1996 Pro Tour Los Angeles
| Pro Tour Los Angeles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Date | May 3 to 5, 1996 | |||
| Location |
 Los Angeles, California | |||
| Attendance |
Seniors: 179 | |||
| Format | Booster Draft (Fourth Edition & Homelands) | |||
| Prize pool |
Senior: $100,000 Junior: $30,000 (Scholarships) | |||
| Winner |
Senior: Shawn Regnier Junior: Max Szlagor | |||
| ||||
The second Pro Tour event was held from May 3 to 5, 1996 in Los Angeles, California.[1][2][3] It was the first to use a Limited format: Fourth Edition and Homelands Booster draft. The winner was Shawn "Hammer" Regnier, a former professional arm-wrestler, in his second Top 8 appearance.[4]
Description
Qualifying
There were three ways to qualify for Pro Tour Los Angeles:
- Finish in the Top 64 at PT New York.
- Earn a spot through a qualifier tournament.
- Have a Top 25 DCI ranking on April 1, 1996.
Format
Pro Tour Los Angeles was the first Pro Tour event to use a Limited format[5]. It was Booster Draft, colloquially known at the time as "Pass the Trash", with two packs of Fourth Edition and one pack of Homelands. Booster draft was a format that many players, especially those outside the United States, weren't familiar with. Previous sanctioned limited events mostly were Sealed Deck or Rochester Draft; however, Booster Draft was chosen over the latter for logistical reasons. While Rochester was considered to be the more skill-testing and premier form of draft, Booster drafts were considerably quicker to run.[6][7]
Schedule
Thursday, May 2, 1996
- 5pm: VIP party.
- 7pm: Players' welcoming party.[8]
Friday, May 3, 1996
- 8am: Check in.
- 9am to 9.30am: first twelve drafts, 8 players to a table.
- 10am to 10.30am: second twelve drafts.
- 12pm: five rounds of Swiss matches, 3 games per match. Cross-pod play.
Saturday, May 4, 1996
Sunday, May 5, 1996
- Top 8 from Day 2 have one final draft.
- Single-elimination games, best-of-five, with no time limits.
Day 1
Drafts
The drafting on Day 1 was separated into two separate "waves", with twelve tables drafting at a time.[8] Each table would be supervised by an official Judge and a volunteer referee. There was a delay when, due to an unknown mishap, one Judge was missing. After half an hour, Richard Garfield, the game's creator, is brought down to act as the final Judge, and drafting begins.[9]
The Booster packs had all been opened by event staff, with any containing Ante cards discarded and stamped with a blue mana symbol (
) stamp, in purple ink. The different location of the stamp on a card allows for identifying which table the card was drafted at. This took many players by surprise and prompted questions from some. There were reports of inconsistent number of cards being given out to players, and the wide range of power level between pods was also a concern.[10] These concerns were acknowledged by other players and event staff as likely being caused by factors such as simple human error, printer collation issues, and expected variance rather than being part of an elaborate conspiracy.
Power level differences were exacerbated by matches being played against anyone at the event, rather than only against those in the same pod as would become the convention in the future. One Judge, for example, noted that at the table they supervised, there was an exceptional number of fliers being passed around. With evasion being strong in this environment, five of the competitors from that table made the Top 64 cut. At another table, there had been fewer flying creatures than there were drafters, and only one person in that group was still playing on Day 2.
Games
In Round 3, Mark Justice is paired against Henry Stern, both players having won all 6 games in their two previous matches. Justice managed a sweep against Stern, and once other results came in, became the only player left not to have dropped a game. [9]
Standings
Standings were first calculated by game record, with match record used as the tiebreaker. A computer is used to provisionally calculate the results, but is manually checked by event staff before being released.[9]
An issue is discovered when one of the higher-profile players is found to have 41 non-land cards in their card pool. With Fourth boosters containing 15 cards each, and Homelands 8, each player should only have 38 cards available to them. On the verge of being disqualified, another Judge discovered that their 5th-round opponent only had 35 cards in their pool. Head Judge Tom Wylie rules that the extra cards must have been added by that opponent, in the hope that the player would be disqualified and their chances of making the Top 64 would be increased.
The (known) top standings at the end of Day 1 were:[11]
| Place | Player | Games | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Justice
|
14-1 | 5-0 |
| 2 | Brian Weissman
|
13-2 | 5-0 |
| 3 | Mark Chalice
|
12-3 | 5-0 |
| 4 | unknown | ||
| 5 | unknown | ||
| 6 | unknown | ||
| 7 | Thomas Guevin
|
||
| 8 | unknown | ||
| 8 | unknown | ||
| 10 | Henry Stern
|
11-4 | 4-1 |
At the end of Day 1, only four Europeans (Jan Maarten Cobben, Neil Guthrie, Andrea Redi, and Dominic Symens) and two Japanese (Hiroki Katsuya and Toshiki Tsukamoto) players had made the Top 64 cut to continue on Day 2. The other 58 competitors were from North America. This result helped demonstrate that there was an element of skill involved with Booster Draft, instead of it being simply down to luck, as many in the community had previously thought.
Eventual champion Shawn "Hammer" Regnier placed 61st, only cutting due to an opponent receiving a game loss on a technicality.[12]
Day 2
On Saturday, the Top 64 players, separated into pods of 8, drafted again. Brian Weissman, who finished second on Day 1, ended up drafting at a table with much weaker than average boosters and was out of contention for the Top 8 early. Mark Chalice, third on the day before, similarly struggled with a poor deck.[13]
| “ | The top player was Tom Guevin from Mass., who had the most ludicrous deck I've ever seen in a draft. He had 2 Fireballs, 1 Disintegrate, 2 Drain Lifes, 1 Mind Twist, 2 Floods, and 2 Giant Oysters. How did he get all those? Well, it turns out that the guy on his right picked a Serra over a Fireball, and on the second pack, the guy on his left picked a Serra over the Mind Twist.[11] | ” |
Standings
At the end of the Swiss rounds the final standings were:[14]
| Place | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Guevin
|
| 2 | Shawn "Hammer" Regnier
|
| Darwin Kastle
| |
| Vaughn Sandor
| |
| Mark Venhaus
| |
| Jeff Wood
| |
| 7 | Preston Poulter
|
| 8 | Dominic Crapuchettes
|
Future game designer Dominic Crapuchettes was originally announced as finishing in 8th place. However, after the standings were released, it was determined that one of Scott Johns' match results had been entered incorrectly, and he had earned a spot in the finals. By this point, Crapuchettes had left the venue, and despite the efforts of tournament officials, he was not able to be located to be informed that he'd lost his spot. It was left to Mark Rosewater, when Crapuchettes arrived the next day, to break the news.[6] Crapuchettes's only Pro Tour Top 8 would come at the third Pro Tour New York in 1998; also in a booster draft format.
Day 3
Top 8 Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Thomas Guevin | 3 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Scott Johns | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Thomas Guevin | 3 | |||||||||||
| Mark Venhaus | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Mark Venhaus | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Jeff Wood | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Thomas Guevin | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Shawn Regnier | 3 | |||||||||||
| Darwin Kastle | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Vaughn Sandor | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Darwin Kastle | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Shawn Regnier | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Shawn Regnier | 0 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Preston Poulter | 3 | |||||||||||
Grand Final
The two grand finalists were Shawn "Hammer" Regnier and Thomas Guevin.
Hammer had drafted an extremely defensive white, blue, and black deck. His primary win condition was decking his opponent, even though he wasn't able to draft a Millstone, as he had the day before.[15] He did have Reef Pirates which mills a card when it does combat damage, but this creature was left in his sideboard. Instead, he played 63 cards in his deck, relying on his opponent running out of cards earlier than he did.
| “ | “I told my cameraman Josh, 'Josh, I am going to deck a few people. I will play with extra cards, and when I sideboard, I'm sideboarding extra cards because they are going to put in extra cards.” | ” |
—Hammer[16] | ||
Tom's deck was white, blue, and red. He'd managed to pick up a powerful pair of Fourth Edition rares in Armageddon and Shivan Dragon.
Reportedly, Tom and Hammer had "been at odds" with each other the previous day[15], adding to the tension of the deciding match.
Game 1
In the first game of the match, Tom gets an early lead and secures victory with the pingers Prodigal Sorcerer and Anaba Shaman.[11]
Game 2
The next game starts similarly to the first; however, this time, Hammer can build a defense. Tom can't keep the pressure up as he is drawing mainly lands, which he chooses to keep in his hand. When he draws his Shivian Dragon, he plays a sixth land to be able to cast it straight away, instead of waiting a turn so he could leave mana up for Red Elemental Blast. This was a mistake as Hammer Power Sinks the Dragon, then reanimates it with Animate Dead on his turn. Tom has no answer.
Game 3
Game three lasted close to two hours. Tom, shaken from the previous game, plays much more conservatively. This suits Hammer's strategy, and the game is decided when he Swords to Plowshares Tom's Shivan. Tom runs out of cards a few turns later, not able to find a way to do the last two points of damage to Hammer.
Game 4
Tom had an extremely aggressive opening draw in Game 4, and he took a quick victory.
Game 5
Hammer controlled the pace of the final game. Tom, repeating his mistake from the second game, plays his Shivan Dragon directly into countermagic. Hammer animates it again, but this time, Tom does have answers. He uses Imolation and a Lightning Bolt to kill it, except Hammer has a Healing Salve to prevent the damage. Hammer uses Tom's Dragon to win the game and the match.
Final Results
Seniors
After the conclusion of the single elimination finals series, the Senior standings were:[17]
| Place | Player | Deck | Prize | Pro Points | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shawn "Hammer" Regnier
|
 
|
$17,000 | 30 | Second Pro Tour Top 8 First Pro Tour Victory |
| 2 | Thomas Guevin
|
|
$10,000 | 25 | Pro Tour debut |
| 3 | Darwin Kastle (Mess)
|
|
$5,900 | 20 | |
| 4 | Mark Venhaus
|
|
$5,900 | 20 | |
| 5 | Scott Johns
|
|
$3,500 | 10 | Pro Tour debut |
| 6 | Preston Poulter
|
|
$3,500 | 10 | Second Pro Tour Top 8 |
| 7 | Vaughn Sandor
|
|
$3,500 | 10 | Pro Tour debut |
| 8 | Jeff Wood
|
|
$3,500 | 10 | Pro Tour debut |
Prizes were paid down to 64th place (the 1994 World Championships semi-finalist Dominic Symens).
The New York Champion Michael Loconto finished 22nd, while George Baxter followed up his Top 8 there with a respectable 14th in Los Angeles. George claims he should have made the Top 8, except he mistakenly had left the one Disintegrate he was splashing for off his deck registration. This resulted in him receiving a game loss penalty.[18]
Juniors
After the conclusion of the single elimination finals series, the Junior standings were:[19]
| Place | Player | Deck | Scholarship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Szlagor
|
|
$8,400 |
| 2 |  Paul McCabe
|
|
$5,000 |
| 3 | Jason Norment
|
$2,900 | |
| 4 | Brian Wilson
|
$2,900 | |
| 5 | Mike Bregoli
|
$1,700 | |
| 6 | Jason Dela Cruz
|
$1,700 | |
| 7 | Gregory Kleiman
|
$1,700 | |
| 8 | Jason Zila
|
$1,700 |
Players who finished 9th to 16th, including future Hall of Famer Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz, earned a $500 scholarship. Jon Finkel was not able to repeat his Top 8 performance from New York, finishing 24th.
Jason Norment was the only player to Top 8 in both New York and Los Angeles.
References
- ↑ Heather Henricks (April 1996). "A Million Bucks minus Ed McMahon (pdf)". The Dualist Companion #20. mtghistory.info. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (May 1996). "$1,000,000 Pro Tour (pdf)". The Duelist #10. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on October 10, 2020. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ Heather Henricks (July 1996). "Magic Pro Tour Sets Sail Aboard the Queen Mary (pdf)". The Duelist Sideboard, pp. 13. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on February 7. 2020. Retrieved on June 17, 2025.
- ↑ Adam!!! (May 16 1996). "WotC Release: PT2 Results (Usenet post)". rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc. Usenet. Retrieved on June 17, 2025.
- ↑ Jacob Lackner (May 5, 2022). "On This Date in Magic History: Pro Tour Los Angeles (website)". Card Kingdom. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (September 9, 2013). "Episode 53 : Tales from the Boat (podcast)". Drive to Work. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 18, 2013. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ Brian David-Marshall (May 9, 2016). "An Oral History of Limited (website)". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on May 12, 2006.
- ↑ a b Henry Stern (May 10, 1996). "PT2 Tourney Rept. (Very Long) part 1/2 (.txt)". The Dojo. Archived from the original on February 10, 1999. Retrieved on July 16, 2025.
- ↑ a b c Daniel Gray (May 6, 1996). "Musings from Long Beach(Part 1 of 2) (Usenet post)". rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc. Usenet. Retrieved on June 17, 2025.
- ↑ Cathy Nicoloff (May 8, 1996). "Odd distributions of cards at PT2.. (Usenet Post)". rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc. Usenet. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ a b c Mario Robaina (May 7, 1996). "PT2...Simply Incredible! (.txt)". The Dojo. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ Preston Poulter (May 6, 1996). "PT2- Just the Facts Maam (Usenet post)". rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy. Usenet. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ Daniel Gray (May 6, 1996). "Musings from Long Beach(Part 2 of 2) (Usenet post)". rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc. Usenet. Retrieved on June 17, 2025.
- ↑ Beth Moursund (June 1996). "Pro Tour 2: The skinny on the Magic Pro Tour's southern California showdown (website)". Inquest. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved on July 17, 2025.
- ↑ a b Ron Olszewski (May 7, 1996). "Hammer sportsmanlike? Yes or no? (Usenet post)". rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy. Usenet. Retrieved on June 17, 2025.
- ↑ Brian David-Marshall (December 23, 2005). "The Week That Wandered (website)". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on January 4, 2006. Retrieved on June 16, 2025.
- ↑ MTG Pro Tour Results (2025). "Pro Tour Los Angeles (website)". mtgptresults.com. Retrieved on June 15, 2025.
- ↑ George H. Baxter (May 7, 2025). "PT2... (My biggest and most discuriging screw up) (Usenet post)". Usenet. Retrieved on June 17, 2025.
- ↑ MTG Pro Tour Results (2025). "Pro Tour Los Angeles - Junior Division (website)". mtgptresults.com. Retrieved on June 15, 2025.