Live Coverage of 2003 Japan National Championships : Daily MTG : Magic: The Gathering

日本語の取材へ

Koutarou Ootsuka is the 2003 Japanese National Magic: the Gathering Champion! The University student from Nagoya made the Top 8 last year only to fall short of making the team, but this year he returned to the Sunday stage, and not only made the team, but won the whole thing. Piloting a unique green/blue madness deck that splashed black for Smother, Zombie Infestation and disruption out of the sideboard, Ootsuka swept Kazumasa Shiki’s red/green deck in the Quarterfinals, swept Hisaya Tanaka’s Goblin land destruction deck in the Semifinals, and defeated Osamu Fujita’s mono-black control deck 3-1 with the help of Compost and Upheaval. Osamu Fujita, who is notorious for constantly coming in second place at big events, will have to settle for yet another Finalist performance. He joins Ootsuka on the Japanese National Team for Worlds, along with Tooru Maegawa, who gained quite a bit of attention this weekend for his odd, yet effective Beast deck. Will Ootsuka, Fujita and Maegawa be able to put the exclamation point on a breakout season for Japan with a strong showing at Worlds? Do they have what it takes to take on the world and perhaps even come out victorious? In August, we will find out.

Top 8 Final Standings

1	Koutarou Ootsuka	$20,000
2	Osamu Fujita	$10,000
3	Tooru Maegawa	$5,000
4	Hisaya Tanaka	$3,000
5	Youhei Yamamoto	$2,000
6	Nao Atsuta	$2,000
7	Kazumasa Shiki	$1,500
8	Makihito Mihara	$1,500

(Click here for complete final standings)

2003 Japan National Champion,
Koutaro Ootsuka

	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals	Champion
1	Yamamoto, Youhei	Tanaka, Hisaya, 3-2
8	Tanaka, Hisaya		Ootsuka, Koutarou, 3-0

4	Shiki, Kazumasa	Ootsuka, Koutarou, 3-0		Ootsuka, Koutarou, 3-1
5	Ootsuka, Koutarou

2	Atsuta, Nao	Maegawa, Tooru, 3-2
7	Maegawa, Tooru		Fujita, Osamu, 3-1

3	Fujita, Osamu	Fujita, Osamu, 3-2
6	Mihara, Makihito