🇳 Li Gong Wei
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou
 * 7) 🇹🇼 Ming Da Tsai
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura

2005 World Championships – Yokohama (30 November – 4 December 2005)
The tournament began with the first Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Jon Finkel, Darwin Kastle, Tommi Hovi, Alan Comer and Olle Råde were honored for their accomplishments and their determination to the game. In the final of the 2005 World Championship Katsuhiro Mori defeated Frank Karsten, thus completing an all-Japanese Worlds in Yokohama. The Top 4 also included Japanese players Akira Asahara and Tomohiro Kaji, shortly before Japan had won the team competition, and even the Pro Player of the year went to Japanese Kenji Tsumura.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $208,130 (individual) + $195,000 (national teams) Players: 287 Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Ravnica), Extended Head Judge: Collin Jackson, Sheldon Menery

National team competition

 * 1) 🇯🇵 Japan (Ichiro Shimura, Takuma Morifuji, Masashi Oiso)
 * 2) 🇺🇸 United States (Jonathan Sonne, Antonino De Rosa, Neil Reeves)

Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Kenji Tsumura was awarded the Pro Player of the year title as the first Japanese player.