Rookie of the Year is an award given at the end of a Pro Tour season to the Magic player with the highest number of Pro Points in that season that also made their debut in Pro Tour, World Championship or World Magic Cup that season.
The prize currently for this award is a Gold membership in the Pro Players Club for the next year - in 2016, the winner also had a slot at Worlds, though this has since been retired. The competitiveness of the award varies each year; the winner may range from not having achieved Gold status to being in range of Platinum status. Thus, it is possible to win this award without winning any Pro Tour or Grand Prix events if the player finishes high enough in enough events.
Rookie of the Year Winners
| Past Rookie of the Year Winners | |
|---|---|
| Year | Winner |
| 1997–98 |  Randy Buehler
|
| 1998–99 |  Dirk Baberowski
|
| 1999–00 | Brian Davis
|
| 2000–01 |  Katsuhiro Mori
|
| 2001–02 |  Farid Meraghni
|
| 2002–03 | Masashi Oiso
|
| 2003–04 |  Julien Nuijten
|
| 2005 | Pierre Canali
|
| 2006 | Sebastian Thaler
|
| 2007 | Yuuya Watanabe
|
| 2008 |  Aaron Nicastri
|
| 2009 | Lino Burgold
|
| 2010 |  Andrea Giarola
|
| 2011 | Matthias Hunt
|
| 2012 |  Alexander Hayne
|
| 2012–13 |  Felipe Tapia Becerra
|
| 2013–14 | Raymond Perez, Jr.
|
| 2014–15 | Justin Cohen
|
| 2015–16 | Oliver Tiu
|
| 2016–17 | Ben Hull
|
| 2017–18 | Samuel Ihlenfeldt
|
Trivia
- No player has won Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in the same year.
- Randy Buehler was the closest to achieving this feat when he finished second in the 1997–98 Player of the Year race.[1]
- Only Yuuya Watanabe has won Player of the Year after becoming the Rookie of the Year.
- Although Jared Boettcher finished with more Pro Points than Raymond Perez, Jr. in 2013–14 season, subsequent investigations by DCI confirmed that Boettcher was cheating in multiple events that involved Pro Points, which resulted in a suspension and the revoking of his Rookie of the Year title.[2]