Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2005

Pro Tour – Columbus (29–31 October 2004)

Pierre Canali from France won the inaugural Pro Tour of the season, which was also the first Pro Tour he attended. His deck was an aggressive all-artifact deck called "Affinity". For the first time Japan had three players amongst the final eight while the USA had in the Top 8 for the first time in three Pro Tours.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,130
Players: 286
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer

Pro Tour – Nagoya (28–30 January 2005)

Pro Tour Nagoya was the last Pro Tour employing the Rochester Draft format. Shu Komuro from Japan defeated Anton Jonsson in the finals to win the tournament.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $200,130
Players: 236
Format: Rochester Draft (Champions of Kamigawa)
Head Judge: Collin Jackson

Pro Tour – Atlanta (11–13 March 2005)

The Canadian French cooperation team "Nova" won Pro Tour Atlanta, defeating the American team "We Add" in the final. "Nova" consisted of Gabriel Tsang, David Rood, and Gabriel Nassif. For Nassif it was the first Pro Tour victory after five previous final day appearances including three second places. Atlanta was the last Pro Tour using the three-person team Limited format, although it was still used for the team competition at the World Championship that year and the next.

Tournament data

Players: 357 (119 teams)
Prize Pool: $200,100
Format: Team Kamigawa Block Sealed (Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa) – first day, Team Kamigawa Block Rochester Draft (Champions of Kamigawa-Betrayers of Kamigawa) – final two days
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery

Pro Tour – Philadelphia (6–8 May 2005)

Pro Tour Philadelphia featured a tournament system different from those of other Pro Tours. While Swiss system was still used all players with three or more losses and/or draws were automatically dropped from the tournament. Prizes were given out not in relation to the final standings, but for the individual matches won, where matches in later rounds of the tournament were worth more than those in the earlier rounds. It was also announced in the week prior to Pro Tour Philadelphia, that the end of the year payout based on Pro Points would be dropped after the season in favor of the Pro Club. Under the new system a player would receive special benefits based on the total amount of Pro Points he had acquired in a season.

16-year-old Gadiel Szleifer defeated 18-year-old Kenji Tsumura in the final to win the tournament. Szleifer played a control deck built around Gifts Ungiven. Former Pro Player of the year Kai Budde received a lot of attention for being undefeated after day one, but was eliminated after he picked up three losses in the first three rounds of day two.

Tournament data

Players: 311
Prize Pool: $194,898
Format: Kamigawa Block Constructed (Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa)
Head Judge: Mike Guptil

Pro Tour – London (8–10 July 2005)

Geoffrey Siron from Belgium won Pro Tour London, defeating Tsuyoshi Fujita in the finals. In the Top 8 Siron did not lose a single game.

Tournament data

Players: 314
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Booster Draft (Champions of Kamigawa-Betrayers of Kamigawa-Saviors of Kamigawa)
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer

Pro Tour – Los Angeles (28–30 October 2005)

Antoine Ruel defeated Billy Moreno in the finals to become champion of Pro Tour Los Angeles. He played a blue-black control deck, built around Psychatog.

Tournament data

Players: 340
Prize Pool: $200,130
Format: Extended
Head Judge: Gijsbert Hoogendijk

2005 World Championships – Yokohama (30 November – 4 December 2005)

The tournament began with the first Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Jon Finkel, Darwin Kastle, Tommi Hovi, Alan Comer and Olle Råde were honored for their accomplishments and their determination to the game. In the final of the 2005 World Championship Katsuhiro Mori defeated Frank Karsten, thus completing an all-Japanese Worlds in Yokohama. The Top 4 also included Japanese players Akira Asahara and Tomohiro Kaji, shortly before Japan had won the team competition, and even the Pro Player of the year went to Japanese Kenji Tsumura.

Tournament data

Prize pool: $208,130 (individual) + $195,000 (national teams)
Players: 287
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Ravnica), Extended
Head Judge: Collin Jackson, Sheldon Menery

National team competition

1. Japan (Ichiro Shimura, Takuma Morifuji, Masashi Oiso)
2. United States (Jonathan Sonne, Antonino De Rosa, Neil Reeves)

Pro Player of the year final standings

After the World Championship Kenji Tsumura was awarded the Pro Player of the year title as the first Japanese player.