日本語の取材へ
When the final match of the weekend ended there were cheers, tears and smiles all over the exhibition center, as Masashiro Kuroda held his wife, his Pro Tour Championship trophy, and the $30,000 check in victory. Kuroda almost didn't make it to this point, following his career trend of slipping a bit after an undefeated day one performance. But, he pulled it back together and fought his way into the Top 8, where his burn heavy deck dominated the competition. After his Fireball dealt the final points of damage to win the tournament, the hall erupted in emotion from the Japanese Magic players, who had been waiting so long to have their own Pro Tour Champion. Even the non-Japanese players stood up in applause and respect. Kuroda dedicated his win to the Japanese Magic players who had made it to the finals of past events, and said that he felt the championship belonged to them and the Japanese Magic community just as much as it belonged to him.
Top 8 Final Standing
| 1. Masashiro Kuroda (Japan) |
$30,000 |
| 2. Gabriel Nassif (France) |
$20,000 |
| 3. Alexandre Peset (France) |
$15,000 |
| 4. Jelger Wiegersma (Netherlands) |
$13,000 |
| 5. Luigi Sbrozzi (Italy) |
$9,500 |
| 6. Raffaele Lo Moro (Italy) |
$8,500 |
| 7. Ben Stark (USA) |
$7,500 |
| 8. Stefano Fiori (Italy) |
$6,500 |
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(Click here for complete final standings)
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While this major milestone makes Pro Tour Kobe special, it should not be at the cost of overlooking Gabriel Nassif. Nassif took a format that many had labeled as "the Affinity decks against the non-Affinity decks", and came up with a deck that was powerful, creative, and packed enough "wow" factor to turn heads. His "TwelvePost" deck was the talk of the tournament, dropping Darksteel Colossus and Platinum Angels into play all day en route to a finals finish. This is Nassif's second constructed Pro Tour Top 8 this season, and cements his reputation as one of the best players in the world at the moment.
Kuroda will go down in history as the first Japanese Pro Tour Champion, but if the increasing success of his country is any indication, he certainly won't be the last.
Video Coverage
Finals: Wrap-up (5.34 MB QT)
Finals, Game 1: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Gabriel Nassif (32.9 MB QT)
Finals, Game 2: Kuroda vs. Nassif (41.7 MB QT)
Finals, Game 3: Kuroda vs. Nassif (31.6 MB QT)
Finals, Game 4: Kuroda vs. Nassif (12.7 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 3: Jelger Wiegersma vs. Gabriel Nassif (15.8 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 4: Wiegersma vs. Nassif (24.6 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 1: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Alexandre Peset (29.8 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 2: Kuroda vs. Peset (29.4 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 3: Kuroda vs. Peset (34.7 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 4: Kuroda vs. Peset (20.4 MB QT)
Semifinals, Game 5: Kuroda vs. Peset (9.7 MB QT)
Quarterfinals, Game 2: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Raffaele Lo Moro (24.2 MB QT)
Quarterfinals, Game 3: Kuroda vs. Lo Moro (21.9 MB QT)
Quarterfinals, Game 1: Ben Stark vs. Gabriel Nassif (15.8 MB QT)
Quarterfinals, Game 2: Stark vs. Nassif (6.46 MB QT)
Quarterfinals, Game 5: Stark vs. Nassif (27.6 MB QT)
Player Intro: Luigi Sbrozzi (1.31 MB QT)
Player Intro: Raffaele Lo Moro (0.96 MB QT)
Player Intro: Alexandre Peset (1.80 MB QT)
Player Intro: Ben Stark (1.01 MB QT)
Player Intro: Gabriel Nassif (1.02 MB QT)
Player Intro: Stefano Fiori (1.06 MB QT)
Player Intro: Masashiro Kuroda (4.26 MB QT)
Player Intro: Jelger Wiegersma (1.31 MB QT)
Interview with Masashiro Kuroda (9.62 MB QT)
Daily Wrap-ups (QT): Day One (2.56 MB) | Day Two (4.62 MB) | Day Three (5.24 MB)
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Quarterfinals |
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Semifinals |
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Finals |
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Champion |
| 1 |
Luigi Sbrozzi
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Jelger Wiegersma, 3-1
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| 8 |
Jelger Wiegersma
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Gabriel Nassif, 3-1
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| 4 |
Ben Stark
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Gabriel Nassif, 3-2
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Masashiro Kuroda, 3-1
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| 5 |
Gabriel Nassif
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| 2 |
Raffaele Lo Moro
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Masashiro Kuroda, 3-0
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| 7 |
Masashiro Kuroda
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Masashiro Kuroda, 3-2
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| 3 |
Alexandre Peset
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Alexandre Peset, 3-2
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| 6 |
Stefano Fiori
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| EVENT COVERAGE |
INFORMATION |
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Final: Gabriel Nassif v. Masashiro Kuroda
by Josh Bennett
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Semifinals: Gabriel Nassif vs. Jelger Wiegersma
by Brian David-Marshall
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Semifinals: Alexandre Peset vs. Masashiro Kuroda
by Toby Wachter
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Quarterfinals: Gabriel Nassif vs. Ben Stark
by Brian David-Marshall
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Quarterfinals: Alexandre Peset vs. Stefano Fiori
by Adrian Sullivan
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Quarterfinals: Raffaele Lo Moro vs. Masashiro Kuroda
by Toby Wachter
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Quarterfinals: Jelger Wiegersma v. Luigi Sbrozzi
by Josh Bennett
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Decks: The Top 8 Decks
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Day Two Wrap-Up
by Sideboard Staff
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Round 16: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Eugene Sanchez Mata
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 16: Jelger Wiegersma v. Lovre Crnobori
by Josh Bennett
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Feature: The Steaks Are High
by Toby Wachter
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Round 15: Gabriel Nassif vs. Hans Joachim Hoeh
by Brian David-Marshall
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Decks: The Decks of Day 2
by Sideboard Staff
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Feature: What Went Wrong?
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 14: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Gabriel Nassif
by Toby Wachter
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Round 14: Ben Stark vs. Raphael Levy
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 13: Osamu Fujita vs. Katsuhiro Mori
by Toby Wachter
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Round 13: Rickard Österberg v. Gabriel Nassif
by Josh Bennett
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Round 12: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Ben Stark
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 12: Dirk Baberowski vs. Tsuyoshi Ikeda
by Toby Wachter
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Round 11: Gabriel Nassif vs. Bernardo de Costa Cabral
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 11: Antoine Ruel vs. Tsuyoshi Fujita
by Toby Wachter
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Round 10: Katsuhiro Mori vs. Yann Hamon
by Toby Wachter
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Deck Tech: TwelvePost
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 10: Osamu Fujita v. Lovre Crnobori
by Josh Bennett
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Round 9: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Jelger Wiegersma
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 9: Gabriel Nassif vs. Nicolas Labarre
by Toby Wachter
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Info: Country Breakdown
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Player List
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Day Two Introduction
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Day One Wrap-Up
by Sideboard Staff
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Decks: Day 1 Deck Breakdown
by Josh Bennett
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Feature: Pro Thoughts on the Format
by Toby Wachter
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Round 8: Raphael Levy vs. Masashiro Kuroda
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 8: Kai Budde vs. Shin'ya Yamaguchi
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 7: Dave Humpherys v. Nicolas Labarre
by Josh Bennett
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Round 7: Diego Ostrovich vs. Jordan Berkowitz
by Toby Wachter
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Round 6: Masashiro Kuroda vs. Neil Reeves
by Toby Wachter
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Round 6: Zvi Mowshowitz vs. Paul Rietzl
by Brian David-Marshall
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Deck Tech: Red/Green and Mono-Red
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 5: Raphael Levy vs. Katsuhiro Mori
by Josh Bennett
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Round 5: Tsuyoshi Fujita vs. Kai Budde
by Toby Wachter
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Info: Day One Halftime Report
by Sideboard Staff
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Round 4: Jin Okamoto vs. Jens Thoren
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 4: Antoine Ruel vs. Bernardo Da Costa Cabral
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 4: Gary Wise vs. Neil Reeves
by Toby Wachter
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Feature: The Missing in Action
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 3: Antoine Ruel vs. Mattias Jorstedt
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 3: Rickard Osterberg vs. Anton Jonsson
by Toby Wachter
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Deck Tech: Affinity
by Paul Sottosanti
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Round 2: Tuomo Niemenan vs. Ben Stark
by Josh Bennett
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Round 2: Dirk Baberowski vs. Osamu Fujita
by Toby Wachter
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Round 1: Eugene Harvey vs. Dave Williams
by Brian David-Marshall
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Round 1: Brian Kibler vs. Darwin Kastle
by Toby Wachter
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Round 1: Jin Okamoto vs. Masahiko Morita
by Josh Bennett
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Info: Day One Introduction
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: The Judges
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Country Breakdown
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Player List
by Sideboard Staff
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Info: Fact Sheet
by Event Coverage Staff
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