The 1997–98 Pro Tour season was the third season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It began on 30 August 1997 with Grand Prix Toronto, and ended on 16 August 1998 with the conclusion of 1998 World Championship in Seattle. The season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix, and five Pro Tours, located in Chicago, Mainz, Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. At the end of the season Jon Finkel from the United States was awarded the Pro Player of the Year title.
Grand Prix – Toronto, Copenhagen
GP Toronto (30–31 August)
GP Copenhagen (6–7 September)
Pro Tour – Chicago (10–12 October 1997)
Attending a Pro Tour for the first time, Randy Buehler defeated David Mills in the finals to win the inaugural Pro Tour of the 1997–98 season. Olle Råde's final eight appearance made him the first player to reach the Top 8 four times.
Tournament data Prize pool: $151,635 Players: 324 Format: Extended
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizeComment1 Randy Buehler$25,000Pro Tour debut2 David Mills$15,0002nd Final day3 Jon Finkel$10,0004 Max Suver$8,0005 Adrian Sayers$6,5006 Justin Schneider$5,5007 Kyle Rose$4,8008 Olle Råde$4,3004th Final day
Grand Prix – Como
GP Como (8–9 November)
Pro Tour – Mainz (5–7 December 1997)
Eventual Pro Player of the year Paul McCabe won Pro Tour Dallas. The Canadian defeated Jason Zila from the US in the final. Olle Råde had his third Top 8 appearance while playing only his fourth Pro Tour.
Tournament data Prize pool: $151,635 Players: 291 Format: Rochester Draft (Tempest)
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizeComment1 Matt Place$25,0002nd Final day2 Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz$15,0003 Peer Kröger$10,0002nd Final day4 Kurt Burgner$8,0005 John Ormerod$6,5001st English in a Top 86 Chris Bishop$5,5007 Mark Le Pine$4,8008 Gabriele Pisicchio$4,3001st Italian in a Top 8
Grand Prix – San Francisco, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Lyon, Melbourne
GP San Francisco (6–7 December) Robert Swarowski Ryan Fuller Steve Shears Brett Quorn Daniel Clegg Steve Aldrich Ernest Alexander Casey McCarrel
GP Lyon (7–8 February) Raphaël Lévy Kurt Foket Manuel Bevand Michaël Debard Emmanuel Beltrando Loïc Degrou Nicolas Lacorne Laurent Laclaverie
GP Madrid (24–25 January) Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Michaël Debard Jérémie Lagarde Herve Drevillon Christian Celades Omar Sagol Gabriele Pisicchio Marc Iglesias
GP Melbourne (14–15 February) Philip Davey Matt Goodall Lenny Collins Craig Sheppard Daniel Turner Adam Kemp Kevin Cheng Andrew Corney
GP Rio de Janeiro (31 January – 1 February) Jon Finkel Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Carlos Jeucken Adam Katz Leandro Buck Romario Tavora Britto Rodrigo Cesar Barbosa Julio Cesar Conceicao
Pro Tour – Los Angeles (6–8 March 1998)
David Price won Pro Tour Los Angeles. In the finals he defeated Ben Rubin, who thus made it to the second place at his first Pro Tour attendance.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635 Players: 342 Format: Block Constructed (Tempest)
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizeComment1 David Price$25,0002 Ben Rubin$15,000First Pro Tour Attendance3 David Bachmann$10,0004 Adam Katz$8,0005 Kyle Rose$6,5002nd Final day6 Jakub Slemr$5,5002nd Final day7 Svend Geertsen$4,8002nd Final day8 Andrew Wolf$4,300
Grand Prix – Stockholm
GP Stockholm (21–22 March) Olle Råde Tuomo Nieminen Johan Franzen Jan Pieter Groenhof Manuel Bevand Viktor Forsman Ole Bergesen Sigurd Eskeland
Pro Tour – New York (17–19 April 1998)
In an all-American Top 8 Jon Finkel won his first Pro Tour. Mark Justice reached his fourth and as yet last final eight.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $151,635 Format: Booster Draft (Tempest-Stronghold)
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizeComment1 Jon Finkel$25,0002nd Final day2 Dominic Crapuchettes$15,0003 John Chinnock$10,0003rd Final day4 David Bachmann$8,0002nd Final day5 Truc Bui$6,5002nd Final day6 Nate Clark$5,5002nd Final day7 Mark Justice$4,8004th Final day8 Casey McCarrel$4,300
Grand Prix – Atlanta, Antwerp, Zurich, Indianapolis
GP Atlanta (27–28 March) Randy Buehler Bob Coonce David Mills Derek Rank Patrick Callahan Ray Deguzman Nate Clark Chris Donahue
GP Indianapolis (27–28 June) Eric Jordan Koby Kennison Michael Chiumento Worth Wollpert Randy Buehler Michael Katz Ryan Joe Darwin Kastle
GP Antwerp (25–26 April) Stephan Valkyser Lukas Ladra Brian Hacker Michael Sochon Randy Buehler Timo Meimberg Peer Kröger Michaël Debard
GP Zurich (30–31 May) Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz Rudy Edwards Michaël Debard Alexander Blumke Janosch Kühn Jon Finkel Marcel Baran Michael Huth
1998 World Championships – Seattle (12–16 August 1998)
Brian Selden defeated fellow American Ben Rubin to become the 1998 World Champion. He played a Control-Combo deck revolving around . The Top 8 was one of the most star-studded final eights ever, with all players making at least one other Top 8 appearance, and four of them later becoming Hall of Famers.
The US national team, consisting of Matt Linde, Mike Long, Bryce Currence, and Jon Finkel won its third team title. Long thus won his third team title, too, as he had been precisely on those teams which had won the title.
Tournament data
Players: 203 Format: Standard, Rochester Draft (Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight), Extended Individual formats: Booster Draft (Tempest-Stronghold-Exodus), Standard, Tempest Block Constructed (Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus) Team formats: 4-Person Team Sealed (4 5th Edition Starter + 4 5th Edition Booster) – Swiss; Constructed (2x Tempest Block Constructed + 2x Standard) – Finals
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizeComment1 Brian Selden$34,000Pro Tour debut2 Ben Rubin$22,0002nd Final day3 Jon Finkel$16,0003rd Final day4 Raphaël Lévy$13,0005 Scott Johns$11,0004th Final day6 Chris Pikula$9,5003rd Final day7 Brian Hacker$8,2502nd Final day8 Alan Comer$7,2502nd Final day
National team competition
United States (Matt Linde, Mike Long, Bryce Currence, Jon Finkel) France (Pierre Malherbaud, Manuel Bevand, Marc Hernandez, Fabien Demazeau)
Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Jon Finkel was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.
RankPlayerPro Points1 Jon Finkel872 Randy Buehler703 Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz574 David Price555 Matt Place53
References