William Jensen

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William Jensen
[[File:{{#setmainimage:William Jensen.jpg}}|250px]]
Demographics
Nickname Huey
Residence Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Nationality {USA} American
Professional Career
Pro Tour debut Pro Tour Rome 1998
Top Finishes 8 (2 win)
GP top 8s 25 (6 wins)
Awards
Hall of Fame
World Champion
PT Champion

William "Huey" or "Billy" Jensen is the Director of Play Programs for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast, since 2022.[1] He is also a former American professional player and World Champion, having won the 2017 World Championship. He also won Pro Tour Boston 2003 alongside teammates Brock Parker and Matt Linde, and has finished in the top eight of four additional Pro Tours. He also has 25 Grand Prix top eights, including six wins. In 2013, he was voted into the Hall of Fame. He is the current record holder of most Grand Prix top eight finishes within a single season, with eight in 2013–14.[2] He also regularly commentated on North American GPs.

Professional play

William Jensen started playing Magic in 1995 at age 13,[3] and his first Pro Tour was Pro Tour Rome 1998. One year later, at Pro Tour London 1999, he got his major breakthrough by making the top 8, ultimately finishing 6th, losing to eventual champion Kyle Rose. Only one month later, at Grand Prix San Diego, Jensen experienced his first Grand Prix success by not only making the top 8, but winning the event.[4]

The 2000–01 Pro Tour season started with Jensen winning the inaugural Masters event, beating among others eventual Hall of Famers Nicolai Herzog, Olivier Ruel, and Bob Maher en route to the title.[5] Jensen continued to be a mainstay on the professional scene, putting up additional Grand Prix top 8s, including another win at Grand Prix Pittsburgh 2000,[6] as well as solid Pro Tour finishes. In 2003, Jensen returned to the top 8 of the Pro Tour, finishing 8th at Pro Tour Chicago, once again losing to the eventual champion, in this case Kai Budde.[7] However, Jensen made another top 8 appearance at the very next Pro Tour, finishing 4th at Pro Tour Venice 2003.[8]

The first Pro Tour of the next season, the 2003–04 Pro Tour season, was a Team Rochester draft Pro Tour in Boston. Teaming up with Brock Parker and Matt Linde as 'The Brockafellars', Jensen won his first Pro Tour.[9] The team defeated the German team 'Phoenix Foundation', the winners of the previous two Team Limited Pro Tours, with Jensen defeating Kai Budde 2–0 in his match. In the finals, they faced the Norwegian team 'Unoriginal Slackers', where Jensen won his match 2–0 over Jake Smith. Jensen continued to play on the pro circuit for one more year, his final Pro Tour being the 2004 World Championships before he retired from professional play. Jensen has cited being tired of traveling and friends leaving the scene as the reasons for quitting.[3]

In 2012, despite not having played a professional event in almost eight years, William Jensen was among the top candidates for getting voted into the Hall of Fame. He eventually missed by a single vote,[10] partly due to Brad Nelson, who intended to vote for Jensen, mistakenly voted for Eugene Harvey instead.[11][I] Instead, Jensen received a special invitation to play at Pro Tour Return to Ravnica.[12] He playtested for the event with team StarCityGames Black (currently known as Team Pantheon[13]), featuring players like Jon Finkel, Gabriel Nassif, and Jelger Wiegersma. This reignited his interest in competitive Magic. One year later, he was voted into the Hall of Fame, garnering a total of 59.97% of the votes.[14]

The 2013–14 Pro Tour season was Jensen's comeback season. He won his third Grand Prix shortly after being voted into the Hall of Fame by defeating Neal Oliver in the final of Grand Prix Oakland.[15] He continued to make additional Grand Prix top 8s throughout the season, though without winning another one. At the end of the season, he had made the top 8 of eight total Grand Prix, setting the record for most Grand Prix top 8 finishes within a single season.[2] In the final event of the season, Pro Tour Magic 2015 in Portland, Jensen made his fifth Pro Tour top 8, finishing 7th.[16] His overall performance in the season earned him an invitation to the 2014 World Championship.[2]

The very first Grand Prix of the 2014–15 Pro Tour season, Grand Prix Portland, was won by Jensen's team, Peach Garden Oath, with teammates Reid Duke and Owen Turtenwald.[17] This was Jensen's fourth Grand Prix win. At the 2014 World Championship, Jensen came close to reaching the top 4, but lost the last round of Swiss to Yuuya Watanabe, resulting in an 8th-place finish.[18] He finished the season on 47 points, enough for Platinum status in the Pro Players Club, but not enough to qualify for the 2015 World Championship. The 2015–16 season went very similarly; thanks to three Grand Prix top-eight finishes, 9th-place at Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch, and an 11–5 result at Pro Tour Eldritch Moon, he renewed his Platinum membership but did not qualify for the 2016 World Championship.

In 2016–17, Jensen started the season unevenly and didn't attend many Grand Prix events, instead he provided play-by-play commentary; it looked like for the first time since returning to the professional scene, he wouldn't achieve Platinum status in the Pro Players Club. However, thanks to a very strong finish to the season, including 13th-place at Pro Tour Amonkhet as well as back-to-back Grand Prix wins at Cleveland and then Kyoto (the last Grand Prix of the season), Jensen propelled to not only renewed Platinum status but also an invitation to the 2017 World Championship. For that event, taking place in his hometown of Boston, he practiced extensively with teammates Owen Turtenwald and Reid Duke and was rewarded with a runaway performance that saw him starting the event 12–0, and he finished first after the Swiss with a margin of 9 match points. He won his semifinal match against Kelvin Chew 3–1 and then faced Spain's Javier Dominguez. Jensen once again won 3–1, and was crowned World Champion, earning $100,000, which was the largest cash prize ever awarded at a Magic tournament. He also became the first player to become World Champion post-Hall of Fame induction. The rest of the 2017–18 season was unremarkable, however, leaving Jensen without an invitation to the 2018 World Championship. In December 2018, it was announced that Jensen would be one of the 32 players joining the upcoming 2019 Magic Pro League. Because he finished in the Top 20, he could continue in the 2020 Season, but was relegated to the Rivals league in the 2021 season.

In 2022, Jensen retired from the Rivals League for a position at WoTC as the Director of Play Programs.[1] In this capacity he oversees the full range of Magic organized play programs from high level competitions to new suits of social and casual play.

League play

Season Rank
2019 Magic Pro League 14
2020 Magic Pro League 3
2020-21 Magic Pro League 12
2021–22 Rivals League 47

Accomplishments

Season Event type Location Format Date Rank
1999–00 Pro Tour London Block Constructed 15–17 October 1999 6
1999–00 Grand Prix San Diego Limited 20–21 November 1999 1
1999–00 Grand Prix Philadelphia Extended 19–20 February 2000 5
1999–00 Grand Prix Cannes Team Limited 26–27 February 2000 4
1999–00 Grand Prix Pittsburgh Team Limited 24–25 June 2000 1
2000–01 Masters New York City Extended 29 September–1 October 2000 1
2000–01 Grand Prix Detroit Limited 31 March–1 April 2001 5
2000–01 Nationals Orlando Standard and Booster Draft 1–3 June 2001 6
2001–02 Grand Prix Houston Extended 5–6 January 2002 3
2001–02 Grand Prix Milwaukee Standard 11–12 May 2002 7
2002–03 Pro Tour Chicago Rochester Draft 17–19 January 2003 8
2002–03 Pro Tour Venice Block Constructed 21–23 March 2003 4
2003–04 Pro Tour Boston Team Limited 12–14 September 2003 1
2003–04 Grand Prix Orlando Block Constructed 24–25 July 2004 5
2013–14 Grand Prix Oakland Limited 24–25 August 2013 1
2013–14 Grand Prix Louisville Standard 19–20 October 2013 8
2013–14 Grand Prix Toronto Limited 30 November–1 December 2013 3
2013–14 Grand Prix Dallas/Fort Worth Standard 7–8 December 2013 2
2013–14 Grand Prix Barcelona Team Limited 1–2 March 2014 3
2013–14 Grand Prix Philadelphia Limited 12–13 April 2014 6
2013–14 Grand Prix Atlanta Limited 24–25 May 2014 3
2013–14 Grand Prix Washington, D.C. Limited 28–29 June 2014 5
2013–14 Pro Tour Portland Standard and Booster Draft 1–3 August 2014 7
2014–15 Grand Prix Portland Team Limited 9–10 August 2014 1
2014–15 Grand Prix Denver Standard 3–4 January 2015 6
2015–16 Grand Prix Detroit Team Limited 15–16 August 2015 3
2015–16 Grand Prix Washington, D.C. Team Limited 12–13 March 2016 3
2015–16 Grand Prix Barcelona Limited 16–17 April 2016 3
2016–17 Grand Prix San Antonio Team Modern 1–2 April 2017 2
2016–17 Grand Prix Cleveland Team Limited 24–25 June 2017 1
2016–17 Grand Prix Kyoto Limited 22–23 July 2017 1
2017–18 Grand Prix Providence Team Limited 30 September–1 October 2017 2
2017–18 Worlds Boston Standard and Booster Draft 6–8 October 2017 1
2017–18 Pro Tour Team Series Las Vegas Team Limited 23 September 2018 1
2018–19 Mythic Championship Long Beach (MTG Arena) Traditional Standard 18–20 October 2019 8
2020 Players Tour Phoenix Pioneer and Booster Draft 7-9 February 2020 2

Source: Wizards.com

Pro Tour Results

List of the Pro Tour results and winnings of William Jensen
Season Pro Tour Format Finish Winnings
1998–99 Rome Extended 124
1998–99 Los Angeles Rochester Draft 314
1998–99 New York Block Constructed 55 $460
1998–99 Worlds (Tokyo) Special 29 $2,400
1999–00 London Booster Draft 6 $5,500
1999–00 Chicago Extended 97
1999–00 Los Angeles Booster Draft 38 $840
1999–00 New York Block Constructed 26 $1,500
1999–00 Worlds (Brussels) Special 69
2000–01 New York Team Limited 13 $1,100
2000–01 Chicago Standard 39 $900
2000–01 Los Angeles Rochester Draft 22 $2,100
2000–01 Tokyo Block Constructed 69
2000–01 Barcelona Booster Draft 182
2000–01 Worlds (Toronto) Special 56 $580
2001–02 New York Team Limited 23
2001–02 New Orleans Extended 77
2001–02 San Diego Rochester Draft 28 $1,500
2001–02 Osaka Block Constructed 242
2001–02 Nice Booster Draft 19 $2,550
2001–02 Worlds (Sydney) Special 68
2002–03 Boston Team Limited 86
2002–03 Houston Extended 240
2002–03 Chicago Rochester Draft 8 $6,500
2002–03 Venice Block Constructed 4 $13,000
2002–03 Yokohama Booster Draft 174
2002–03 Worlds (Berlin) Special 118
2003–04 Boston Team Limited 1 $20,000
2003–04 New Orleans Extended 302
2003–04 Amsterdam Rochester Draft 247
2003–04 Kobe Block Constructed 231
2003–04 San Diego Booster Draft 68
2003–04 Seattle Team Limited 30
2003–04 Worlds (San Francisco) Special 40 $875
2012–13 Return to Ravnica in Seattle Modern and Booster Draft 122
2013–14 Theros in Dublin Standard and Booster Draft 35 $1,500
2013–14 Born of the Gods in Valencia Modern and Booster Draft 120
2013–14 Journey into Nyx in Atlanta Block Constructed and Booster Draft 39 $1,500
2013–14 Magic 2015 in Portland Standard and Booster Draft 7 $10,000
2014–15 Khans of Tarkir in Honolulu Standard and Booster Draft 155
2014–15 Fate Reforged in Washington, D.C. Modern and Booster Draft 39 $1,500
2014–15 Dragons of Tarkir in Brussels Standard and Booster Draft 171
2014–15 Magic Origins in Vancouver Standard and Booster Draft 145
2015–16 Battle for Zendikar in Milwaukee Standard and Booster Draft 343
2015–16 Oath of the Gatewatch in Atlanta Modern and Booster Draft 9 $5,000
2015–16 Shadows over Innistrad in Madrid Standard and Booster Draft 159
2015–16 Eldritch Moon in Sydney Standard and Booster Draft 27 $1,500
2016–17 Kaladesh in Honolulu Standard and Booster Draft 174
2016–17 Aether Revolt in Dublin Standard and Booster Draft 38 $1,500
2016–17 Amonkhet in Nashville Standard and Booster Draft 13 $5,000
2016–17 Hour of Devastation in Kyoto Standard and Booster Draft 52 $1,000
2017–18 Ixalan in Albuquerque Standard and Booster Draft 39 $1,500
2017–18 Rivals of Ixalan in Bilbao Modern and Booster Draft 202
2017–18 Dominaria in Richmond Standard and Booster Draft 414
2017–18 25th Anniversary in Minneapolis Team Constructed 56 $1,000
2018–19 Guilds of Ravnica in Atlanta Standard and Booster Draft 327
2018–19 Mythic Championship Cleveland 2019 Standard and Booster Draft 56 $1,000
2018–19 Mythic Championship V Traditional Standard 8 $12,500
2020 Players Tour Series 1; Phoenix Pioneer and Booster Draft 2 $30,000

Source: Wizards.com

External links

Notes

^I Although Jensen did miss Hall of Fame induction by a single vote, Nelson's vote alone would not have been sufficient. Hall of Fame voters were divided into the Players Committee and the Selection Committee, and the Selection Committee was weighted more. Jensen was one Selection Committee vote away from induction, but not one Players Committee vote.

References

  1. a b William Jensen (December 28, 2021). "I'm starting as WoTCStaff in the position of Director of Play Programs.". Twitter.
  2. a b c 2014 World Championship Competitors: William Jensen. Wizards of the Coast (2014-11-10). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  3. a b My Magic Life. StarCityGames (2013-08-07). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  4. Grand Prix-San Diego November 19-21, 1999. Wizards of the Coast (1999-11-21). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  5. Masters Series Coverage: New York 2000. Wizards of the Coast (2000-10-01). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  6. Grand Prix Pittsburgh 2000 Coverage. Wizards of the Coast (2000-06-25). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  7. Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Chicago. Wizards of the Coast (2003-01-17). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  8. Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Venice. Wizards of the Coast (2003-03-23). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  9. Live Coverage of 2003 Pro Tour Boston. Wizards of the Coast (2003-09-12). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  10. 2012 Ballot. Wizards of the Coast (2012-07-27). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  11. Brad Nelson (2013-07-05). "The Power Of M14". Star City Games. Retrieved on 2017-07-21.
  12. Invitation List for Pro Tour Return to Ravnica 2012. Wizards of the Coast (2012-10-17). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  13. Team Pantheon. ChannelFireball. Retrieved on 2014-12-18.
  14. 2013 Ballot. Wizards of the Coast (2013-08-02). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  15. He’s back! Jensen shows mastery in Oakland. Wizards of the Coast (2013-08-25). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  16. FLOCH IMMORTALIZED AT PRO TOUR. Wizards of the Coast (2014-08-04). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  17. THE PANTHEON CONQUERS PORTLAND. Wizards of the Coast (2014-08-11). Retrieved on 2014-11-20.
  18. 2014 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 14 STANDINGS. Wizards of the Coast (2013-12-03). Retrieved on 2014-12-04.