Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2006

The 2006 Pro Tour season was the eleventh season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 18 December 2005 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Lille and Charlotte. It ended on 3 December 2006 with the conclusion of the 2006 World Championship in Paris. The season consisted of 22 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in Honolulu, Prague, Charleston, Kobe, and Paris. At the end of the season Shouta Yasooka from Japan was proclaimed Pro Player of the year. At the Worlds in Paris the second class of the Hall of Fame was inducted. The inductees were Bob Maher, Jr., Dave Humpherys, Raphaël Lévy, Gary Wise, and Rob Dougherty.

Grand Prixs – Lille, Charlotte, Hasselt, Richmond, Dortmund

 * GP Lille (18–19 December)
 * Format: Legacy
 * Attendance: 939
 * 1) 🇦🇹 Helmut Summersberger
 * 2) 🇨🇿 Daniel Krutil
 * 3) 🇫🇷 Nicholas Labarre
 * 4) 🇮🇹 Luca Verdiani
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Martin Brenner
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Loïc Le Briand
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Max Bracht
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Nicolas Francois


 * GP Charlotte (18–19 December)
 * Format: Extended
 * Attendance: 456
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Michael Krumb
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Alex Majlaton
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Kyle Goodman
 * 4) 🇺🇸 David Shiels
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Antonino De Rosa
 * 6) Alan Hubbard
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Chris Boozer
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Thomas LaPille


 * GP Hasselt (28–29 January)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 1070
 * 1) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Sam Gomersall
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Julien Goron
 * 3) Maurice Palijama
 * 4) 🇸🇮 Ziga Fritz
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Helge Nelson
 * 6) Dimitri Reinderman
 * 7) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Quentin Martin
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Francois Moreau


 * GP Richmond (4–5 February)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 558
 * 1) 🇨🇦 Richard Hoaen
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Jonathan Sonne
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Adam Chambers
 * 4) 🇺🇸 John Fiorillo
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Eugene Harvey
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Taylor Webb
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Gerry Thompson
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Michael Pinnegar


 * GP Dortmund (18–19 February)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 1029
 * 1) 🇩🇪 David Brucker
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Julien Goron
 * 3) 🇩🇪 Mathias Wigge
 * 4) 🇩🇪 Marco Rothaupt
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Dennis Grudowski
 * 6) Julien Nuijten
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 8) 🇩🇪 Stefan Rentzsch

Pro Tour – Honolulu (3–5 March 2006)
Mark Herberholz won Pro Tour Honolulu piloting a green/red aggro-deck. He defeated Craig Jones in the finals. The final eight included both Ruel brothers, Antoine and Olivier. Notably absent from the Top 8 were the Japanese players after thirteen consecutive final day appearances.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245 Players: 410 Format: Standard Head Judge: John Shannon

Grand Prixs – Manila, Cardiff, Madison, Hamamatsu, Barcelona

 * GP Manila (18–19 March)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 368
 * 1) James Porter
 * 2) Jiro Francisco
 * 3) 🇰🇷 Cynic Kim
 * 4) 🇨🇳 Bo Sun
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Jake Hart
 * 6) Felix Gonzales
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Takuya Osawa
 * 8) Dominic Ortega


 * GP Cardiff (25–26 March)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 370
 * 1) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Martin Dingler
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Wesimo Al-Bacha
 * 3) Roel van Heeswijk
 * 4) Julian Jardine
 * 5) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Quentin Martin
 * 6) Bram Snepvangers
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Raphaël Lévy
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel


 * GP Madison (25–26 March)
 * Format: Team Unified Standard
 * Attendance: 456 (152 teams)
 * 1. Faddy Josh
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Ziegler
 * 🇺🇸 Tim Bulger
 * 🇺🇸 Takanobu Sato
 * 2. Free James Beeton
 * 🇺🇸 Kyle Goodman
 * 🇺🇸 Mark Ioli
 * 🇺🇸 Benjamin Lundquist
 * 3. 4815162342
 * 🇨🇦 Richard Hoaen
 * 🇺🇸 Eric Froehlich
 * 🇺🇸 Bob Maher, Jr.
 * 4. Cedric Philips Stole My Bike
 * 🇺🇸 John Pelcak
 * 🇺🇸 Chris McDaniel
 * 🇺🇸 Jonathan Sonne


 * GP Hamamatsu (8–9 April)
 * Format: Team Unified Standard
 * Attendance: 495 (165 teams)
 * 1. Tanii Monogatari
 * 🇯🇵 Kotatsu Saitou
 * 🇯🇵 Takahiro Katayama
 * 🇯🇵 Yuusuke Tanii
 * 2. Stardust Crusader
 * 🇯🇵 Akira Asahara
 * 🇯🇵 Masaya Kitayama
 * 🇯🇵 Shouta Yasooka
 * 3. Limit Break
 * 🇯🇵 Takuya Oosawa
 * 🇯🇵 Ryou Ogura
 * 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida
 * 4. Kiosk
 * 🇯🇵 Takashi Ishihara
 * 🇯🇵 Shuhei Itou
 * 🇯🇵 Daisuke Saitou


 * GP Barcelona (8–9 April)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 1208
 * 1) 🇦🇹 Helmut Summersberger
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Raphaël Lévy
 * 3) Jelger Wiegersma
 * 4) 🇸🇪 Johan Sadeghpour
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 6) 🇪🇸 Aniol Alcaraz
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Jean Charles Salvin
 * 8) 🇩🇪 Sebastian Aljiaj

Pro Tour – Prague (5–7 May 2006)
Takuya Osawa won Pro Tour Prague, defeating Aaron Brackmann in the finals. In a Top 8 of rather unknown players Shuhei Nakamura was the only one to have made it to the final stage of a PT before.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245 Players: 415 Format: Booster Draft (Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension) Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer

Grand Prixs – Torino, Toronto, Kuala Lumpur

 * GP Torino (3–4 June)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 656
 * 1) Nico Bohny
 * 2) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 3) 🇳🇱 Bram Snepvangers
 * 4) 🇩🇪 Klaus Jöns
 * 5) 🇮🇹 Marco Lombardi
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
 * 7) 🇮🇹 Giacomo Mallamaci
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Pierre Canali


 * GP Toronto (3–4 June)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 504
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Antonino De Rosa
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Jonathan Sonne
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Kyle Sanchez
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Mark Lovin
 * 5) 🇺🇸 John Fiorillo
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Brad Taulbee
 * 7) 🇨🇦 Jay Jiang
 * 8) 🇳🇱 Jelger Wiegersma


 * GP Kuala Lumpur (3–4 June)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance:316
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Osamu Fujita
 * 3) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Quentin Martin
 * 4) Ruud Warmenhoven
 * 5) 🇲🇾 Terry Soh
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Shouta Yasooka
 * 7) 🇰🇷 Cynic Kim
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Itaru Ishida

Pro Tour – Charleston (16–18 June 2006)
The Japanese team "Kajiharu80" won Pro Tour Charleston, defeating the Brazilian team "Raaala Pumba" in the final. "Kajiharu80" consisted of Tomohiro Kaji, Shouta Yasooka, and Tomoharu Saitou. With 525 competitors in 175 teams Pro Tour Charleston was the biggest Pro Tour ever. It was also the only Team Constructed Pro Tour ever.

Tournament data
Players: 525 (175 teams) Prize Pool: $234,000 Format: 3-Person Team Block Constructed (Ravnica, Guildpact, Dissension) Head Judge: Sheldon Menery

Grand Prixs – Toulouse, St. Louis, Malmo, Hiroshima, Phoenix, Sydney, Athens

 * GP Toulouse (24–25 June)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 674
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura
 * 2) 🇧🇪 Marijn Lybaert
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 4) 🇪🇸 Adrian Olivera
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Julien Soum
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Shouta Yasooka
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Thomas Didierjean


 * GP St. Louis (22–23 July)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance:466
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Zac Hill
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Kenji Tsumura
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Chris Fennell
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Alex Kim
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Pierre Mondon
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Dalton King
 * 8) 🇨🇦 Jeremy Kunkel


 * GP Malmo (22–23 July)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 539
 * 1) Wessel Oomens
 * 2) Vasilis Fatouros
 * 3) Wilco Pinkster
 * 4) 🇸🇪 Axel Berglund
 * 5) Jelger Wiegersma
 * 6) Kamiel Cornelissen
 * 7) André Coimbra
 * 8) Asbjørn Fallesen


 * GP Hiroshima (19–20 August)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 417
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 2) André Coimbra
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Takahiro Suzuki
 * 4) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Basam Tebet
 * 5) Julien Nuijten
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Kentarou Nonaka
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Ichirou Shimura
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Yuusuke Wakisaka


 * GP Phoenix (2–3 September)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 387
 * 1) 🇧🇷 Carlos Romão
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Sean Inoue
 * 3) 🇫🇷 Raphaël Lévy
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Sam Stein
 * 5) 🇧🇪 Geoffrey Siron
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Gadiel Szleifer
 * 7) André Coimbra
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Shu Kumuro


 * GP Sydney (7–8 October)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 213
 * 1) 🇦🇺 James Zhang
 * 2) 🇦🇺 Anatoli Lightfoot
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou
 * 4) 🇦🇺 Jeremy Neeman
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Steven Aplin
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Takuya Oosawa
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Shouta Yasooka
 * 8) 🇦🇺 Hugh Glanville


 * GP Athens (14–15 October)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 469
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Sebastian Aljiaj
 * 2) 🇧🇪 Vincent Lemoine
 * 3) Marcio Carvalho
 * 4) 🇫🇷 Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
 * 5) 🇩🇪 David Brucker
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 7) Evangelos Papatsarouchas
 * 8) 🇩🇪 Aaron Brackmann

Pro Tour – Kobe (20–22 October 2006)
German Jan-Moritz Merkel won Pro Tour Kobe. It was his first appearance at a Pro Tour.

Tournament data
Players: 388 Prize Pool: $240,245 Format: Booster Draft (Time Spiral) Head Judge: John Shannon

Grand Prixs – New Jersey, Yamagata

 * GP New Jersey (11–12 November)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 913
 * 1) 🇨🇦 Guillaume Cardin
 * 2) 🇨🇦 Richard Hoaen
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Timothy Aten
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Jason Imperiale
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Gerry Thompson
 * 6) 🇺🇸 John Pelcak
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Andrew Stokinger
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Shouta Yasooka


 * GP Yamagata (18–19 November)
 * Format: Limited
 * Attendance: 359
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Takihiro Suzuki
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Takeshi Ozawa
 * 3) Jelger Wiegersma
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 5) 🇨🇦 Richard Hoaen
 * 6) 🇫🇷 Antoine Ruel
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Ryo Ogura
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Yuu Murakami

2006 World Championships – Paris (29 November – 3 December 2006)
The tournament began with the Hall of Fame induction of Bob Maher, Jr., Dave Humpherys Raphaël Lévy, Gary Wise, and Rob Dougherty. In an all-Japanese final Makihito Mihara defeated Ryo Ogura. The Dutch team of Kamiel Cornelissen, Julien Nuijten, and Robert van Medevoort won the team finals against Japan.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $255,245 (individual) + $210,000 (national teams) Players: 356 Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Time Spiral), Extended Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer, Jason Ness

National team competition

 * 1)  The Netherlands (Julien Nuijten, Kamiel Cornelissen, Robert van Medevoort)
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Japan (Hidenori Katayama, Katsuhiro Mori, Shuhei Yamamoto)

Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Shouta Yasooka was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.