Pro Player of the Year Jon Finkel World Champion Brian Selden Grands Prix 13 Period 1997 – 1998 | Rookie of the Year Randy Buehler Pro Tours 5 Start of season 30 August 1997 | |
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.
Contents
- Pro Tour Chicago 1012 October 1997
- Tournament data
- Grand Prix Como
- Pro Tour Mainz 57 December 1997
- Pro Tour Los Angeles 68 March 1998
- Grand Prix Stockholm
- Pro Tour New York 1719 April 1998
- 1998 World Championships Seattle 1216 August 1998
- National team competition
- Pro Player of the year final standings
- References
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
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 USA 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)
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)
Grand Prix – Stockholm
- 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)
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 Survival of the Fittest. 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
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.