Pro Player of the Year Shouta Yasooka World Champion Makihito Mihara Grands Prix 22 | Rookie of the Year Sebastian Thaler Pro Tours 5 Start date 2006 | |
Hall of Fame inductions Bob Maher, Jr.
Dave Humpherys
Raphaël Lévy
Gary Wise
Rob Dougherty | ||
The 2006 Pro Tour season was the eleventh season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 18 December 2005 the season began with parallel Grand Prixs in Lille and Charlotte. It ended on 3 December 2006 with the conclusion of the 2006 World Championship in Paris. The season consisted of 22 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in Honolulu, Prague, Charleston, Kobe, and Paris. At the end of the season Shouta Yasooka from Japan was proclaimed Pro Player of the year. At the Worlds in Paris the second class of the Hall of Fame was inducted. The inductees were Bob Maher, Jr., Dave Humpherys, Raphaël Lévy, Gary Wise, and Rob Dougherty.
Contents
Pro Tour – Honolulu (3–5 March 2006)
Mark Herberholz won Pro Tour Honolulu piloting a green/red aggro-deck. He defeated Craig Jones in the finals. The final eight included both Ruel brothers, Antoine and Olivier. Notably absent from the Top 8 were the Japanese players after thirteen consecutive final day appearances.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 410
Format: Standard
Head Judge: John Shannon
Pro Tour – Prague (5–7 May 2006)
Takuya Osawa won Pro Tour Prague, defeating Aaron Brackmann in the finals. In a Top 8 of rather unknown players Shuhei Nakamura was the only one to have made it to the final stage of a PT before.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $240,245
Players: 415
Format: Booster Draft (Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension)
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer
Pro Tour – Charleston (16–18 June 2006)
The Japanese team "Kajiharu80" won Pro Tour Charleston, defeating the Brazilian team "Raaala Pumba" in the final. "Kajiharu80" consisted of Tomohiro Kaji, Shouta Yasooka, and Tomoharu Saitou. With 525 competitors in 175 teams Pro Tour Charleston was the biggest Pro Tour ever. It was also the only Team Constructed Pro Tour ever.
Tournament data
Players: 525 (175 teams)
Prize Pool: $234,000
Format: 3-Person Team Block Constructed (Ravnica, Guildpact, Dissension)
Head Judge: Sheldon Menery
Pro Tour – Kobe (20–22 October 2006)
German Jan-Moritz Merkel won Pro Tour Kobe. It was his first appearance at a Pro Tour.
Tournament data
Players: 388
Prize Pool: $240,245
Format: Booster Draft (Time Spiral)
Head Judge: John Shannon
2006 World Championships – Paris (29 November – 3 December 2006)
The tournament began with the Hall of Fame induction of Bob Maher, Jr., Dave Humpherys Raphaël Lévy, Gary Wise, and Rob Dougherty. In an all-Japanese final Makihito Mihara defeated Ryo Ogura. The Dutch team of Kamiel Cornelissen, Julien Nuijten, and Robert van Medevoort won the team finals against Japan.
Tournament data
Prize pool: $255,245 (individual) + $210,000 (national teams)
Players: 356
Formats: Standard, Booster Draft (Time Spiral), Extended
Head Judge: Jaap Brouwer, Jason Ness
National team competition
- The Netherlands (Julien Nuijten, Kamiel Cornelissen, Robert van Medevoort)
- Japan (Hidenori Katayama, Katsuhiro Mori, Shuhei Yamamoto)
Pro Player of the year final standings
After the World Championship Shouta Yasooka was awarded the Pro Player of the year title.