The 2001–02 Pro Tour season was the seventh season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 18 August 2001 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Kobe and Denver. It ended on 18 August 2002 with the conclusion of the 2002 World Championship in Sydney. The season consisted of 33 Grand Prixs and 6 Pro Tours, held in New York, New Orleans, San Diego, Osaka, Nice, and Sydney. Also Master Series tournaments were held at four Pro Tours. At the end of the season Kai Budde was proclaimed Pro Player of the Year, winning the title by a record margin.
Grand Prixs – Kobe, Denver, Santiago, Singapore, London
GP Kobe (18–19 August) Itaru Ishida Shuhei Nakamura Kei Ikeda Takayuki Nagaoka Hiroshi Kawasaki Ryo Ogura Takumi Hasegawa Kenshiro Ito
GP Denver (18–19 August) Brett Shears Danny Mandel Brock Parker Darwin Kastle Sammy Batarseh Mike Abraham Aaron Knobloch Alex Borteh
GP Santiago (25–26 August) Matias Gabrenja Gerardo Godinez Jorge Rodriguez Jose Echeverria Rodrigo Sanchez Brock Parker Andrés Hojman Juan Ruetter
GP Singapore (1–2 September) Albertus Law Kelvin Yew Teck Hoon Akuma Ding Yuen Leong Michihisa Onoda Royce Ming Huang Chai Lance Chin Wei Yeong David Kwan Chang Chua
GP London (1–2 September) Kai Budde Gabriel Nassif Helmut Summersberger Matt Henstra Warren Marsh René Kraft Antoine Ruel Pierre Malherbaud
Pro Tour – New York (7–9 September 2001)
New York was the third time Pro Tour was held in the Team Limited format. Car Acrobatic Team who had been amongst the Top 4 at the previous team Pro Tour returned for another Top 4. The event was won by team Phoenix Foundation consisting of Kai Budde, Dirk Baberowski, and Marco Blume. It was Baberowski's second win and Budde's fourth. The final was also a repeat to the final of Grand Prix London a week before, where Budde had already won against Nassif. Eventually Kai's renewed success led to some memorable quotes. Asked about the favorite to win amongst the final 4 several pros exclaimed something to the extent of the words Gary Wise pronounced, "Kai doesn't lose on Sunday". Randy Buehler's comment "if he wins New Orleans, I guess he is" on the discussion whether Kai is the best player in the history of the game also became a classic when Kai indeed won PT New Orleans.
Tournament data Prize pool: $202,200 Players: 426 (142 teams) Format: Invasion Team Sealed (Invasion, Planeshift, Apocalypse) – first day, Invasion Team Rochester Draft (Invasion-Planeshift-Apocalypse) – final two days Head Judge: Collin Jackson
Top 4
Final standings
PlaceTeamPlayerPrizePro PointsComment1Phoenix Foundation Marco Blume$60,00024 Dirk Baberowski243rd Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win Kai Budde244th Final day, 4th Pro Tour win2Les Plus Class Amiel Tenenbaum$30,00018Pro Tour debut Gabriel Nassif18 Nicolas Olivieri183Illuminati* Justin Gary$18,000122nd Final day Zvi Mowshowitz124th Final day Alex Shvartsman124Car Acrobatic Team Aaron Forsythe$15,000122nd Final day Andrew Cuneo122nd Final day Andrew Johnson122nd Final day
* The team entered the tournament as "My Team Part 17", but decided they wanted to have more serious name as a Top4 team and changed it to "Illuminati".
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Kai Budde302 Dirk Baberowski24 Marco Blume244 Gabriel Nassif235 Nicholas Olivieri18 Amiel Tenenbaum18
Grand Prixs – Warsaw, Minneapolis, Oslo, Vienna, Cape Town, Shizuoka, Montreal, Brisbane
GP Warsaw (8–9 September) Rickard Österberg Michal Marcik David Linder Mattias Kettil Przemek Oberbek Marcin Sados Felix Schneiders Roman Kubera
GP Oslo (22–23 September) Trey Van Cleave Anton Jonsson Johan Backfjärd Sigurd Eskeland Svante Landgraf Rickard Österberg Peter Laier Haakon Monsen
GP Minneapolis (29–30 September) Dave Humpherys Andrew Wolf Brian Hegstad Brian Davis Craig Wescoe Cassius Weatherby Lee Curtis Jacob Janoska
GP Vienna (6–7 October) Stephan Meyer Eivind Nitter Nicolai Herzog Gabor Papp Matthias Künzler Holger Meinecke Konrad Zawadzki Ladoslav Zupancic
GP Cape Town (6–7 October) Ben Seck Wagner Kruger Justin Polin Grant van Dyk Andrew Mitchell Pieter Loubser Robert Thompson Peter Klein
GP Shizuoka (13–14 October) Kohei Yamadaya Masahiko Morita Ryouma Shiozu Olivier Ruel Katsuhiro Mori Tsuyoshi Douyama Reiji Ando Eiho Kato
GP Montreal (13–14 October) Mike Turian Louis Boileau Timothy McKenna Brett Shears David Rood Bob Maher, Jr. Peter Szigeti Daniel Clegg
GP Brisbane (20–21 October) Richard Johnston Roger Miller Alex Shvartsman Egidio De Gois Lenny Collins Dante Rosati Pang Ming Wee Daniel Romans
Pro Tour – New Orleans (2–4 November 2001)
After winning Pro Tour New York Kai Budde won New Orleans as well, making him the only player to win back to back Pro Tours. His fifth Pro Tour victory also made him the record money-earner and erased almost all doubt, that Budde is the best player in the history of the game.
Tournament data Prize pool: $200,130 Players: 355 Format: Extended Head Judge: Mike Guptil
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Kai Budde$30,000325th Final day, 5th Pro Tour win2 Tomi Walamies$20,000243 Jelger Wiegersma$15,000164 Dave Humpherys$13,000163rd Final day5 Anton Jonsson$9,500126 Raphaël Gennary$8,500121st Swiss Player in a Top 87 Darwin Kastle$7,500126th Final day8 Benedikt Klauser$6,500124th Final day
Masters – Booster Draft
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Kai Budde622 Tomi Walamies353 Marco Blume324 Gabriel Nassif285 Dave Humpherys26
Grand Prixs – Hong Kong, Atlanta, Biarritz, Curitiba, Las Vegas, Sendai, Houston
GP Hong Kong (17–18 November) Jeff Fung Frederick Salazar Tsuyoshi Fujita Shinsuke Hayashi Bayani Manansala, Jr. Steven Shears Brian Hegstad Ryan Fuller
GP Atlanta (17–18 November) Eugene Harvey Andrew Johnson Brad Swan Matt Linde Bin Chen Antonino De Rosa Craig Wescoe Alex Borteh
GP Biarritz (24–25 November) Nicolas Labarre Kai Budde Lucio Moratinos Joost Vollebregt Ferran Vila Alexander Witt Alexis Dumay Olivier Ruel
GP Curitiba (8–9 December) Guilherme Svaldi Alex Shvartsman Antoine Ruel Leopoldo Martins Raphael Gunther Jose Barbero José Mangueira Eliton Enacio
GP Las Vegas (8–9 December) Michael Pustilnik Adam Lane John Balla Sean Fitzgerald Kaare Anderson Rob Dougherty Shannon Krumick Scott Gerhardt
GP Sendai (15–16 December) Kazuaki Arahori Kazuya Hirabayashi Mike Long Yuki Murakami Itaru Ishida Kazufumi Abe Jin Okamoto Katsuhiro Mori
GP Houston (5–6 January) Joshua Smith Brian Kibler William Jensen Ben Rubin Bob Maher, Jr. Alex Shvartsman Jonathan Pechon Jonathan Job
Pro Tour – San Diego (11–13 January 2002)
The 2002 was won by the French Farid Meraghni. It was the first time a French player won a major tournament after several French players coming in second at Worlds and Pro Tours. Also the tournament is known for Magic veteran Eric Taylor literally eating his hat due to losing a bet about Kai Budde winning Pro Tour New Orleans. Canadian player Ryan Fuller won the Masters.
Tournament data
Players: 348 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Odyssey Rochester Draft (Odyssey) Head Judge: Mike Donais
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Farid Meraghni$30,000321st Frenchmen to win a Pro Tour2 Jens Thorén$20,000243 Donnie Gallitz$15,000164 Andrew Wolf$13,000162nd Final day5 Jeff Cunningham$9,000126 Frederico Bastos$8,500122nd Final day7 Neil Reeves$8,000128 Eric Froehlich$7,50012
Masters – Standard
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Kai Budde802 Jens Thorén403 Farid Meraghni384 Tomi Walamies345 Marco Blume33
Grand Prixs – Lisbon, Heidelberg, Fukuoka, Tampa, Antwerp
GP Lisbon (19–20 January) Kai Budde Patrick Mello Olivier Ruel Marcio Carvalho Stefano Fiore Alex Shvartsman Tom Van de Logt Jelger Wiegersma
GP Heidelberg (9–10 February) Kamiel Cornelissen Chris Benafel Franck Canu Thomas Preyer Jelger Wiegersma Patrick Mello Yuri Kolomeyko Joost Vollebregt
GP Fukuoka (16–17 February) Alex Shvartsman Masahiko Morita Itaru Ishida Jun Ishihara Masahiro Kuroda Tsuyoshi Fujita Yusuke Sasaki Shuhei Nakamura
GP Tampa (23–24 February) Sol Malka Jeff Cunningham Koby Kennison Mike Emmert Antonino De Rosa Brian Kibler Adam Racht Adam Prokopin
GP Antwerp (2–3 March) Kai Budde Florent Jeudon Matthias Jorstedt Wolfgang Eder Arjan van Leeuwen Christoph Lippert Jos Schreurs Dirk Baberowski
Pro Tour – Osaka (15–17 March 2002)
Tournament data
Players: 277 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Odyssey Block Constructed (Odyssey, Torment) Head Judge: Collin Jackson
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Ken Ho$30,000322 Olivier Ruel$20,000243 Rob Dougherty$15,000164th Final day4 Jens Thorén$13,000162nd Final day5 Sylvain Lauriol$9,000126 Nicholas Olivieri$8,500122nd Final day7 Osyp Lebedowicz$8,000128 Christophe Haim$7,50012
Masters – Team Rochester Draft
TeamPlayerTeamPlayerLes Plus Class Amiel TenenbaumPhoenix Foundation Dirk Baberowski Gabriel Nassif Kai Budde Nicolas Olivieri Marco BlumeMetagames Wilfried RanqueSlay-Pillage-Massacre Scott McCord Raphaël Lévy Jon Sonne Franck Canu Eric ZieglerOutland Bjørn Jocumsenwww.star-maker.nl/lap Victor Van der Broek Eivind Nitter Frank Karsten Nicolai Herzog Jelger WiegersmaPanzer Hunter Itaru IshidaYour Move Games Dave Humpherys Kazuyaki Momose Rob Dougherty Reiji Andou Darwin Kastle
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Kai Budde902 Jens Thorén583 Alex Shvartsman484 Olivier Ruel455 Gabriel Nassif42
Grand Prixs – Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, Naples
GP Barcelona (23–24 March) Noah Boeken Christoph Lippert Olivier Ruel Carlos Barrado Stan van der Velden Reinhard Blech Raphaël Lévy Franck Canu
GP Kuala Lumpur (30–31 March) Ding Yueng Leong Chang Chua Yujian Zhou Veerapat Sirilertvorakul Alex Shvartsman Nicholas Jonatha Wong Tobey Tamber Edsel Alvarez
GP Naples (6–7 April) Pierre Malherbaud Jelger Wiegersma Kai Budde Olivier Ruel Patrick Mello Iwan Tan Raphaël Lévy Christoph Lippert
Pro Tour – Nice (3–5 May 2002)
In Nice Kai Budde lost his first match on a Pro Tour Sunday, after winning his previous five Top 8. His third final day appearance and ensuing 36-point-lead virtually secured him the Pro Player of the Year title, though. The Pro Tour was won by Norwegian Eivind Nitter, while the Masters Series title went to Alexander Witt from the Netherlands.
Tournament data
Players: 332 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Odyssey Block Booster Draft (Odyssey-Torment) Head Judge: Cyril Grillon
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Eivind Nitter$30,000322 Bram Snepvangers$20,000243 Svend Geertsen$15,000164th Final day4 Brian Davis$13,000162nd Final day5 Kai Budde$9,000126th Final day6 Anton Jonsson$8,500122nd Final day7 Gary Talim$8,000128 Benjamin Niedrig$7,50012
Masters – Extended
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Kai Budde962 Jens Thorén613 Alex Shvartsman564 Olivier Ruel555 Gabriel Nassif47
Grand Prixs – Nagoya, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Sao Paulo, Taipei
GP Nagoya (11–12 May) 1. P.S.2 Masahiro Kuroda Katsuhiro Mori Masahiko Morita 2. S.S.D. Naoki Kubouchi Shuhei Nakamura Kimio Imai 3. NAGOYAN Ryo Ogura Ryoma Shiozu Koji Nose 4. N.G.O.K. Takayuki Nagaoka Tsuyoshi Fujita Masayuki Higashino
GP Milwaukee (11–12 May) Eric Taylor Patrick Chapin Mike Turian Neil Reeves David Petersen Brian Kibler William Jensen Steve Cassell
GP New Jersey (29–30 June) 1. The Jokas Eric James Kyle Rose Norman Woods 2. Illuminati Justin Gary Zvi Mowshowitz Alex Shvartsman 3. Team Cardshark Jason Huang Paul Sottosanti Adam Fischer 4. Lovespell Alex Borteh Chris Benafel Eric Froehlich
GP São Paulo (13–14 July) Gabriel Caligaris Felipe Desiderati Antoine Ruel