Yuuya Watanabe
Encyclopedia
Yuuya Watanabe is a Japanese Magic: The Gathering
player. With one Pro Tour top eight, and 13 Grand Prix
top eights (including four wins), Watanabe is best known for his Rookie of the Year title in 2007, and his Player of the Year title two years later.
at Grand Prix Kyoto. He emerged as the champion from a top eight of relatively unknown players, something former Player of the Year Kenji Tsumura
had predicted on day one of the tournament. This qualified him for his first Pro Tour, Yokohama
, held about a month later. Despite not making another top eight that season at either the Pro Tour or Grand Prix level, strong finishes at Pro Tour San Diego (22nd), with Shuhei Nakamura, and at Pro Tour Valencia (21st) were enough for him to win the Rookie of the Year title.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
player. With one Pro Tour top eight, and 13 Grand Prix
Grand Prix (Magic: The Gathering)
Grands Prix are professional Magic: The Gathering tournaments, awarding cash prizes, Pro Points and invitations to Pro Tours. They are open to all players and are usually the biggest Magic tournaments. The first Grand Prix was held on 22–23 March 1997 in Amsterdam...
top eights (including four wins), Watanabe is best known for his Rookie of the Year title in 2007, and his Player of the Year title two years later.
Career
Watanabe's professional Magic career began in 2007Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2007
The 2007 Pro Tour season was the twelfth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. On 9 February 2007 the season began with Pro Tour Geneva. It ended on 9 December 2007 with the conclusion of the 2007 World Championship in New York. The season consisted of 16 Grand Prixs and 5 Pro Tours, held in...
at Grand Prix Kyoto. He emerged as the champion from a top eight of relatively unknown players, something former Player of the Year Kenji Tsumura
Kenji Tsumura
is a professional Magic: The Gathering player from Japan. He is one of only seven players to have reached the top eight of a Pro Tour more than five times.-Career:...
had predicted on day one of the tournament. This qualified him for his first Pro Tour, Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
, held about a month later. Despite not making another top eight that season at either the Pro Tour or Grand Prix level, strong finishes at Pro Tour San Diego (22nd), with Shuhei Nakamura, and at Pro Tour Valencia (21st) were enough for him to win the Rookie of the Year title.