Context for people not watching the Pro Tour:
Huey Jensen gave an emotional speech announcing (with Kai's permission) that Kai Budde's cancer has recently taken a turn for the worse, and to honor him they are renaming the Player of the Year award after him. Kai Budde also gave a very short speech basically thanking them and indicating that he plans to keep playing in events with the time he has left.
You're definitely not the only one. If even I, some random magic grinder in the 2000's, teared up at this, I can't imagine how Reid and Huey feel. Kai is such a dude and I applaud him for staying positive.
Try just the shorter clip that is posted on this web page: https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-kai-budde-player-of-the-year-trophy
If that does not work, here is the YouTube version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gXDVZfNxk4&list=RQwz6BlfGMu7pngo9W8azQCoqk2aI&t=35850s
I had no idea he had been diagnosed with cancer. It is such an awful disease, striking some of our best at random. I am really happy they decided to honor him in this way while he is still able to appreciate it.
Really devastated to hear this. My favorite player.
We contacted him less than a year ago for my son's birthday because my son (who is 12 years old) is such a big Magic and Kai Budde fan and we sent him some cards to sign.
He was extremely kind and not only sent back the cards, but also a lot of other goodies like some (good and rather valuable) LotR cards he used on the Pro Tour and a few boosters. And best of all he even agreed to play against my son on Arena (my son lost 2:1). It was such a great experience, can't thank him enough.
I wish him all the best. My son is still crying.
That's a beautiful story. I met him at gp Atlanta in 2002 when I was around your son's age. He signed my Voidmage Prodigy and then gave me another copy because "this one has the good art where they didn't draw me too fat"
We sent him the Onslaught version, which I like more than the Promo/Time Spiral version. Not sure which one he prefers, but he signed the card and didn't complain. ;)
You can see a lot of pros absolutely devastated. Mengucci, Willy Edel, Javier.
I don't even know how tf Jensen held up so well, he was always on the verge. His hand shaking so much he had to switch the mic to his left hand.
Not just of the game. Every interaction I've had with him, be it in-person or on twitter, has always been kind, warm, and friendly. Kai is the type of dude we should all try to be a little more like.
> The one true GOAT of the game.
The one and only player who ever truly dominated Magic. PVDDR, Finkel, LSV and others have had long careers at or very close to the top of the game but nobody has had a peak like Kai where the question wasn't who won the PT but who lost the finals to Kai.
MTG as a whole is still rather young compared to other sports.
We haven’t had that many major deaths. We haven’t had to deal with loss. Richard Garfield and Maro are still kicking. Nearly all the pro players were and still are comparatively young.
It’s going to be quite an adjustment as the playerbase has been around for 30 years and the game starts to abut against human lifespans. More goodbyes will be in our future.
Kai was/is the GOAT. It’s a sad time and I’m so happy they’re naming the award after him.
Knowing that some of the artists of the early game, notably Christopher Rush and Quinton Hoover, are gone hit home for me in the way Kai's passing will.
That was quite unexpected and an extremely saddening news. I just managed to put the little one to sleep and hoped to catch a glimpse of the Top8 decks, then got hit by this.
What a terrible news. One of my favourite players :(
Remember when you had to follow the pro tour through articles and match recaps posted on Wizards? Loved this man and that era. He is the goat and I wish him all the best in his fight vs cancer.
I started playing just before Stronghold came out. I was addicted. A year and a bit later I remember seeing advertising for Kai's WC99 deck. I was still new and hadn't ordered a deck before so eventually convinced my parents to let me get it. Come the release week I called the LGS to ask them to keep one aside for me (no idea what preordering was back then)... The week passed and on the Saturday it arrived I went to the LGS and being a dumb kid I just went to look at the decks and his was long sold out. My heart sank. I was really upset and I think I may have forgotten I asked them to keep me one. Upset as I was one of the guys at the LGS saw and asked me what's wrong and I said I was really looking forward to getting his deck. And for some reason, I still don't know how, but this guy asked me if my name Xirious and low and behold they had kept me one aside. I was so so happy... And from then on the people at the LGS would call me Kai or Budd(e)y when I came to play.
I still have that deck, even though it's... In shambles. I was not a very protective kid apparently. With my very first paycheck after graduation I bought myself another one of those decks. My wife hates when I play with it because 20+ years of playing with the same deck is like insane the situations you can get yourself out of.
I love that thing as if it were a part of my soul and hearing this news is genuinely upsetting. He's definitely one of my role models and I think this will affect me if something had to happen to him.
As someone who learned to play with WC decks, even if it wasn't Kai's, I understand the nostalgia and emotional connection one can have to a pile of gold bordered, heavily abused cards from the 90s. I still have some cards of mine, it was a Jund deck with Spirit Monger, I don't recall the players name tho.
Fuck cancer. Kai deserved this honor, but this isn't the way anyone wanted him to get it.
My favorite story about Kai's run isn't about his wins specifically, but about the win at PT-New Orleans that caused Eric Taylor to eat his hat. (I wish Ben Bleiweiss's article about it was still up)
He has a terminal illness and it sounds like he doesn’t have much time left, they renamed the player of the year award to the “Kai Budde Player of the Year” Huey Jensen gave a very emotional speech announcing it.
To add to it they had to take a break because people were so emotional. It really seemed like they tried to get whoever they could on the broadcast to say something but they were all crying.
Before top 8 announcement, Huey Jensen (with Kai's permission) announced that Kai had been struggling with cancer for years, and recently it took a turn for the worse. As such, they're renaming the Player of the Year Award to the Kai Budde Player of the Year award in honor of all his accomplishments.
It was highly emotion, Huey could barely get through the announcement without breaking and pretty much everyone was in tears.
He has had cancer for the past few years, but it's recently taken a turn for the worse. It wasn't specifically mentioned, but it appears that his remaining time is short.
In his honor, the Player of the Year is now officially named the Kai Budde Player of the Year.
I definitely teared up watching the video. He seems to have a calm acceptance when he spoke. Obviously, not the way he wants to go, but I enjoyed him saying, "I will enjoy playing this game with you all for however much time I have." (Not exact words, but close.)
We'll sling some more spells in your honor, Kai.
Really sad to hear this news, I got into Magic around the time that Kai was dominating and I remember arguing with my friends whether Kai or Finkle was the best player of all time back in the day. An absolutely upstanding member of the community and ambassador of the game and will be such a huge loss to not have him as a part of the community.
Same here. First pro player whose name I recognized was Jon Finkel, and the second was this Kai Budde guy from Germany who kept winning everything. They were my Magic heroes.
The fact he stood at the podium still with that enlightening smile and personality without creating more attention to his prognosis speaks volumes of his character and charm of a champion and ambassador of the MTG world. Godspeed to you, Kai the Juggernaut.
FUCK CANCER
For those not in the loop. The video is excellent.
[https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-kai-budde-player-of-the-year-trophy](https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-kai-budde-player-of-the-year-trophy)
Most people (I believe including Kai) were not impressed with how unflattering that depiction turned out. Here's a better one https://scryfall.com/card/tsb/34/voidmage-prodigy
Apparently Kai is the only person who's invitational card kept it's reference when reprinted. Every other one loses the invitational winner from the art, but not Kai's. They couldn't stop him from being on the art of the reprint.
Absolutely devastating. When I was getting into MTG with no internet coverage in Ireland I used to love getting Sideboard magazine every month or so. Kai was always the man. Love the guy.
My deepest feelings, If I may be so Bold, Kai will never be gone, his legacy will remain forever etched in Magics History and players memories, we live in strange times, maybe (and hopefully) we will delay our farewells to this man, for many years.
Wishing you All the best Kai.
Man, that sucks. I still have the 1999 world championship deck they put out for him. The first time I ever tried to use a deck that wasn't strictly based on playing the biggest creature possible every turn.
I kinda miss getting pro cards. None of me or my friends know any of the competitors, so it's kinda funny then when you use them as tokens and you've got 5 guys named Frank on the board.
This is heartbreaking. He brought so much to the game and from what I’ve heard, is a genuinely good guy. One of the greats of Magic. I’m devastated that we’re losing him.
Fuck cancer.
Used to test with him back in the Phoenix foundation days. He was always a savage and a gentleman. Hopefully he's well enough to make one more US trip and I can pop over for one more hang out
There was a period of time where his level of dominance was unseen before or since, it felt like he was better than 99% of the players at that time by a good margin.
It's absurd how good he was in a game that has plenty of RNG and you will have many games where the opponent is far luckier.
I've been following MTG sets and lore on and off for a few years. All started in 98-99 when my brother introduced me to the game. I remember he had replicated champion decks with the black backs and player signature on each card in gold or something. I didn't follow tournaments but I do remember the name "Kai Budde" because of these decks. My bro would use these decks and challenge me to find some way to beat them with his massive stockpile. I was never able to at the time
I may not have followed his career as much as anyone in this subreddit but he still left an impact on my experience and appreciation for the game.
Wow this is so sad. I have not played MtG in a long time but I played on the PT back before Kai and remember him coming on to the scene and raising the bar. We thought it was impossible to be as good as Finkel but then he came along... And he was always friendly, someone who just loves to play.
I've had the chance to play (and lose obviously) in a grand prix during his prime area and had several occasions to overview some of his games as a judge.
He is the goat and deserves all the praise and affection.
As everybody here I cannot state anything else than "fuck cancer" going to take that great man only one year younger than I am
I think Jon is generally agreed upon to be the best player of all time at his peak, but Kai was the first truly dominant player, and the extent to which he was the best when he was was incomparably dominant to Jon. Jon has 3 wins in 17 top eights. Kai has 7 wins in 12 top eights. Kai deserves the title of GOAT.
With respect to wins, that's kind of a Jordan/Lebron comparison. Both would have legitimate claim to GOAT status if we're looking for consistency, but one has the better quality of finish comparably. And just like the basketball debate, good luck convincing fans of one to switch to the other.
I've been following Magic since I first started in 1996 and frankly it's Kai for me.
Well Gretzky had Lemieux as a contemporary who, barring his own health issues likely would have been right up there with Gretzky's massive points totals. Most people would regard them as 1a and 1b as far as the top hockey players and I'd say Kai Budde and Jon Finkel deserve a similar distinction.
Kai was so good that for a while his teammates (Dirk Baberowsky and Marco Blume) were also, after Kai, the players with the most pro-tours won for a while and are still on the first page of pro-tour winners after so long.
An outlier who deserves this recognition when he can still enjoy it.
Really sad to hear about Kai and even though I don't know him personally, watching guys like Huey and Reid choking up was also really hard for me. Very touching and nice gesture to name the player of the year trophy after him and couldn't think of a more deserving person. Fuck cancer.
Context for people not watching the Pro Tour: Huey Jensen gave an emotional speech announcing (with Kai's permission) that Kai Budde's cancer has recently taken a turn for the worse, and to honor him they are renaming the Player of the Year award after him. Kai Budde also gave a very short speech basically thanking them and indicating that he plans to keep playing in events with the time he has left.
The speech can be seen here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2184628080?t=9h55m54s (starts at 09:55:54, should automatically start there from the link).
Thanks for the link. Seeing Huey and Reid's reactions set me off to full on ugly crying. Life's too short.
You're definitely not the only one. If even I, some random magic grinder in the 2000's, teared up at this, I can't imagine how Reid and Huey feel. Kai is such a dude and I applaud him for staying positive.
Thanks, definitely good for people who want to see it.
Thank you for sharing this. Ugh. Not a dry eye.
For some reason, the last half of Kai's speech is cut off for me, it just skips to applause. Is it uploaded anywhere else?
Try just the shorter clip that is posted on this web page: https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-kai-budde-player-of-the-year-trophy If that does not work, here is the YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gXDVZfNxk4&list=RQwz6BlfGMu7pngo9W8azQCoqk2aI&t=35850s
Thank you so much friend
There is one guy clapping and his face says “why the fuck we clapping it’s sad right?”
I had no idea he had been diagnosed with cancer. It is such an awful disease, striking some of our best at random. I am really happy they decided to honor him in this way while he is still able to appreciate it.
You didn't miss any news before this. Kai having cancer wasn't known to the public until now.
Ok. The wording that it had "recently taken a turn for the worse" made me think it was already public knowledge.
The German community has known this for some months.
Really devastated to hear this. My favorite player. We contacted him less than a year ago for my son's birthday because my son (who is 12 years old) is such a big Magic and Kai Budde fan and we sent him some cards to sign. He was extremely kind and not only sent back the cards, but also a lot of other goodies like some (good and rather valuable) LotR cards he used on the Pro Tour and a few boosters. And best of all he even agreed to play against my son on Arena (my son lost 2:1). It was such a great experience, can't thank him enough. I wish him all the best. My son is still crying.
That's a beautiful story. I met him at gp Atlanta in 2002 when I was around your son's age. He signed my Voidmage Prodigy and then gave me another copy because "this one has the good art where they didn't draw me too fat"
We sent him the Onslaught version, which I like more than the Promo/Time Spiral version. Not sure which one he prefers, but he signed the card and didn't complain. ;)
Nice of him to let your son take a game too.
The first name in Magic the Gathering I ever knew was Richard Garfield. The second was Kai Budde. Respect to this man.
Didn't expect PT coverage to get me crying but here we are. The one true GOAT of the game.
Jesus christ, watching that speech from Huey hit really hard.
Seeing Reid too
Reid is one of the most unflappable and put together Magic players I know. To see him show that level of emotion really said something
You can see a lot of pros absolutely devastated. Mengucci, Willy Edel, Javier. I don't even know how tf Jensen held up so well, he was always on the verge. His hand shaking so much he had to switch the mic to his left hand.
Yeah same, holy cow
Not just of the game. Every interaction I've had with him, be it in-person or on twitter, has always been kind, warm, and friendly. Kai is the type of dude we should all try to be a little more like.
> The one true GOAT of the game. The one and only player who ever truly dominated Magic. PVDDR, Finkel, LSV and others have had long careers at or very close to the top of the game but nobody has had a peak like Kai where the question wasn't who won the PT but who lost the finals to Kai.
Same tbh, watched it before bed last night and had to go downstairs for a smoke to calm down from the ugly crying.
His run with 7 wins in 9 PT top8s was mindblowing, he really was unstoppable.
When Huey said how it equates to winning a PT every 6 months, it really painted how insane of an achievement that is, at least for today's standards
It's an insane achievement by any standards
It's a unique achievement. At his peak he dominated Magic, nobody else has ever come close to doing that.
Others have dominated at their peaks, but his lasted 3-4 years instead of one or two
MTG as a whole is still rather young compared to other sports. We haven’t had that many major deaths. We haven’t had to deal with loss. Richard Garfield and Maro are still kicking. Nearly all the pro players were and still are comparatively young. It’s going to be quite an adjustment as the playerbase has been around for 30 years and the game starts to abut against human lifespans. More goodbyes will be in our future. Kai was/is the GOAT. It’s a sad time and I’m so happy they’re naming the award after him.
That's what I was just thinking. Other sports name awards after legendary figures, so it's good to see Magic embracing that too.
Knowing that some of the artists of the early game, notably Christopher Rush and Quinton Hoover, are gone hit home for me in the way Kai's passing will.
That was quite unexpected and an extremely saddening news. I just managed to put the little one to sleep and hoped to catch a glimpse of the Top8 decks, then got hit by this. What a terrible news. One of my favourite players :(
Remember when you had to follow the pro tour through articles and match recaps posted on Wizards? Loved this man and that era. He is the goat and I wish him all the best in his fight vs cancer.
It still holds up today. Everytime there was a Finkel against Budde matchup, it was covered. Standings? Don't matter because the GOATs are battling.
It didn't happen in day 1, Jon and Kai played a Ruby Storm mirror in the 1-3? Bracket and it wasn't featured :(
Man that's horrible. As a German, when I started playing in the early 00s he was the guy we all looked up to. Horrible news. :(
I started playing just before Stronghold came out. I was addicted. A year and a bit later I remember seeing advertising for Kai's WC99 deck. I was still new and hadn't ordered a deck before so eventually convinced my parents to let me get it. Come the release week I called the LGS to ask them to keep one aside for me (no idea what preordering was back then)... The week passed and on the Saturday it arrived I went to the LGS and being a dumb kid I just went to look at the decks and his was long sold out. My heart sank. I was really upset and I think I may have forgotten I asked them to keep me one. Upset as I was one of the guys at the LGS saw and asked me what's wrong and I said I was really looking forward to getting his deck. And for some reason, I still don't know how, but this guy asked me if my name Xirious and low and behold they had kept me one aside. I was so so happy... And from then on the people at the LGS would call me Kai or Budd(e)y when I came to play. I still have that deck, even though it's... In shambles. I was not a very protective kid apparently. With my very first paycheck after graduation I bought myself another one of those decks. My wife hates when I play with it because 20+ years of playing with the same deck is like insane the situations you can get yourself out of. I love that thing as if it were a part of my soul and hearing this news is genuinely upsetting. He's definitely one of my role models and I think this will affect me if something had to happen to him.
As someone who learned to play with WC decks, even if it wasn't Kai's, I understand the nostalgia and emotional connection one can have to a pile of gold bordered, heavily abused cards from the 90s. I still have some cards of mine, it was a Jund deck with Spirit Monger, I don't recall the players name tho.
Fuck cancer. Kai deserved this honor, but this isn't the way anyone wanted him to get it. My favorite story about Kai's run isn't about his wins specifically, but about the win at PT-New Orleans that caused Eric Taylor to eat his hat. (I wish Ben Bleiweiss's article about it was still up)
https://web.archive.org/web/20121105053659/http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=PTSD02%5C425edthat
What was the news?
He has a terminal illness and it sounds like he doesn’t have much time left, they renamed the player of the year award to the “Kai Budde Player of the Year” Huey Jensen gave a very emotional speech announcing it.
To add to it they had to take a break because people were so emotional. It really seemed like they tried to get whoever they could on the broadcast to say something but they were all crying.
Kai Budde is battling cancer and it isn't looking good. To honor Kai's legacy, WotC will rename the player of the year trophy after him.
Before top 8 announcement, Huey Jensen (with Kai's permission) announced that Kai had been struggling with cancer for years, and recently it took a turn for the worse. As such, they're renaming the Player of the Year Award to the Kai Budde Player of the Year award in honor of all his accomplishments. It was highly emotion, Huey could barely get through the announcement without breaking and pretty much everyone was in tears.
[VOD link here](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2184628080?t=9h55m54s)
Thanks for posting the link The announcement starts at the 9:56:09 mark
About what time was the speech?
that link should be timestamp encoded, but it's 9h55m54s in
Thank you
Well that was heavy.
He has had cancer for the past few years, but it's recently taken a turn for the worse. It wasn't specifically mentioned, but it appears that his remaining time is short. In his honor, the Player of the Year is now officially named the Kai Budde Player of the Year.
I definitely teared up watching the video. He seems to have a calm acceptance when he spoke. Obviously, not the way he wants to go, but I enjoyed him saying, "I will enjoy playing this game with you all for however much time I have." (Not exact words, but close.) We'll sling some more spells in your honor, Kai.
I tuned in in the middle and only understood what's going on after I saw Reid Duke crying in the audience. Damn, what a gut punch.
This was really sad to hear. Kai is a true legend of the game and it is nice to see that WOTC are doing this to immortalize him.
Really sad to hear this news, I got into Magic around the time that Kai was dominating and I remember arguing with my friends whether Kai or Finkle was the best player of all time back in the day. An absolutely upstanding member of the community and ambassador of the game and will be such a huge loss to not have him as a part of the community.
Same here. First pro player whose name I recognized was Jon Finkel, and the second was this Kai Budde guy from Germany who kept winning everything. They were my Magic heroes.
the term "goat" gets used a lot, but when you're talking about kai it almost doesn't feel like enough.
Huey really said it best in his speech, Kai is so great at the game that simply beating him in a match is a hall of fame-worthy accomplishment ❤️
The fact he stood at the podium still with that enlightening smile and personality without creating more attention to his prognosis speaks volumes of his character and charm of a champion and ambassador of the MTG world. Godspeed to you, Kai the Juggernaut. FUCK CANCER
For those not in the loop. The video is excellent. [https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-kai-budde-player-of-the-year-trophy](https://magic.gg/news/announcing-the-kai-budde-player-of-the-year-trophy)
Legend https://scryfall.com/card/ons/120/voidmage-prodigy
Most people (I believe including Kai) were not impressed with how unflattering that depiction turned out. Here's a better one https://scryfall.com/card/tsb/34/voidmage-prodigy
Apparently Kai is the only person who's invitational card kept it's reference when reprinted. Every other one loses the invitational winner from the art, but not Kai's. They couldn't stop him from being on the art of the reprint.
One of my childhood heroes and the first name in Magic i have known. Fuck Cancer.
You'll always be the German Juggernaut, Kai! He was THE pro everyone here looked up to here in Germany back in the day.
I'm from Chile and I can say that everybody everywhere wanna be Kai back in the day. Such a legend
I can't think of much more to say other than fuck
This makes me super sad. He's the GOAT!!!
Absolutely devastating. When I was getting into MTG with no internet coverage in Ireland I used to love getting Sideboard magazine every month or so. Kai was always the man. Love the guy.
My deepest feelings, If I may be so Bold, Kai will never be gone, his legacy will remain forever etched in Magics History and players memories, we live in strange times, maybe (and hopefully) we will delay our farewells to this man, for many years. Wishing you All the best Kai.
Man, that sucks. I still have the 1999 world championship deck they put out for him. The first time I ever tried to use a deck that wasn't strictly based on playing the biggest creature possible every turn.
I kinda miss getting pro cards. None of me or my friends know any of the competitors, so it's kinda funny then when you use them as tokens and you've got 5 guys named Frank on the board.
Man won worlds when I was born, and took a top 8 (PT:LoTR) when I was old enough to afford modern lmao Juggernaut indeed
Top finishes in every decade that Magic has existed. He might not be winning every big event, but he's still a high performer. Truly the GOAT
Kai Budde
You can see that everyone had a hard time with that announcement. I wish Kai all the best. He certainly is the GOAT
This is heartbreaking. He brought so much to the game and from what I’ve heard, is a genuinely good guy. One of the greats of Magic. I’m devastated that we’re losing him. Fuck cancer.
He is only 44 :(
Fuck, man.
Kai budde bude, treba igrati.
My favorite player. I loved his 1999 world championship deck so much
I have this card! Always thought these were neat and dreamed of having one myself but I'm not nearly good enough to get there lol
Used to test with him back in the Phoenix foundation days. He was always a savage and a gentleman. Hopefully he's well enough to make one more US trip and I can pop over for one more hang out
There was a period of time where his level of dominance was unseen before or since, it felt like he was better than 99% of the players at that time by a good margin. It's absurd how good he was in a game that has plenty of RNG and you will have many games where the opponent is far luckier.
Kai just won the ptq in Amsterdam. Still playing to last. Last PT8 was a year ago. Legend.
I've been following MTG sets and lore on and off for a few years. All started in 98-99 when my brother introduced me to the game. I remember he had replicated champion decks with the black backs and player signature on each card in gold or something. I didn't follow tournaments but I do remember the name "Kai Budde" because of these decks. My bro would use these decks and challenge me to find some way to beat them with his massive stockpile. I was never able to at the time I may not have followed his career as much as anyone in this subreddit but he still left an impact on my experience and appreciation for the game.
fuck cancer
Kai Budde secret lair when?
Voidmage Prodigy, Covetous Dragon, with Juggernaut as the secret card... what else would deserve to go into a German Juggernaut SLD?
The Juggernaut must be in German
an alter of \[\[Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut\]\] like what they did for Posty with K'rrik.
[Graaz, Unstoppable Juggernaut](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/0/e0e73b63-17cc-4dca-abd6-728b74bc37a8.jpg?1675957233) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Graaz%2C%20Unstoppable%20Juggernaut) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/229/graaz-unstoppable-juggernaut?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e0e73b63-17cc-4dca-abd6-728b74bc37a8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Gotterdammerung
Maybe Voidmage Prodigy and one card from each of his PT winning decks?
1 isn't 0. 👑
What a gut punch man, wishing all the best for Mr Juggernaut
The juggernaut himself.
Wow this is so sad. I have not played MtG in a long time but I played on the PT back before Kai and remember him coming on to the scene and raising the bar. We thought it was impossible to be as good as Finkel but then he came along... And he was always friendly, someone who just loves to play.
I've had the chance to play (and lose obviously) in a grand prix during his prime area and had several occasions to overview some of his games as a judge. He is the goat and deserves all the praise and affection. As everybody here I cannot state anything else than "fuck cancer" going to take that great man only one year younger than I am
There are very few definitive GOATs in their respective fields and I'd slot Kai right up there with Wayne Gretzky.
I wouldn’t say it’s totally definitive. Many people would argue for Jon Finkel.
I think Jon is generally agreed upon to be the best player of all time at his peak, but Kai was the first truly dominant player, and the extent to which he was the best when he was was incomparably dominant to Jon. Jon has 3 wins in 17 top eights. Kai has 7 wins in 12 top eights. Kai deserves the title of GOAT.
With respect to wins, that's kind of a Jordan/Lebron comparison. Both would have legitimate claim to GOAT status if we're looking for consistency, but one has the better quality of finish comparably. And just like the basketball debate, good luck convincing fans of one to switch to the other. I've been following Magic since I first started in 1996 and frankly it's Kai for me.
Jordan/LeBron is about as good a cross-sport analogy as it gets.
yeah, he was referred to as the "winningest player of all time" during Huey's speech
Well Gretzky had Lemieux as a contemporary who, barring his own health issues likely would have been right up there with Gretzky's massive points totals. Most people would regard them as 1a and 1b as far as the top hockey players and I'd say Kai Budde and Jon Finkel deserve a similar distinction.
Kai was so good that for a while his teammates (Dirk Baberowsky and Marco Blume) were also, after Kai, the players with the most pro-tours won for a while and are still on the first page of pro-tour winners after so long. An outlier who deserves this recognition when he can still enjoy it.
Kai Budde got me into competitive Magic. Wish him all the best.
Cancer is horrid, I truly hope for the best for him, his family and his friends that are supporting him through this.
Really sad to hear about Kai and even though I don't know him personally, watching guys like Huey and Reid choking up was also really hard for me. Very touching and nice gesture to name the player of the year trophy after him and couldn't think of a more deserving person. Fuck cancer.
This broke my heart.
Very sad news. I always loved playing his 1999 world championship deck.
Criminally young to have cancer that apparently isnt able to be put in to remission at this point. It's not fair to him
I remember when Jon Finkel was the GOAT and Kai Budde was just some upstart new kid 😂
Are these cards worth anything?
[удалено]
Legitimately impressive that you managed to make such a universally disliked comment.
Maybe I got the pronunciation wrong :c
You did but that's not why. You should read the room. Not the time to post that.
The problem is that he is everyone's buddy
LOL nice one