I’m back from the land of ski, still with at least the majority of my limbs intact, and am unhappy to report that there were a sum total of zero broken bones on the Pro Tour ski trip. Props to pretty much everyone who made the effort to get out of bed at silly o’clock, but, all things considered, you’ve got to hand it to Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa of Brazil. Sure, lots of us hadn’t skied before. This guy hadn’t seen snow before, but he was right there all day, finding uses for muscle groups that were the equivalent of Barbed Sextant in Magic – you know God invented them for a purpose, but you gave up a long time ago trying to work out what that purpose might be.
The Pro Tour season got underway, and in this column I’ll take you through the Pros and how they fared. Plus, it’s time to introduce some bonus characters to our story, like the American who, er, won the whole thing. Plus the American Pro who I didn’t even mention in the preview, and the French Pro I didn’t mention because I thought he might be serving a life sentence for murder, kind of.
Time to get cracking then, and, as before, I’ll be using my idiosyncratic alphabetizement to bring you the Pros in something approaching a unified order.
(Note : 235th, $0, 2pp would mean the player finished in 235th place, received no dollars prize money, and received 2 pro points towards the Player of the Year Race. DNS stands for Did Not Start, i.e. they weren’t there!)
Ryuichi Arita – Japan. Level 3.
220th, $0, 2 PP.
No day 2, no money, no bonus points. No indication that he’s setting the world alight this year.
Akira Asahara – Japan. Level 3.
DNS.
A no-show gives you a guide to his 2007 prospects.
Wesimo Al-Bacha – Germany. Level 3.
237th, $0, 2 PP.
Al-Bacha will have been less than happy with a swift exit. Needs good times in Yokohama to determine the direction of his season.
Jose Barbero – Argentina. Level 3.
DNS
This may startle some of you, but apparently there are, very occasionally, things in the world that transcend Magic. Like your brother / sister / goat getting married, for instance. Rumor has it that one of those three applies to Jose, so we’ll let him off. Just this once, mind.
Aaron Brackmann – Germany. Level 4.
166th, $0, 3 PP.
Under the new points structure, 101st down to 200th get a bonus point. At a Limited Pro Tour, that means there are plenty of people not making Day 2 but still battling for the extra point. Brackmann falls bang in the middle of this bracket, so although missing out on Day 2 won’t fill him with cheer, that bonus point could be important for his 2008 Pro Level come the back end of the season.
David Brucker – Germany. Level 4.
54th, $610, 4 PP.
A really solid Pro putting in a really solid Pro performance. A platform to build on.
Bernardo da Costa Cabral – Belgium. Level 3.
35th, $1,200, 5 PP.
Only one more point than Brucker, but double the money, and who wouldn’t want a thousand bucks for turning men sideways? Cabral was under the radar throughout the weekend… never doing anything spectacular, never in outright contention, but quietly beating enough people to come away with a nice finish. His commitment / availability is still an issue, but it’s clear that his stock rose in Geneva. Good job.
Pierre Canali – France. Level 3.
113th, $0, 3PP.
Making Day 2, getting a bonus Pro Point… that would be good news for plenty. But this was a stage where potentially Pierre could have demonstrated his Limited prowess to a worldwide audience, and in 113th place, you’d have to say he didn’t. Player of the Year prospects have receded.
Marcio Carvalho – Portugal. Level 3.
379th, $0, 2 PP.
Ouch.
Adam Chambers – USA. Level 3.
52nd, $630, 4 PP.
I hate being embarrassed, so I felt a little bit foolish when I realized I hadn’t even previewed Chambers. For a while, I thought I was going to reach as far as mortification, because Chambers was riding very high in the Day 1 standings. The scenario of the one Pro I didn’t talk about winning the whole thing would have been extremely poor, so I’m grateful to him for agreeing not to humiliate me so publicly. The check is, as they say, in the post. This was a decent performance overall, and Chambers is one player I’m looking forward to seeing more of as the year develops.
Tiago Chan – Portugal. Level 6.
77th, $0, 4 PP.
You can read this result so many ways. 77th is very tedious, since it leaves you just two places out of the money. Four points is obviously better than two, but doesn’t exactly leave your account flush heading into the Grand Prix season. Plus, at Level 6, shouldn’t you be marauding your way past lesser mortals? Here’s how I see it, and, even more importantly, here’s how Tiago Chan sees it. Going into Friday, he said that all he cared about was trying to get past the first day, and if he managed that, anything else was a bonus. At this point, we can discount the 77th versus 75th argument, since he wasn’t looking to make money here. He made Day 2, job done. But he got beyond the automatic Day 2 three points, and sneaked an extra. Job done. Now consider that he started the tournament 0-2, and had to win four matches in a row to make it into Day 2. Job well and truly done. My money is still firmly with him for Player of the Year, and I expect him to have more points by the time Yokahama rolls around.
Andre Coimbra – Portugal. Level 4.
91st, $0, 4 PP.
Having survived an elimination round scare on Day 1, plenty of people were looking for Coimbra to make a Day 2 run. Didn’t happen.
Kamiel Cornellisen – Netherlands. Level 4.
228th, $0, 2 PP.
He beat 160. He finished behind 227. When you’re a National Champion of a powerhouse nation, and captain of the World Team Champions, that’s not going to get you, or me, excited. A disappointing start to the season.
Thomas Didierjean – France. Level 3.
147th, $0, 3 PP.
Three Pro Points puts him firmly in the league of Level 3s, and that’s where I expect to find him throughout the year.
Willy Edel – Brazil. Level 5.
7th, $10,500, 12 PP.
Wow, can this guy play Magic. Second in Charleston, second in Kobe, played for Top 8 in the last round of Worlds, and now Top 8 again here. Over the first two days, Edel had built four table-busting decks, sandwiched around a less than optimal G/W affair that straddled Days 1 and 2 with a zero wins, one draw, two loss record. Unfortunately, it was that kind of deck that he ended up with on Super Sunday. G/U is a perfectly fine archetype, but splashing W for a pair of Whitemane Lions as your only two-drops? The boys in the booth called it the worst deck in the Top 8, and against Kenji Tsumura in the quarterfinals that was never going to be enough. Still, ten grand, yet another Top 8, and a very fine twelve Pro Points puts Edel firmly in the public eye for Player of the Year. We’ll know much more when we get to Yokohama, and see whether those twelve points look as chunky in the light of busy Grand Prix action.
Gerard Fabiano – USA. Level 3.
345th, $0, 2 PP.
“The more you play, the more fun you have.” So it’s a credit to Fabiano’s outlook that he was still smiling on Sunday after a pretty forgettable main event performance to start the year.
John Fiorillo – USA. Level 3.
340th, $0, 2 PP.
At least turning up ensured two Pro Points, but that’s as good as his weekend got.
Tsuyoshi Fujita – Japan. Level 3.
129th, $0, 3 PP.
Made it to Day 2, and then ended firmly rooted to the bottom end of the table. A hard to evaluate result, but I’m leaning towards a negative grade. Bouncing back on home turf in Yokohama will tell us much about the direction of 2007.
Osama Fujita – Japan. Level 3.
153rd, $0, 3 PP.
Didn’t make Day 2, but did enough for his bonus Point.
Sam Gomersall – England. Level 3.
120th, $0, 3 PP.
Sam built a fearsome reputation on the back of an incredible dedication to the game, and Magic Online in particular. So when you hear him talk about being “first on server,” you know that it’s time to discount him as a potential big name on the Pro circuit. Why? Because, like many before him, he has been taken from us by the phenomenon that is World of Warcraft. We may see him again this year, but finishing right near the bottom of the Day 2 brigade is a sure sign that Sam’s days as a Limited heavyweight are well and truly gone, at least for now.
Julien Goron – France. Level 3.
122nd, $0, 3 PP.
Made Day 2, and that’s probably a good result.
Roel van Heeswijk – Netherlands. Level 3.
88th, $0, 4 PP.
Got as far as Day 2, finished out of the money but in the top 25% of the field overall, and that’s good enough for me to suggest that there is indeed a breakout year ahead for the relatively unknown Dutchie. We’ll know more after Grand Prix: Amsterdam, where I look for him to pick up some more points.
Mark Herberholz – USA. Level 5.
40th, $950, 5 PP.
Those with memories may recall my Preview of Mark referring to the games store he owns. He doesn’t. He’s a student. Sorry about that. When you’ve won the first Pro Tour the previous year, it doesn’t take a genius to see that the only way is down. Oh alright then, or sideways. Bearing in mind that Honolulu was a Constructed PT, and that Geneva was of course Limited, this is a note-worthy performance. A thousand dollars or so, a chunky 5 Pro Points; this was a good weekend for the student who doesn’t own a games store. Another player who has reason to be optimistic going into the rest of the season.
Rich Hoaen – Canada. Level 5.
59th, $560, 4 PP.
There’s an old saying that sport is a game of inches, and the same applies to Magic. Moving from 3-2 to 4-2 can often be attributed to something as small as a missing 5th land, a missed one damage off a Pyromancer, or just not seeing that situational removal at the right time. Rich Hoaen started the weekend as one of the obvious favorites for the title, and spent most of Friday playing like one. But Day 2 was one of frustration for the Canadian Limited expert. Never able to quite marshal a run at the summit, Hoaen will have to be content with some consolatory cash, and the same Pro Points as Tiago Chan. And right there is the stark contrast – for Chan, four points was two more than expected. For Hoaen, with multiple Constructed events ahead, four Points must seem like a meager return.
Christian Huttenburger – Germany. Level 3.
DNS.
Itaru Ishida – Japan. Level 3.
DNS.
I told you he didn’t travel.
Klaus Dieter Jons – Germany. Level 3.
209th, $0, 2 PP.
Tediously close to the third Pro Point, Jons finished in the middle of the pack, and that seems about right.
Craig Jones – England. Level 4.
223rd, $0, 2 PP.
You have to hand it to the Professor. Having practiced fairly hard before Geneva, it was clear to Craig that winning the event wasn’t terribly likely. That’s British understatement, by the way. And yet, knowing that he was on a hiding to nothing, he still goes ahead and gives you the blow by blow account of his Day 1 in all it’s gory glory. And that has to be tough when all you want to do after four rounds of one win and three losses is go and crawl under the nearest available rock. So, in a way, the story of Constructed specialist fails to make Day 2 at Limited Pro Tour isn’t a story at all. The way he stated his intent to win Yokohama might turn out to be.
Tomohiro Kaji – Japan. Level 4.
DNS.
No show, no points, no comment.
Frank Karsten – Netherlands. Level 3.
38th, $1,050, 5 PP.
Like Bernardo da Costa Cabral, Frank never really got into the reckoning in Geneva. He had come with a plan, to draft U/W control, and that was good enough to finish well up the list. Unlike Cabral though, Frank is many people’s idea of a legitimate contender for Player of the Year, and with multiple Constructed PTs to come, there’s every reason to be happy with the 5 Pro Points already in the bank. Then there’s the fact that he may be in Dallas for Extended, and then Amsterdam for 2HG, and those five could grow considerably before Yokohama gives him another chance to shine on the world stage.
Shu Komuro – Japan. Level 3.
241st, $0, 2 PP.
This was an opportunity that Komuro didn’t seize, and went home with the same points as he sat down for round 1 with. A poor start to the season.
Craig Krempels – USA. Level 3.
46th, $730, 5 PP.
I hadn’t met Krempels before Geneva, and the image he presents is of a man who doesn’t really mind whether he wins or loses. Generally speaking, that isn’t the route to victory at Magic. So his 46th finish is pretty scary for those who sweat blood in an effort to secure Pro Points. It leaves open the possibility that he might suddenly decide to care, and that would potentially change his horizons for 2007. On the back of his outing here, I’m tempted to raise my prediction for him to Level 4.
Shingou Kurihara – Japan. Level 3.
4th, $14,000, 16 PP.
Oh yes, now that’s the way to start a Pro season. A bonkers amount of money, a first PT Top 8 appearance, a win under the lights, only losing to a giant of the game in Takuya Oosawa, guaranteed Level 3 status for 2008 – the list of reasons to like being Shingou Kurihara goes on and on. Perhaps the most significant fact is that he is part of a testing group that includes Oosawa and Tsumura. If the Japanese are telling you that he could be the next big thing, who am I to argue?
Osyp Lebedowicz – USA. Level 3.
30th, $1,450, 6 PP.
Osyp is one of a group of Pros who were looking to Geneva to point them in a direction for 2007. Do poorly, and the decision not to bother with Grand Prix events would be easy. Do well, and those trips become a more obvious good thing. So where does that leave Osyp? Having reached 9 wins and 2 losses, he was clearly frustrated not to have finished higher than 30th. However, $1,450 contributes to some flight costs, and 6 Pro Points is a decent start. So now we wait, first to see what happens at GP: Dallas, and then whether he makes the Transatlantic tour for GP: Amsterdam. If we see him at both of these, it may be time to take him very seriously.
Raphael Levy – France. Level 5.
33rd, $1,300, 5 PP.
Let me give you a choice. You can relentlessly be better than most people most of the time, consistently win fair amounts of money, be guaranteed Level 3 Pro status forever and ever amen, and have the respect of all your fellow Pros. Or, you can have a succession of poor finishes, be largely anonymous, only get one money finish each year, but that’s always in the Top 8 with a real shot at winning the whole thing. I suspect most of you would take option one. I know I would. Well, Raphael Levy has option one, and I reckon he’d swap. Geneva is a prime example of Levy’s history in the game. Draft 1, 2-1. Draft 2, 2-1. Draft 3, 2-1. Draft 4, 2-1. Draft 5, 2-1. Every time he sat down to draft he did better than most of his peers. And every single time he sat down to draft, he found someone better. So to most of us, 33rd looks pretty decent, even though 32nd would have generated a higher Pro Point return. But if you’re Levy, there’s a good chance you left Geneva extremely frustrated and irritated. Surely, sooner or later, there won’t be someone better.
Ben Lundquist – USA. Level 3.
324th, $0, 2 PP.
The new wave of U.S. Magic didn’t cause any ripples in Geneva. Needs a strong showing in Japan.
Nick Lovett – Wales. Level 3.
264th, $0, 2 PP.
Third place at Worlds doesn’t exactly leave a lot of room for improvement, but Lovett will certainly have wanted more than this early exit.
Rosario Maij – Germany. Level 3.
230th, $0, 2 PP.
An uninspiring start leaves me thinking that Level 3 is a realistic goal, and that much more probably isn’t.
Quentin Martin – England. Level 4.
10th, $6,500, 8 PP.
I suggested in my Preview that Quentin could turn out to be a genuine contender for the Player of the Year title. In order for that to be valid, he would need a strong finish in Geneva. 10th place certainly counts, although you suspect he might have hoped for Top 8 before the tournament started. Quentin received a game loss late on Day 2 for mis-registration of his fifth draft deck. I’m not going to tell you that it cost him his Top 8 place, because Ervin Tormos gave him a fairly comprehensive beating in some “friendly” games once the actual match was won. But for players at any level to misregister a deck is, at best, daft. To misregister a deck on the cusp of a finals appearance seems bordering on the criminal. Please don’t do it again.
Chris McDaniel – USA. Level 3.
89th, $0, 4 PP.
Inside the top quarter of the field, McDaniel made a solid start to 2007. I believe the jury is still out on his overall prospects, but clearly he’s already on target for Level 3.
Jan-Moritz Merkel – Germany. Level 3.
224th, $0, 2 PP.
Now this was a disappointment and no mistake. When you’re the winner from Kobe, beating Willy Edel in the process, you would certainly be looking to make it into Day 2 as a minimum return on your weekend. So 224th, no money, no extra Pro Points, and no hint of the form that took you to a title in 2006, not good. Back to the drawing board with Constructed ahead.
Makahito Mihara – Japan. Level 5.
16th, $3,750, 8 PP.
Very nice, thank you. As World Champion, Mihara had a surprising amount to prove coming into the 2007 season, and making it into the Top 16 here is a good indication that his Paris win was about rather more than good metagame choices. When you come from a powerhouse nation, it’s easy to slip under the radar, and even in Geneva there were at least three stories – Oosawa, Tsumura, and Kurihara – that would leave Mihara in relative obscurity. The next step is to make the right deck choice again for Yokohama, and from there things could get very interesting very quickly for the reigning World Champion. A very good weekend.
Kazuya Mitamura – Japan. Level 3.
169th, $0, 3 PP.
A typical Level 3 performance. Not ghastly, not great, not Day 2, one extra Point. Next.
Billy Moreno – USA. Level 3.
198th, $0, 3 PP.
A smart man, Billy had a good read on the 2007 season. On the plus side, multiple Constructed events were going to enhance his prospects. He understood that Grand Prix finishes were going to seriously contribute to any title bid. And he also understood that without a fast start to the year, it would be hard to justify speculative trips to those events. And on the negative side, Geneva would start the year with Limited. Therefore, Moreno’s goals were clear going into the first draft. Make it out of the Day 1 bloodbath, take part in his first ever Limited Day 2, and see how many points he ended up with. All well and good, except for the making it through the Day 1 bloodbath. The small crumb of comfort is that extra Pro Point, but whether or not that’s enough for him to clamber aboard another transatlantic flight en route for Amsterdam remains to be seen. Judging by the scramble for extra points that we saw at the tail end of last year’s competition, my advice would be to bite the bullet early, and get the points while they’re there.
Katsuhiro Mori – Japan. Level 4.
9th, $7,500, 8 PP.
Rumor has it that finishing ninth is the worst spot to finish at any Pro Tour. I have no experience of finishing 9th at a Pro Tour, but I do have experience of finishing 322nd and 293rd (approximately), and I’m here to tell you that 9th seems a bit, you know, better. $7,500 is 7,500 reasons to like finishing 9th. Eight Pro Points is a terrific start to a campaign. And most importantly, this isn’t a case of someone turning up for their first ever shot at a money finish. This is a man who is going to be high up the standings in event after event, and of the likely top dozen or so come the Autumn, these eight Points are going to look very big. A serious statement of intent, only derailed by the fun of tiebreakers. Let me spell it out. Mori is very very good.
Masahiko Morita – Japan. Level 3.
DNS.
I said he was a man to watch, but apparently not in Geneva, because he didn’t turn up.
Chikara Nakajima – Japan. Level 3.
281st, $0, 2 PP.
An also-ran here, and unlikely to challenge more illustrious counterparts on this evidence.
Shuhei Nakamura – Japan. Level 6.
167th, $0, 3 PP.
With two-thirds of the field not making it past the second draft, it was inevitable that there would be some big name casualties. And they don’t come bigger than Level 6 mage Nakamura. A more positive spin on what can only be described as a stumbling start to the campaign would be to point to that precious bonus Pro Point. When you make Level 6, you don’t suddenly stop being able to play, so there’s still grounds for optimism. But looking at the points already in the bank for compatriots Oosawa and Tsumura, Yokohama is going to be a very important weekend indeed.
Gabriel Nassif – France. Level 4.
253rd, $0, 2 PP.
A forgettable weekend on the playing front is overshadowed by this news – Nassif is proposing to devote some time to Magic this year. Last time he did this he went from naught to Contender at Worlds in Paris from a standing start. Once a dominating force in Constructed, there’s plenty of grounds for optimism as the season hits full swing. It’s too early to talk about Player of the Year – I’d want to see at least a reasonable finish in somewhere like Amsterdam for that – but you can start looking for Nassif’s name near the top of the leaderboard once again.
Julien Nuijten – Netherlands. Level 4.
102nd, $0, 3 PP.
It was a rocky road for the ex-World Champion that came in broadly three parts. First, he slipped to 0-2. Second, he wins four on the bounce to make Day 2. And third, he stays stuck in the lower reaches, finally finishing irritatingly outside the top 100. So although that second part of Day 1 gave us an indication of the form he can produce, the rest of the weekend left him trailing plenty of big names. I think his season could be determined in advance of the next Pro Tour in Japan, with multiple Grand Prix tournaments likely to show us if he’s in the kind of form to make a serious impact.
Ryo Ogura – Japan. Level 4.
115th, $0, 3 PP.
Hmm. A very similar result to Nuijten, both Level 4, both making Day 2, both falling outside the top 100. And yet Ogura’s result feels about right, and Nuijten’s a disappointment. Which explains why I previewed Nuijten, and not Ogura, as a potential Player of the Year.
Masashi Oiso – Japan. Level 3.
DNS.
It seems that Magic isn’t a priority in Oiso’s life as it once was. If we don’t see him in Yokohama, it may be some time. But maybe the home PT kickstarts a season. I’m not holding my breath.
Wessel Oomens – Netherlands. Level 3.
55th, $600, 4 PP
The winner of last year’s GP: Malmo has a pretty even temperament, and tends to greet you with a smile, win lose or draw. Even so, I suspect he’ll be quietly satisfied with this Day 2 performance that saw him finish in the top half of the Day 2 pack, and with a nice chunk of dollars to contribute to the travel ahead. At least GP: Amsterdam won’t set him back much, since he lives there. A good start to the year.
Takuya Oosawa – Japan. Level 5.
2nd, $22,000, 20 PP.
It wasn’t exactly the boldest prediction of all time to say that Oosawa would be a likely top 10 finisher in the Player of the Year Race. Even if you’d said he’d make Top 8 here in Geneva, you wouldn’t really be challenging Nostradamus for stargazing. However, I don’t care how good you are, getting back to the final in defense of your equivalent title a year ago – he won PT: Prague with Ravnica block – is just silly. In fact, here’s my advice – when evaluating Oosawa in future, imagine that he actually did win PT: Geneva 2007, because he was only a hair’s breadth away from that being true, and you can’t count on him not knowing what Spectral Force actually does next time. By any measure this was a sparkling display. Eventual winner Mike Hron may be hard to evaluate as a potential Player of the Year, and the other two Japanese players in the top 4, Tsumura and Kurihara, may turn out to be more of a threat, but the odds on Oosawa being on top of the pile come December have shortened. A lot.
John Pelcak – USA. Level 3.
152nd, $0, 3 PP.
The extra Pro Point will be welcome on a weekend that didn’t quite deliver that crucial Day 2 appearance.
Bastien Perez – France. Level 3.
86th, $0, 4 PP.
Just outside the money, this was still a solid start, leaving plenty of very big names behind him.
Johnathon Rispal – France. Level 3.
330th, $0, 2 PP.
I suggested in my Preview for the year that Rispal could really do with a fast start to banish the memories of Paris Worlds 2006. In case you’re uncertain, this wasn’t it.
Carlos Romao – Brazil. Level 3.
107th, $0, 3 PP.
Being a former World Champion, it must be hard to be currently in the shadow of the dominating pair in Brazilian Magic, Willy Edel and Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa. Nonetheless, making the cut to Day 2 won’t have done his confidence any harm, and, given the general air of optimism around the home scene, this might be a quiet indicator that he’s on his way back up the lists.
Antonino de Rosa – USA. Level 4.
87th, $0, 4 PP.
Another who fell just short of making money, I’m guessing that’s precisely 12 places worse than de Rosa was looking for at the start of the weekend. Cash or no cash, those four Pro Points still look pretty healthy, and with strength across multiple formats (as witnessed by his back to back Top 8s at U.S. Nationals, including victory in 2005) I expect him to progress further in Yokohama.
Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa – Brazil. Level 6.
66th, $490, 4 PP.
This was a strange week all round for the Brazilian star. Any time you wake up on a coach and suddenly see snow out of the window for the first time in your life, that has to put Magic into some kind of perspective. Fair play, he stuck it out on the ski trip, and was pretty much the last man back, having been up down up down up down non-stop. Very impressive. Day 1 of the PT was less exciting, with a 6th round bubble match victory sneaking him into Day 2. From there, things improved, and although he could legitimately have been dreaming of overall victory before the tournament started, 66th and $500 or so isn’t exactly shabby. Therefore, my guess is that he’ll probably shrug and move on, the only real dampener being the large Pro Points garnered by Tsumura and Oosawa in particular.
Antoine Ruel – France. Level 5.
260th, $0, 2 PP.
If this is to be Antoine Ruel year, the year’s going to start in March, because February was not good times. Putting money on Ruel making Day 2 appeared a perfectly reasonable option, but it sure didn’t turn out that way. A prime example then of a brutal format taking down a big name. He’ll be back in a big way, and probably before Yokohama. Watch for him in Amsterdam, because Antoine Ruel plus Insert-Name-Here is a good Two-Headed Giant team.
Olivier Ruel – France. Level 4.
44th, $775, 5 PP.
Wow. This is the man who stared into the abyss, and said, “Nah.”’ Understand that the abyss was figurative and the quote made up, but the way that Olivier came roaring back from near-extinction on 0-2 to finish up with plenty-o-cash, and 5 Pro Points, really is the stuff champions are made of. That’s before we even start discussing neck braces, pain, painkillers…. truly, I believe that this may yet turn out to be one of the great, and most significant, personal performances of 2007. “In 2007, expect Oliver Ruel to play for keeps” I said in this very column, and while I can generally resist an I-told-you-so (often because I didn’t tell you so), nobody who witnessed his granite-like resistance to being swept out of the tournament can be in any doubt. Ruel is back in business, and he does indeed mean business. Thou hast been warned. Here endeth the lesson.
Johan Sadeghpour – Sweden. Level 4.
19th, $3,000, 7 PP.
Note to self – must talk to Johan Sadeghpour in Yokohama. Nobody talks about him, I’ve not noticed him talking about himself, and yet he keeps being seriously good. Is self-effacement a national characteristic? Does he in fact even exist? I shall not return from Japan without finding out. Unless he doesn’t turn up, obviously.
Tomaharu Saitou – Japan. Level 6.
17th, $3,500, 7 PP.
Level 6 was no accident last year, and 17th was no accident here. When your countrymen are three of the first four, it’s kind of easy to blend into the background. Fact is, those 7 Pro Points are virtually as good as a quarterfinal berth, and the money might just persuade him to travel in search of more. We know he can stay the course, so this is just what the doctor ordered.
Ryouma Shiozu – Japan. Level 3.
227th, $0, 2 PP.
An improvement on home territory would be nice. Without one, level 3 again would be looking like a lot of hard work.
Rasmus Sibast – Denmark. Level 3.
206th, $0, 2 PP.
Six places split Rasmus Sibast from some semblance of an okay weekend. That’s six more than none, and that means Geneva was thoroughly forgettable for the Dane.
Geoffrey Siron – Belgium. Level 4.
164th, $0, 3 PP.
I’m constantly amazed by first time players on the Tour who, having played in their own country for X years, finally win a PT Qualifier, and then think that they’re going to win the whole thing. One word – behave. Of course there are a few first timers who are destined for greatness, and Kai, Jon and Co. all sat down for the first time once upon a time. But look, truly boys and girls, chances are it ain’t happenin’, and here’s a prime case in point. Siron is a PT winner. A Limited PT winner. He gets to 3-2, and then faces Bernardo da Costa Cabral for Day 2. Cabral isn’t a PT winner, but the fact that he’s in this list means he’s definitely inside the best 150 or so guys on the planet. That’s who you have to beat just to make Day 2, when you’re a PT winner? That’s harsh. So Siron goes home, Cabral gets some bonus points, and the circus rolls on. If you think 3-3 on Day 1 of a PT means you’re rubbish, start by talking to Siron. You might learn something.
John Sittner – USA. Level 3.
121st, $0, 3 PP.
Well, I learned something this PT. Sittner is the Man with the Cows. For those of you who didn’t listen to the audio podcasts from Geneva – for shame – Sittner sits down every round with a pair of plastic cows on his side of the table. It turns out that the cows belong to a friend back home, who, I kid you not, keeps a mileage tracker on their jetsetting lifestyle. As far as I’m concerned, this is major plus points to Mr Sittner. And even more bonus points, because he’s the first winner of the Quote of the Week. I asked him exactly what we meant by the term “metagame.” I’m fairly certain that hundreds of articles have been devoted to this very topic. Here’s his three-word definition: “Who Takes What.” And that ladies and gentlemen is the best definition you’ll hear ever, or your money back.
Bram Snepvangers – Netherlands. Level 4.
178th, $0, 3 PP.
An ultimately frustrating start to the year. I’m not sure who he plans to Two-Headed Giant with, but whoever it is, Bram could do with a boost in Amsterdam prior to the long haul to Yokohama.
Terry Soh – Malaysia. Level 3.
294th, $0, 2 PP.
Two less than wonderful drafts, one long trip home.
Jon Sonne – USA. Level 3.
25th, $1,400, 6 PP.
Given that the eventual winner was American, performances like this are going to be completely ignored. Except by someone like me, who thinks that 6 Pro Points is a definite rallying call to supporters of Sonne. I previewed him as a likely candidate to level up. It’s tempting to go further in the light of Geneva, and suggest that we may see him high on several leaderboards as the season progresses. I hadn’t met him before, and, truth be told, I was impressed. So should you be.
Helmut Summersberger – Austria. Level 5.
83rd, $0, 4 PP.
Another who finished within touching distance of the money, but had to make do with twice as many Pro Points as most. If Level 5 is the target again, I guess you could be disappointed by this result, but otherwise this seems pretty decent.
Gadiel Szleifer – USA. Level 3.
137th, $0, 3 PP.
At 130th, Szleifer would be celebrating Day 2, another bonus Pro Point, and could look to Constructed in Japan with anticipation. 137th meant no Day 2, and an unfulfilled feeling about the first PT of 2007.
Guillaume Wafo-Tapa – France. Level 4.
14th, $4,500, 8 PP.
I watched this man in the Top 8 of a GP last year, drawing land, land, land, land, more land, then some land, land, land… and then he lost. I was sitting a foot away and I swear you could not tell what he was drawing. He sat there, measured, inscrutable, and let his opponent get on with the business of fearing a handful of game-winning spells. So now I’m going to add four things together and make 13. First, he plays hard, even in catastrophic situations. Second, he played here for the Top 8, and finished a most excellent 14th. Third, he didn’t just invent the Niv-Mizzet Constructed deck, he had one heck of a hand in Dralnu du Louvre – that’s the U/B control deck of choice in Standard. And fourth, he told me that he proposes to really try to be good at Magic this year, and devote time to the game. It’s only one event, but I’ll quietly wager that The Quiet Man of Magic could be about to make a lot of noise on the world stage. A standout performance.
Amiel Tenenbaum – France. Level 3.
39th, $1,000, 5 PP.
Like Chambers, I didn’t Preview Amiel. Unlike Chambers, I had a reason. In truth, I didn’t expect him to be in Geneva, or more accurately, I didn’t expect him to be allowed to be in Geneva. It seems clear that the story I got from Worlds was exaggerated – it seems that no judges were in fact offered a free near-death experience – and therefore, in all fairness, I must state with complete straightforwardness that Amiel’s disqualification was and is the end of the matter. Meanwhile, you can see where he gets his reputation for passion. He’s definitely another who really cares about winning. One day soon, there’s going to be a real clash of the titans, let’s say Amiel versus Olivier Ruel or Geoffrey Siron or Julien Nuijten or…Oh hell, I just want to watch him play some more. Like juggling hand grenades, it’s never dull.
Sebastian Thaler – Germany. Level 4.
18th, $3,250, 7 PP.
Batman time – Biff. Blam. Pow. Splat. Kerspew.
And now Judge Dredd time – Aiiiiieeeeee!!! N-nooooo!!!
Have I gone mad? No, I’m mad already, but this was the only way I could think of to sum up the Rookie of the Year’s last round in Geneva. In the very last round, he’s paired against Kenji Tsumura, who is already guaranteed a spot in the Top 8. So if Kenji scoops up his permanents, Thaler is in for the first Super Sunday of 2007. Unfortunately, although Thaler gets on well with Kenji, he isn’t Japanese. Perhaps he should consider applying, because boy did that fact cost him. With other Japanese players hovering in the mix for a possible slot at the final table, Tsumura did what Tsumura does – beat his opponent. So that’s the Batman bit – Thaler was beaten black and blue in a match he might not have had to play. Now comes the Judge Dredd moment – the standings are revealed, and Thaler hasn’t just been booted from the Top 8, he’s been kicked out of the top 16. That’s an astonishing fall. Frankly, I’d have been in bits if I was ever good enough at Magic for that to happen to me. Now, having said all that, while he may or may not be able to treat that last round with equanimity, I can, and here’s the thing: whatever the outcome against Kenji, Thaler demonstrated here that he is a new force in European Magic, and that next time he may not be waiting on a last round pairing to have his way.
Mike Thompson – USA. Level 3.
331st, $0, 2 PP.
Boy, am I ever the fount of all knowledge? In my preview, I told you I knew virtually nothing about him. Now I’ve met him. He’s a nice guy, a manager at a retail store, he can ski, and he came 331st. As Gershwin put it, who could ask for anything more?
Kenji Tsumura – Japan. Level 5.
3rd, $15,000, 16 PP.
So Kenji still hasn’t won a Pro Tour. I guess he cares, but in terms of the Player of the Year Race, 16 Pro Points is about as good as it gets. While Oosawa and Hron have an early lead, Kenji can look down with significant satisfaction at the big names far below him in the early going. Perhaps he didn’t like the idea of being “only” Level 5. Whatever, we may be watching a man who will come to be known as the greatest. Personally I doubt that, as Kai’s conversion rate at the top tables may never be beaten. This was a virtuoso display, and anyone who thinks they’re going to beat Kenji this year needs to bring their A game, and pray for mulligans. He could be that good.
Ruud Warmenhoven – Netherlands. Level 4.
64th, $510, 4 PP.
Halfway up the Day 2 table seems about right. The money’s nice, the points are reasonable, the finishing position uninspiring, but better than most. Sort of Level 4 really.
Jelger Wiegersma – Netherlands. Level 5.
167th, $0, 3 PP.
Taken as a whole, the Dutch didn’t have a huge amount to shout about in Geneva, and individually Wiegersma had pretty much nothing. Day 2 would have been a minimum return, so it’s hard to find consolation in that third Pro Point. A good performance at GP: Amsterdam would get things back on the rails in time for Yokohama.
Shouta Yasooka – Japan. Level 6.
334th, $0, 2 PP.
Alright, I’m nearly done, but I’m weakening, and can’t resist another Preview quote, “The reigning 2006 Player of the Year will be hard pressed to repeat the feat.” Er, yes, apparently. 334th is a proper basement horror show of serious proportions, and for any kind of defense to be mounted, Yasooka needs points in Japan very very badly. Because players like Kenji and Oosawa will add to their tally in Yokohama, and that’s not good news. And neither was Geneva.
Celso Zampere – Brazil. Level 3.
DNS.
Can I make this my shortest entry? Shorter than ‘ouch’? No.
That’s the list as it stood going into the 2007 season. Our 80 players made up half the Top 8 in Geneva. Of the other four, Marijn Lybaert announced himself on the biggest stage, and had sub-optimal draws against Hron in the quarterfinals. Jim Herold showed that an old dog doesn’t need to learn new tricks, Ervin Tormos would have been the U.S. story apart from one thing, and Mike Hron was that one thing. Now I’ve heard it said that Pros are arrogant. There are probably examples of that being true. And then there’s self-belief. Let’s see which applies to Hron. Going into Sunday, he said this, “ I feel pretty good about my chances. I think I’ve had the best deck in every draft I’ve done this weekend.” Okay, is that self-belief or arrogance? Read it again. If you said arrogance, you should read it again, and again, until you see that he talks about his decks being the best, not necessarily him being the best. You may think this doesn’t make much difference, but to Hron it makes all the difference in the world. He knows that Magic has lots of luck in it, and that not everyone gets to open Spectral Force, or have their opponent not have a land to kill them with. He just wanted to do his best, and that, quite apart from anything else, makes him a worthy winner.
Alas, my time here is done. The shameless plug crew have insisted that I point you towards my audio review of Geneva over on MagicTheGathering.com, but Eli Kaplan already done a very generous job of doing exactly that. So, until we meet again for Grand Prix: Amsterdam, play hard and play fair.
As ever, thanks for your time,
R.