William Jensen, Director of Play Programs at Wizards of the Coast, announced this weekend at Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 that the Magic: The Gathering Player of the Year trophy will be named after Kai Budde.
Before the Pro Tour Top 8 was announced, Jensen revealed that Budde, the seven-time Pro Tour winner and four-time Player of the Year, was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago and things recently have taken a turn for the worse. To honor the German Juggernaut, Jensen announced starting this year, the Player of the Year trophy will be named the Kai Budde Player of the Year trophy.
A couple years ago Kai was diagnosed with cancer. Despite some ups and downs in his recovery process, recently things have taken a turn for the worse. So with Kai’s blessing, we wanted to take some time this weekend to make sure to honor Kai, his contributions to Magic, and his absolutely unparalleled record across all of competitive play.”
William Jensen, Director of Play Programs at WotC
Budde, who is 44, has top finishes spanning four decades. On top of his seven Pro Tour titles and four Player of the Year trophies, his Hall-of-Fame career also includes a World Championship victory, a Masters Series title, seven Grand Prix wins, and a win at the Magic: The Gathering Invitational, where he earned his likeness on a card: Voidmage Prodigy.
Budde spoke briefly following Jensen’s announcement, where he noted he hopes to attend a few more tournaments with however much time he has left. “I cant imagine what my life would have been without playing Magic: The Gathering,” Budde said. “I am eternally thankful for Wizards of the Coast to enshrining my name in the history of the game like this.”
Before the Pro Tour finals on Sunday, the tournament broadcast aired a career retrospective with interviews from Budde and many of his peers, including Jon Finkel, Luis Scott-Vargas, Reid Duke, Seth Manfield, and Gabriel Nassif. The segment starts at an hour and four minutes in the video below.
Budde reflected on his career and cancer diagnosis, “It makes you think what you did with your life and what your accomplishments are,” he said. “And in my case that’s clearly Magic. These titles. these results. That’s my legacy and I’m incredibly proud of that.”
Budde had a rough performance in the Pro Tour this weekend, but capped off the event by winning a PTQ on Sunday which will qualify him for the first Pro Tour of 2025.
The 2023-2024 Player of the Year title will be earned at the World Championship in October at MagicCon: Las Vegas. The Kai Budde Player of the Year trophy will be awarded at the first Pro Tour of the 2024-2025 season.
Read the official announcement from WotC.
