Magic Invitational 2001 Player Ballot Results

Mark Rosewater
Magic Invitational 2001 - Capetown

With 4236 votes, the Magic Invitational Player's Ballot had the best on-line response ever. Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. And now, the sixteen invitees to the 2001 Magic Invitational to be held October 5-7 in Capetown, South Africa: (each player is listed along with his top accomplishments of the 2000-2001 Pro Tour season)
Slot 1) Last Year's Magic Invitational Champion

Jon Finkel [United States]
48 Pro Points
4th Invitational Invite (Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Capetown)
1st, Magic Invitational (Kuala Lumpur)
13th, Pro Player of the Year
27th, Pro Tour New York
5th, Pro Tour Chicago
4th, Pro Tour Los Angeles
11th, Pro Tour Barcelona
17th, 2001 World Championships
Slot 2) 2001 World Champion

Tom Van de Logt [The Netherlands]
42 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
19th, Pro Tour Player of the Year
44th, Pro Tour Barcelona
1st, 2001 World Championships 4th, Grand Prix Torino

Slot 3) Highest Ranked DCI Member (Composite Rating)

Antoine Ruel [France]
56 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
9th, Pro Player of the Year
6th, Pro Tour New York
3rd, 2001 World Championships
1st, Grand Prix Porto
6th, Grand Prix Amsterdam
2nd, Grand Prix Cologne
6th, Grand Prix Prague
4th, Grand Prix Moscow
Slot 4) Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points

Kai Budde [Germany]
88 Pro Points
3rd Invitational Invite (Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Capetown)
1st, Pro Player of the Year
22nd, Pro Tour New York
1st, Pro Tour Chicago
25th, Pro Tour Los Angeles
1st, Pro Tour Barcelona
44th, 2001 World Championships
3rd, Grand Prix Florence
Slot 5) 2nd Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points

Kamiel Cornelissen [The Netherlands]
75 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
2nd, Pro Player of the Year
23rd, Pro Tour New York
2nd, Pro Tour Chicago
2nd, Pro Tour Los Angeles
29th, Pro Tour Chicago
12th, Pro Tour Barcelona
25th, 2001 World Championships
4th, Grand Prix Torino
6th, Grand Prix Columbus
Slot 6) 3rd Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points

Mike Pustilnik [United States]
71 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
3rd, Pro Player of the Year
6th, Pro Tour Chicago
1st, Pro Tour Los Angeles
35th, Pro Tour Barcelona
4th, Grand Prix Porto
5th, Grand Prix Valencia
8th, Grand Prix Torino
4th, Grand Prix Columbus
Slot 7) 4th Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points

Chris Benafel [United States]
65 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
4th, Pro Player of the Year
14th, Pro Tour New York
4th, Pro Tour Tokyo
38th, Pro Tour Barcelona
31st, 2001 World Championships
2nd, Grand Prix Dallas
1st, Grand Prix Amsterdam
8th, Grand Prix Boston
1st, Grand Prix Tapei
2nd, Grand Prix Torino
1st, Grand Prix Yokohoma
Slot 8) 5th Highest Ranked Player, Pro Points

Zvi Mowshowitz [United States]
64 Pro Points
3rd Invitational Invite (Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Capetown)
5th, Pro Player of the Year
7th, Pro Tour Chicago
1st, Pro Tour Tokyo
14th, 2001 World Championships
8th, Grand Prix Manchester
8th, Grand Prix Torino
Slot 9) Top Ranked North American Player, Pro Points

Dan Clegg [United States]
59 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
7th, Pro Player of the Year
3rd, Pro Tour New York
44th, Pro Tour Tokyo
3rd, Pro Tour Barcelona
3rd, Grand Prix Dallas
4th, Grand Prix Detroit
1st, Grand Prix Tapei
1st, Grand Prix Torino
2nd, Grand Prix Columbus
Slot 10) Top Ranked Latin American Player, Pro Points

Scott Richards [Uruguay]
15 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
18th, Pro Tour Los Angeles
1st, Latin America Championships
Slot 11) Top Ranked European Player, Pro Points

Ryan Fuller [The Netherlands]
64 Pro Points
2nd Invitational Invite (Sydney, Capetown)
6th, Pro Tour Player of the Year
14th, Pro Tour New York
48th, Pro Tour Los Angeles
5th, Pro Tour Tokyo
62nd, Pro Tour Barcelona
5th, Grand Prix Porto
4th, Grand Prix Kyoto
4th, Grand Prix Valencia
1st, Grand Prix Prague
1st, Grand Prix Moscow
2nd, Grand Prix Torino
1st, Grand Prix Yokohoma
Slot 12) Top Ranked APAC Player, Pro Points

Tsuyoshi Fujita [Japan]
48 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
14th, Pro Player of the Year
40th, Pro Tour New York
2nd, Pro Tour Tokyo
59th, 2001 Worlds Championships
1st, Grand Prix Kyoto
6th, Grand Prix Hiroshima
6th, Grand Prix Yokohoma
Slot 13) Highest Ranked Player, Player's Ballot

Dave Price [United States]
18 Pro Points
4th Invitational Invite (Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Capetown)
55th, Pro Tour New York
5th, Grand Prix Amsterdam
Slot 14) 2nd Highest Ranked Player, Player's Ballot

Gary Wise [Canada]
48 Pro Points
3rd Invitational Invite (Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Capetown)
15th, Pro Player of the Year
1st, Pro Tour New York
19th, Pro Tour Los Angeles
31st, Pro Tour Tokyo
Slot 15) 3rd Highest Ranked Player, Player's Ballot

Brian Kibler [United States]
30 Pro Points
1st Invitational Invite (Capetown)
3rd, Pro Tour Chicago
60th, Pro Tour Barcelona
Slot 16) 4th Highest Ranked Player, Player's Ballot

Chris Pikula [United States]
3 Pro Points
5th Invitational Invite (Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Capetown)
64th, Pro Tour New York

For those interested here is all the data from which the different players were picked.
The Top Ranked DCI Member (Composite Rating)

[ The ratings were taken from the top composite ratings as posted on August 15, 2000]
Top Ranked DCI Member

1) 2131 - Jon Finkel [United States] (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #1)
2) 2111 - Tom Van de Logt [Netherlands] (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #2)
3) 2093 - Antoine Ruel [France] INVITED
4) 2090 - Alex Borteh [United States]
5) 2088 - John Ormerod [England]
Top Ranked Player, Pro Points

[Ties broken by DCI Composite Rating]
1) Kai Budde [Germany] 88 - INVITED
2) Kamiel Cornelissen [Netherlands] 75 - INVITED
3) Michael Pustilnik [United States] 71 - INVITED
4) Chris Benafel [United States] 65 - INVITED
5) Zvi Mowshowitz [United States] 64 - INVITED
6) Ryan Fuller [Canada] 64
7) Dan Clegg [United States] 59
8) Scott Johns [United States] 59
9) Antoine Ruel [France] 56
10) Michael Turian [United States] 53
Top Ranked North American Player, Pro Points

1) Michael Pustilnik [United States] 71 (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #6)
2) Chris Benafel [United States] 65 (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #7)
3) Zvi Mowshowitz [United States] 64 (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #8)
4) Daniel Clegg [United States] 59 - INVITED
5) Scott Johns [United States] 59
Top Ranked Latin American Player, Pro Points

1) Scott Richards [Uruguay] 15 - INVITED
2) Gerardo Godinez [Mexico] 14
3) Damian Brown [Uruguay] 13
4) Carlos Eduardo Romao [Brazil] 09
5) Diego Ostrovich [Argentina] 08
Top Ranked European Player, Pro Points

1) Kai Budde [Germany] 88 (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #4)
2) Kamiel Cornelissen [Netherlands] 75 (ALREADY INVITED - SLOT #5)
3) Ryan Fuller [Netherlands] 64 - INVITED
4) Antoine Ruel [France] 56
5) Olivier Ruel [France] 47
Top Ranked APAC Player, Pro Points

1) Tsuyoshi Fujita [Japan] 48 - INVITED
2) Katsuhiro Mori [Japan] 31
3) Satoshi Nakamura [Japan] 26
4) Masayuki Higashino [Japan] 25
5) Albertus Law [Singapore] 23
Player's Ballot

[The Player's Ballot was voted upon by 4236 players through a ballot on Sideboard.com]
1) Dave Price - INVITED
2) Gary Wise - INVITED
3) Brian Kibler - INVITED
4) Chris Pikula - INVITED
5) Ben Rubin
6) Alex Shvartsman
7) Darwin Kastle
8) Michael Turian
9) David Williams
10) Trevor Blackwell
11) Sol Malka
12) Alan Comer
13) Scott Johns
14) Tommi Hovi
15) John Ormerod
16) Matthew Vienneau
17) Olle Rade
18) Aaron Forsythe
19) Satoshi Nakamura
20) Gabriel Tsang
Alternates for Each Slot

If a player cannot attend, here is the first alternate for each slot. If a higher priority slot falls to a player already invited, he or she takes that slot and the alternate for their old slot is invited.

Slot #1 - Ben Rubin [United States] - Ben is #5 in the Fan Ballot
Slot #2 - Ben Rubin [United States] - Ben is #5 in the Fan Ballot
Slot #3 - Alex Borteh [United States]
Slot #4 - Scott Johns [United States]
Slot #5 - Scott Johns [United States]
Slot #6 - Scott Johns [United States]
Slot #7 - Scott Johns [United States]
Slot #8 - Scott Johns [United States]
Slot #9 - Scott Johns [United States]
Slot #10 - Gerardo Godinez [Mexico]
Slot #11 - Olivier Ruel [France]
Slot #12 - Katsuhiro Mori [Japan]
Slot #13 - Ben Rubin [United States]
Slot #14 - Ben Rubin [United States]
Slot #15 - Ben Rubin [United States]
Slot #16 - Ben Rubin [United States]

For those interested, some data for this year's Invitational:
Invites by country

United States (8) [Benafel, Clegg, Finkel, Kibler, Mowshowitz, Pikula, Price, Pustilnik]
Netherlands (3) [Cornelissen, Fuller, Van de Logt]
Canada (1) [Wise]
France (1) [Ruel]
Germany (1) [Budde]
Japan (1) [Fujita]
Uruguay (1) [Richards]
Invites by previous Invitational attendance

First invite (9) [Benafel, Clegg, Corenlissen, Fujita, Kibler, Pustilnik, Richards, Van de Logt ]
1 previous invite (1) [Fuller]
2 previous invites (3) [Budde, Mowshowitz, Wise]
3 previous invites (2) [Finkel, Price]
4 previous invites (1) [Pikula]

And finally, some overall Invitational data for those still interested:
Previous Invitations Final Results
1997 - Hong Kong

1) Olle Rade [Sweden] - (11-4) [prize: never turned in a card]
2) Mike Long [United States] - (12-2-1)
3) Mark Chalice [United States] - (9-6)
4) Matt Place [United States] - (9-6)
5) Scott Johns [United States] - (8-6-1)
6) Andrea Redi [Italy] - (8-6-1)
7) George Baxter [United States] - (8-7)
8) Leon Lindback [Sweden] - (6-6-3)
9) Eric Tam [Canada] - (7-7-1)
10) Tom Chanpheng [Australia] - (7-8)
11) Shawn "Hammer" Regnier [United States] - (6-8-1)
12) Brian Weissman [United States] - (6-9)
13) Betrand Lestree [France] - (6-9)
14) Alexander Blumke [Switzerland] - (5-9-1)
15) Thomas Andersson [Sweden] - (5-10)
16) Amiel Feldman [Switzerland] - (4-11)
1998 - Rio de Janeiro

1) Darwin Kastle: Avalanche Riders, Urza's Legacy]
2) Jakub Slemr [Czech Republic] - (10-5)
3) Svend Geertsen [Denmark] - (9-5-1)
4) Brian Hacker [United States] - (9-5-1)
5) Mike Long [United States] - (9-5-1)
6) Mark Justice [United States] - (9-6)
7) Tommi Hovi [Finland] - (8-7)
8) Toshiki Tsukamoto [Japan] - (7-6-2)
9) John Chinnock [United States] - (7-7-1)
10) Paul McCabe [Canada] - (7-8)
11) Brian Weissman [United States] - (6-8-1)
12) Olle Rade [Sweden] - (6-8-1)
13) Terry Borer [Canada] - (6-9)
14) Chris Pikula [United States] - (6-9)
15) Nathan Russell [Australia] - (4-8-3)
16) Jason Zila* [United States] - (0-15) * did not attend event
1999 - Barcelona

1) Mike Long [United States] - (10-4-1) [prize: Roowtarer Thief, Nemesis]
2) Sturla Bingen [Norway] - (12-2-1)
3) Chris Pikula [United States] - (10-4-1)
4) Jon Finkel [United States] - (9-5-1)
5) Darwin Kastle [United States] - (9-6)
6) David Price [United States] - (8-7)
7) Brian Hacker [United States] - (8-7)
8) Sigurd Eskeland [Norway] - (7-6-2)
9) Svend Geertsen [Denmark] - (6-7-2)
10) Brian Selden [United States] - (6-7-2)
11) Satoshi Nakamura [Japan] - (6-9)
12) Matt Place [United States] - (6-9)
13) Randy Buehler [United States] - (5-10)
14) Olle Rade [Sweden] - (5-10)
15) Jakub Slemr [Czech Republic] - (5-10)
16) Steven O'Mahoney Schwartz [United States] - (3-11-1)
2000 - Kuala Lumpur

1) Chris Pikula [United States] - (10-5) [prize: Meddling Mage, Planeshift]
2) Jon Finkel [United States] - (11-4)
3) Zvi Mowshowitz [United States] - (10-5)
4) Dave Humpheries [United States] - (10-5)
5) Pat Chapin [United States] - (10-5)
6) Kai Budde [Germany] - (9-6)
7) Mike Long [United States] - (9-6)
8) Dirk Baberowski [Germany] - (7-8)
9) Darwin Kastle [United States] - (7-8)
10) Steve O'Mahoney Schwartz [United States] - (7-8)
11) Nicolai Herzog [Norway] - (6-9)
12) Dave Price [United States] - (6-9)
13) Jakub Slemr [Czech Republic] - (6-9)
14) Koichiro Maki [Japan] - (5-10)
15) Brian Hacker [United States] - (5-10)
17) Gary Wise [Canada] - (2-13)
2000 - Sydney

1) Jon Finkel [USA] (11-4)
2) Ben Rubin [USA] (10-5)
3) Dave Price [USA] (10-5)
4) Noah Boeken [NET] (9-6)
5) Darwin Kastle [USA] (8-7)
6) Alex Shvartsman [USA] (8-7)
7) Yoshikazu Ishii [JAP] (8-7)
8) Chris Pikula [USA] (7-8)
9) Kai Budde [GER] )7-8)
10) Gary Wise [CAN] (7-8)
11) Gerardo Godinez Estrada [MEX] (7-8)
12) Trevor Blackwell [USA] (7-8)
13) Bob Maher, Jr. [USA] (7-8)
14) Ryan Fuller [CAN] (5-10)
15) Mike Long [USA] (5-10)
16) Zvi Mowshowitz [USA] (4-11)
Overall Magic: the Gathering Invitational Statistics
Ranking by Country (unique individuals)

United States (51 total, 28 unique)
George Baxter
Chris Benafel
Trevor Blackwell
Randy Buehler
Mark Chalice
Pat Chapin
John Chinnock
Dan Clegg
Jon Finkel
Brian Hacker
Dave Humphreys
Scott Johns
Mark Justice
Darwin Kastle
Brian Kibler
Mike Long
Bob Maher, Jr.
Zvi Mowshowitz
Steven O'Mahoney Schwartz
Chris Pikula
Mike Pustilnik
Matt Place
David Price
Shawn "Hammer" Regnier
Ben Rubin
Brian Selden
Alex Shvartsman
Brian Weissman

Canada (6 total, 5 unique)
Terry Borer
Ryan Fuller
Paul McCabe
Eric Tam
Gary Wise

Japan (5 total, 5 unique,)
Tsuyoshi Fujita
Yoshikazu Ishii
Koichiro Maki
Satoshi Nakamura
Toshiki Tsukamoto

Sweden (5 total, 3 unique)
Olle Rade
Thomas Andersson
Leon Lindback

Germany (4 total, 2 unique)
Dirk Baberowski [Germany]
Kai Budde [Germany]

The Netherlands (4 total, 4 unique)
Noah Boeken
Kamiel Cornelissen
Ryan Fuller
Tom Van de Logt

Czech Republic (3 total, 1 unique)
Jakub Slemr

Norway (3 total, 3 unique)
Sturla Bingen
Sigurd Eskeland
Nicolai Herzog

Australia (2 total, 2 unique)
Tom Chanpheng
Nathan Russell

France (2 total, 2 unique)
Betrand Lestree
Antoine Ruel

Denmark (2 total, 1 unique)
Svend Geertsen

Switzerland (2 total, 2 unique)
Alexander Blumke
Amiel Feldman

Finland (1 total, 1 unique)
Tommi Hovi

Italy (1 total, 1 unique)
Andrea Redi

Mexico (1 total, 1 unique)
Gerardo Godinez

Uruguay (1 total, 1 unique)
Scott Richards
Ranking by Number of Invites (based on attendance)

5 invites
Mike Long [United States]
Chris Pikula [United States]

4 invites
Jon Finkel [United States]
Darwin Kastle [United States]
David Price [United States]

3 invites
Kai Budde [Germany]
Brian Hacker [United States]
Zvi Mowshowitz [United States]
Olle Rade [Sweden]
Jakub Slemr [Czech Republic]
Gary Wise [Canada]

2 invites
Ryan Fuller [Canada/Netherlands]
Svend Geertsen [Denmark]
Steven O'Mahoney Schwartz [United States]
Matt Place [United States]
Brian Weissman [United States]

1 invite
Thomas Andersson [Sweden]
Dirk Baberowski [Germany]
George Baxter [United States]
Chris Benafel [United States]
Sturla Bingen [Norway]
Alexander Blumke [Switzerland]
Terry Borer [Canada]
Randy Buehler [United States]
Mark Chalice [United States]
Tom Chanpheng [Australia]
Pat Chapin [United States]
John Chinnock [United States]
Dan Clegg [United States]
Kamiel Cornelissen [Netherlands]
Sigurd Eskeland [Norway]
Tsuyoshi Fujita [Japan]
Amiel Feldman [Switzerland]
Nicolai Herzog [Norway]
Tommi Hovi [Finland]
Yoshikazu Ishii [Japan]
Scott Johns [United States]
Brian Kibler [United States]
Mark Justice [United States]
Betrand Lestree [France]
Leon Lindback [Sweden]
Koichiro Maki [Japan]
Paul McCabe [Canada]
Satoshi Nakamura [Japan]
Mike Pustilnik [United States]
Andrea Redi [Italy]
Scott Richards [Uruguay]
Antoine Ruel [France]
Shawn "Hammer" Regnier [United States]
Nathan Russell [Australia]
Brian Selden [United States]
Eric Tam [Canada]
Toshiki Tsukamoto [Japan]
Tom Van de Logt [Netherlands]