Welcome back to part 2 of our rundown of all 83 Pro Players on the merry-go-round of matchups that is the Player of the Year race. And from a Japanese player who is the reigning World Champion, to a Japanese player who, er, isn’t….
Kazuya Mitamura – Japan. Level 3.
How little can I say about this guy? Level 3. There you go.
Billy Moreno – U.S.A. Level 3.
A hybrid deck-choice of Madness mixed in with Psychatog took Billy Moreno to the brink of Pro Tour glory, before eventually being faced down by the ultimate guide to Old School Magic in the shape of Antoine Ruel and his “I-laugh-at-Life-from-the-Loam-Psychatog.dec.” Nonetheless, that Sunday appearance back in Los Angeles of 2005 was taken as a sign by many, especially within the U.S., that Billy was the Coming Man. That hasn’t strictly turned out to be the case – yet. But while Magic isn’t yet about Who you know rather than What you know, the first bit doesn’t do you any harm, especially if the Who you know happens to be Mike Flores, Brian David-Marshall, Steve Sadin, and pretty much everyone who’s been good at Magic in New York ever. They call it Top8Magic.com for a reason, and you can expect Billy to justify the name sometime during 2007.
Katsuhiro Mori – Japan. Level 4.
It doesn’t seem right that Mori’s only Level 4 for 2007. Go back a year and you’re looking at a stone-cold Level 6 Pro at the absolute pinnacle of the game. So 2006 was something of a letdown for the signature-scarfed master. Mori came into last season with 11 GP Top 8s behind him, a Masters win in 2003 with hot teammates Masashiro Kuroda and Masahiko Morita, and spent 2006 as the defending World Champion. So just how bad was last year? Mori made it onto the Japanese team for Worlds once again, by winning one of the toughest Nationals on the planet, and kept the dream alive of back-to-back crowns until the quarterfinal where he eventually lost what appeared to be a marginally favorable matchup to Nick Lovett Boros Deck Wins. And then he takes part in an outstanding Team final, before ultimately succumbing to a great Dutch team. So, all in all, settling for Level 4 doesn’t exactly seem disastrous. And it would take a brave or foolish man to suggest that his days at the top are numbered. Expect The Scarf to be photographed often in the months ahead.
Masahiko Morita – Japan. Level 3.
Hiroshima, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Bangkok, Yokohama, Sendai, Kuala Lumpur, Yokohama, Osaka, Boston, Taipei, Kitakyuushu. Any time I think about playing a Magic Grand Prix in the Pacific Rim, this is one man I don’t want to play. Ever. And if I ever thought about holding my very own tea party, I wouldn’t want to play him in Boston either. Because these are all cities that Masahiko Morito has Top 8s in. What’s missing from this outstanding list of no less than fourteen top table shootouts? Pro Tours, that’s what. And this makes Morita a seriously interesting candidate in 2007. This might seem contradictory. After all, wouldn’t Morita look stronger with a couple of PT Sundays to add to the list? Sure, but the Player of the Year race isn’t necessarily geared just to the Pro Tour. Both Willy Edel and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa of Brazil had excellent results on the biggest stage of all. But Grand Prix points were seriously lacking, and that won’t be true for Morita. So what with extra points available at all the GP events this year, when it comes to the crunch, you probably shouldn’t want to play him either. A man to watch.
Chikara Nakajima – Japan. Level 3.
With one GP Top 8 appearance to his name, at Okayama in 2004, there are many many reasons why you might want to look elsewhere for a Player of the Year 2007. Mori, Chan and da Rosa are just three of them.
Shuhei Nakamura – Japan. Level 6.
Astute members of the reading public may have spotted that I do like a player who can demonstrate success over an extended period and multiple types of event. So let’s tick the Nakamura boxes. GPs? Two wins, both in 2006. Any more? Yes, eight other Top 8s over a six-year period. That’s all very well, but Morita amongst others can claim to be GP Gods. So what about PTs? Columbus 2004, runner-up. Extended, playing Red Deck Wins. How about a Limited PT? That too, in 2006, when he finished 3rd at Prague during Ravnica season. Nationals? He made the team in 2004. So he’s played at Worlds? Of course, and he made the Top 8 in 2005. All this is pretty outstanding, and apart from a PT win, you’d say his CV was nearly flawless. But there are two further things to add. On a good day, I speak approximately one word of Japanese. As you can imagine, my personal relationship with Shuhei has been somewhat curtailed by this linguistic deficiency. But I happened to be just about the only sentient being to hand when, halfway through day 2 of GP: Athens last year, Shuhei realised he would have enough points to make Level 6 for 2007. Now I admit it took several minutes of hand signals, halting English, guesswork, and my one word of Japanese (hello) to finally work out that this is what had got Shuhei so excited. But actually, excited doesn’t do it justice. He was sooooooo thrilled, juiced, wired, ecstatic – you choose the description, the point is it really mattered. And I fully expect him to make the most of his lofty position as the year goes on. Part of my expectation is based on this fact: international travel can be a draining and lonely business unless you have a trusted friend and travelling companion. In 2007, mine is Craig Jones. In 2006, Shuhei’s was Kenji Tsumura, who unfortunately is a mere Level 5 this year. If these two team up again to assault the best tournaments the globe has to offer, I regard Shuhei Nakamura as the ultimate threat to my idea of the winner (Tiago Chan) in the race for Player of the Year 2007.
Gabriel Nassif – France. Level 4.
Magic is a game of incomplete information, and so is predicting Player of the Year. In particular, real life has a nasty habit of getting in the way, whether it’s college, family, poker, jobs, old age, World of Warcraft, whatever. The fact is that Magic regularly loses a proportion of its best players to one or more of these factors. Take Gab Nassif. He was rightly regarded as one of the best Constructed minds in the world scene. Runner-up from PT: New Orleans 2003 with his Extended Charbelcher deck, he also made Sunday at PT: Venice that year. Move to Kobe one year later, and he’s runner-up again, this time in Mirrodin / Darksteel Block Constructed with TwelvePost. 2004 was a big year for Nassif. He also finished runner-up in the French Nationals, and then made it to the final table yet again when finishing 7th at Worlds. So now we’re up to 2005, and, fed up with coming second, Nassif teams up with David Rood and Gab Tsang to win PT: Atlanta. Throw in a Top 8 at Euros ‘03, another runner-up berth in the Yokohama Masters of ‘03, and multiple Invitational appearances, and you have a man pretty much on top of the world of Magic. Then he finds poker. And let’s be fair, if you’re one of the top few Magic players in the world you can make a living, more or less. If you’re one of the top poker players in the world, well, the rewards are more, er, rewarding. So Nassif joined players like Noah Boeken and Dave Price in following the flop, the turn, and the river to fame and fortune, mostly fortune. Now we fast forward to Autumn 2006, and rumor has it that Nassif has decided to play at Worlds. Not just turn up for the fun of it, but play. With multiple Constructed formats, this was potentially a big story. But the chances were that Nassif’s full house couldn’t make up for all the full houses he was profiting from online. This is Nassif we’re dealing with, however, and 562,375 life later, Nassif’s Martyr-Proclamation deck was the toast of Paris. There’s still one twist to this tale. With a home team victory on the horizon, Nassif made a mistake, which ultimately cost him the semi-final. And so we have a two-part conundrum. First, is the new Nassif every bit as good as the old Nassif? And second, will we have to wait until Worlds 2007 to find out?
Julien Nuijten – Netherlands. Level 4.
What do you do when the only place to go is down? If you’re Julien Nuijten of the Netherlands, continue to defy gravity at an astonishing rate. The story starts at Netherlands Nationals in 2004, and after making the team for worlds he made the most of the opportunity. How? By winning the whole thing with a Green / White Astral Slide deck over Aeo Paquette in the final (who hasn’t been seen since, until his appearance on the qualified list for Geneva). Most good players don’t like to lose. Quite a few good players really don’t like to lose. Apart from, possibly, Geoffrey Siron of Belgium, nobody on the tour hates to lose more than Julien Nuijten. This man is driven to succeed. So it’s no surprise that in 2005 he cemented his reputation with wins at GP: Copenhagen and GP: Mexico City. Two more Top 8s occurred in 2006 at Dortmund and Hiroshima where his run ended at the quarterfinals. So as 2006 wound down it looked as if Julien would be without a title to his name. Except, he’d made it onto the Dutch team for Worlds, and once you add in Kamiel Cornellisen and Robert van Medevoort you have a team that can take on anyone. Like Japan in the final, for example. So, it turns out that as 2007 ticks around, Julien Nuijten just keeps on adding titles to the list. So, it turns out that as 2007 ticks around, Julien Nuijten just might add Player of the Year to the list. He doesn’t like to lose.
Ryo Ogura – Japan. Level 4.
If Ogura came from Scotland, or Bolivia, or Spain, or pretty much anywhere that doesn’t end in “pan,” we’d probably be talking about him quite a bit. Three GP Top 8s across a six-year period, and two appearances on Top 8 day at Worlds, both in the last three years. But in Japan, that kind of CV gets judged by a higher standard. So, he’s Level 4. That means he’s good. Good, but probably not definitively great.
Masashi Oiso – Japan. Level 3.
And here’s what I’m talking about. Starting in 2002, Masashi Oiso has been systematically putting his name where it matters – on the finals board. Of his nine GP Top 8s, fully six of them occurred during 2005, a frankly astonishing level of consistency. Taipei, quarterfinal. Niigata and Kitakyuushu, semi-final. Beijing and Matsuyama, final. And GP Boston, winner. Yes, Pros get three byes at GPs, which makes getting as far as Day 2 much easier. But all Pros get those byes, and it’s not as if he hasn’t got anything on the Pro Tour to back it up. Five more Sunday spotlight slots across three years and three continents, with Yokohama in 2003 seeing his best result in Onslaught-Legions Draft in second place. So he may be Level 3, but Oiso is a much more likely candidate for Player of the Year than some of those ranked above him.
Wessel Oomens – Netherlands. Level 3.
Here are the headlines: Olivier Ruel disqualified in Sweden. Olivier Ruel disqualified in Sweden. Olivier Ruel disqualified in Sweden. Dutch guy wins in Sweden, but Olivier Ruel disqualified in Sweden. So basically I’m telling you that in a country cluttered with great names and top-notch Magical achievement, Wessel Oomens chose the wrong Grand Prix to win in 2006. It’s possible that his Mum spotted that he’d won, and in between translating official statements out of French, moxradio spotted that he won, and I think sideboard probably knew too. So my suggestion for the runner-up from Nationals 2005, four-time GP Top 8 man, and 2007 Level 3 pro? Next time, win a Pro Tour. And hire a publicist.
Takuya Oosawa – Japan. Level 5.
If you’re lucky enough to reach the final table of a Grand Prix, statistically speaking you might want to play against Takuya Oosawa. Five times he’s made it to the quarterfinals, ranging from Hong Kong in 2004, through Niigata in 2005, and the trifecta of Manila, Sydney and Toulouse in 2006. And on all five occasions the quarterfinals is where his tournament ended. If you’re lucky enough to reach the final table of a Pro Tour, don’t play Takuya Oosawa. He’s one of the few who manage to make the most of their first Sunday experience. And, with Geneva upcoming, you don’t get any better form than winning the equivalent event last year. Set in Prague, Oosawa demonstrated that sometimes Jamie Wakefield was right, and that big, dumb, and Green didn’t necessarily mean lose, lose, and lose. So at Level 5, you have to give him plenty of respect as we head into the 2007 season. A top 10 finish in the Player of the Year race seems likely.
John Pelcak – U.S.A. Level 3.
If I tell you that Pelcak has a GP win to his name, you’re hopefully moderately impressed. But when I tell you that it was a team event, for some bizarre reason most of you will downgrade the achievement. Here’s the thing: yes, Tim Aten was on a Pro Player Card. Yes, Gadiel Szleifer has won a Pro Tour. And yes, that means he had good players on his team. But last time I checked my inbox, nobody asked me to play with a PT winner and a rising star of Magic. Which is one of the many reasons I didn’t get to win GP: Chicago in 2004. To be fair, Pelcak also has an individual GP Top 8, as recently as the tail end of 2006 in New Jersey. So, although his CV isn’t exactly enormous, don’t knock that Chicago performance. A win is a win is a win.
Bastien Perez – France. Level 3.
Another player who suffers from the problem of living in a European powerhouse of Magic, Perez has at least two results that should make you sit up and take notice. Runner-up in a Paris GP in 2004 was the first. And a singularly impressive third spot at PT: Kobe last year was the second. I’m not suggesting he’s about to win consecutive PTs or anything so lofty. But I do believe his Level is likely to rise rather than fall during 2007.
Johnathon Rispal – France. Level 3.
Another recent French addition to the Pro ranks, Rispal first came to attention at GP: Bilbao in 2005, where he made the quarterfinals. A Top 8 berth at French Nationals 2006 brought him to Paris for Worlds, and that’s where the story gets interesting. Remember the first time you ever got to 3-0 in a six round PTQ? A place in the Top 8 looks pretty much assured. So you lose round 4, and suddenly things don’t look quite so great. But it’s only your first defeat, so you dust yourself down, and play your absolute best in round 5. And lose 2-1. Now that Top 8 spot might as well be on the moon. Your friends tell you that your tiebreaks will be really good, and somebody on 4-2 will make it in. Win, and it’s probably you. So you play the final round. And lose. That’s the second half of day 3 at Worlds for Johnathon Rispal. Playing the French ‘egg’ deck also known as ‘Sunny Side Up,’ Rispal played feature match after feature match as the rounds whittled away, and eventually came up short. When it’s a PTQ, you get to try again the following week. When it’s Worlds, that’s twelve months of festering before you can put it right. Possibly. Rispal needs to put Paris behind him, and fast, if he is to move up the Pro ladder.
Carlos Romao – Brazil. Level 3.
When Wizards of the Coast announced that the boundaries for 2007 Players Club Levels had been moved, players on 18 and 19 points were the beneficiaries. And that means Carlos Romao. Even if he didn’t come from one of the current most fashionable Magic countries, Brazil, you would still have to regard him as a serious threat at any event. Of his five GP Top 8s, three resulted in victory. And there’s no indication that he’s just a blast from the past. His wins come in 2001, 2003, and 2006, including a Team win at Amsterdam with the fantastically-named Rankko Bongo Wheshiwheshi. He’s made Top 8 of the Latin America championship of 2000, has been to the Invitational three times, and was part of the Brazilian National side at Worlds in 2003 and 2006. But let’s save the best for last – he’s a former World Champion. It may be that some Pros come to regret the decision to lower the points threshold for 2007, and if they do, you can bet that it will be Carlos Romao benefiting.
Antonino de Rosa – U.S.A. Level 4.
If you had to find one word to categorize the Pro Tour as a whole, I’d offer you “polite.” Pretty much all the Pros know each other… they eat together, test together, travel together, and then play together. So there truly aren’t lots of cutthroat rivalries where player X is desperate for player Y to die to manascrew. In fact, the closest to a rivalry I’ve come across is where one European heavyweight of the game admitted that, given the choice between two Japanese players, he wanted his good friend to win Player of the Year rather than the man he didn’t know so much. Shocking, really. So from one giant of the game to another. Let’s be clear – Antonino de Rosa is good for Magic. In a world of calm, he fearlessly voices his opinions. In a world of seriousness, he exudes fun. And along the way, he remains a genuine heavyweight (okay, I couldn’t resist, but I’m talking Magic). A whopping 9 GP Top 8s began as long ago as 2001 in Atlanta, and include three wins: Kansas City, Salt Lake City, and Toronto. He was the U.S. National Champion of 2005, and put up a valiant defence when succumbing in the quarters a year later. But until Prague 2006, de Rosa was conspicuously lacking a PT Top 8. In some ways, that event left more questions than it answered, since his quarter-final exit was unexpected. Which brings us to 2007. Can de Rosa turn himself into near-namesake da Rosa, and become Level 6? This much is certain – it’ll be fun finding out.
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa – Brazil. Level 6.
The rise of Brazil onto the world stage of Magic continued apace in 2006, and nowhere was this more obvious than at Pro Tour: Charleston, where team Raala Pumba finished second, comprising PVDdR (which sounds like a new hi-def recording format), Celso Zampere, and Willy Edel. Edel went on to notoriously finish runner-up again at PT: Kobe, and if a Brazilian team can play Zampere and leave ex-World Champion Carlos Romao on the bench, well, chances are that Zampere can play. Paulo meanwhile blistered his way through Worlds in Paris, before facing the problem of the Fundamental Turn in the Top 8. His Boros Deck Wins deck essentially wins turn 5. Makahito Mihara’s Dragonstorm deck essentially wins turn 4. Which, in Flores’s terms, makes Mihara the Beatdown. And, in case you missed it, Boros is meant to be the aggro deck. So, Paulo came up a topdeck away from an unlikely quarter-final win, and remained a tantalising three wins away from becoming Player of the Year. Now those of you with long memories will recall that Paulo doesn’t have much of a history of playing, but a long history of writing. And the reason for that is one word – airfares. PTQ policy changed last year, and instead of a cash award for winning a qualifier, a flight became the prize. Suddenly, the cost of travel from Brazil was no longer prohibitive, and Paulo really took advantage. Here’s the key to the puzzle – with Level 6, there’s appearance money to be had at GPs. Truthfully, I don’t expect to see Paulo at many of these in 2007, but if he does make the start-line at Montreal, or Krakow, or Amsterdam… he could turn out to be completely unstoppable.
Antoine Ruel – France. Level 5.
It’s almost impossible to know where to start with Antoine’s career, so we’ll choose GP: Porto 2000, which he won. Alex Shvartsman is arguably the greatest GP player in history, but Ruel can’t be far behind. In 2001 alone, he visited Cologne, Prague, Moscow, London, Amsterdam, and Curitiba and made Top 8 in all of them. Byes or no byes, that’s ridiculous. And in recent years, his impact on the biggest stage of all has also been considerable. San Diego was Mirrodin-Darksteel Draft, and Antoine found just one deck better than him on the final day. The odds are obviously against PT runners-up managing to go one better, but Ruel managed it, with Psychatog in Extended for PT: Los Angeles 2005. And then last year he piloted the delicious (or hideous, depending on your side of the table) Owling Mine deck to the quarters in Honolulu, where he gave new meaning to the term “unwinnable matchup” in his 0-3 destruction by Craig Jones. Knowing he was beaten, he still gave us something to talk about by slotting a thoroughly illegal Ancestral Recall into his deck for game 3! And that’s part of the question mark over him as we head into 2007. Is he a fun guy who just happens to be naturally better than almost everyone at a fun game? Or, if you cut him, would he bleed Magic? I’m not sure that he would (Health and Safety Tip: don’t try to find out.) Because given his results, his longevity, his brotherly connection, and his talent, if he really cares about 2007, you don’t want to play him, whoever you are.
Olivier Ruel – France. Level 4.
It’s almost impossible to know where to start with Olivier’s career, so we’ll choose GP: Porto 2000, where he finished 2nd. Alex Shvartsman is arguably the greatest GP player in history, but Ruel can’t be far behind. Helsinki 2004, Bologna 2005 and Bilbao 2005 were all outright victories, and he has another twelve Top 8s to his name spread across a seven-year period. We’ve said before how it’s the PT where you’re truly judged, so how does Olivier stack up? Mono-Black Control was his first deck of choice at PT: Osaka 2002, where he finished 2nd. Then comes an extremely impressive and consistent run of 4th place finishes – Amsterdam and Columbus in ‘04, Philadelphia ‘05, and Honolulu in ‘06. Add in the fact that he’s finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in four years of French Nationals between 2001 and 2004, plus four appearances at the Invitational, and you’re only a PT win away from a picture-perfect CV. I suggested earlier that brother Antoine might not quite have the desire to achieve Player of the Year status. I have no such doubts about Olivier, for several reasons. Back in 2005, he was paired against Craig Jones in the last round of the Swiss at PT: Philadelphia. They were, and are, friendly. Ruel was already secure in the Top 8. Craig asked for an Intentional Draw. Ruel knew that Craig’s deck wasn’t a great matchup, and didn’t want him in the Top 8. So they played each other pretty much to a standstill, with Craig a couple of turns away from victory after extra turns. Another thing – he’s known as The Road Warrior. Which means he turns up to everything if it’s humanly possible, a fact which contributed to him finishing a mere single point behind 2005 Player of the Year Kenji Tsumura. And one more – he was suspended for most of the second half of 2006, and is still Level 4. In 2007, expect Olivier Ruel to play for keeps.
Johan Sadeghpour – Sweden. Level 4.
When you think about Swedish Magic, you think Olle Rade, Mattias Jorstedt, Anton Jonsson, and if you’re feeling especially facetious, Raphael Levy (he’s French of course, but right now, he lives in Sweden, so he’s Swedish.) You don’t really think of Johan Sadeghpour. True, he’s not quite in the class of the others, but he has a decent track record that includes a GP Top 8, a PT Top 8, a Masters Top 8, and a place on the Worlds team of 2003. By and large, the difference between many of the Level 3 Pros and their Level 4 counterparts is consistency. They’re all capable of a high finish, but the Level 4s manage to pick up odd points here and there, without necessarily troubling the headline writers. So, chances are that you’ll hear more of ABBA in 2007 than Johan, but like a bang a boomer boomerang, he’ll be back in the list of Pros in 2008.
Tomaharu Saitou – Japan. Level 6.
Right now, Saitou doesn’t have a CV packed with top-level results. Four GP Top 8s, 8th place in Japanese Nationals 2006, 7th at PT: Kobe 2006, and the big one – winning PT: Charleston last year with Player of the Year Shouta Yasooka and Level 4 mage Tomahiro Kaji. Compared to some of the giants of the game (let’s start with the Ruels for example) this record seems quite flimsy. Until you recognise that his first entry onto the radar came as recently as GP: Nagoya 2004. So Saitou has racked up his list of results in just two and a half seasons. One result in 2004, two results in 2005, four results in 2006. Having finished 5th in the Player of the Year race, it’s pretty clear that if Saitou can continue his exponential growth on the world scene, the game is up for everyone else. So, like others before him, will he travel and become a true Road Warrior en route to victory? My guess is no, but with or without frequent flyer miles, Saitou is a genuine contender.
Ryouma Shiozu – Japan. Level 3.
Another Level 3 from Japan who manages to squeeze his way to the required points for Pro status. Having made his first GP Top 8 as long ago as Shizuoka 2001, and having racked up three 7th places since, with no PT Top 8s, it’s tempting to suggest he’ll be making up the numbers. So tempting, that I’ll say it.
Rasmus Sibast – Denmark. Level 3.
This member of the Danish worlds team of 2005 announced his presence on a global stage with an 8th place finish at GP: Mexico City that year. But with PT: Geneva just a few hours away, of much more significance is his performance a year ago at PT: Prague. Although he went out in the quarter-finals, up to that point he had pretty much annihilated the competition. With Geneva being a relatively untested draft format, you can expect to see him amongst the frontrunners early. There are other stronger contenders for Player of the Year, but he’s my idea of at least a seat at the final table come Geneva’s Super Sunday.
Geoffrey Siron – Belgium. Level 4.
Magic is a game of opinions, and half the battle is working out which particular bunch of babble is the one you should be listening to. Let’s face it, everybody thinks they know what archetype is the strongest, what card should be banned, who’s the best player ever – even in your playtest group there’s the guy you turn to when you want The Answer. In 2006, I heard The Answer three times:
1. Halfway through the second day of a marathon test session for the Standard portion of Worlds in Paris, one of my playtest group looked around at the dozen or so decks we had littered across the room, and articulated something so straightforwardly true that nobody could argue, or believe they hadn’t thought of it in these terms. “You know, I’ve played with all these decks, and most of them are pretty good. Some of them are really good. But in the whole field, only one mechanic is truly unfair, and that mechanic is Storm.“ I’m not suggesting that Mihara’s win in Paris is any proof that Dragonstorm was “the best deck,” but just to have the reason for its essential goodness specified with such clarity took us a long way towards our metagame view.
2. At GP: Dortmund, top deckbuilder and StarCityGames.com regular Stuart Wright chastised me thoroughly for not attacking with my lone monster into his tapped out position. “Is it blocking next turn? If it’s not blocking, it’s got no business not attacking.” That’s it. No supertech, just practical common sense. If you’re ranking at Limited is anything below 1800 or so, I highly recommend committing this top tip to heart.
3. Let me guess… you’re Belgian, and you want to know where Geoffrey Siron makes his appearance. Okay, here he comes. I was covering my first event of the European GP circuit in Torino last year when I met Geoffrey for the first time. He graciously gave moxradio an extensive interview, and I rather timidly suggested that, having won a PT in London with Kamigawa Draft, it might be hard to be fully motivated. Here’s his reply, pretty much word for word: “In the months before London I made some changes to my game. I realised that although I really wanted to win, I wasn’t doing everything to make that happen… When I make a mistake, even if it doesn’t cost me the game, I can feel physically sick… I go into every tournament that I play believing not only that I can win it, but that I will win it… If you’re not there to try to win, don’t come – stay at home and do something else.” I’m wracking my brains to think of someone who cares about the game more, and I don’t think I can give you a name right now. That makes Siron a man to watch this year.
John Sittner – U.S.A. Level 3.
U.S. Nationals isn’t an easy event to make the final table in, and Sittner came 5th last year. And that, as they say, is all she wrote. And that, as they say, is all I’m writing.
Bram Snepvangers – Netherlands. Level 4.
Bram is one of those players who you feel like they’ve been playing forever – and that’s just round one. Certainly Mr S is a thoroughly meticulous player, a fact he’s demonstrated around the globe during a consistent career that began with 5th place in a home GP: Amsterdam in 1999. Florence and London followed, and were joined by PT 7th in Chicago ‘03, and the dreaded 2nd at PT: Nice a year earlier. 2006 saw arguably his best year to date, with multiple appearances at the sharp end, with 6th at GP: Cardiff, 3rd at GP: Torino, and 6th at PT: Kobe. Magic is still a game of mistakes – just ask Mihara and Edel – and Bram doesn’t make many. It wouldn’t be a total surprise to find him making one fewer than the other guy for enough rounds to end up with a PT trophy on the mantelpiece. But if you’re there to see it, you’ll be watching a lot of Magic.
Terry Soh — Malaysia. Level 3.
A young man who owes much of his reputation to the burgeoning influence of Magic Online, Terry Soh has quietly amassed a diverse CV of top-level results that covers all the bases, starting with runner-up at GP: Singapore 2003. Two more GP Top 8s are significantly added to with 3rd at PT: Nagoya in 2005 and a quarter final slot at Worlds in ’04. While making the Malaysian national team for two of the last three Worlds is perhaps less of a world-class achievement than, say, a Japanese or Dutch equivalent, there’s no questioning the calibre of the field he bypassed whilst winning the Magic Invitational of 2005. If there’s any disappointment to his career to date, it’s this: Rakdos Augermage sucks. He’s at an age where life can really get in the way of full-time Magic, and for this reason I don’t see him as a major contender come the Autumn, but another final table is well within reach.
Jon Sonne — U.S.A. Level 3.
Having covered the European GP circuit for a year now, it won’t surprise you to learn that I know the Euro Pros rather better than their North American counterparts, a fact I intend to put right in 2007. Indeed, for proof of this you need look no further than part one of this Pro Preview, in which I suggest Rich Hoaen made back to back appearances at U.S. Nationals, an error for which I expect to be beaten, maimed and possibly ritually murdered and served with maple syrup. Even without knowing Jon Sonne, I know he can play, because I can read. GP: Austin ‘04 — winner; GP: Philadelphia 2005 — winner; GP: Richmond ’06 — second; GP: Toronto ’06 — second. Solid seems an inadequate word for performances like this. Third place at U.S. Nationals took him to Worlds 2005, and, of the Level 3 U.S. Pros, he’s my most likely candidate for a significant Level increase this year.
Helmut Summersberger — Austria. Level 5.
In the same way that Canada is not, incredibly, part of America, my extensive research on the matter tells me that Austria is not, in fact, part of Germany. This is good for people who collect national flags, and probably some other groups, but less optimal for Magic players. Why? Because if Helmut Summersberger was German, the world and his wife would be talking about him as a potential Player of the Year. As long ago as 2000 he was making his mark on the upper levels of the game with 6th place at Worlds that year. He made the National side again a year later, and complemented it with a GP third in London. Things go quiet then for a few years, but he made people pay attention last season. Last season you note, not last year, because Summersberger was the very first leader in the Player of the Year Race. A quirk of the schedule (a quirk that will be repeated at the end of 2007) meant that the race for 2006 actually began in 2005 (are you still with me?) in the hometown of the Ruels, Lille in France. The format was the brand spanking new Legacy, and Summersberger piloted U/G/W Threshold to victory. To then win GP: Barcelona only a few months later speaks volumes for his versatility and sheer tenacity. Maintaining Level 5 is a hard ask for anyone, and an improvement would automatically elevate him to the pinnacle of the game. My guess is he doesn’t quite make it to POY. Maybe if he was Dutch…
Gadiel Szleifer — U.S.A. Level 3.
As part of the Young Guns of U.S. Magic, Szleifer has left nobody in any doubt as to his ability. Tim Aten and John Pelcak were his Chicago 2004 cohorts as he took down the GP, and he has two solo quarterfinals to add, in Salt Lake City 2005 and then last year in Phoenix. On the PT stage he got his first taste of the cameras with a 5th place in Extended during PT: Columbus 2004, the event won by Pierre Canali of France. Once again on home turf a year later, he made good on his shirt-wearing promise of “Taking Back Sunday” when he won PT: Philadelphia, a mere 264 places ahead of pre-event favorite, yours truly. With plenty of Constructed events coming your way on the schedule this year, Szleifer might end up taking back more than just one Sunday on the way to a significant levelling up.
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa — France. Level 4.
These days it seems like every new deck has hired an image consultant. No longer content with being played by the best players in the world, decks seem to need the reassurance of their own importance courtesy of a near-incomprehensible name. So Mind’s Desire or Goblin Combo become (think cinema announcer of doom): “From director Wolfgang Petersen, it’s The Extended Perfect Storm. TEPS. Coming soon to Worlds near you.” Or the romantic comedy: “When Empty the Warrens and Fecundity got together in Paris, who knew how much fun they’d end up having? Dirty Kitty. It’s goblins, like you’ve never seen them before!” Given this, it must be a major disappointment to the mild-mannered Frenchman that the best anyone could come up with for his U/R Niv-Mizzet Constructed concoction was, wait for it, here it comes, “The Wafo-Tapa Deck.” Genius. With his deckbuilding credentials established, and with two GP Top 8s last year, the future looks bright. How bright depends on whether his calm-to-the-point-of-indifference demeanor masks a fearsome will to win, or reflects his true feelings. And that, I can’t tell you.
Sebastian Thaler — Germany. Level 4.
I find Rookie of the Year a seriously weird concept. Never mind that you can have played for donkey’s years before you even become a Rookie (a rookie being a “first year” player), but the nature of the contest is that one or two results is pretty much all it takes to win. Admittedly, these results have to be pretty spectacular, and in the case of 19-year-old Thaler, winning GP: Athens certainly counts. 27th place at Worlds was enough to clinch the Rookie title, although the somewhat embarrassing removal of Takahiro Suzuki from proceedings did nothing to harm his chances. As to 2007, he has a nice blend of realism and optimism, having stated that he’d like to make Level 3 at least (realistic) and win the World Champs in New York later this year, which is (probably) optimistic. Oh, and one last thing. Just like Jan-Moritz Merkel before him, you can tell that he enjoys every minute of his success. Smiling. It’s not so hard.
Mike Thompson — U.S.A. Level 3.
They say ignorance is bliss, so right now I’m feeling pretty happy, because apart from knowing that he’s Level 3, finished 8th at GP: Austin in 2004, and that some of his friends call him Mike, I know nothing.
Kenji Tsumura — Japan. Level 5.
The Tsumura tsunami that is Kenji burst onto the scene with a spot on the Japanese team at Worlds 2004, having finished runner-up at Nationals that year. The following two years have been astonishing by any standards, and go something like this : 2005 — GP: Niigata, 6th; GP: Salt Lake City, 3rd; GP: Beijing, 8th; PT: Los Angeles, 3rd; PT: Philadelphia, 2nd (finishing a mere 263 places above pre-event favorite, yours truly); Player of the Year 2005. 2006 — GP: Kuala Lumpur, 1st; GP: Toulouse, 1st; GP: St Louis, 3rd; PT: Kobe, 5th. Level 5 for 2007. Let us be clear, these are Kai-like quantities of Magical goodness, at a period when arguably Magic has more global strength in depth than at any previous point in time. If he continues to travel with Shuhei Nakamura (and what a Two-Headed Giant team that would be) it would be mad to leave him out of your calculations. With one day to go of the Pro season last year, there were three players still in the race for Player of the Year. In a repeat scenario this year, I would expect Kenji to be very much alive come Worlds Sunday.
Ruud Warmenhoven — Netherlands. Level 4.
A friend of mine, who used to live in Amsterdam, once told me that Ruud’s name translates into English as “rude warm oven.” I think he was joking, but will make it my goal in life to make sure next time I see him. Meanwhile, Ruud will be looking to expand on a GP Top 8 (4th in Kuala Lumpur) and an even more impressive PT Top 8 (Honolulu, 7th) from last year. Yet another in a long line of Dutchie duellists who can turn cards sideways, it’s easy to dismiss players like Ruud from the equation. Strength in depth is still strength however, and having been at the final table once, he’ll look for another slice of Sunday action in 2007. Don’t be surprised if he gets it.
Jelger Wiegersma — Netherlands. Level 5.
I love it when a plan comes together. There I am, telling you why players like Ruud Warmenhoven get ignored, and here comes a genuine big beast of the game. Wiegersma is only one GP Top 8 performance away from breaking the double figures barrier that marks a true blend of talent, adaptability, and longevity. When you’re dealing with the absolute best, it’s hard to find a reason to differentiate them for the Player of the Year Race. If you want to find a chink in the Wiegersma armour, it’s this — of the nine GP Top 8 finishes, six have resulted in quarter final exits, and only one in victory. Whilst this may be well within statistical norms (and that’s a phrase I never imagined myself writing), it might go some way to explaining why he’s teetering right on the edge of the top of the world game, rather than looking around and enjoying the view from the summit itself. Don’t let me give you the impression that he isn’t a winner though. Pro Tour: Seattle gives the lie to that, as he joined Jeroen Remie and Kamiel Cornelissen to pilot team Von Dutch to overall victory. Throw in a Masters Top 4, two more PT semi-finals (New Orleans 2001, Kobe 2004) and a slot on the Dutch Worlds team of 2003, and you have a man who is a match for anyone. The stats say that he’ll probably find maybe a half dozen just a tantalising rung above him come December. But like Kenji Tsumura, he’s another who could be in there fighting all the way to the last day.
Shouta Yasooka — Japan. Level 6.
The reigning 2006 Player of the Year will be hard pressed to repeat the feat. That may seem obvious given the stiff competition, but it bears closer examination of just what is required to scale the heights. Yasooka was a model of consistency in 2006, with stops in Kuala Lumpur. Sydney, Toulouse, Hamamatsu, and New Jersey all contributing points courtesy of Top 8 appearances at the respective GPs. Although four quarterfinal defeats must have been mildly irritating, his teammates Akira Asahara and Masay Kitayama helped him take the Stardust Crusaders to the final in Hamamatsu. Crucially, he then showed his ability to fit into another group dynamic by winning Pro Tour: Charleston as part of Kajiharu 80, featuring two different Japanese teammates in the shape of Tomohiro Kaji and Tomaharu Saitou. So, just think for a minute. What would be required to maintain his position? Another year of 5 GP Top 8s and a PT win? Almost nobody can do that in one year (though he clearly fits the bill). Twice seems to me to be stretching simple luck and variance factors to beyond breaking point. Therefore, recommending him seems fraught with danger, and I scare easily. Seeing him do it again though? That would truly mark him out as one of the greats.
Celso Zampere — Brazil. Level 3.
Come on Rich, you can do it. Stop your fingers shaking, mop the fevered brow, and get through this final profile without resorting to scandalous cliché. Deep breath. Here we go. Last, but not least (bugger), comes Celso Zampere. His 5th place finish at GP: Minneapolis in 2005 notwithstanding, Zampere would be the archetypal Level 3 but for one thing — his 2nd place at PT: Charleston last year as part of Raala Pumba with teammates Willy Edel and the once-again-correctly-spelled-I-hope-you-appreciate-this-matey Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa. Note that while the finishing spot is clearly a great result, the real significance is the simple fact that Zampere made the team. With not much else to go on, it’s unlikely that he’ll be Player of the Year, and it would be a pretty big surprise if he could see off his erstwhile teammates and Carlos Romao to finish top Brazilian this time around. Look for another solid year, with perhaps another team-based run at a title.
…
And that, as they say, is mostly that. As I mentioned in part one, there’ll be plenty of time during the year to talk about many more of the cardboard coterie that is the global Magic community, but right now it’s time for you to put your thinking caps on and show me how little I know about Pro Magic. Here’s how:
Simply select five players who you think will do well in the Player of the Year Race 2007. Your five players must come from these categories:
1 Level 6 (there are 5 to choose from)
1 Level 5 (another 10)
1 Level 4 (another 20)
1 Level 3 (the rest)
1 Wildcard (anyone at all from outside the first four categories. This means I’ll allow you a Hall of Famer if you really want, although I wouldn’t recommend it for mostly practical reasons. You could choose a Level 2 who just missed out on Pro status. You can back yourself or a friend if you’re feeling confident. The choice is yours.)
Once you’ve made your selections, go to the forums and stick ‘em up for all to see. If you feel like explaining yourself in a semi-articulate fashion, so much the better. Either way, as the year goes on we’ll get to keep track of our doubtless thoroughly inaccurate predictions, and laugh at each other a good deal. In the event of somebody doing even better than me, there might even be a prize like, you know, a trip to the moon. Or something.
Anyway, here’s my list:
Level 6: Tiago Chan
Level 5: Kenji Tsumura
Level 4: Katsuhiro Mori
Level 3: Roel van Heeswijk
Wildcard: Antti Malin
Right. Enough already. My bags are packed, and by the time you read this I’ll be in place, ready to bring you audio and video coverage direct from the floor of Pro Tour: Geneva. Until then, play hard and play fair, and thanks for reading.
As ever,
R.