Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2009

The 2009 Pro Tour season was the fourteenth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 17 January 2009 with Grand Prix Los Angeles, and ended on 22 November 2009 with the conclusion of the 2009 World Championship in Rome. The season consisted of nineteen Grand Prixs, and four Pro Tours, located in Kyoto, Honolulu, Austin, and Rome. At the end of the season, Yuuya Watanabe was awarded the Pro Player of the Year, making him the first player to win both that title and the Rookie of the Year title which he had won two years prior. Frank Karsten, Kamiel Cornelissen, and Antoine Ruel were inducted into the Hall of Fame at the world championships in Rome.

Mode
Four Pro Tours and nineteen Grand Prixs will be held in the 2009 season. Further Pro Points will be awarded at national championships. These Pro Points will be used mainly to determine the Pro Player club levels of players participating in these events, but also decide which player will be awarded the Pro Player of the year title at the end of the season. Based on final standings Pro Points were awarded as follows:

Grand Prix – Los Angeles, Rotterdam

 * GP Los Angeles (17–18 January)
 * Attendance: 834
 * Format: Extended
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Luis Scott-Vargas
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Brett Piazza
 * 3) 🇵🇦 Saul Alvarado
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Mat Marr
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Michael Jacob
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Carl Hendrix
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Mark Herberholz
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Asher Hecht


 * GP Rotterdam (21–22 February)
 * Attendance: 1227
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) Arjan van Leeuwen
 * 2) Robert van Meedevort
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Shuhei Nakamura
 * 4) 🇩🇪 Alex Fanghänel
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Aaron Brackmann
 * 6) 🇨🇿 Michal Hebky
 * 7) 🇨🇿 Tomas Langer
 * 8) 🇩🇪 Reinhold Kohl

Pro Tour – Kyoto (27 February – 1 March 2009)
Pro Tour veteran Gabriel Nassif defeated Luis Scott-Vargas in the finals of Pro Tour Kyoto, giving him his first individual title in his ninth Top 8.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $230,795 Players: 381 Format: Standard, Booster Draft Head Judge: Riccardo Tessitori

Grand Prixs – Chicago, Hanover, Singapore, Kobe, Barcelona, Seattle

 * GP Chicago (7–8 March)
 * Attendance: 1230
 * Format: Legacy
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Gabriel Nassif
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Andrew Probasco
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Paul Rietzl
 * 4) 🇺🇸 James Mink
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Brian Kowal
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Tommy Kolowith
 * 7) 🇨🇦 David Caplan
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Brian Six


 * GP Kobe (18–19 April)
 * Attendance: 545
 * Format: Extended
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Yuuya Watanabe
 * 3) 🇹🇼 Kuo Tzu-Ching
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Kentarou Yamamoto
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Katsuya Ueda
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Keiichi Kondou
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Kenji Hamamoto
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Ryouma Shiozu


 * GP Hanover (13–14 March)
 * Attendance: 925
 * Format: Extended
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Lino Burgold
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Gaudenis Vidugiris
 * 3) 🇨🇿 Lukas Kraft
 * 4) 🇦🇹 Karim Bauer
 * 5) 🇸🇪 Kenny Öberg
 * 6) 🇧🇪 Pascal Vieren
 * 7) 🇦🇹 Helmut Summersberger
 * 8) 🇨🇿 Ondra Posolda


 * GP Barcelona (23–24 May)
 * Attendance: 1495
 * Format: Standard
 * 1) 🇪🇸 Joel Calafell
 * 2) 🇮🇹 Riccardo Neri
 * 3) 🇧🇷 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Samuel Black
 * 5) Hugo De Jong
 * 6) 🇮🇪 Sean Og Murphy
 * 7) Ricardo Venancio
 * 8) George Paraskuopoulos


 * GP Singapore (21–22 March)
 * Attendance: 370
 * Format: Extended
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masaya Kitayama
 * 3) 🇸🇬 Chin Heng Tan
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Yuuta Takahashi
 * 5) 🇸🇬 Yong Han Choo
 * 6) 🇹🇼 Liang Chen
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Samuel Black
 * 8) 🇹🇼 Kuo Tzu-Ching


 * GP Seattle (30–31 May)
 * Attendance: 1127
 * Format: Standard
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Yann Massicard
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Benjamin Lundquist
 * 3) 🇧🇷 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Charles Gendron Dupont
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Luis Scott-Vargas
 * 6) 🇷🇺 Nicolay Potovin
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Michael Jacob
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Ari Lax

Pro Tour Honolulu (5–7 June 2009)
In his second Pro Tour finals appearance, Kazuya Mitamura defeated Pro Tour newcomer Michal Hebky.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $230,795 Players: 396 Format: Booster Draft, Block Constructed Head Judge: Toby Elliot

Grand Prixs – Sao Paulo, Boston, Brighton, Bangkok, Niigata, Prague, Melbourne

 * GP São Paulo (13–14 June)
 * Attendance: 639
 * Format: Standard
 * 1) 🇧🇷 Daniel Almeida Alvez
 * 2) 🇦🇷 Andres Monsalve
 * 3) 🇧🇷 Guilherme Vieira
 * 4) 🇧🇷 Wendell Santini
 * 5) 🇧🇷 Allison Abe
 * 6) 🇧🇷 Diego Crusius
 * 7) 🇨🇱 Juan Veliz
 * 8) 🇧🇷 Daniel Frias


 * GP Bangkok (22–23 August)
 * Attendance: 414
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Shingou Kurihara
 * 2) 🇨🇿 Martin Juza
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Koutarou Ootsuka
 * 4) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Matteo Orsini Jones
 * 5) 🇳🇱 Ruud Warmenhoven
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Yuuya Watanabe
 * 7) Ryan Luo
 * 8) 🇨🇳 Zhiyang Zhang


 * GP Melbourne (10–11 October)
 * Attendance: 416
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Yuuya Watanabe
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Tomoharu Saitou
 * 3) 🇲🇾 Marcus Teo
 * 4) 🇦🇺 Shane Daliston
 * 5) 🇦🇺 Brett Hughes
 * 6) 🇦🇺 Jacky Zhang
 * 7) 🇦🇺 Joel Piotto
 * 8) 🇦🇺 Steven Aplin


 * GP Boston (1–2 August)
 * Attendance: 1503
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Marlon Egolf
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Ben Stark
 * 3) 🇺🇸 David Feinstein
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Jason Lundberg
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Jonathan Pearlman
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Brian Lynch
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Bradley Wojceshonek
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Zach Efland


 * GP Niigata (29–30 August)
 * Attendance: 722
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Tsuyoshi Ikeda
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Shingou Kurihara
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Ren Ishikawa
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Hajime Nakamura
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Sho Ishikawa
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Takaya Saitou
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Gaudenis Vidugiris
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Yuuya Watanabe


 * GP Brighton (8–9 August)
 * Attendance: 760
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇫🇷 Olivier Ruel
 * 2) 🇨🇿 Martin Juza
 * 3) 🇧🇪 Dennis Stone
 * 4) 🇧🇪 Mark Dictus
 * 5) Kevin Grove
 * 6) 🇧🇪 Robbert Menten
 * 7) 🇩🇪 Reinhold Kohl
 * 8) Joseph Jackson


 * GP Prague (5–6 September)
 * Attendance: 1541
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Jan Schmidt
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Yuuya Watanabe
 * 3) 🇸🇮 Bojan Zunko
 * 4) Ognjen Cividini
 * 5) 🇩🇪 Julien De Graat
 * 6) 🇨🇿 Lukas Vozdecky
 * 7) 🇸🇰 Marcel Kondrk
 * 8) 🇵🇱 Radek Kaczmarczyk

Pro Tour Austin (16–18 October 2009)
Both enjoying a comeback to the top level of Magic, Brian Kibler and Tsuyoshi Ikeda met in the finals, with Kibler winning in his second top eight in 2009.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $230,795 Players: 416 Format: Extended, Booster Draft Head Judge: Riccardo Tessitori

Grand Prixs – Tampa, Kitakyushu, Paris, Minneapolis

 * GP Tampa (24–25 October)
 * Attendance: 834
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Gaudenis Vidugiris
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Conley Woods
 * 3) 🇺🇸 John Skinner
 * 4) 🇺🇸 John May
 * 5) 🇫🇷 Gabriel Nassif
 * 6) 🇺🇸 Alex Majlaton
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Tom Ross
 * 8) 🇨🇿 Martin Juza


 * GP Minneapolis (14–15 November)
 * Attendance: 1187
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇺🇸 Zohar Bhagat
 * 2) 🇺🇸 Matthew Sperling
 * 3) 🇺🇸 Brian Kibler
 * 4) 🇺🇸 Brad Nelson
 * 5) 🇺🇸 Owen Turtenwald
 * 6) 🇺🇸 David Ochoa
 * 7) 🇺🇸 Mike Gualtieri
 * 8) 🇺🇸 Tom Ross


 * GP Kitakyushu (31 October – 1 November)
 * Attendance: 501
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇯🇵 Taisuke Ishii
 * 2) 🇯🇵 Masashi Oiso
 * 3) 🇯🇵 Jun'ya Iyanaga
 * 4) 🇯🇵 Ken Yukuhiro
 * 5) 🇯🇵 Yuuya Watanabe
 * 6) 🇯🇵 Katsuhiro Mori
 * 7) 🇯🇵 Takeshi Takagi
 * 8) 🇯🇵 Hironobu Sugaya


 * GP Paris (7–8 November)
 * Attendance: 1961
 * Format: Limited
 * 1) 🇩🇪 Adrian Rosada
 * 2) 🇩🇪 Danny Ecker
 * 3) 🇩🇪 Lino Burgold
 * 4) 🇧🇪 Niels Viaene
 * 5) 🇦🇹 Herbert Engleitner
 * 6) 🇩🇪 Bernd Brendemühl
 * 7) 🇫🇷 Jérémy Dezani
 * 8) 🇫🇷 Gonzague Allouchery

2009 World Championships – Rome (19–22 November 2009)
The 2009 World Championship marked several firsts in Pro Tour history. For the first time ever, eight different countries were represented in the quarterfinals, and there were no American or Japanese players in the top eight. Playing in his second Worlds top eight, André Coimbra of Portugal defeated Austrian David Reitbauer to become World Champion. In the team event, Austria finished second as well, losing to the Chinese team in the final.

Tournament data
Prize pool: $245,245 (individual) + $192,425 (teams) Players: 409 (55 National teams) Formats: Standard, Booster Draft, Extended Team Formats: Standard, Extended, Legacy Head Judge: Sheldon Menery

National team competition

 * 1) 🇨🇳 China (Wu Tong, Bo Li, Zhiyang Zhang)
 * 2) 🇦🇹 Austria (Benedikt Klauser, Benjamin Rozhon, Bernhard Lehner)
 * 3) 🇨🇿 Czech Republic (Lukas Jaklovsky, Lukas Blohon, Jan Kotrla)
 * 4)  Netherlands (Kevin Grove, Niels Noorlander, Tom van Lamoen)

Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship, Yuuya Watanabe was awarded the Pro Player of the year title, making him the fifth consecutive Japanese player to win the award.

Performance by country
The United States had the most Top 8 appearances at ten, but they also had by far the most players playing in the Pro Tour. With Japan at 17 they share the highest number of level 4+ professional Magic players, too.

T8 = Number of players from that country appearing in a Pro Tour Top 8; Q = Number of players from that country participating in Pro Tours; M = Median finish over all PTs; GT = Gravy Trainers (aka players with a Pro Players Club level of 4 or more) from that country created in the 2009 season; Best Player (PPts) = Player with the most Pro Points from that country, Pro Points of that player in brackets.