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Nicolai Herzog - Hall of Fame

November 04, 2007

Class of: 2007
Hometown: Oslo, Norway
Debut: 1998 World Championships
Career winnings: $187,895
Lifetime Pro Points: 240

  • Won two Pro Tours in the same season, a feat matched only by Kai Budde
  • Four Pro Tour Top 8s
  • Finished second at Pro Tour-Chicago 2003, arguably the greatest Top 8 ever
  • Two-time winner of the prestigious European Championships
  • Norway National Champion in 1999 and 2001
  • Runner-up in 2004 Player of the Year race
  • Top 10 in all-time winnings

Nicolai Herzog had one of the most exciting Pro Tour seasons in the history of the game when he won back-to-back Limited Pro Tours in 2004. Despite his historic achievement, Nicolai missed out on the Player of the Year title to Gabriel Nassif, and subsequently semi-retired from the game after Worlds. That was fitting since Worlds was where his career began in 1998...and where it will resume in 2007.

Nicolai posted a Top 64 finish at his first event. A year later he returned to the World Championships and achieved the first of his four Top 8 appearances that would culminate in those back-to-back wins in 2004. Grand Prix competition was never a big part of Nico's game and the Norwegian player only had two Top 8 appearances in those tournaments. Norwegian Nationals were a different story, with Herzog representing his country at Nationals five different times–including the 2006 season. Herzog is also a two-time winner of the European Championships.

When you do the books for his career, Herzog comes out sixth all-time on the money-winner's list and in the Top 20 for lifetime Pro Points. The first entry in that ledger comes from that long-ago World Championships.

"I remember seeing all these players I'd been reading about in the Sideboard and Duelist and whatnot, and not being as intimidated as I thought I would be," said Herzog, who qualified for that event as a member of his National team, when asked about his memories of that first step in a Hall of Fame career. "I remember narrowly losing to Mike Long in an extremely frustrating Game 3. And I remember the most awkwardly random team sealed format ever; 'Walls 'n Bombs'."

Like the other members of this year's class, Nicolai never imagined that there would be a Hall of Fame when he began playing. While he waited for the results of this year's class he was not sure if people would remember him enough to vote him in on this very tough ballot. Hall of Fame aside, Nicolai had played in every World Championships since that first tournament and had been nervous about snapping that streak.

"I thought it would be a coin flip, pretty much. I haven't written many articles and haven't been very visible the last three years," he explained. "So I had to get in by achievements and good looks alone. Getting that phone call was both amazing and a huge relief. I will both attend and play. Was pretty sad after my Nats when I realized I might just miss out on Worlds for the first time since '98.

"Being recognized for my accomplishments in this way means a lot to me," Nico continued. "Being enshrined in the class is a great honor indeed. But just as important is the fact that I may yet again travel the world, cast spells and hang out with old friends that I've seen way too little of these last three years!"

Playing is very important for Herzog, who has a new appreciation for the game since walking away in 2004. "I'll be showing up at many—maybe all—PTs again. I've been missing the pro circuit a LOT since quitting in 2004. I can't help but speculate if I shouldn't have just kept attending the PTs (during) 04/05 and hoped the joy of playing would come back to me. I've lost out on so very much these last three years. But playing is fun again, the last few cycles have been pretty awesome, and I have a fair amount of spare time. So you might just see me late night drafting in the far corners of the world again."

"Oh and Sundays?" he added, "Absolutely. Next Limited PT. Wait and see! To everyone that voted for me! Thanks mates!"

Career Statistics

By Format

Format W L D BYE Matches Win %
Limited 278 171 19 65 533 59.40%
Constructed 171 137 17 15 340 52.62%
Total 449 308 36 80 873 56.62%


By Event Type

Event W L D BYE Matches Win %
Worlds 82 77 3 0 162 50.62%
Pro Tour 135 83 9 0 227 59.47%
Nationals 54 22 7 0 83 65.06%
Continental Championships 53 25 6 0 84 63.10%
Masters 15 9 0 6 30 62.50%
Grand Prix 110 92 11 74 287 51.64%
Total 449 308 36 80 873 56.62%


By Event

Event Date Finish W L D BYE Matches Win %
Grand Prix-Copenhagen 9/6/1997 n/a 1 3 0 0
Grand Prix-Stockholm 3/21/1998 n/a 2 3 0 1
Gran Prix-Zurich 5/30/1998 n/a 3 3 0 0
1998 European Championship 7/11/1998 n/a 6 6 0 0
1998 World Championships 8/15/1998 53 12 9 0 0
1997-98 Season 24 24 0 1 49 50.00%
Pro Tour-Chicago 9/25/1998 309 1 5 0 0
Pro Tour-Los Angeles 2/26/1999 158 4 3 0 0
Grand Prix-Oslo 4/10/1999 262 0 2 0 2
Grand Prix-Amsterdam 5/15/1999 55 4 4 2 2
1999 Norway Nationals 5/23/1999 1 4 1 1 0
1999 European Championship 7/10/1999 1 12 1 2 0
1999 World Championships 8/15/1999 8 12 5 2 0
1998-99 Season 37 21 7 4 69 56.92%
Pro Tour-London 10/15/1999 251 2 3 0 0
Grand Prix-Madrid 1/29/2000 15 6 4 0 3
Pro Tour-Los Angeles 2/4/2000 13 9 3 2 0
Grand Prix-Frankfurt (Teams) 4/8/2000 n/a
Pro Tour-New York 4/14/2000 13 9 2 3 0
Grand Prix-Copenhagen 6/17/2000 41 5 5 0 3
2000 European Championship 7/15/2000 43 8 4 0 0
2000 World Championships 8/4/2000 117 9 9 0 0
1999-2000 Season 48 30 5 6 89 57.83%
Masters-New York 9/28/2000 18 0 1 0 0
Pro Tour-New York (Teams) 9/28/2000 5
Grand Prix-Manchester 10/7/2000 43 5 5 0 3
Grand Prix-Helsinki 10/28/2000 9 7 3 0 3
Grand Prix-Firenze 11/25/2000 214 1 4 0 3
Masters-Chicago 11/30/2000 8 3 1 0 1
Pro Tour-Chicago 12/1/2000 16 10 4 0 0
Grand Prix-Amsterdam 1/13/2001 31 6 4 1 3
Pro Tour-Los Angeles 2/2/2001 129 7 7 0 0
Grand Prix-Cologne 2/24/2001 186 1 2 1 3
Masters-Tokyo (Teams) 3/16/2001 5
Pro Tour-Tokyo 3/16/2001 117 6 8 0 0
Grand Prix-Göteborg 3/24/2001 37 5 4 1 3
Pro Tour-Barcelona 5/4/2001 258 2 4 0 0
Gateway-Barcelona 5/6/2001 30 1 1 0 1
2001 Norway Nationals 5/13/2001 1 12 2 1 0
2001 European Championship 6/30/2001 115 7 7 0 0
2001 World Championships 8/10/2001 153 9 9 0 0
2000-01 Season 82 66 4 20 172 53.95%
Pro Tour-New York (Teams) 9/7/2001 34
Grand Prix-Oslo 9/22/2001 97 1 3 0 3
Grand Prix-Vienna 10/6/2001 3 9 2 2 3
Masters-New Orleans 11/1/2001 3 4 1 0 1
Pro Tour-New Orleans 11/2/2001 321 1 3 0 0
Masters-San Diego 1/10/2002 46 1 1 0 0
Pro Tour-San Diego 1/11/2002 23 9 4 1 0
Grand Prix-Heidelberg 2/9/2002 69 3 2 0 3
Grand Prix-Antwerp 3/2/2002 303 0 3 0 3
Masters-Osaka (Teams) 3/15/2002 5
Pro Tour-Osaka 3/15/2002 247 1 3 0 0
Grand Prix-Barcelona 3/23/2002 19 7 3 1 3
2002 Norway Nationals 4/14/2002 6 8 3 2 0
Masters-Nice 5/2/2002 3 4 1 0 1
Pro Tour-Nice 5/3/2002 17 10 4 0 0
2002 European Championship 6/29/2002 97 7 6 1 0
2002 World Championships 8/16/2002 208 6 9 0 0
2001-02 Season 71 48 7 17 143 56.35%
Pro Tour-Boston (Teams) 9/27/2002 11
Grand Prix-Copenhagen 10/12/2002 11 7 3 0 4
Masters-Houston 11/7/2002 47 1 1 0 1
Pro Tour-Houston 11/8/2002 330 0 3 1 0
Masters-Chicago 1/16/2003 103 0 1 0 1
Pro Tour-Chicago 1/17/2003 2 13 4 0 0
Grand Prix-Sevilla 2/22/2003 13 7 3 1 3
Masters-Venice (Teams) 3/21/2003 5
Pro Tour-Venice 3/21/2003 297 0 3 0 0
2003 Norway Nationals 5/4/2003 4 10 4 1 0
Pro Tour-Yokohama 5/9/2003 22 9 4 1 0
Masters Series Yokohama 5/11/2003 11 1 1 0 0
Grand Prix-Amsterdam (Teams) 6/7/2003 33
2003 European Championships 7/6/2003 1 13 1 3 0
2003 World Championships 8/8/2003 241 7 10 0 0
2002-03 Season 68 38 7 9 122 60.18%
Pro Tour-Boston (Teams) 9/12/2003 11
Grand Prix-Lyon 10/25/2003 414 1 3 0 3
Grand Prix-Goteborg 11/22/2003 255 0 3 0 3
Grand Prix-Munich 12/6/2003 239 2 3 0 3
Pro Tour-Amsterdam 1/16/2004 1 14 3 1 0
Pro Tour-Kobe 2/27/2004 110 4 4 0 0
Grand Prix-Birmingham 3/27/2004 17 7 4 0 3
Grand Prix-Bochum (Teams) 4/17/2004 2
Pro Tour-San Diego 5/14/2004 1 16 2 0 0
Grand Prix-Brussels 5/29/2004 26 6 3 2 3
2004 Norway Nationals 6/27/2004 67 3 4 0 0
Pro Tour-Seattle (Teams) 7/9/2004 61
2004 World Championships 9/3/2004 133 9 9 0 0
2003-04 Season 62 38 3 15 118 60.19%
Pro Tour-London 7/8/2005 83 8 7 0 0
2005 World Championships 12/2/2005 65 10 7 1 0
2005 Season 18 14 1 0 33 54.55%
Grand Prix-Hasselt 1/28/2006 558 1 3 0 2
Grand Prix-Barcelona 4/8/2006 36 9 4 0 2
2006 Norway Nationals 8/12/2006 2 10 3 2 0
Grand Prix-Athens 10/14/2006 354 0 1 0 2
2006 World Championships 11/29/2006 232 8 10 0 0
2006 Season 28 21 2 6 57 54.90%
Grand Prix-Stockholm 5/5/2007 120 4 3 0 2
2007 Norway Nationals 8/25/2007 16 7 5 0 0
2007 Season 11 8 0 2 21 57.89%


Career Highlights

  • Norway's most famous and successful Magic player, Nicolai has been on the National team five teams and the National Champion twice. He took the National team to the World Championship finals in 2001.
  • After winning Norwegian Nationals in 1999, Nicolai went on to win the prestigious European Championships piloting the mono-green Senor Stompy deck. He defeated Dirk Baberowski in the finals of a Top 8 that featured three eventual Hall of Famers.
  • Later in 1999 Nicolai would earn his first Top 8 at the World Championships, playing the hyper-aggressive tandem of Stompy and Sligh in Standard and Extended. He also led his National team to a third-place finish.
  • Played in the finals of the greatest Pro Tour Top 8 ever in Chicago 2003, which featured Hall of Famers finishing in the top three spots and began to establish his reputation as one of the game's great Limited players.
  • That reputation was cemented when he performed the seemingly impossible feat of winning two Limited Pro Tours in one season in Amsterdam and San Diego in 2004.
  • Nicolai narrowly missed the Player of the Year title to Gabriel Nassif in 2004 in one of the most exciting races in the history of the title.
  • Nicolai has only two Grand Prix Top 8 finishes, which makes his position of 6th all-time on the money-winners list all the more impressive—it is almost entirely on PT winnings. He is also 16th on the all-time list for Pro Points.
  • A two-time winner of the European Championships, Nicolai won the final installment of that tournament series in 2003 defeating Pierre Malherbaud with his blue-green Madness deck.

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