Player of the Year
Player of the Year is an award given at the end of a Pro Tour season to the Magic player with the highest number of Pro Points in that season.
History
The award was first given out in 1996, based on the highest number of Pro Points in that season. It used to be reasonably attainable to win this award without winning any Pro Tour or Grand Prix events if the player finishes high enough in sufficient events, but it would be incredibly unlikely without any Pro Tour Top 8s.
With the change to Mythic Points in 2019 and shift to Player Points in 2020, the award had been quietly retired - due to the restructuring of events, Challengers were functionally or literally unable to attend enough events that rewarded points, rendering the award inappropriate to celebrate.
With the in the introduction of the Premier Play system, the award was reinstated for 2023.[1]
Player of the Year Winners
| Past Player of the Year Winners | |
|---|---|
| Year | Winner |
| 1996 |  Olle Råde
|
| 1996–97 |  Paul McCabe
|
| 1997–98 |  Jon Finkel
|
| 1998–99 |  Kai Budde
|
| 1999–00 | Bob Maher, Jr.
|
| 2000–01 | Kai Budde
|
| 2001–02 | Kai Budde
|
| 2002–03 | Kai Budde
|
| 2003–04 |  Gabriel Nassif
|
| 2005 |  Kenji Tsumura
|
| 2006 | Shota Yasooka
|
| 2007 | Tomoharu Saito
|
| 2008 | Shuhei Nakamura
|
| 2009 | Yuuya Watanabe
|
| 2010 | Brad Nelson
|
| 2011 | Owen Turtenwald
|
| 2012 | Yuuya Watanabe*
|
| 2012–13 | Josh Utter-Leyton
|
| 2013–14 | Jérémy Dezani
|
| 2014–15 | Mike Sigrist
|
| 2015–16 | Owen Turtenwald
|
| 2016–17 |  Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
|
| 2017–18 |  Luis Salvatto
|
| * Watanabe won the Magic Players Championship | |
Trivia
- Kai Budde is the player who has won the most Player of the Year titles, with four.
- Two other players have won the title more than once: Yuuya Watanabe and Owen Turtenwald.
- Kai Budde and Yuuya Watanabe are also the only players to have won World Championships/Players Championship and Player of the Year in the same year.
- Watanabe's record is a bit different from that of Budde's. The 2012 season was the only year during which the Player of the Year was not decided by Pro Points; instead, the winner of the 2012 Players Championship was considered the Player of the Year. However, Yuuya was also the one with the most Pro Points for the 2011–12 season,[2] so he would have been the 2012 Player of the Year even with the old system.
- No player has won Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the same year.
- Randy Buehler was the closest to achieving this feat when he finished second in the 1997–98 Player of the Year race.[3]
- Both the 2010 season and 2017–18 season ended with two players finishing joint first in the Player of the Year race, forcing a playoff in the following season to determine the title.
- In the 2010 season, Brad Nelson beat Guillaume Matignon in the playoff held at the Pro Tour Paris 2011.[4]
- In 2017–18, Seth Manfield and Luis Salvatto both finished the season on 81 Pro Points, and the title was decided in a playoff at Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica, which Salvatto won.
References
- ↑ PlayMTG (August 12, 2023). "The Player of the Year returns!". Twitter.
- ↑ 2011-2012 PLAYER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-09-24.
- ↑ 1997-1998 PLAYER OF THE YEAR STANDINGS. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-09-24.
- ↑ Josh Bennett (2011-02-12). "Player of the Year Match: The Full Nelson". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-09-24.