The 2000–01 Pro Tour season was the sixth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 23 September 2000 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Sapporo and Porto. It ended on 12 August 2001 with the conclusion of the 2001 World Championship in Toronto. The season consisted of 27 Grand Prixs and 6 Pro Tours, held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Barcelona, and Toronto. Also special Master Series tournaments were held at four Pro Tours. These tournaments featured huge cash prizes, but were open to only 32 players. At the end of the season Kai Budde was proclaimed Pro Player of the Year, making him the only player to win the title more than once.
Pro Tour – New York (29 September – 1 October 2000)
New York was the second team Pro Tour. Scott Johns made his fifth final day appearance. His team, "Potato Nation", did not lose a match throughout the tournament.[1] At PT New York the master series had its debut. This was a tournament series featuring huge cash prizes, but open only to the very best players in the world. The 25 players with the most Pro Points and the 5 Players with the highest rating in the format of the Masters were invited. Additionally a gateway tournament was held on the day before the Pro Tour. In that tournament each Pro Player with at least six Pro Points could compete for one of two additional slots.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $202,200
Players: 330 (110 teams)
Format: Team Sealed (Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Mercadian Masques-Nemesis-Prophecy) – final two days
Head Judge: Dan Gray[2]
Chicago was the first Pro Tour featuring the Standard format since Dallas more than four years before. In a top eight which is considered to be one of the best ever,[1]Kai Budde won the title against Kamiel Cornelissen. He thus became the third player to win two Pro Tours. With the exception of Jay Elarar, every player in the top eight now has at least three Pro Tour top eights, including a win. In the Masters event Ben Rubin defeated Jon Finkel in the final.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $200,130
Players: 332
Format: Standard
Head Judge: Mike Donais[2]
The 2001 Pro Tour Los Angeles was the last Pro Tour held on the Queen Mary, were all previous Pro Tours in Los Angeles had been held. In a final eight featuring three players, who had also been amongst the last eight in Chicago, Michael Pustilnik took the title and thus the lead in the Pro Player of the year standings.[1] Kamiel Cornelissen also made his second consecutive second place Pro Tour finish, the first person to do so in Pro Tour history.[1]
The 2001 Pro Tour Tokyo saw a number of interesting firsts for the Pro Tour. Canadian player Ryan Fuller became the first player to go undefeated in the Swiss rounds of a Pro Tour, finishing with a 14-0 record.[1] Also, Tsuyoshi Fujita became the first Japanese player to make a Pro Tour Top 8.[1] Ultimately it was future Hall of Fame member Zvi Mowshowitz who would take the title, winning his first individual Pro Tour.
Tournament data
Players: 270
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Invasion Block Constructed (Invasion, Planeshift)
Head Judge: Chris Zantides[2]
In Barcelona Kai Budde became the first player to win three Pro Tours overall and also the first to win two Pro Tours in a single season.[1]Ben Rubin won the Masters and thus became the only player to win two Masters tournaments.
Tournament data
Players: 335
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Booster Draft (Invasion-Planeshift)
Head Judge: Thomas Bisballe[2]
Tom Van de Logt won the World Championship while the United States took the team title. The final eight featured amongst several rather unknown players Antoine Ruel, Tommi Hovi, Mike Turian and David Williams, who had the dubious honour of becoming the first player to be disqualified from a Top 8.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $210,200 (individual) + $189,000 (national teams)
Players: 296
Formats: Standard, Rochester Draft (Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse), Extended
Head Judge: Mike Donais[2]
* John Ormerod did not actually play in the final eight. When David Williams was disqualified he advanced to the eight place in the final standings, though.
National team competition
United States (Trevor Blackwell, Brian Hegstad, Eugene Harvey)
Norway (Nicolai Herzog, Oyvind Odegaard, Jan Pieter Groenhof)
Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Kai Budde was awarded the Pro Player of the year title. He thus became the first player to win the title more than once.
Kai Budde
Katsuhiro Mori
Tom Van de Logt
Scott Johns
Gary Wise
Antoine Ruel
Benedikt Klauser
Erno Ekebom
Frederico Bastos
Nicolai Herzog
Albertus Law
Yuri Kolomeyko
Andrea Santin
Jan Tomcani
John Ormerod
United States (Trevor Blackwell, Brian Hegstad, Eugene Harvey)
Norway (Nicolai Herzog, Oyvind Odegaard, Jan Pieter Groenhof)