Jelger Wiegersma (born 4 December 1981) is a Dutch Magic: The Gathering player. Though no longer a professional player, he still regularly attends Pro Tours. He won Pro Tour Seattle 2004 as a member of team ''Von Dutch'' with teammates Jeroen Remie and Kamiel Cornelissen. He also won two

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

, in 2003 and 2008. In 2008, he was elected to the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame.

Career

Jelger Wiegersma first played on the Pro Tour in the 1998–99 season at Pro Tour New York. Despite a strong finish at Pro Tour Chicago, missing the top eight only on tiebreakers, Wiegersma was unable to establish himself on the Pro Tour in the season following his debut. In the season after that Wiegersma got his first taste of success. He played all but one of the Pro Tours that year, and made the top four of Grand Prix

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

with teammates Kamiel Cornelissen and Tom van de Logt. In 2001–02 Wiegersma managed to make the top eight of a Pro Tour for the first time. At Pro Tour New Orleans he reached the semifinals before losing to Tomi Walamies for a third-place finish. To follow up on this performance, Wiegersma made the top eight of three Grand Prix, in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, that season. By comparison, 2002–03 was a much less impressive season for Wiegersma. His only notable finish was a fifth-place finish at Grand Prix

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. However, the following season was very successful. Wiegersma started the season with success in the Rochester Draft format. He finished eighth at Grand Prix

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and won Grand Prix Götheborg, both of which used that format. Later that season, Wiegersma made his second Pro Tour top at Pro Tour Kobe. Another semifinal exit, this time losing to

Gabriel Nassif Gabriel Nassif (born 8 November 1983)Gabriel Nassif 2007 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn expansion) is a French professional card player. He is known for his continuous success on the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour and was t ...

, saw him finish fourth. His success that season did not stop there. With teammates Kamiel Cornelissen, and Jeroen Remie, Wiegersma won Pro Tour Seattle, defeating

Tsuyoshi Ikeda is a Japanese Magic: The Gathering player. His success include four top eights at the Pro Tour level, and six on the Grand Prix level, including one win. He is ranked 12th on lifetime pro points. Career Tsuyoshi Ikeda began his Pro Tour career ...

Itaru Ishida was a Japanese Magic: The Gathering player. The bulk of his success was on the Grand Prix circuit, where he reached the top eight seventeen times. In addition to his Grand Prix success, Ishida had success in the teams format, with second-place f ...

, and Jin Okomoto in the finals. After failing to make the top eight of any Pro Tours or Grand Prix events in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Wiegersma returned to the top eight at the premier event level in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. That season, he made the top eight of four Grand Prix across three continents, finishing 3rd at Grand Prix

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and Yamagata, 8th at Grand Prix

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and fifth at Grand Prix

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

. And while he didn't make any Pro Tour top eights, he showed remarkable consistency by finishing in the money at every Pro Tour in the

and

seasons, with the exception of Pro Tour Los Angeles 2005. Wiegersma's next top eight finishes came in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. He finished fourth at Grand Prix

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and won Grand Prix

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. That same year, he was inducted into the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame with

Dirk Baberowski Dirk Baberowski is one of the most successful professional Magic: The Gathering players. He has won three Pro Tours, tying him in second place with Jon Finkel. Two of those victories were won at team Pro Tours with his teammates of ''Phoenix Fo ...

Mike Turian Michael Turian is a successful professional player of Magic: The Gathering. He won Pro Tour New York with ''Team Potato Nation''. Turian also won two Grand Prixs. In 2008 Mike Turian was voted in the Hall of Fame. He was inducted during the Wor ...

Olivier Ruel Olivier Ruel (born 24 July 1981Olivier Ruel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion) in Aubervilliers, France) is one of the most successful professional ''Magic: The Gathering'' players. He holds the record for m ...

, and Ben Rubin. Since the 2012 season, Wiegersma has been a member of the team now known as 'The Pantheon', alongside players such as

Kai Budde Kai Budde (born 28 October 1979),Kai Budde 2005 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Ravnica expansion) is a semi-retired professional Magic: The Gathering player, who holds the record for Pro Tour victories, and for a long time held ...

Jon Finkel Jon Finkel (born May 18, 1978)Jon Finkel 2006 Pro Player card (from the Magic: The Gathering Time Spiral expansion) is an American ''Magic: The Gathering'' and poker player. Finkel is one of the most decorated players in the history of professio ...

, and

. At Pro Tour ''Dark Ascension'' in 2012 he made his first Pro Tour Top 8 since winning Pro Tour Seattle in 2004, and in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

he finished third at Pro Tour ''Fate Reforged''. Later that season, at Grand Prix Montreal, he made the top of a Grand Prix event for the first time in seven years, and he finished the 2014–15 season with enough Pro Points to earn Platinum membership in the Pro Player Club as well as captainship of the Dutch National team for the 2015 World Magic Cup.

Accomplishments

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiegersma, Jelger Living people Dutch Magic: The Gathering players 1981 births Sportspeople from Eindhoven