日本語の取材へ

Living on the beach, playing a game and cashing in on a cool $40,000…what more could a Magic fan ask for?

Mark Herberholz defeated Craig Jones 3-2 in the finals of Pro Tour-Honolulu, capping a fantastic debut to the 2006 Pro Tour season. Herberholz came out to Hawaii a few days early from dreary Michigan to hang out with a bunch of other Pros in a house on the North Shore, and now he's a Pro Tour champion!

A fabulous location, a massive Pro Tour, a dramatic Top 8 - with perhaps the greatest topdeck in Magic history - a fevered fan might not know where to start.

But how about seeing Herberholz, a three-time Top 8er, strike gold with his aggressive Gruul Beats deck? He thrashed Osyp Lebedowicz in the quarterfinals, and then smoothly dispatched Tiago Chan to make the finals against Jones. Moldervine Cloak paved the way for Heezy against the Professor, depositing a huge check into Herberholz's bank account.

Jones's path to the finals was much more dramatic as he personally took on the Ruel brothers, Magic's reigning royal family. Antoine Ruel had no chance against Jones in the quarterfinals thanks to possibly the worst deck matchup of all time.

Olivier, however, battled back from a 2-1 deficit to put Jones on the brink of elimination before the fates turned on him in the semifinals. Jones needed a burn spell to save himself, and up came Lightning Helix! The crowd roared, Jones celebrated and Olivier's hopes were dashed against the rocks of topdeck tragedy.

We hope you enjoyed Pro Tour-Honolulu as much as everyone here did. Congratulations to Mark Herberholz and all the players, and we'll see you again at Pro Tour-Prague on May 5-7.