The 2003–04 Pro Tour season was the ninth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 23 August 2003 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Yokohama and London. It ended on 5 September 2004 with the conclusion of the 2004 World Championship in San Francisco. Beginning with this season Wizards of the Coast moved the Pro Tour schedule farther backwards in the year to synchronize it with the calendar year. The season consisted of 26 Grand Prixs and 7 Pro Tours, held in Boston, New Orleans, Amsterdam, Kobe, San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco. Also the Master Series tournaments were discontinued and replaced by payout at the end of the year based on the Pro Player of the year standings. At the end of the season Gabriel Nassif was proclaimed Pro Player of the year, the first player after Kai Budde's three-year-domination period, and also the first player to win the title without winning a Pro Tour in the same season.
Grand Prixs – Yokohama, London, Atlanta
GP Yokohama (23–24 August) Format: Block Constructed Shu Komuro Kazuki Kato Masashiro Kuroda Yuichi Yamagishi Masahiko Morita Shuhei Nakamura Kazuyuki Momose Yusuke Osaka
GP London (23–24 August) Format: Block Constructed Diego Ostrovich Yann Hamon Mario Pascoli Eivind Nitter Antonino De Rosa Jose Barbero Josh Rider Frank Karsten
GP Atlanta (30–31 August) Format: Standard Marco Blume Matt Linde Joshua Wagener Keith McLaughlin Zvi Mowshowitz Keith Thompson Sean Buckley Tim Bonneville
Pro Tour – Boston (12–14 September 2003)
"Phoenix Foundation" had its third consecutive Pro Tour Top 4 appearance, but this time they were eliminated by eventual champions "The Brockafellars". The team consisting of William Jensen, Matt Linde, and Brock Parker had allegedly not done a single practice draft in the format.
Tournament data Prize pool: $200,100 Players: 399 (133 teams) Format: Team Sealed (Onslaught, Legions, Scourge) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Onslaught-Legions-Scourge) – final two days Head Judge: Collin Jackson
Top 4
Final standings
PlaceTeamPlayerPrizePro PointsComment1The Brockafellars Brock Parker$60,00024 William Jensen244th Final day Matt Linde242nd Final day2Original Slackers Lovre Crnobori$30,00018 Jake Smith18 Rickard Österberg183Zabutan Nemonaut Mike Turian$18,000123rd Final day Gary Wise124th Final day Eugene Harvey122nd Final day4Phoenix Foundation Marco Blume$15,000123rd Final day Kai Budde129th Final day Dirk Baberowski125th Final day
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Matt Linde292 William Jensen24 Brock Parker244 Marco Blume18 Lovre Crnobori18 Rickard Österberg18 Jake Smith18
Grand Prixs – Genova, Sydney, Kansas City, Lyon
GP Genova (13–14 September) Format: Block Constructed Reinhard Blech Jan Doise Stefano Fiore André Müller Simone Carboni Alessandro Vegna Marco Benifei Martin Heidemann
GP Sydney (4–5 October) Format: Rochester Draft Andrew Grain Andrew Gordon Lenny Collins Itaru Ishida Shun Jiang Jake Hart Daniel Turner Tim He
GP Kansas City (18–19 October) Format: Rochester Draft Antonino De Rosa Nathan Heiss Ben Stark Brian Kibler Michael Krumb Gerry Thompson Justin Smith Jonathan Cassidy
GP Lyon (25–26 October) Format: Rochester Draft Yann Hamon Bruno Carvalho Daniel Madan Jeroen Remie Kevin Desprez Loïc Degrau Sebastien Bernaud Jelger Wiegersma
Pro Tour – New Orleans (31 October – 2 November 2003)
After finishing second with his team in Boston, Rickard Österberg returned to win Pro Tour New Orleans. The Extended format of New Orleans is considered to be one of the most powerful of all time and Österberg's deck was built around the soon to be banned card , too.
Tournament data Prize pool: $200,130 Players: 318 Format: Extended Head Judge: Mike Guptil
Top 8
* Hamon and Labarre both had to catch a flight on the morning of the Top 8 and did not want to book two new flights. They thus played an unofficial match at their hotel on the preceding evening to decide who would officially concede to the other. Hamon won 3–2.
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Rickard Österberg$30,000322nd Final day2 Gabriel Nassif$20,000243rd Final day3 Yann Hamon$15,000164 Masashi Oiso$13,000162nd Final day5 Hans Joachim Höh$9,500126 Eugene Harvey$8,500123rd Final day7 Tomohiro Yokosuka$7,500128 Nicolas Labarre$6,500124th Final day
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Rickard Österberg502 Matt Linde313 Gabriel Nassif304 Yann Hamon275 Brock Parker26 William Jensen26
Grand Prixs – Shizuoka, Gothenburg, Munich, Anaheim
GP Shizuoka (8–9 November) Format: Rochester Draft Kazuki Katou Satoshi Harada Koichiro Maki Tomohide Sasagawa Kei Ikeda Ken'Ichi Fujita Ryouma Shiozu Yusuke Sasaki
GP Gothenburg (22–23 November) Format: Rochester Draft Jelger Wiegersma Tommi Hovi Daniel Bertelsen Kai Budde Sam Gomersall Daniel Zink David Linder Benjamin Lindqvist
GP Munich (6–7 December) Format: Rochester Draft Yann Hamon Reinhard Blech Georgios Kapalas Stefan Schwaiger Tobias Kroll Hannes Scholz Steven Gouin Dirk Hein
GP Anaheim (13–14 December) Format: Extended Ben Rubin Nathan Saunders Nick Meves Peter Szigeti Ben Stark Paul Rietzl Blake Quelle Gerard Fabiano
Pro Tour – Amsterdam (16–18 January 2004)
Norwegian Nicolai Herzog defeated Osamu Fujita in the finals to win Pro Tour Amsterdam. Other than Fujita and Herzog the final eight included only accomplished players with at least one other lifetime Pro Tour final day appearance.
Tournament data
Players: 347 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Rochester Draft (Mirrodin) Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Nicolai Herzog$30,000323rd Final day2 Osamu Fujita$20,000243 Anton Jonsson$15,000163rd Final day4 Olivier Ruel$13,000162nd Final day5 Kamiel Cornelissen$9,000123rd Final day6 Aeo Paquette$8,50012Pro Tour debut7 Farid Meraghni$8,000122nd Final day8 Mike Turian$7,500124th Final day
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Rickard Österberg522 Nicolai Herzog383 Yann Hamon364 Osamu Fujita34 Matt Linde34 Gabriel Nassif34
Grand Prixs – Okayama, Oakland, Madrid
GP Okayama (24–25 January) Format: Extended Kazuya Shiki Itaru Ishida Akira Asahara SangRyeol Lee Shinsuke Hayashi Asuka Doi Chikara Nakajima Kazura Hirabayashi
GP Oakland (7–8 February) Format: Sealed and Booster Draft Ken Ho Dave Humpherys Mike Turian Ian Spaulding Mitchell Tamblyn Ben Rubin Paul Rietzl Gabe Walls
GP Madrid (21–22 February) Format: Sealed and Booster Draft Kai Budde Bernardo Da Costa Cabral Dirk Hein Raphaël Lévy Thomas Gundersen Aniol Alcaraz Jaime Marrero Tommi Lindgren
Pro Tour – Kobe (27–29 February 2004)
On home turf Masashiro Kuroda won the first Pro Tour title for Japan, defeating Gabriel Nassif in the finals.
Tournament data
Players: 239 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Mirrodin Block Constructed (Mirrodin, Darksteel) Head Judge: Collin Jackson
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Masashiro Kuroda$30,000321st Japanese Player to win a Pro Tour2 Gabriel Nassif$20,000244th Final day3 Alexandre Peset$15,00016Pro Tour debut4 Jelger Wiegersma$13,000162nd Final day5 Luigi Sbrozzi$9,00012Pro Tour debut6 Raffaele Lo Moro$8,500122nd Final day7 Ben Stark$8,000128 Stefano Fiori$7,50012
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Rickard Österberg592 Gabriel Nassif583 Kai Budde434 Osamu Fujita425 Nicolai Herzog41
Grand Prixs – Hong Kong, Sendai, Columbus, Birmingham, Washington DC, Bochum
GP Hong Kong (6–7 March) Format: Sealed and Booster Draft Chuen Hwa Tan Olivier Ruel Masashi Oiso Gabe Walls Takuya Osawa Steven Tan Terry Soh Chi-Chung Hwang
GP Sendai (20–21 March) Format: Sealed and Booster Draft Ichiro Shimura Masahiko Morita Yusuke Sasaki Antoine Ruel Jin Okamoto Toshihisa Yamanaka Hiroto Yasutomi Ippei Sogabe
GP Columbus (27–28 March) Format: Sealed and Booster Draft Mike Turian Craig Krempels Aaron Lipcynski Cedric Phillips Kate Stavola Matt Larson Brandon Rickard Brock Parker
GP Birmingham (27–28 March) Format: Sealed and Booster Draft Stefan Jedlicka René Kraft Frank Karsten David Grant Mattias Jorstedt Jose Barbero Kamman Janpiam Niki Jedlicka
GP Washington D.C. (17–18 April) Format: Team Limited 1. Thaaaat's me Chris Fennell Bill Stead Charles Gindy 2. Shenanigans Adam Horvath Osyp Lebedowicz Patrick Sullivan 3. Your Move Games/Illuminati Darwin Kastle Rob Dougherty Alex Shvartsman 4. Re-Elect Gore Jon Finkel Brian Kibler Eric Froehlich
GP Bochum (17–18 April) Format: Team Limited 1. Schietkoe Stijn Cornelissen Tom van de Logt Jesse Cornelissen 2. Team Burkas Nicolai Herzog Anton Jonsson Tuomo Nieminen 3. The Unusual Suspects David Brucker Reinhard Blech Dirk Hein 4. NPC All Stars Sylvain Lehoux Alexandre Peset Loic Degrou
Pro Tour – San Diego (14–16 May 2004)
The second Mirrodin Draft Pro Tour saw three players amongst the final four, who had already finished in the Top 8 in the first Mirrodin Draft Pro Tour. Nicolai Herzog even followed his Amsterdam win up with another win victory, thus taking home the title in both Mirrodin Draft Pro Tours.
Tournament data
Players: 312 Prize Pool: $200,130 Format: Mirrodin Booster Draft (Mirrodin-Darksteel) Head Judge: Collin Jackson
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Nicolai Herzog$30,000324th Final day, 2nd Pro Tour win2 Antoine Ruel$20,000242nd Final day3 Mike Turian$15,000165th Final day4 Anton Jonsson$13,000164th Final day5 Mark Herberholz$9,000126 Ben Stark$8,500122nd Final day7 Angel Perez del Pozo$8,00012Pro Tour debut8 Masashi Oiso$7,500123rd Final day
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Nicolai Herzog772 Rickard Österberg653 Gabriel Nassif634 Antoine Ruel535 Kai Budde47
Grand Prixs – Brussels, Zurich
GP Brussels (29–30 May) Format: Block Constructed Tobias Henke Kai Budde Julien Nuijten Vasilis Fatouros Johannes Mitsios Xuan-Phi Nguyen Maxime Fays Stefano Fiore
GP Zurich (26–27 June) Format: Block Constructed Manuel Bucher Matteo Cirigliano Sebastien Roux Frank Karsten Leonard Barbou Bertrand Fagnoni Timo Groth Charles Delvaux
Pro Tour – Seattle (9–11 July 2004)
Team "Von Dutch" from the Netherlands defeated Japanese "www.shop-fireBall.com2" in the finals to become the 2004 Pro Tour Seattle champions. The team consisted of Jeroen Remie, Jelger Wiegersma, and Kamiel Cornelissen.
Tournament data
Players: 321 (107 teams) Prize Pool: $200,100 Format: Team Sealed (Mirrodin, Darksteel, Fifth Dawn) – first day, Team Rochester Draft (Mirrodin-Darksteel-Fifth Dawn) Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk
Top 4
Final standings
PlaceTeamPlayerPrizePro PointsComment1Von Dutch Jeroen Remie$60,000243rd Final day Jelger Wiegersma243rd Final day Kamiel Cornelissen244th Final day2www.shop-fireball.com2 Itaru Ishida$30,00018 Tsuyoshi Ikeda182nd Final day Jin Okamoto182nd Final day3S.A.I. Ichirou Shimura$18,00012 Masami Ibamoto12 Ryuuichi Arita124Pocket Rockets Paul Russell$16,20012Pro Tour debut Joseph Derro12Pro Tour debut Matthew Wood12Pro Tour debut
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Nicolai Herzog802 Gabriel Nassif71 Rickard Österberg714 Jelger Wiegersma645 Antoine Ruel61
Grand Prixs – Kuala Lumpur, Orlando, New Jersey, Nagoya
GP Kuala Lumpur (24–25 July) Format: Standard Masahiko Morita Kwan Ching Yuen Zhen Xing Gao Tsuyoshi Fujita Sim Han How Cheng Wee Pek Bernard Chan Khang Jong Kuan
GP Orlando (24–25 July) Format: Block Constructed Osyp Lebedowicz Michael Kuhmann Adam Chernoff Taylor Parnell William Jensen Antonino De Rosa Jeff Garza Harry Durnan
GP New Jersey (14–15 August) Format: Block Constructed Jeff Garza Brian Kibler Eugene Harvey Jeroen Remie Jan Holland Adam Horvath Alexandre Peset Ty Dobbertin