Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour
The Pro Tour is the second-highest form of competitive play for the collectible card game. It consists of a series of tournaments held throughout the world, each requiring an invitation to participate. Every Pro Tour awards a total of $240,000 in cash prizes, with $50,000 going to the winner. Pro Tour competitors also receive Pro Points, the amount depending on their results. Pro Points award special benefits to players, including automatic qualification and travel awards for subsequent Pro Tours. Currently, four Pro Tours are held during a twelve-month season also known colloquially as a year.
The Pro Tour was introduced in 1996 with the first event being held in New York. Over 100 such tournaments have been held since.
Finishing within the Top 8 of a Pro Tour is considered to be one of the greatest accomplishments a competitive Magic player can achieve. Professional players are thus often compared by the number of Pro Tour Top 8 finishes they have made throughout their career. The most successful players on the Pro Tour are Kai Budde, who won seven Pro Tours out of ten Top 8 finishes, and Jon Finkel, who won three Pro Tours, while making it to the Top 8 sixteen times.
History
The first major tournament was the held at Gen Con '94. It was a single-elimination 512-person Constructed event run over three days of competition.The winner, Zak Dolan, received a trophy, a number of booster packs from expansions ranging from Arabian Nights |Arabian Nights to Ice Age |Ice Age, a deck of Magic: The Gathering poker cards, and a T-shirt. On the secondary market, selected cards from the Magic: The Gathering pack are valued multiple times higher than their original price. In 2013, an issue of the card Black Lotus, which is part of the deck, was sold on eBay for $27,302. Another World Championship was organized in 1995.
In 1995, Brand Manager Skaff Elias suggested that organized play needed to take the step to the next level. The idea was to run several tournaments each year that would gather the best players in the world and reward them with cash for their dedication to the game. Players should have something to aspire to. Elias and Mark Rosewater along with others started to work on the concept. On February 16–18, 1996 the first Pro Tour, very briefly called The Black Lotus Pro Tour, was held in New York. The first Pro Tour season included three more Pro Tour events, culminating in the final Pro Tour, the World Championship, held in Seattle. In the following years a Pro Tour season always consisted of five and later six Pro Tours. From 2003 to 2005 Wizards of the Coast made an effort to bring the Pro Tour seasons in accordance with the calendar year instead of having the seasons last from August to August the next year. This resulted in two seasons of seven Pro Tours. Afterwards Pro Tour seasons were reduced to five and later four Pro Tours a year. In 2012, the season schedule was again adjusted, now starting and ending in May. Additionally, the World Championship lost its status as a Pro Tour event, resulting in three Pro Tours to be held each season. In 2014, the amount of Pro Tours went back up to four a season.
Prize payouts have increased slowly over the years from ca. $150,000 per tournament in 1996–97 to $250,000 in 2012. In the first Pro Tour season each Pro Tour awarded more prizes than the previous one, though. Afterwards prize payouts had only minor fluctuations throughout a season with the exception of the World Championships which always award some additional prizes.
Pro Tours started as single-format events in 1996, alternating between Constructed and Limited, with the exception of the World Championships which have been multi-format events since the inception of the Pro Tour. In 2010 Pro Tours were changed to always have several rounds of Constructed and Limited play.
In December 2018 Wizards of the Coast announced that the Pro Tours would be renamed to Mythic Championships in 2019. There will be two versions of Mythic Championships, tabletop Mythic Championships which are to be played with paper cards and MTG Arena Mythic Championships which will be played on. The prize pool was increased to $500,000 per event. At the same time Wizards of the Coast announced that there would be a professional Magic: The Gathering league with a fixed set of players in 2019 called the Magic Pro League or MPL. Mythic Championships are supposed to provide a means of qualification to this league for subsequent seasons.
Beginning in 2020, the MTG Arena Mythic Championships will be renamed Mythic Invitationals, and the tabletop Mythic Championships will be replaced by a new regional system called the Players’ Tour. This effectively makes the Players’ Tour the successor to what was once the tabletop Pro Tour.
Qualification
Up until the second season in 1997, qualifying was based on results in high-profile tournaments, or by invitation from the sponsoring company. Since 1997 the Pro Tour is a qualification-only tournament with qualifying events held throughout the world.There are several ways to qualify, the most common being:
- By finishing in the Top 25 of the previous Pro Tour.
- Through Pro Tour Qualifiers or Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers, tournaments open to those not already qualified for the Pro Tour.
- By reaching the Top 8 or having at least 39 match points in individual format Grand Prix |Grand Prix; or reaching the Top 4 or having at least 36 match points in team format Grand Prix
Location
The first Pro Tour season featured events only in the United States. Beginning in 1996–97 one Pro Tour was held in Europe each season. The first Pro Tour to be held in Asia was the 1999 in Tokyo. Subsequently, the amount of PTs every continent gets has varied, with North America hosting the most Pro Tours and Asia the least.Of the Asian Pro Tours all but two were held in Japan. The only other continent to host a Pro Tour was Australia, hosting the World Championship in 2002 and Pro Tour Eldritch Moon in 2016.
Format
Originally, all Pro Tours other than were a single format. Beginning with the 2009 season, Pro Tours consist of one constructed and one limited format. Constructed Pro Tours utilized either Block Constructed, Standard, or Extended, while Limited Pro Tours were usually the Booster Draft format. Rochester Draft was also used, but no such events have been held since the 2006 World Championship. At least one team Pro Tour event was every season between 1999 and 2006, and each World Championship between 1998 and 2011 had a team portion. On July 19, 2017, Wizards announced that a team Pro Tour event would return as part of the 2017–18 season, to be held August 3–5, 2018 in Minneapolis.World Championships feature multiple formats, which usually include standard with a constructed format, and a limited format.
Tournament structure
All Pro Tours are run using a modified Swiss system. Typical Pro Tours were held over three days with 7 rounds or 8 rounds of Swiss the first day. Players with fewer than 4 victories or 5 victories after day 1 were eliminated. 8 more rounds of Swiss followed on the second day after which the eight best finishing players constitute what is called the Top 8. On the third and final day, the Top 8 players play single-elimination until the winner is determined. Starting with the 2009 season this system is modified to accompany the fact, that each PT utilizes constructed and limited formats, in which three rounds of a booster draft will be held followed by five rounds of constructed.Team Limited Pro Tours were run the first day using the Team Sealed format, the second day using the Team Rochester Draft format. The top 4 finishing teams advanced to the last day of competition, which was also run in the Team Rochester format.
World Championships used to be held over four to five days, which typically used Standard on the first day, Booster Draft or Rochester Draft on the second, and another constructed format on the third. The final eight have always been played using the Standard decks from the first day. The fourth day of Worlds also featured national championship as for the national teams to compete in.
Payout
Traditionally the payout at the Pro Tour has been based only on the finishing place. Currently the prize pool for Pro Tour events as well as the World Magic Cup amounts to $240,000 each. The Magic: The Gathering World Championship, while technically not a Pro Tour event also features a significant payout, currently amounting to $150,000. The largest prize pool in the history of the game was paid out for the combined 2006 World Championship event, comprising $465,245. The Pro Tour payout extends down to 64th place with the current payout structure being:| Place | Individual |
| 1 | $50,000 |
| 2 | $20,000 |
| 3–4 | $15,000 |
| 5–6 | $10,000 |
| 7–16 | $5,000 |
| 17–24 | $3,000 |
| 25–32 | $2,000 |
| 33–48 | $1,500 |
| 49–64 | $1,000 |
In Pro Tour Philadelphia 2005, a different payout system was tested. The tournament was run using triple-elimination and each match was run with money at stake. The amount of money earned by the winner of the match increased from $100 in round one to $1,500 in round twelve.
This system had the result of distributing the money more evenly among competitors but the top finishers earned significantly less money than they would have under the old system. This layout was largely criticized by players and internet writers and has not returned since.
Pro Points
In the 2017–18 season, Pro Points for participating are awarded by ranking for the players that make it to the top 8. All other players earn Pro Points based on their total match point in Swiss portion of the event. The points are awarded as follows:For players who finished in Top 8:
| Place | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Pro Points | 30 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 16 |
For players who finish outside the Top 8:
| Total Match Point | 36+ | 35 | 34 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 28–29 | 27 | 26 or less |
| Pro Points | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Additional Pro Points are awarded for participation in the World Magic Cup, the, and for good finishes at Grand Prix |Grand Prix, and. For Grand Prix, only the best six results in a season will be counted towards their seasonal Pro Points. For players that finish in the top 8 Pro Points are awarded as follows:
| Place | 1 | 2 | 3–4 | 5–8 |
| Individual | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Team | 6 | 5 | 4 | N/A |
For players who did not get into the single-elimination stage:
| Match Point | 39+ | 36–38 | 33–35 |
| Individual | 4 | 3 | 1 |
For the World Magic Cup each player earns Pro Points based on the ranking of their respective national team
| Place | 1 | 2 | 3–4 | 5–8 | 9–16 |
| WMC | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
At World Championships, a player is awarded one Pro Point for every win in the Swiss part of the tournament upon their fourth win, and two Pro Points for every win in the elimination stage.
At Nationals, the Finalists will receive three points, the semifinalists will receive one point.
Accumulated Pro Points can grant players benefits when they exceed certain thresholds. In the past, the number of levels and the associated benefits have varied. If a player achieves the level which awards qualifications to all Pro Tours, he or she is said to be "on the Gravy Train." Currently this would be equivalent to the Gold Level. The Pro Club consists of the following levels:
- Bronze level : The player receives a bye at Individual Grand Prix tournaments; invitation to Pro Tour regional qualifiers and Nationals;
- Silver level : The player receives two byes at Individual Grand Prix tournaments; invitation to Pro Tour regional qualifiers and Nationals;; and invitation to one Pro Tour event that had not qualified by other means in that season.
- Gold level : The player receives three byes at Individual Grand Prix tournaments; invitation with one bye to Nationals; and invitation to all Pro Tours with expenses paid for air travel.
- Platinum level : In addition of Gold level's benefits, they receive an additional bye in Nationals. They also receive free Sleep-In Special for attending Grand Prix, and appearance fee in selected events
The above-mentioned Pro Club levels are achieved the moment a player earns the required Pro Points in a season, and benefits are granted from that point on. The status and the associated benefits will be kept until the end of the season after the season in which they were earned.
Special promotion was also introduced in 2013 season for players winning certain title: In 2017–18 season, if a player wins in any Pro Tour, World Championship or Magic Online Championship, they are treated as if they are a Platinum level for a specific period regardless of their current Pro Points. Similar to Rookie of the Year, which treated as a Gold level in the following season.
The number of pro points awarded in a season also decide the seasonal ranking, which affects the eligibility of World Championship and captaincy in World Magic Cup. With the exception of deciding Pro Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, if multiple players finished with same amount of pro point, tiebreakers, which based on the performance of that season's Pro Tour and Grand Prix performance will be used.
Pro Player of the Year
The Pro Player of the Year title is awarded to the individual who has accumulated the most pro points over the course of a season. Previously, the Player of the Year received invitations to several high-level tournaments throughout the following year, as well as travel and other accommodations to each of the following season's Pro Tours. Since the 2016–17 season, there is no additional benefit as a Player of the Year.If there is a tie for first in the Player of the Year race at the end of a season, a playoff is held to determine the winner. The first playoff was held in 2011 as a side event at Pro Tour Paris, deciding the 2010 Player of the Year race between Brad Nelson |Brad Nelson and Guillaume Matignon. In the best-of-7 single match playoff, Nelson won 4 games to 2 to achieve the title.
| Season | Player of the Year |
 Olle Råde | |
 Paul McCabe |Paul McCabe | |
 Jon Finkel | |
 Kai Budde | |
| Bob Maher, Jr. | |
| Kai Budde | |
| Kai Budde | |
| Kai Budde | |
 Gabriel Nassif | |
 Kenji Tsumura | |
| Shouta Yasooka | |
| Tomoharu Saitou | |
| Shuhei Nakamura | |
| Yuuya Watanabe | |
| Brad Nelson |Brad Nelson | |
| Owen Turtenwald | |
| Yuuya Watanabe | |
| Josh Utter-Leyton | |
| Jérémy Dezani | |
| Mike Sigrist | |
| Owen Turtenwald | |
 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa | |
 Luis Salvatto |
Rookie of the Year
The Rookie of the Year title is awarded to the player who has accumulated the most pro points over the course of a season and has not participated in a Pro Tour, World Championship, nor World Magic Cup before that season.| Season | Rookie of the Year |
| 1996 | None awarded |
| 1996–97 | None awarded |
| 1997–98 | Randy Buehler |
| 1998–99 | Dirk Baberowski |
| 1999–00 | Brian Davis |
| 2000–01 | Katsuhiro Mori |
| 2001–02 | Farid Meraghni |
| 2002–03 | Masashi Oiso |
| 2003–04 |  Julien Nuijten |
| 2005 | Pierre Canali |
| 2006 | Sebastian Thaler |
| 2007 | Yuuya Watanabe |
| 2008 |  Aaron Nicastri |
| 2009 | Lino Burgold |
| 2010 |  Andrea Giarola |
| 2011 | Matthias Hunt |
| 2011–12 | Alexander Hayne |
| 2012–13 |  Felipe Tapia Becerra |
| 2013–14 | Raymond Perez Jr. |
| 2014–15 | Justin Cohen |
| 2015–16 | Oliver Tiu |
| 2016–17 | Ben Hull |
| 2017–18 | Samuel Ihlenfeldt |
Best performers
Players who have reached the final day of the Pro Tour several times are recognized for their skill and dedication to the game. The following table shows all players who either achieved five Pro Tour Top 8s or two wins. 26 players have made the Top 8 of five or more Pro Tours, and only eight have won more than once.Before 2011 World Championships were Pro Tour, thus World Championship Top 8s from before 2011 are counted as career Top 8s. The following table is accurate as of Pro Tour Eldritch Moon:
| Player | Wins | Top 8 |
| Kai Budde | 7 | 10 |
| Jon Finkel | 3 | 16 |
| Dirk Baberowski | 3 | 5 |
| Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa | 2 | 12 |
| Gabriel Nassif | 2 | 9 |
 Nicolai Herzog | 2 | 5 |
| Brian Kibler | 2 | 5 |
 Tommi Hovi | 2 | 4 |
| Shouta Yasooka | 2 | 4 |
| Marco Blume | 2 | 3 |
| Luis Scott-Vargas | 1 | 10 |
| Darwin Kastle | 1 | 8 |
| Kamiel Cornelissen | 1 | 6 |
| Patrick Chapin | 1 | 5 |
| Rob Dougherty | 1 | 5 |
| Dave Humpherys | 1 | 5 |
| William Jensen | 1 | 5 |
| Scott Johns | 1 | 5 |
| Makihito Mihara | 1 | 5 |
| Olle Råde | 1 | 5 |
| Tomoharu Saitou | 1 | 5 |
| Guillaume Wafo-Tapa | 1 | 5 |
| Mike Turian | 1 | 5 |
| Shuhei Nakamura | 0 | 6 |
| Masashi Oiso | 0 | 6 |
| Kenji Tsumura | 0 | 6 |
| Alan Comer | 0 | 5 |
| Anton Jonsson | 0 | 5 |
| Olivier Ruel | 0 | 5 |
 Lee Shi Tian | 0 | 5 |
| Josh Utter-Leyton | 0 | 5 |
| Yuuya Watanabe | 0 | 5 |