

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.
VIDEO COVERAGE
- Finals coverage (77 MB zip)
- Finals coverage (BitTorrent)
- Semifinals coverage (104 MB zip)
- Semifinals coverage (BitTorrent)
- Quarterfinals coverage (144 MB zip)
- Quarterfinals coverage (BitTorrent)
- Top 8 Pregame coverage (15 MB zip)
- Top 8 Pregame coverage (BitTorrent)
- Semifinals Highlight: Top Deck of the Century (16 MB zip)
- Daily Wrap-ups: Day Three (7 MB zip) | Day Two (19 MB zip) | Day One (14 MB zip)
- Living the Life at the Magic House (9 MB zip)
- The Curse of Craig Jones is Over! (5.1 MB zip)
- Jeroen Remie on Magic Cribs: Hawaii House (20 MB zip)
- Stewart Shinkins Talks Orzhov Aggro (14 MB zip)
- Surfing the Pro Lounge (8.2 MB zip)
- Osyp Rolls to 6-0 (12 MB zip)
- Get to Know Nathan Zamora (14 MB zip)
- Ruel: How the Owls Howl (18 MB zip)
- Ben Goodman‘s rogue Tallowisps (8.6 MB zip)
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.

top 8 bracket
EVENT COVERAGE
- Finals: Cloak of a Champion Mark Herberholz vs. Craig Jones
by Scott Johns
- Semifinals: Topdeck of the Ages Olivier Ruel vs. Craig Jones
by Ted Knutson
- Semifinals: Warning: Flammable Owls Tiago Chan vs. Mark Herberholz
by Aaron Forsythe
- Quarterfinals: Good Council Olivier Ruel vs. Maximillian Bracht
by Scott Johns
- Quarterfinals: Who Needs Practice? Tiago Chan vs. Ruud Warmenhoven
by Aaron Forsythe
- Quarterfinals: It's Easy Being Heezy Osyp Lebedowicz vs. Mark Herberholz
by Brian David-Marshall
- Quarterfinals: No Owls Allowed at This Zoo Antoine Ruel vs. Craig Jones
by Ted Knutson
- Decklists: The Complete Decklists: A-D
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: The Complete Decklists: E-K
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: The Complete Decklists: L-S
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: The Complete Decklists: T-Z
by Event Coverage Staff
- Feature: The Top 8 Player Profiles
by Event Coverage Staff
- Decklists: The Top 8 Decks
by Event Coverage Staff
- The Flores File: The Field Narrows, the Noose Tightens
by Mike Flores
- Round 16: Two Champs, One Slot Shu Komura vs. Antoine Ruel
by blisterguy
- Round 16: Cross Your Fingers and Hope for Tiebreaks Ben Goodman vs. Billy Moreno
by Ted Knutson
- Round 16: Chan Breaks Through Tiago Chan vs. Michael Diezel
by Aaron Forsythe
- Round 15: Back in Black Osyp Lebedowicz vs. Ben Goodman
by Scott Johns
- Round 14: A Ruel Vendetta Olivier Ruel vs. Michael Diezel
by Brian David-Marshall
- Photo Essay: Hawaiian Sling
by Scott Johns and Craig Gibson
- Round 13: Having Your Cake and Eating It Too Masashi Oiso vs. Gabe Walls
by blisterguy
- Feature: Up from the Ranks of the PTQs
by Brian David-Marshall
- Photo Essay: The Play's the Thing
by Aaron Forsythe and Craig Gibson
- Round 12: Taking an Easy Road Craig Jones vs. Antoine Ruel
by Aaron Forsythe
- Round 11: Not Just Good, but Great Jelger Wiegersma vs. Julien Goron
by Scott Johns
- Photo Essay: Gamer's Paradise
by Scott Johns and Craig Gibson
- Round 10: Drawing Dead Osyp Lebedowicz vs. Antoine Ruel
by Brian David-Marshall
- Round 9: Power Concerns Craig Krempels vs. Tomoharu Saitou
by blisterguy
- Info: Day 2 Player List
by Event Coverage Staff
- Info: Day 2 Country Breakdown
by Event Coverage Staff
- The Flores File: Our Most Diverse Day One Wrap-up Yet
by Mike Flores
- Round 8: Making the Cut Kenji Tsumura vs. Eric Darland
by blisterguy
- Metagame Breakdown: I Will Beat You Until You Are Black, White, Red, Green, and Blue
by Ted Knutson
- Round 7: Explosive Endings Rich Hoaen vs. Antoine Ruel
by Ted Knutson
- Feature: 10 Years on Tour
by Scott Johns
- Round 6: Controlling the Flow Shu Komuro vs. Osyp Lebedowicz
by Scott Johns
- Round 5: Consistency Trumps Diversity Jim Roy vs. Arnost Zidek
by Aaron Forsythe
- Feature: R&D at the Tournament
by Aaron Forsythe
- Round 4: Blink and You'll Miss It Olivier Ruel vs. Gabriel Nassif
by blisterguy
- Round 3: A Clash of Styles Kyle Goodman vs. Sam Gomersall
by Ted Knutson
- Round 2: Howling Owls Antoine Ruel vs. Anton Jonsson
by Scott Johns
- Round 1: Battling Housemates Jelger Wiegersma vs. Jeroen Remie
by Aaron Forsythe
- Info: Day 1 Player List
by Event Coverage Staff
- Info: Day 1 Country Breakdown
by Event Coverage Staff
- Pro Tour-Honolulu Preview: Welcome to Paradise
by Brian David-Marshall
- Info: Fact Sheet
by Event Coverage Staff
FINAL TOP 8 STANDINGS
1. Mark Herberholz [USA] | $40,000 | |
2. Craig Jones [ENG] | $22,000 | |
3. Tiago Chan [PRT] | $15,000 | |
4. Olivier Ruel [FRA] | $14,000 | |
5. Osyp Lebedowicz [USA] | $11,500 | |
6. Maximilian Bracht [DEU] | $11,000 | |
7. Ruud Warmenhoven [NLD] | $10,500 | |
8. Antoine Ruel [FRA] | $10,500 |