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Mar 31, 2022 — Organized Play

Pro Tour Returns! Re-Ignite Your Store's Competitive Play

Prepare to host qualifier events at your store and get a rundown of the upcoming competitive season.

Get ready—the return of competitive play is here! Regardless of your players' experience level within the community, you can encourage them all to get involved with a local qualifier at your local store, kick-starting their journey toward the Magic: The Gathering World Championship.

Depending on your region, WPN Premium stores may have access to perks, such as additional Regional Championship invitations or larger promo allocations. Please check with your regional organizer for specific information.

Today we'll be discussing the four levels of tabletop play: local qualifiers, Regional Championships, Pro Tours, and finally, the Magic: The Gathering World Championship.

Regional Championship Qualifiers

Regional tournament organizers will be working with you directly to schedule Regional Championship Qualifier events at your store through Wizards EventLink . This offers more flexibility in planning the events, for regional organizers and players.

Your Regional Tournament Organizer will sell and distribute your qualifier kit, set your event date and be your first point of contact.

Encourage your players to bookmark these organizers’ websites, too—they'll serve as information hubs for qualifying and finals events in each region:

• USA - Dreamhack
• Canada - Face to Face
• Europe - Legacy
• Australia/New Zealand - Good Games
• China - Beijing Kadou Culture
• Japan/Korea - Big Magic
• Southeast Asia - Oracle Events
• Taiwan - GameSquare
• Brazil - City Class Games
• Mexico/Central America/Caribbean - Yellow Rabbit
• South America - Magicsur

If you haven't run a large-scale tournament yourself, or it's been a long time and you'd like additional support, you may look to Judge Academy to assist you in connecting with an official Magic: The Gathering judge to help with your event.

By signing up for these events through your regional organizer, you'll receive Promos to celebrate at the local and regional level while supplies last!

The Regional Championship Qualifier Promos, as well as their usage, are as follows:

• Lava Spike: Nonfoil for participating in local qualifiers. Foil for participating in larger local qualifiers and side events at Regional Finals.
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Nonfoil for top finishers at local qualifying events. Foil for the winners of local qualifiers.*

*Please note that kits for multi-slot qualifiers will have a foil Nykthos for each invitation slot, not purely for the winner.

Again, all Promos are available in limited quantities while supplies last. With any questions regarding the exact breakdown of promo prize support, contact your regional organizer.

Regional Championships

Regional Championship details will differ based on each individual region, though the first Regional Championship will be held in late 2022. The number of invites to the Pro Tour awarded, prizes, and any additional information will be communicated for each region by the regional organizer noted above.

Players from the following categories will receive invites to the Regional Championships:

• Regional Championship Qualifier Winners
• Players qualified for the next Pro Tour
• MTGO Qualifiers
• MTG Arena Qualifiers

In addition, members of the MPL/Rivals from 2021–22 and the Top 16 (not already invited) Challengers from 2022 Worlds Standings will be invited to the first three Regional Championships.

The Promo for Regional Championship is as follows:

• Teferi, Hero of Dominaria: Nonfoil for participants and foil for top finishers.

Three times a year, top finishers from the Regional Championships will compete for their share of $500,000 in prizes, an invite to the World Championship, and bragging rights as they claim their place as the best in their region.

Pro Tours will be held in the United States in 2023. While we are mindful of the fluctuating state of international travel, we are hoping to expand outside of the U.S. as soon as we can. The location of each Pro Tour will be announced closer to each event's date.

Magic: The Gathering World Championship

This event will be held later in 2023, in the United States, where approximately 128 players will play for the featured prize pool of $1 million. The exact breakdown by place will be published closer to the event.

While the state of international travel is always in flux, we hope that the World Championships will be held in person.

We've prepared an FAQ to answer some of the questions you may have , and we will share more information about these events as it becomes relevant. You may also reference more details on the Magic website to help answer any questions your players have.

The first local qualifiers will begin July 2 and will be run using Pioneer, Modern, Sealed Deck, or Standard formats. Schedule practice events early to give your players ample time and space to prepare their decks and practice ahead of time.

Plus, the competition has been made more accessible than ever, as players can qualify through digital play using Magic: The Gathering Arena or Magic: The Gathering Online . Please remember that for tabletop events, players must be 13 years or older with parental permission, or 18 years or older without. For digital events, all players must be 18 years or older (no exceptions).

The return of competitive play is bound to be an exciting time for your community—make sure you start planning and contact your Regional Organizer noted above to join.

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Magic: The Gathering just returned Pro Tour from the graveyard

The Pioneer format will be highlighted at the first regional championship round.

Hardcore cardboard slingers received some good news today after Wizards of the Coast announced that it would return to the Pro Tour format for trading card game Magic: The Gathering’s 2022-2023 competitive season.

The Pro Tour was unceremoniously cancelled in 2018 after 22 years as the standard path for Magic’s elite players to travel on their way to the world championship. Its return comes with expected caveats and more than a few uncertainties, and the community will likely remain a little shy of Wizards’ continued support for this new version.

If the only place you tap lands is around the kitchen table, it could feel a little daunting to consider competitive Magic in the first place. Here’s the gist: the Magic Pro Tour will be the structure of the upcoming competitive Magic: The Gathering season, which begins July 2nd. The previous convoluted qualifying structure has been simplified with in-person events at local stores, regional championship events, and three Pro Tour dates per season. How the COVID-19 pandemic will impact this structure is an open question, even to Wizards of the Coast.

Magic: The Gathering trashcanned the former Pro Tour model in 2018 to refocus its competitive scene on the then-new digital client, Magic Arena . Advertising for the Magic Pro League and related Rivals League centred on a supposed democratisation of competitive play by moving much of the events online and opening several new paths for qualification. The result was confusing for both pro players and spectators , and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic mere years into its life was the final nail in a quickly assembled coffin.

Players interested in taking part in the new system will attend events at local games stores that are part of the Wizards Play Network. High performance at organised play, which can be structured around Standard, Limited, Modern or Pioneer formats - will earn them spots in regional championships where individuals will compete to earn spots at one of three Pro Tours scheduled for each competitive season. Wizards of the Coast did not provide much information on the number of players and prize pool for these first two levels, as they will be handled by third-party organisers.

Each Pro Tour will feature around 300 players vying for pieces of a $500,000 prize pool, and all three should be highly advertised opportunities for spectating. This was one of the biggest community complaints about the MPL and Rivals - folks were never sure when matches took place and how important they were. If competitive Magic: The Gathering wants to tout its ability as an esport, the Pro Tours should be where it happens.

Return of the Pro Tour: Your Path to Playing Magic at the Highest Level! From your local game store to international competition, tabletop play returns with the Pro Tour. Announcement: https://t.co/EyDHxG73FG Details: https://t.co/SnPlqRdzHy FAQ: https://t.co/GZ8DzEL0GT pic.twitter.com/q2UwbH7MAM — PlayMTG (@PlayMTG) March 31, 2022

Magic Arena players will still be able to take part in digital qualifiers, and other systems for clinching a Pro Tour invite were outlined in a recently published FAQ. All told, it’s a much simpler system that seems to emphasise paper Magic, including the first event focusing on the Pioneer format . Introduced in 2019, months before COVID-19 became a global concern, Pioneer has garnered ardent support from the playerbase who warmly welcomed its addition to competitive play on social media.

Speaking of the coronavirus, Wizards of the Coast had little to say about how the ongoing pandemic will affect the upcoming competitive season. The company did not outline its own mask or vaccination requirements for World Championship XXIX and said regional events will “comply with local laws and regulations”. For countries whose government is already beginning to act as though COVID-19 is a solved issue, this decision is an unsettling one. Dicebreaker has reached out to Wizards of the Coast for more information but did not immediately hear back.

More information on how Magic Arena and MTG Online will fit into the newly returned Pro Tour model is expected by the end of April. A detailed breakdown of paths to qualification and the FAQ can be found on Wizards of the Coast’s esports website.

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Magic: The Gathering’s Pro Tour circuit returns!

A new system will see the beloved Pro Tour return as part of a major Premier Play announcement from the world’s oldest and best trading card game

Wizards of the Coast announced an update to the Magic: The Gathering Premier Play System kicking off on 2 July 2022, featuring four levels of tabletop play which culminates in a World Championship tournament with a US $1 million prize pool. The new system will see a return to the Pro Tour structure of previous years, with each Pro Tour offering a US $500,000 prize pool. Players will have the opportunity to carve a path to the World Championship via a series of regional qualifying tournaments.

Regional Championship Qualifiers The ANZ Regional Championship Qualifiers are a series of local tournaments and will be hosted by tabletop game and hobby retailer Good Games across Wizards Play Network (WPN) locations within Australia and New Zealand. Titled the ‘ANZ Super Series’, the Regional Championship Qualifiers will be open to all players aged 13 and over. Prizes and entry fees will be determined by each Wizards Play Network store location. Top placing players will be invited to Regional Championships tournaments to further test their skills.

All players will receive a promo Lava Spike card for participating, with top finishers earning themselves a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx card.

Qualifying windows:

• Season 1 Qualifying Window is 2 July to 5 September 2022
• Season 2 Qualifying Window is from 1 October to 18 December 2022
• Season 3 Qualifying Window is 7 January to 2 April 2023

Players can learn more about the ANZ Super Series and sign up here . To find your local participating WPN store, visit https://locator.wizards.com/ .

Regional Championships (Information for ANZ) Players who conquer their local Regional Championship Qualifiers will be invited to a major Regional Championship tournament with a US $15,000 prize pool. In ANZ, this Regional Championship is titled the ‘Super Series Final’.

The top 12 players from each Regional Championship qualify for the Pro Tour with the winner also securing a spot at the World Championship. The only way to qualify for a Regional Championship is to place highly at the Super Series Final, or via the Last Chance Qualifier held the day before each Regional Championship. Players unsuccessful in qualifying can still participate in side events at the Super Series Final, including a US $5,000 Super Sunday cash prize pool event.

A number of funds have been allocated as a travel allowance for New Zealand players to ensure qualified members will be able to attend the Regional Championships. This will be managed by Good Games and will require players to apply for their travel allowance.

All players will receive a promo Teferi, Hero of Dominaria card for participating in the Super Series Final, with top finishers earning themselves a foil version of the card.

Series dates

• Season 1 Regional Final will be from 25 to 27 November 2022 in Sydney
• Seasons 2 and 3 Regional Finals will be announced at a later date

Pro Tours Three times a year, qualifiers from the Regional Championships will gather to compete for their share of US $500,000 in prizes, invites to the World Championship, and the right to claim their place among the best in the world. Pro Tours will be hosted by Wizards of the Coast at locations to be announced at a later date.

World Championship The culmination of everything a competitive Magic player could dream of, the World Championship will serve as the capstone event of each season. Around 128 players will compete for their share of US $1 million. For the 2022-2023 season, this event will be held later in 2023 in the United States. The one-and-only winner will be crowned Magic: The Gathering World Champion.

In addition to this multi-leveled system, Wizards of the Coast has announced plans for a digital Premier Play path for players to qualify via Magic: The Gathering Arena and Magic Online . Full details on this path will be unveiled in April.

The new Premier Play system will debut on 2 July 2022 with the ANZ Super Series which will be run as Standard, Pioneer, Modern, or Limited (to be determined by Good Games).

For more information on MTG Premier Play, visit the Wizards site or head to the FAQ .

About Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering’s compelling characters, fantastic worlds, and deep strategic gameplay have entertained and delighted fans for more than 25 years. Fans can experience Magic through the tabletop trading card game, the new digital game Magic: The Gathering Arena, a New York Times bestselling novel, a critically acclaimed comic book series, and a professional esports league. With over 40 million fans to date, Magic is a worldwide phenomenon published in eleven languages in over 70 countries.

About Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., is an award-winning developer and publisher of tabletop and digital games that ignite a sense of adventure in passionate players around the globe. Best known for publishing groundbreaking fantasy franchises, MAGIC: THE GATHERING® and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS®, Wizards is dedicated to bringing together world-class talent to create unforgettable play experiences at its headquarters in Washington and studios in Austin and Montreal. Learn more at www.wizards.com.

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The New MTG Pro Tour Is (Almost) Everything We Wanted

A former MTG World Champion weighs in on the new organized play system.

By Seth Manfield | @SethManfield | Published 2/7/2023 | 10 min read

Today is going to go down as one of the most important days in the history of Magic: The Gathering organized play. The COVID-19 pandemic and all of the restrictions that have come along with it essentially halted tabletop Magic for over two years. We've had high-level events on MTG Arena, but as far as official Wizards of the Coast in-person events, there hasn't been anything for quite some time. But that's all about to change.

THE PRO TOUR IS BACK!!

The Pro Tour has such a rich and amazing history. The name "Pro Tour" stopped being used altogether a few years back in favor of names like Mythic Championship and Set Championship. Bringing back the name "Pro Tour"  for the 2022-2023 organized play system is the smartest thing the folks at WotC could have done.

Let's go over the four tiers of this new system.

Regional Championship Qualifiers

Regional Championship Qualifiers will happen at the local level, which means you should be able to play in one without having to get on a plane. While we don't have Pro Tour Qualifiers like players may remember from the past, the Regional Championship Qualifiers will fill a similar role.

We still don't have all the information on Regional Championship Qualifiers, like how many of them there will be, what type of attendance to expect, what the entry fee will be, and all the specific locations. I expect most of this to fall into place quite quickly though. What we do know is there are 11 different regions included in this new system.

Each region will be managed by a different tournament organizer , and that organizer has the freedom to make its own decisions about the tournament structure. However, the qualifying season will last the same four weeks no matter where you live. There will also be Last Chance Qualifiers at the Regional Championships themselves.

Based on what we know so far, there aren't any major issues I can see with the Regional Qualifiers, but a lot will come down to the details. Managing the size of these qualifiers and varying the number of qualifiers based on region will be very important. For instance, Brazil will likely have fewer qualifiers compared to the United States based on the player base.

There will also be event promos! Lava Spike will be awarded for participation in the first season, and copies of Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx in both foil and nonfoil will be awarded to top finishers. Bringing promos into the mix is a great way to drive up attendance and overall interest in these events—good job, WotC.

Regional Championships

Once you do well enough in a Regional Championship Qualifier, you'll get to compete in the Regional Championship! There will be one Regional Championship in each region across the globe, which means 11 total. Each will be a bit different in size, which means we should expect different prizes for each event.

Besides doing well in a Regional Championship Qualifier there will be a couple other ways to qualify for a Regional Championship. One is having been in the Magic Pro League or Rivals League in 2021-2022. Also, top-finishing challengers from the 2021-2022 season and 2022 World Championship competitors will be invited to the Regional Championships. This is a good way to transition out of the previous league play systems.

Regional Championships may be one or two-day events depending on size of the event. Also, a promo version of Teferi, Hero of Dominaria will be given out at Regional Championships. Doing well at the Regional Championships is the primary way to qualify for the Pro Tour.

My hope with Regional Championships is that appropriate adjustments are made based on attendance to these events. WotC has said that prize pools and the number of Pro Tour invites given out in each region will vary, but beyond that we will have to wait for more specific information on Regional Championships.

The Pro Tour

While the qualifier rounds will start this year, the Pro Tours themselves will kick off in 2023. The target number of players in a Pro Tour is 300. The primary way to qualify for the Pro Tour will be doing well at the Regional Championships, though there will also be other routes as well. The Magic Online Showcase and large events on MTG Arena will provide direct paths to the Pro Tour. Doing well at the previous year's World Championship or at previous Pro Tours is another way to get PT invitations.

Pro Tours will use Adjusted Matchpoints (AMPs) to track player performance. This essentially means tracking how many wins a player gets at the Pro Tour. If you have enough AMPs at the Pro Tour level it will lead to additional qualifications. This will let players string together multiple Pro Tour qualifications without needing to go back to the regional level.

Pro Tours look like they will be a mix of Draft and Constructed. The first Pro Tour in 2023 will include the Pioneer format, with Standard and Modern likely being used as well at future Pro Tours. This makes a ton of sense as a way to create interest in Pioneer, as the format is quite fun to play right now . Personally though, I'm looking forward to competitive Limited the most, as that has been largely absent from competitive play over the past two years.

There will be three Pro Tours per year, and they can take place all around the world. These events will each have a $500,000 prize pool. Traveling internationally has been a big part of playing tabletop MTG at the highest level, and I'm very happy to see this aspect of the game returning. We should also expect to see live video coverage at all the Pro Tour events, which should create additional excitement surrounding these tournaments.

The World Championship

There will be 128 slots in the 2022-2023 World Championship, and the prize pool will be $1,000,000. This is more World Championships slots than we have been accustomed to over the past few years . I personally don't mind having this become a larger event. Like all the events being highlighted in today's announcement the World Championship will also be played on tabletop, rather than online. This is a major shift, as even before the pandemic the World Championships had been exclusively on MTG Arena. Tabletop play is clearly a huge priority again.

In order to make it to the World Championship you must do really well at events like the Regional Championships, or accumulate a lot of AMPs at the Pro Tour level across the three Pro Tours in a season. There will also be online paths to making it to the World Championship, as well as the previous World Champion being automatically qualified as well.

Reintroducing the Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame has always been an important part of the Pro Tour, and it will remain a part of the Pro Tour moving forward. Hall of Fame members will receive one Pro Tour invitation of their choice, per season. Hall of Fame members will also be invited to the Regional Championship that feeds the PT they have elected to use their invite on. This essentially means Hall of Fame members receive direct qualification to one third of the Pro Tours and Regional Championships each year.

Hall of Fame members had been promised an invite to every Pro Tour in perpetuity, at the time they were inducted. While this new system of qualifications for Hall of Fame members does not honor that promise, it does give Hall of Fame members more than what they have been receiving over the past few years.

I'm obviously biased as a member of the Hall of Fame, but WotC clearly shouldn't have promised a lifetime of invites if they couldn't live up to that. It would be possible to invite all Hall of Fame members to every Pro Tour in the new system if WotC wished to do so.

Missed Opportunities

Overall, this is a positive announcement for the community at large. Players have been itching for the return of the Pro Tour, and now their wish has been granted. Having some type of system in place that allows players to climb the ranks while playing with physical MTG cards is awesome. I'm excited to get back to playing the game we all love so much.

That said, there are some holes in the announcement I want to cover.

No Mention of Grand Prix

Grand Prix and MagicFests are not part of the new system. These large-scale events had been a big part of previous systems, and I think many players were expecting to see a return of large events that are open to the public and don't require an invitation.

Hopefully Grand Prix or something similar will be announced in the future, even if these events don't directly connect to the Pro Tour system anymore.

The Pro Tour Prize Pools Aren't Large Enough

International travel is expensive. If I were to fly to Japan, I would expect it to cost over $2,000 even with cost-cutting measures. Flights, hotels, food, they all add up. Not to mention the investment of time it takes to qualify for the Pro Tour and travel to the event. Assuming it costs $2,000 to travel to a 300-player Pro Tour with a $500,000 prize pool, the average player will lose money. This isn't good.

I believe the prize pools for Pro Tours should be $1,000,000 like the World Championships to ensure that players who qualify for Pro Tours can afford to play. With a larger prize pool, you could have a large enough minimum prize payout at the Pro Tour that players could mostly recoup their travel costs.

As WotC foreshadowed in their announcement about the end of the League system , prize pools have taken a step backward compared to what they were a couple years ago. The new system is not meant to financially support someone playing MTG—now is not the time to drop out of school to pursue Magic full time. The World Championships seem to be the only event where you should expect to make a profit should you qualify. Even if you do qualify for the World Championships there will still be 127 other world-class players in the event, and the estimated value is less than $8,000 per player before travel costs.

While I'm excited to compete and play MTG at a high level, I still want to push WotC to kick a bit more money into the program. To be fair though, we are coming back from having no tabletop system at all, so the 2022-2023 season may be used to reevaluate how large a financial commitment WotC can afford to make in regards to tabletop play. This announcement doesn't include the online side of organized play, and we should hopefully still see large digital events as well.

Thanks for reading,

Seth Manfield

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2022 continues to serve up surprises as Wizards of the Coast have this week announced the hotly anticipated return of Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. Several years ago the massively popular card game shifted to an eSports focused way of play, essentially ending the in-person tournament tradition that had been running since the 90s. Now, players can look forward to the return of paper play as Wizards of the Coast have announced a July 2022 kick-off for the returning style of play and competition.

Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Returns In July 2022

Magic: The Gathering Premier Play System will feature four levels of competitive, tabletop play, culminating in the World Championship, held in late 2023 in the United States. This structure will be familiar to long-time players with an eye on the professional scene but the Pro Tour structure allows a path from regional qualifiers all the way to World Championships with different tiers of financial rewards along the way.

Prizes range depending on the level to which players qualify, starting from US $15,000 pools all the way up to the major league’s World Championship US $1 Million pool. The prize money is of course thrilling but the majority of players and fans are simply excited to see the return of physical space play, which engenders community and the thrill of the game far more than online counterparts are able to.

Locally, ANZ players will be able to partake in qualifiers thanks to retailer Good Games who are playing host to the tournaments, titled ‘ANZ Super Series’. Players aged 13 years and older are welcome to register, with prizes being determined by individual Wizard Play Network locations but winners will be invited to Regional Championships. All players will be treated to a commemorative Lava Spike card, with top finishers nabbing a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx card.

If you’re interested in signing up you can find your local here , and for more details on further qualifications and dates head over to the Wizards of the Coast official site .

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The Magic Pro Tour is back after four years with some controversial changes

What’s good for some isn’t always good for others

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When Gabby Squailia started playing Magic: The Gathering in 2017 after taking two decades off, she was hooked. The game became an obsession. And, as a competitive person, she soon wanted to see if she could handle the big leagues. That meant Magic ’s Pro Tour, the premiere public event for high-level Magic play.

“It did seem vaguely reasonable for a decent player who put the time in to make it to the Pro Tour once or twice,” Squailia says. “The reason this mattered to me wasn’t that I ever thought I could be a professional — I just wanted to compete against the best, and to learn from getting trounced.”

But Wizards of the Coast abruptly stopped the event in 2018, moving instead to Mythic Tournaments, a hybridization of the physical and online play that added layers of bureaucracy to the game. Then the COVID-19 pandemic forced other changes as players found their ability to play paper Magic — offline and in person — curtailed by the health crisis.

Now that the world is reopening, Magic parent company Wizards of the Coast is reestablishing the Pro Tour, yet it’s coming with some changes.

The new system aims to integrate the former pro structure with the game’s growing amateur play groups (which make up the vast majority of Magic players). There are regional championships set up around the world with invitations varying per event. Players can also get in the door through Magic Online and the Arena app; pros from the hall of fame are allowed one free entry per year. Players and others in the Magic community are divided on what this all means.

As Magic communications director Blake Rasmussen tells it, the Pro Tour never really shut down. He says that in Wizards’ view, the Pro Tour as previously structured had outlived its usefulness and it was time to pivot to meet the players where they were. That meant a more open field where high-level play and mid-tier play could coexist, even though it meant reshuffling how the company treats its top players, who had been part of a circuit called the Pro League.

“We saw the end of the Magic Pro League and the beginning of a sort of broader play structure that is as inclusive as possible, that gives people all around the world as many opportunities as possible to come in and play Magic at whatever level they want,” Rasmussen says.

But for some players, from amateurs like Squailia to pros like Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, the changes over the past four years haven’t been quite as positive. Jim Davis, a former pro player turned content creator whose YouTube channel focuses on Magic , says that in his view the tournament’s mutation has taken away elements of the circuit that made it worth playing, and paying attention to, for years. By reducing the level of competition, he says, Wizards has somewhat “killed a lot of what made the old Pro Tour so exciting, which was that it was an aspirational system.”

Davis also feels that the company’s decisions on how to market the competition have been perplexing. It’s good to have an event like the Pro Tour for people to follow along, he says, but in order to cultivate an audience, there has to be something that grabs their attention.

“People want to play Magic more than they want to watch it,” Davis says.

Further changes have made the landscape prohibitive for pros. A lack of investment in pro-level players — no more free rides to all of the events, replete with plane tickets and hotel rooms — and a flattening of the competitive atmosphere is supposed to make the event more friendly to players of all skill levels.

“I live in Brazil. Everything is very expensive — it takes me 20, 24 hours for a flight to travel,” da Rosa says. “For me to go to a tournament, I feel like I have to dedicate a lot.”

Da Rosa, one of the top players of all time, is going to face difficulties making it to events from Brazil. While he could play online, in order to play in the real-life circuit he’s going to have to play in real-life events. Without support from Wizards, one of the game’s active playing legends is going to run into difficulty. “If you do the math, like how much it costs to get there, how much time you have to prepare, what the price for it compared to the number of entrants, it’s usually not worth it,” da Rosa says.

Rasmussen says that where Wizards had, in the past, focused on professionals and pro play, now the event will take a more wide-ranging approach that incorporates lower-level players and highlights their participation. “Our vision has shifted in that our philosophy now is to serve as many people as possible,” Rasmussen says. “That’s not to say that we don’t value those pro players. That’s absolutely not true.”

According to Rasmussen, response to the new tournament structure has been largely positive. Many players in the new tour are playing in their first event, and while there’s no comparison to the pre-pandemic crowds — that’s still a ways off — Wizards says it has been pleased with the enthusiasm it’s seen thus far.

“We are seeing a ton of people who are ready to get back in,” Rasmussen says. “There’s still going to be, and rightfully so, some hesitancy on some people to be in crowds of people, and that’s going to push numbers down. But even despite that, we’re seeing a lot of people champing at the bit to return.”

DeQuan Watson is a content creator whose work focuses on Magic . He’s a longstanding player and personality in the community, having worked for Wizards and Card Kingdom and at one time owned a game store. That background behind the curtain of the business side could explain Watson’s more measured response to the changes that Wizards has made — he sees it as a continuation of the company trying to adjust to meet its audience’s expectations.

“They have an insane amount of data,” Watson says. “So when people think they know what they’re talking about or wonder why they would make this decision — having been there, I can look at stuff from a distance.”

To Watson, the new setup is reminiscent of the way the Pro Tour was at the very beginning. Now, players of all skill levels can go online or to their local store, win events, and work their way up to regionals and make it to the tour. “I think that’s easier for people to understand and it’s accessible to a lot of people and it supports your local retailers,” he says. “So I think everybody’s winning in this scenario.”

But it’s clear not everyone feels they’re winning. Between top pros like da Rosa and amateur players expressing disinterest in the new format because it’s not providing enough to strive for, the message hasn’t landed smoothly. And whether the changes result in a stronger community across the board remains to be seen.

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The Pro Tour , abbreviated PT , is a series of major invitation-only DCI -sanctioned Magic: The Gathering tournaments, held about once every three months from 1996 to 2018. [1] [2] [3] The Pro Tour was reinstated for the 2022–23 Pro Tour Season . [4]

History [ | ]

Even early on in Magic history, there had been high-prestige tournaments that had attracted a lot of top players, most notably the 1994 World Championships , the first major tournament, which ran over three days of competition. However, the winner, Zak Dolan , received a trophy and a large number of booster packs from various sets, but no money. [5] Similarly, the 1995 World Championship winner, Alexander Blumke , won a box of Legends and some miscellaneous packs. [2] In 1995, Magic Brand Manager Skaff Elias felt that Organized Play needed to step up to the next level. Players had to have something to aspire to. Thus was the Pro Tour created. [6] [7]

As envisioned by Skaff Elias , the first Pro Tour - very briefly called the Black Lotus Pro Tour - was held on 16–18 February 1996 in New York City. [8] [9] Also known as "Pro Tour Speed Dial" and "The Showdown in New York", [10] Michael Loconto from the United States ended up the winner, taking down 1994 Worlds finalist Bertrand Lestrée in the final. Loconto pocketed $12,000 for the win, much more than the winners of the early major tournaments got, yet a lot less than future Pro Tour winners would earn. The event was not streamed live, but a video was later published by Wizards. [6] In addition to the main event, there was also a junior Pro Tour for players under eighteen. The junior Pro Tour continued for a couple of years, until it was transformed into the Junior Super Series . The first Pro Tour season included three more Pro Tour events, culminating in the final Pro Tour, the World Championships, held at Wizards of the Coast's corporate offices in Seattle.

Since 1996, Pro Tours have been held every year, with the number of events varying from three to seven per year. Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad in Madrid in April 2016 was the 100th Pro Tour event.

The prize purse of the Pro Tours increased rapidly, from $30,000 at the first Pro Tour to $100,000 at the second, Pro Tour Los Angeles 1996, to $200,000 at the 1997 World Championships (plus $50,000 for the team competition). However, since then, the prizes increased slowly; as of 2016, Pro Tours awarded $250,000 in prizes.

In 2019, more than twenty years after the first, the Pro Tours were rebranded as Mythic Championships . [11] In 2020 , this was changed again, to Players Tour . [12] At the same time, Wizards of the Coast introduced the short-lived Magic Esports competition with the Magic Pro League (or "MPL") and the Rivals League . MPL players would be invited to Mythic Invitationals and all Tabletop Players Tour events.

At the end of the 2022 season, the MPL and the Rivals League were terminated [13] and a modified old system was reinstated. [4] This Premier Play program once again featured Pro Tours.

Qualification [ | ]

2022 Premier Play pyramid

Pro Tours are invitation-only events. There are several ways to qualify. [14] The most common ways will be:

• Be one of the top finishers at the previous Regional Championship , with invites passing down as players earn multiple qualifications.
• Finish with ten or more wins at the previous Pro Tour.
• Magic: The Gathering Online Champions Showcases
• Players who finish with 39 or more Adjusted Match Points from the previous three Pro Tours (rolling).

For the transitional period between the sunsetting of the League structure and the first new Pro Tour in 2023, more invites will be given out for those beyond the normal cutoff point at the Regional Championships.

Members of the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame are invited to one Regional Championship and Pro Tour per season. Those events must be in the same round and cannot be in the same round in which they played in a Regional Championship Qualifier.

Structure [ | ]

Pro Tours are hosted by Wizards of the Coast . Currently, they are 16-round Swiss-paired events that are split into two mornings of three-round Draft pods and two afternoons of five-round Constructed. As of 2023, each year has one Pro Tour of each supported Constructed format in Standard, Pioneer and Modern; the Modern one often receives a new product in the summer supplementary period. Players strive for first a four-win record to qualify for Day 2, ten wins to requalify for the next Pro Tour, then twelve wins to qualify for the Top 8. At twelve wins, the player is removed from the pool and given winner's byes; this to avoid excessive intentional draws and is one of the holdovers from the online-only Players Tour era.

The Top 8 is a set of knockout rounds with best-of-five matches, as opposed to the traditional best-of-three. Sideboarding begins after the second game.

Pro Tour season [ | ]

The Pro Tour Season currently consists of three Pro Tour events spread through the calendar year. In previous seasons it had gone to four or five, with the Mythic Championship era having eight in the season at the highest.

Prior to the 2005 season, the season ran roughly from August to the following August, culminating with Worlds in August or early September. The 2005 season was extended, with it beginning after the 2004 World Championships in September 2004, and ending with the 2005 World Championships in December 2005. From 2005 to 2012, the seasons were run as a unit of year (half year in 2012), which consisted of three to five Pro Tour events spread throughout the calendar year.

Starting with the 2012 season, all Pro Tour rounds were named after the most recent expansion instead of the location of the venue, and were held two weeks after the release of that expansion. The season hence started with rotation in September and ends in July to August. Starting with Pro Tour Ixalan , the interval between the expansion and the Pro Tour were no longer fixed, and as of Mythic Championship Cleveland 2019 , Pro Tours were no longer tied to sets, though each release did have an event attached to it.

For Premier Play, the expansion release date and Pro Tour schedule were generally decoupled. There are three Pro Tours each year, with the first Pro Tour in February, which is after the third expansion of the rotation season is released. The third Pro Tour is after the supplementary summer set, while Worlds (currently always Las Vegas) is immediately after rotation. Two are set in the United States and the third one in Europe, but locations may expand to Canada or Asia in the future.

Trivia [ | ]

• Levy is also the player who has attended the most consecutive Pro Tours, with 91 starting with the 1998 World Championships and ending with Pro Tour Hour of Devastation in 2017.
• The player with the current longest active streak of Pro Tours attended is Shuhei Nakamura , who, as of PT Guilds of Ravnica , has attended 60 in a row since the 2004 World Championships. Whether this streak broke depends on how one defines the Mythic Championships and regional Players Tour events. His streak continues for those named Pro Tour, having attended all three in 2023.
• The largest individual Pro Tour was PT Guilds of Ravnica , with 510 players.
• Nicolai Herzog won back-to-back Limited -format Pro Tours in 2004, winning in Amsterdam and San Diego. However, Pro Tour Kobe, a Block Constructed event, happened between those Pro Tours.
• Simon Nielsen has chained four events: Pro Tour March of the Machine , Pro Tour The Lord of the Rings , 2024 World Championship and Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor .
• The player with the most money finishes in consecutive Pro Tour events is Jon Finkel , who cashed every Pro Tour from PT New York 1997 to PT Los Angeles 1999, ten in total.

See also [ | ]

• Pro Tour Collector Set
• Pro Tour Player Cards
• List of PT events

Promos [ | ]

• Promotional card#Pro Tour cards
• Pro Tour Qualifier#Promos

References [ | ]

• ↑ Mark Rosewater (August 09, 2004). " On Tour, Part 2 ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ a b Mark Justice (June 01, 2009). " Musings on the History of the Magic Pro Tour ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Blake Rasmussen (November 24, 2014). " Magic's First Pro Tour Top 8 ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (March 31, 2022). " Return of the Pro Tour, Your Path to Playing Magic at the Highest Level ". Magic.gg .
• ↑ Zak Dolan (2004-08-26). " ZAK DOLAN'S WORLDS DIARY ". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved on 2015-09-25.
• ↑ a b Mark Rosewater (July 26, 2004). " On Tour, Part 1 ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Brian David-Marshall (February 2, 2016). " An Oral History of the First Pro Tour ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Mark Rosewater and Henry Stern (August 21, 2006). " Inside "Showdown in New York" ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Mark Rosewater (December 12, 2011). " Flashback to the Future ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Magic the Gathering Showdown in New York 1/10 . YouTube. Retrieved on 2015-09-29.
• ↑ Elaine Chase (December 6, 2018). " The Next Chapter for Magic : Esports ". magicthegathering.com . Wizards of the Coast.
• ↑ Elaine Chase (August 14, 2019). " The Future of Magic Esports ". Magic Esports .
• ↑ The new ORGANIZED PLAY announcement and how it affects competitive players (Video). Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa . YouTube (May 14, 2021).
• ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 31, 2022). " Return of the Pro Tour: Details ". Magic.gg .
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MTG Arena Premier Play in 2022

When much of public gaming around the world closed down in early 2020, Magic: The Gathering Arena became one of the most practical ways for many players to engage with Magic , and especially with Magic 's competitive system. With the return of the Pro Tour and high-level tabletop play , MTG Arena had an opportunity to update its role in the greater Premier Play system—while also offering its own unique events for digital players.

Alongside new events, we are refreshing how the MTG Arena competitive path works. During the past two years, playing the ranked ladders has been the primary way for a player to begin their competitive journey. As part of reworking our system, and looking to offer a greater variety of paths, we're de-emphasizing ladder play while creating new, flexible pathways for players to find their competitive footing on MTG Arena . Whether you play daily or only once in a while, we hope to have a competitive path that works for you.

Let's dig into the details, starting at the top:

WELCOME TO THE ARENA CHAMPIONSHIP

The new top rung on the MTG Arena competitive track is the Arena Championship! Arena Championships will happen three times per year, just like the new Pro Tour.

Each Championship will feature 32 top players, determined by four months' worth of competitive ladder and event play, competing for a $200,000 prize pool.

Arena Championships will mark the pinnacle of competition within MTG Arena . Those players will also be competing to go to the Magic World Championship—each of the three winners and three runners-up of Arena Championships will also earn a seat at the most prestigious Magic event of the year!

So, how do you claim your seat at an Arena Championship? It's through a familiar path: our monthly Qualifier Weekend event.

QUALIFIER WEEKEND: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Many elements of Qualifier Weekend events on MTG Arena will be recognizable, but the details—and especially the stakes—are changing.

Players can earn their spot in Qualifier Weekends through two paths—ladder play or event play. (Find the details on this in the next section.)

There will be four Qualifier Weekends feeding each Arena Championship. The Qualifier Weekend itself still consists of two days of Best-of-Three matches in a shared format. Players will try to reach seven match wins before taking two match losses on each day, competing for the following:

• Players can win up to 20,000 gems in prizes on Day 1, with those who reach seven wins also earning the ability to continue into Day 2.
• Players who win seven matches during Day 2 qualify for an Arena Championship. This is in effect starting with the very next Qualifier Weekend event taking place on May 28–29.
• After all Qualifier Weekends that feed an Arena Championship are complete, additional players will be invited to bring the event to 32 competitors. These remaining invitations will go to players with the most total match wins in those contributing Qualifier Weekend Day 2 events.
• Beginning in September, in addition to feeding Arena Championship events, Qualifier Weekends will also lead to tabletop play. Players who reach seven wins during Day 2 will qualify for both an upcoming Arena Championship on MTG Arena and a designated upcoming Pro Tour!

Full Qualifier Weekend Structures

Where do i start.

As mentioned above, players must still earn their entry to a Qualifier Weekend, and there are now two main paths to get there.

The first new path to that entry is the Qualifier Play-In event . This open event allows players to earn their seat through a single session of focused play, rather than a month-long ladder climb. Each month will have two Qualifier Play-In opportunities:

• A single-day, Best-of-One Qualifier Play-In takes place one week before the Qualifier Weekend. Players will need to reach six wins before taking two losses to advance.
• A single-day, Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In takes place one day before the Qualifier Weekend. Players will need to reach four wins before taking one loss to advance.

Players can enter a Qualifier Play-In with a 20,000 gold or 4,000 gem entry fee or by collecting 20 Play-In Points from regular events in MTG Arena . Reaching maximum wins in any evergreen Constructed event (such as a Historic event or Traditional Historic event) or in a Traditional Draft event will now award Play-In Points in addition to gems and packs. (For those new structures, see further below.)

Full Qualifier Play-In Structures

Player Profile: One-Time Oko

Oko doesn't play that much MTG Arena , as his favorite format is Commander in person with friends. But he also enjoys drafting, so he knows the latest set well. He logs on Friday to play the Limited format Qualifier Play-In, and he reaches maximum wins. He then wins out on both Day 1 and Day 2 of the Qualifier Weekend, earning a seat at the next Arena Championship for his weekend's play.

Player Profile: Garruk the Grinder

Garruk spends most of his MTG Arena time playing Traditional Alchemy events to build his collection. He earns maximum-win rewards frequently, sometimes multiple times in a weekend. He has collected enough Play-In Points to enter the Qualifier Play-In, but this month's format is Limited. He decides to save his points for next month when the format will be Alchemy. He expects to have enough points to enter multiple times and make sure he gets his chance at the Qualifier Weekend.

The second main path to a Qualifier Weekend is still a top-ranked ladder finish . Players who finish in the top 250 of either the Constructed or Limited ladder at the end of a month will receive automatic entry into the next month's Qualifier Weekend. (This will now be served by an event entry token instead of a Qualifier Badge as in the past.) Players who finish in the top 1,200 of either ladder (but not the top 250) will instead receive enough Play-In Points for one entry to a Qualifier Play-In event, described above.

Note: Since play is already underway for the April 2022 ranked ladders, players who finish in the top 1,200 of either ladder during this month will still qualify directly for the Qualifier Weekend events. The May ranked ladders will be the first ones to follow the new structure.

Finally, players who reach six, seven, or eight match wins on Day 2 of an Arena Open will also earn entry to a Qualifier Weekend. (Previously, this only applied to players who won seven or eight matches.) This begins with the May 14–15 Arena Open, which will admit players to the June Qualifier Weekend (matching the May ranked ladders that will be in progress at that time). Not every Qualifier Weekend will admit players in this way since Arena Open events happen less frequently than once a month. Note: For players familiar with the current system, be aware that entry to the Qualifier Weekend events will now be driven by event tokens instead of Qualifier Badges.

Player Profile: Huatli the Hopeful

Huatli usually finishes the ranked season in the high percentages, but this month, a strong run on the last day landed her in the low 800s. She earns an entry to the upcoming Qualifier Play-In, and she chooses to play in the Best-of-One event where she feels her Dinosaurs deck will have the best opportunity to do well. She reaches maximum wins and gets into the Qualifier Weekend, but she then reaches only three wins on Day 1. She walks away with 11,000 gems in total from the two events to help fuel her play for next month when she wants to do even better.

NOW YOU KNOW

Time for a quick recap. The three basic steps of the competitive path on MTG Arena are:

• Ladders and Qualifier Play-In events
• Qualifier Weekend events
• Arena Championships

Doing well enough in any of these steps will take you up the path to the next step. If you keep excelling, you will find yourself at the top of the mountain—including at a tabletop Pro Tour or even the Magic World Championship!

GETTING THE POINT

Beginning with the release of Streets of New Capenna , evergreen Constructed events for all permanent MTG Arena formats will now have updated structures that incorporate Play-In Points so that players can use these events to enter the competitive path. They also now have both higher entry fees and higher rewards that replace the previous gold and individual card rewards (ICRs) with gems and packs. These changes are intended to let players build their collection through Constructed play more quickly and reliably. These are the new structures:

Constructed Event Structures

• For Alchemy events, packs will be of the latest Alchemy set.
• For Historic events, packs will be from rotated-out sets.
• For Standard events, packs will be of the latest Standard set.

Also beginning with Streets of New Capenna , Traditional Drafts will have a new structure. This change reduces some of the top-heaviness of the event and incorporates Play-In Points.

Traditional Draft Structure

• Entry fee: 10,000 gold or 1,500 gems (unchanged)
• Event length: 3 matches (unchanged)
• 0 wins: 100 gems and 1 pack
• 1 win: 250 gems and 1 pack
• 2 wins: 1,000 gems and 3 packs
• 3 wins: 2,500 gems, 6 packs, and 2 Play-In Points

Play-In Points earned from any of these events can be combined, and players may use their Play-In Points to enter either type of Qualifier Play-In event in any month.

THE BEGINNING OF THE PATH

Phew, we made it to the end of the article! But really, it's just the beginning of a new competitive dream, and your path to the Arena Championships. Answers to questions, additional dates, and format details will all be available soon, and we are ready to make any needed adjustments along the way to help this path serve all of our different players. We are excited for our first Arena Championship later this year, and we hope you are, too!

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Magic: The Gathering 2022 World Championship: Standings, scores, and format

The 2022 Magic World Championship was played on MTG Arena in Las Vegas during the 30-year anniversary event, featuring the top 32 Magic: The Gathering players from around the globe competing in multiple formats.

Taking place from Oct. 28 to 30, the 2022 Magic World Championship had a total prize pool of $500,000 and was played live in Las Vegas on MTG Arena . Players competed in a total of three formats: Standard, Explorer, and Dominaria United ( DMU ) Draft. The Swiss rounds showcased gameplay in all three formats. And the playoffs featured only Standard through a double-elimination bracket. 

Here were the 32 MTG players competing at Magic Worlds. 

Oct. 28 MTG Worlds standings

Day one of the Magic World Championship began with three rounds of the DMU Draft. Players were placed in pods of eight to draft, and unlike the best-of-three Premier Draft on MTG Arena , the players competed against competitors within their pod.

Team Swan dominated the Limited portion of Magic Worlds, with Nathan Steuer, Jonny Guttman, Julian Wellman, and Tristan Wylde-Larue going 3-0 during the DMU Draft rounds.

Following the three rounds of DMU Draft, players competed in five Swiss rounds of Standard Constructed. Wellman and Steuer continued to dominate, competing with off-meta decks that challenged the popular Esper Midrange builds.

Related: Off-meta decks challenge Esper MIdrange at Magic World Championship

Also rising to the top of the leaderboard during the Standard Constructed Swiss rounds at MTG Worlds was Jean-Emmanuel Depraz with his Mono-Blue Tempo deck. Following a total of eight rounds played, Wellman and Steuer were co-leaders with 7-1 records. And close behind them were Depraz, Tóth, and Sarap with 6-2 records.

Of the 32 total players, only Görtzen and Yoshigoe had no chance of advancing to the playoffs on day three at the Magic World Championship.

Oct. 29 MTG Worlds standings

A total of six Swiss rounds were played during day two of MTG Worlds in the Explorer Constructed format. Only four players advanced to the playoff finals, earning a total of 11 match wins between days one and two.

Mono-Blue Spirits was the deck everyone was watching after round one, with veteran players like Davis, Kassis, Duke, and Sigrist all earning wins with the deck. Steuer advanced to 8-1 after beating Wellman, who was tied for second with Tóth.

Halfway through day two, Tóth had taken over the leaderboard with a 9-2 record. And a total of four players were also chasing those top four spots with 8-3 records: Steuer, Wellman, Sarap, and Kassis. Kumagai, Davis, and Takahashi were at 7-4. The players who were in ninth to 16th all had 6-5 records, leaving the field wide open during the final three rounds of Explorer Constructed during day two at MTG Worlds.

Heading into the final round of day two, Eli Kassis locked up the first top-four slot for the day three playoffs. The second player to make top four was Karl Sarap, defeating the defending MTG World Champion, Yuta Takahashi. Yakub Tóth was the third player to lock, defeating teammate Jim Davis in a Mono-Blue mirror.

Nathan Steuer was the fourth player to lock into the top four, despite losing to Kassis in round 14. Steuer won the tie-breaker, beating out Davis, Takahashi, and Inglis.

Oct. 30 MTG Worlds standings

Day three of the 2022 Magic World Championship featured four players in a double-elimination playoff bracket. The format for the day was Standard Constructed with Steuer as the only competitor not playing Esper Midrange.

• Eli Kassis: Esper Midrange
• Nathan Steuer: Grixis Midrange
• Yakub Tóth: Esper Midrange
• Karl Sarap: Esper Midrange

Kassis and Steuer faced off first, followed by Tóth and Sarap. Steuer fell to Kassis and Tóth won against Sarap, while Kassis advanced to the final match with a win over Tóth. In the lower bracket, Steuer ran over Esper Midrange with his Grixis Midrange deck. Steuer beat both Sarap and Tóth, advancing to the final match for a rematch against Kassis.

Related: Steuer overcomes Kassis history to win 2022 MTG World Championship

The final match was played in best-of-three matches, not games. Prior to the final, Steuer called that it would go a full nine games.

After six games Kassis and Steuer were tied, each having a match win. The final match went a full three, totaling nine, with Steuer earning his first World Championship.

All images via WotC .

Pro Tour March of the Machine Fact Sheet for Competitors

Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour March of the Machine will take place in Minneapolis, USA at MagicCon: Minneapolis on May 5–7, 2023.

The formats for Pro Tour March of the Machine are March of the Machine Booster Draft and Standard Constructed.

Official hashtag: #PTMachine

MagicCon Minneapolis Minneapolis Convention Center 1301 Second Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55403 United States

The Pro Tour will take place in Hall E. The ballroom will be open to MagicCon Minneapolis attendees.

Invited Competitors

Pro Tour March of the Machine is an invitation-only tournament. Invitations to Pro Tour March of the Machine are awarded as follows:

• The Top 4 finishers at Magic World Championship XXVIII.
• Competitors with thirty-nine (39) or more points in the Adjusted Match Points standing generated at the conclusion of Pro Tour Phyrexia .
• Top finishing competitors from each Pro Tour March of the Machine Regional Championship.
• Pro Tour Phyrexia Championship competitors that finished with twenty-seven (27) or more match points.
• Competitors from each MTG Arena Qualifier Weekend with seven (7) wins that awarded invitations to Arena Championship 3.
• The eight (8) competitors from the 2022 Magic Online Champions Showcase 3.
• Members of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame that selected Pro Tour March of the Machine as their once per season Pro Tour invitation benefit.
• Competitors that are otherwise invited to Pro Tour March of the Machine .

The Pro Tour March of the Machine invitation list is available online . If you believe you are an invited competitor but are not on the invitation list, please email [email protected]

Competitor Information

Standard decklists will be due in MTGMelee on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 12:00 PM (Minneapolis local time). To see the equivalent time where you are located, click here .

During the Standard rounds, opponents' decklists will be available for viewing on MTGMelee on your mobile device. Competitors can only access the decklists of other players prior to the start of a game or in between games. Competitors cannot reference decklists during games.

During the Booster Draft rounds, only competitors from the featured draft table will have access to their opponent's decklist. These will be a paper checklist.

Hall E will use the following, estimated hours of operation for Pro Tour March of the Machine :

• Friday & Saturday: Hall opens at 8:00 AM and closes at the end of the last Swiss round.
• Sunday: Hall opens at 8:00 AM and closes at 7:00 PM

Note: The opening times on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are for Pro Tour competitors ONLY. The public will be able to enter the ballroom only when the show opens each day (10:00 AM).

Registration

In-person registration takes place from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at an off-site location (details will be provided to players at a later date). If you are unable to attend this registration session on Thursday, late registration will be available Friday morning from 8:00 AM to 8:30 AM. Competitors should email [email protected] if they will not be attending the Thursday registration session.

Even though competitors will have registered for the tournament on MTGMelee prior to Thursday, competitors must still register on-site to confirm they are in Minneapolis, undergo an ID check, and receive their complementary Pro Tour gifts.

For in-person registration, all competitors must present one of the following forms of identification:

• a driver's license; or
• a passport; or
• a copy of a birth certification and photo ID (school IDs are acceptable)

Tournament Information

The Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules and Infraction & Penalty Guide are in effect for this tournament unless specifically overruled by information in this section.

Structure (Swiss Rounds)

• Friday: 3 rounds of March of the Machine Booster Draft, followed by 5 rounds of Standard Constructed.
• Saturday: 3 rounds of March of the Machine Booster Draft, followed by 5 rounds of Standard Constructed.
• 16 Swiss Rounds total, 50 minutes per round.
• All competitors may participate in all 8 Swiss rounds of Friday's competition.
• Competitors with twelve (12) or more match points after Round 8 will advance to Saturday's portion of the competition.
• Whenever a competitor reaches twelve (12) match wins, they immediately advance to the Top 8 playoff and are removed from future pairings in Swiss rounds.
• The round in which a competitor received their 12th win.
• Their OMW%, GW%, and OGW% as of the round in which they receive their 12th match win.
• Seeding for the Top 8 playoff is locked after each round in which a competitor reaches their 12th win.
• The top 8 competitors after Round 16 will advance to Sunday's single-elimination playoff rounds.

Structure (Playoff Rounds)

• Playoff rounds will use a traditional, single-elimination bracket.
• Playoff rounds will run in the Standard Constructed format.
• All playoff matches will be best 3 out of 5. The first two games played in each playoff match are pre-sideboard games. After Game 2 is complete, competitors may exchange cards from their deck for cards in their sideboard.
• Standings after the Swiss rounds will be used to determine final order in the standings for losing competitors in the quarterfinal and semifinal playoff rounds.
• While there are no time limits in the playoff rounds, competitors are expected to play at a reasonable pace and finish their matches within 90 minutes.
• For the first game of each match in the playoff rounds, the competitor that finished higher in the Swiss rounds chooses either to play first or to play second. For subsequent games in each playoff match, the usual Play/Draw rule applies (loser of the previous game decides whether to play first in the next game).

Double-Faced Cards Procedure

The following describes how double-faced cards ("DFCs") will be handled during the booster draft. This procedure will be used for Pro Tours and World Championships that have DFCs in the set being drafted. How DFCs will be handled in other tournaments will be different.

When the judge instructs players to open a booster, the following will happen before card selection actually begins (each step will be prompted by the judge calling the draft):

• Each player will find each DFC in the booster they opened.
• All players will hold their DFCs up for each other player at the table to observe them. This should take approximately one minute.
• Each player will then sleeve all the cards in the booster they opened. Sleeves will be provided by Wizards. All sleeves will be the same at each draft table. This should take no more than two (2) minutes.
• Players will then draft using the normal procedure.

Steps 1–4 will repeat for boosters 2 and 3.

While cards are being drafted, players may not un-sleeve a card.

After deckbuilding, players should re-sleeve their decks. If the sleeves on a draft deck cause the deck to be marked, penalties will apply.

Other Items

• Rules Enforcement Level: Professional
• Competitors must use the same Standard deck for Day 1, Day 2, and the Top 8 playoff
• Competitors are responsible for knowing all tournament rules
• Competitors are responsible for bringing their own appropriate counters and tokens

Competitors that finish Pro Tour March of the Machine with twenty-seven (27) or more match points will be invited to the next Pro Tour in the 2022-2023 Season.

Competitors that finish with 36 or more match points at the end of the Swiss rounds or the top eight (8) finishing competitors (whichever is greater) will be invites to the Magic World Championship XXIX.

There is a $500,000 prize pool, which is awarded to competitors based on their final standing in the tournament. All prizes are displayed in U.S Dollars. Prizes are subject to change.

Prizes for the Top 8 finishers are awarded as follows. All competitors will receive at least $1000 regardless of the final placing.

** Assumes 245 players

Second Chance Pro Tour Qualifier

Date: Sunday, May 7 at 9:00 AM.

Format: Standard Constructed

Invitations: Four (4) invitations to the Pro Tour at MagicCon: Barcelona

Structure: 6 or 7 Swiss rounds (based on attendance), top 8 cut, 1 single-elimination round

Who can play: Pro Tour March of the Machine Competitors that are not already qualified for the Pro Tour taking place at MagicCon: Barcelona. Remember that if you finish Pro Tour March of the Machine with twenty-seven (27) or more match points, you will be invited to the Pro Tour taking place at MagicCon: Barcelona.