2019 Pro Tours Announcement FAQ

Earlier today, we announced the 2019 Pro Tour schedule, which includes six Pro Tours covering three different continents. We’re excited for next year’s expanded schedule, but we also know that the announcement has led to some questions.

We’re still finalizing a few details about next year, and will be sharing more with you soon, and updated rules to the Premier Event Invitation Policy as well as the Pro Tour Players Club will be posted in the near future to accommodate 2019’s schedule. Before then, we want to address the most received questions that have come since the announcement today.

What does the prize payout look like for Pro tours next year?

$250,000 per Pro Tour. The prize payout will be the same as it has been for the first two Pro Tours in 2019. We’re evaluating potential changes beyond that and will have more to share with you in the future.

What about formats?

We will be announcing formats for Pro Tours no later than 8-12 weeks before they take place.

Will any Pro Tours in 2019 be team format?

None of the 2019 Pro Tours will be a team Pro Tour.

How will the 2019 World Championship work with this schedule?

We will announce how qualifying for the 2019 World Championship will work before the end of 2018.

How will the 2018-19 Pro Tour Team Series work with this schedule?

The 2018-19 Pro Tour Team Series will count five Pro Tours, starting with Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica and ending with Pro Tour Barcelona on July 26-28, 2019. As a reminder, the rules for the 2018-19 Pro Tour Team Series can be found on the Pro Tour Team Series page.  

How will the Pro Club work with six Pro Tours?

Benefits as they are written in the Pro Club and the current cycle system will remain and continue as-is through the [Milk] Cycle (June 23, 2019). After that, there will be some adjustments to benefits.

What are those adjustments?

We’re still finalizing them. A big part of why they’re not done is that we want to run these changes by different teams and individuals that we’re working closely with.

However, to give you some context on stuff that will be in place after the first two Pro tours of 2019:

-We’re looking to award roughly the same amount in appearance fees within a quarter to Platinum players after the [Milk] cycle compared to what they’re getting right now in each quarter.  

-Gold and above will qualify a player for every Pro Tour taking place in the cycles in which they are Gold or above. This means being Gold or Platinum during the [M20] cycle—which includes Pro Tours in Dallas/Fort Worth and Barcelona—will qualify you for both of them. However, Gold and Platinum won’t get travel awards to every Pro Tour, just one Pro Tour of their choice in the cycle that they’re Gold or higher.

-The Pro Club is still tracking points earned in the most recent four cycles.

Okay. What are those cycles?

[Milk] Cycle - March 25, 2019 - June 23, 2019

[M20] Cycle - June 24, 2019 - September 22, 2019

[Archery] Cycle - September 23, 2019 - December 22, 2019

Pro Club and RPTQ Update

Hey everyone,

There are two things we wanted to address today. One is tied to today’s announcement, and the other has been a recurring question we’ve received this week as Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers for Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica are coming up.

Competitive Gaming Announcement Clarification

One tidbit that was announced on today’s WeeklyMTG broadcast about honoring both systems of the Pro Club for the Guilds of Ravnica and Ravnica Allegiance cycles.

What this means is that, beyond the current 2017-18 season rules for achieving a Pro Club level, We’re also going to grant levels at the end of the 2017-18 season based on whether a player reached a Pro Club threshold through the rules that will be going into effect after this season.

This means that if a player earned 52 Pro Points under the rules of the cycle system by September 16, we’ll grant them Platinum. The same holds true for Gold (37 points under the cycle system) and Silver (22 points under the cycle system). Levels granted under this change will go into effect for the Guilds of Ravnica cycle starting September 17, no earlier. Those levels will last through the Ravnica Allegiance cycle (March 29, 2019).

The full announcement from today involving the Pro Club improvements we have made can be found here.

The full Pro Tour Players Club rules can be found here.

RPTQ Qualifications for Pro Club

A few players who are currently Gold in the Pro Tour Players Club noted that the qualification, as described on the event information pages for Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers, only invites players with a Pro Club level of Bronze or Silver.

However, there are some players currently at Gold who will no longer have Gold in the Pro Club for the Pro Tour in which the upcoming round of Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers will feed.

This is not our intention, so we’re fixing the qualification so that all players with a Pro Tour Players Club level of Bronze or higher are qualified to compete at a Regional Pro Tour Qualifier.

However, note that players may not complete if they are already qualified for that Pro Tour. This means that if a player has the requisite Pro Points necessary to maintain a Pro Club status of Gold or Platinum, then they will not be allowed to compete in that corresponding Regional Pro Tour Qualifier.

As a reference, we publish the names of players invited and who are eligible to participate in a Regional Pro Tour Qualifier. That list for the current round can be found here for the next round of RPTQs which feeds Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica in Atlanta, Georgia. We will be working on adding the names of players who are currently Gold or higher but who will not have the necessary Pro Points to receive an invitation and airfare to Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica.

PT 25th Anniversary Individual Invitations Update

Leading into and beyond the deadline for team submissions for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary, we received two questions from a number of players:

· What will happen to the players who were qualified to compete at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary who have not formed teams?

· What will happen to players who earn a qualification to compete at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary as a result of Pro Club status?

Acknowledging the work that players put into qualifying for this tournament, and that a small number of players would typically have the chance to play at the upcoming Pro Tour if their Pro Club status change granted them the possibility, we’re presenting these two options:

· Players that still wish to play at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary may continue to form teams by emailing premierplay@wizards.com their team of three up until Tuesday, July 31st at 11:59 p.m. Minneapolis time (CT). We will continue updating the Individual Invitations list until that date.

· Players on the Individual Invitation list may instead choose to remove themselves from the Individual Invitation list and instead collect 3 Pro Points for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary by emailing premierplay@wizards.com by July 31st at 11:59 p.m. Minneapolis time (CT). Players who choose this option will forfeit their invitation to the Pro Tour.

Players who fail to email premierplay@wizards.com by the above deadlines with their preference will not have their invitations deferred.

2017-18 Pro Tour Team Series Update

Following Pro Tour Dominaria, the Top 16 teams in the 2017-18 Pro Tour Team Series has been set, with all members of those teams receiving invitations to compete at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary August 3-5 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

However, with the conclusion of last weekend’s Pro Tour, we also saw a three-way tie for 16th place between three teams: MTG Mint Card, Massdrop East, and Final Last Samurai.

Because of the current tiebreaker rules to determine prizes for this program, MTG Mint Card will finish in 16th place based on the following clause in the 2017-18 rules:

“The tied team with the best Pro Tour finish during the 2017-18 Professional Points season across all current team members. In the event both teams have a player who had a Pro Tour finish that is the same place, the tie will be broken by the next best Pro Tour finish across all current team members until one team has a better finish from the 2017-18 Professional Points season than the other.”

In looking at the aftermath of Pro Tour Dominaria, this tiebreaker is problematic in that is calls upon breaking a team tie through a scoring metric that is determined by an individual’s tiebreakers at a Pro Tour. Tiebreaker decided by tiebreaker, in retrospect, goes against the spirit of the Pro Tour Team Series, which measures a team’s overall aggregate success over the course of six players in their preparation for a Pro Tour.

We have decided that—because of the importance of the team invitations for this season and because teams had made decisions about who would be on their roster with these rules in mind—that having a tiebreaker based on individual-performance tiebreakers for the invitations awarded at the conclusion of Pro Tour Dominaria needs an exception. Therefore, we are granting special invitations for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary to players on the 17th place and 18th place teams of the 2017-18 Pro Tour Team Series. We will also be re-evaluating the tiebreaker system currently in the Pro Tour Team Series rules for future seasons.  

Date and Venue Changes for GP Melbourne and GP Nagoya

Today we’re announcing a change to the date and venue for GP Melbourne, and a change of venue for GP Nagoya. The play format remains unchanged for both events.

GP Melbourne:

Date: November 16-18, 2018 (Previously, October 19-21)

Format: Limited (No Change)

Venue: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Previously, Melbourne Olympic Park)

GP Nagoya:

Venue: Port Messe Nagoya (Previously Fukiage Hall)

Adding Video Coverage to GP Phoenix!

Over the past few months, Modern has proven itself to be a diverse, fast-paced format filled with surprises from tournament to tournament around the world. We also know that you at home love watching it! With that, we’re happy to announce that Grand Prix Phoenix will be covered live on twitch.tv/magic March 17th and 18th. This will be the first Modern Grand Prix since the unbanning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf, which is sure to make this a tournament that you won’t want to miss.

Here are some more details about the coverage, and who you can expect to see:

March 16-18: Grand Prix Phoenix

Start Times: Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET/4 p.m. UTC

Video Producer: Rich Hagon

Video Director: Rashad Miller

Camera and Graphics: BJ Ogden and Garth Avery

Play-by-Play Commentators: Marshall Sutcliffe and Brian David-Marshall

Expert Commentators: Eduardo Sajgalik and Jacob Van Lunen

Showrunner: Marc Calderaro

Writer-Reporter: Corbin Hosler

Team PTQs and Team PT 25th Anniversary

Some folks at Grand Prix Santa Clara and at Indianapolis last weekend noticed that the Sunday Pro Tour Qualifier held at each event had something that was a little off.  These team-based tournaments—in which winners qualify as a team to compete in the Team Trios Constructed format Pro Tour 25th Anniversary later this year—had 1-2 players who already have Pro Tour qualifications via the Pro Tour Players Club and the Pro Tour Hall of Fame.

This did, in fact, happen. It also goes against what was initially said about team-event Pro Tour Qualifiers (and has implications on the Team Regional Pro Tour Qualifier weekends that take place in June later this year).

The short explanation is: We’re adding clarification to the Premier Event Invitation Policy so that it’s clear that it grants invitations to Pro Tour 25th Anniversary to anyone who would qualify via Pro Club status or via the Pro Tour Hall of Fame no earlier until after the completion of Pro Tour Dominaria (this means June 4, 2018). In light of that, this means we are allowing players who are Gold, Platinum, or in the Pro Tour Hall of Fame to play in Team PTQs at Team GPs that qualify for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary.

The long explanation is, well…very long.

What Happened, and Why We Changed

Prior to Grand Prix Santa Clara received a lot of feedback about the current Team PTQ and RPTQ structures not allowing players who are Gold or Platinum to compete with their two friends who are otherwise unqualified for a seat at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary. A lot of this stemmed from specifically wanting to play at that event with two players that they, simply put, wanted to play with at the Pro Tour.

Beyond this, the invitation policy for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary is very unique (not to mention a little complex). There are two methods for which players can qualify:

Currently, qualifying as a team means that a player has earned a qualification via one of the following methods (in accordance with the Invitation Policy):

The above followed a tiered structure, meaning a player who qualifies as a team must play as a team based on which method of qualification takes priority. This means that the higher up on the list of which you qualified dictates what team you will be playing with (Team Series takes priority over Team GP top finishers, which takes priority over Team PTQs, etc).

Qualifying as an individual is a little different, as it stipulates that players who qualify via means such as the Pro Club may only participate in the Pro Tour as part of a team with either a) a player who also qualified as an individual or b) who qualified as a team, but is unable to compete as a complete team because one of their team qualified players is required to compete via another method for which they received qualification.

Here’s an example of how that might happen:

-If a player Top 4s a Team Grand Prix with two others, then those three players would be committed to playing as a team at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary. However, if one of those players is on a Pro Tour Team Series roster, they are committed to forming a team for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary with one of their Pro Tour Team Series teammates. In light of that, the other two players who Top 4’d that Grand Prix with the Pro Tour Team Series competitor are effectively considered “players that qualified as an individual” and may form a team for the Pro Tour with any other competitors who qualified as an individual.

The wrinkle in this invitation policy circles around Pro Tour Dominaria. Until that event is completed, the only players who have effectively “qualified as a team” are:

Until then, players who would qualify via the Team Series, or via a Pro Tour Dominaria top finish, effectively have no committed team. However, players who are included in the other qualifications as an individual—in this case, anyone with Gold or Platinum in the Pro Club, as well as Hall of Famers—have effectively been frozen out of forming a team that they may want to play with. The policy, as it was laid out, was effectively asking a group of players who had, by nature of their benefits, a fourth Pro Tour they were qualified for but could only play under very, very restrictive stipulations.

Seeing and talking to players at GP Santa Clara led to the decision to grant a player with Gold in the Pro Tour Players Club to register on a team with two players who have no Pro Club status. Like much of the feedback we received, where players simply wanted to choose who they could team with, we ultimately granted this registration.

As the first team event to qualify players for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary, we made the change that we felt was ultimately going to lead to a better experience for players wanting to compete as they desire for what will be a very exciting event, and we’re updating policy to make this clear.

What This All Means

We’re adding language to the Invitation Policy that makes clear of a date when players who qualify via the methods not specifically laid out above, or what I’ve been referring to as “qualifying as an individual”, are actually granted their qualifications to Pro Tour 25th Anniversary.  That date is June 4, 2018.

Until then, if they wish to compete in Team PTQs in a desire to team with competitors who otherwise have no means of qualification coming, they are welcome to.

As a reminder, qualifying for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary via a Team Grand Prix or a Team PTQ prevents you from playing in further Team PTQs for the remainder of that qualifying round. This change will not permit Gold or Platinum players in the Pro Club to play in the Regional Pro Tour Qualifier either; only the Team PTQs that qualify for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary.

The Premier Event Invitation Policy will be updated by the end of February, before the next Team Grand Prix and PTQs that qualify for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary.

In addition, we’re working on player invitation pages and an event information page for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary at this time, and have a goal to publish it before those next Team Grand Prix. We understand that this particular Pro Tour has a more complex system of qualification than others.

If you have any questions, please reach out to @magicprotour on Twitter. You’re also welcome to tweet at my directly, @rosenbergmike. While I cannot promise that I will respond to every question or comment directed to me or to @magicprotour about the Pro Tour or premier play, I do promise that I read everything and it is discussed with the team.

Date and Format Changes for GP Providence and GP Phoenix 2018

Hey everyone,

Since the 2018 Grand Prix announcement, a couple of things have shifted behind the scenes that have necessitated some changes.

 Grand Prix Providence, which was slated to take place July 6-8, will be moving to August 17-19, 2018. The format for the main event will be shifted from Modern to Standard, matching the format of Grand Prix Los Angeles, which also takes place that weekend. GP Providence will remain in the Rhode Island Convention Center.

In order to maintain the same format spread as previously announced, we will be changing the format of the main event for Grand Prix Phoenix—which takes place March 16-18—from Standard to Modern.

 We are in the process of updating the schedule in the previously announced article and on the web site.

  For more information on specific Grand Prix as they get closer, head over to

cfbevents.com

for detailed info.

Our partners at ChannelFireball have announced a change to the GP Warsaw taking place in the second half of 2018:

When the second half of the Grand Prix schedule was announced, we received a specific piece of feedback numerous times - There was no Limited event in Europe in the second half of the year. This meant that some of our European players would not be able to attend a Limited Grand Prix for that period, and as such would not get to attend a Grand Prix Main Event with Spaghetti, the set to be released after Core Set 2019! With this in mind, the format for Grand Prix Warsaw in November has been changed from Standard to Limited. This opens up this opportunity for Limited players, while maintaining Brussels in August and Lille in October as Standard options in Europe for the second half of the year. ChannelFireball continues to value your feedback and we aim to provide the best Grand Prix experience for players around the world through 2018.

Date Change for GP Singapore

Grand Prix Singapore next year—originally scheduled for June 8–10, 2018—is moving to the weekend of June 22–24. The decision to move was due to circumstances that were out of the control of ChannelFireball Events, the organizer for GPs next year. The format for GP Singapore main event will remain as Standard Constructed, matching the format for GP Pittsburgh, which also takes place that same weekend.

 Please update your calendars accordingly. We'll be getting the word out on social media platforms today specifically regarding this news, but be sure to let your friends know if they were planning to go!

US Nationals is coming soon!

We’re just a few short weeks away from US Nationals in Richmond, Virginia on October 13th through the 15th! If you’re qualified and haven’t registered yet, now is the perfect time to do that on Card Titan’s site here! If you’re still hungry to compete (or want to get one of the sweet Inkmoth Nexus promo cards) there will be Last Chance Qualifiers on site on Friday until 6:00 PM. 

And if you’re not competing, there’s a ton of fun things to do too! Artists Eric Deschamps and Jason Felix will both be on site, and there are a host of side events going all throughout the weekend. 

Whether you’re playing for a chance at the World Magic Cup or just looking for a fun weekend of Magic, Nationals is going to be a blast. Check out everything in store on Card Titan’s site!

Hey everyone,

Standard Showdown events for Hour of Devastation begin July 22nd, and one addition starting with this series of events we wanted to highlight to you is the Planeswalker Point multiplier. Playing in Standard Showdown events will give you a multiplier of 2 (previously 1), allowing you to earn more Planeswalker Points by participating in these events!

For more information on Standard Showdown, and to find a store near you that’s running them, check out the Standard Showdown web page for more info.

Thanks!

Venue Change for GP Shanghai

Due to circumstances beyond their control, Panda Events—the tournament organizer for Grand Prix Shanghai November 10-12, 2017—has moved the venue for that event. The Grand Prix will now take place at:

Xingfu Menggongchang (Happiness Factory)

No 91, Ln 537, Sanda Branch Rd, Minhang District, Shanghai

The nearest station to this venue is Lianhang Rd. Station, Metro Line 8.

For more information on this change, and to learn more about Grand Prix Shanghai 2017, please visit the Panda Events website.

Thanks for your understanding.

2017-2018 Team Series Update, Plus Tiebreakers

Hey everyone,

We’re currently hard at work finalizing the rules for the 2017-18 Pro Tour Team Series, to go into effect for the next season. They’re not ready to share in their full form just yet, but I wanted to give players a heads-up on some of the stuff that is locked in, as we’ve gotten some questions and people are looking to plan for the new season now.

Promos at Grand Prix Santiago

An error at one of our distribution warehouses has resulted in the incorrect promo cards being sent to Grand Prix Santiago. Rather than sending this year’s Progenitus promos, last year’s Stoneforge Mystic promos were mistakenly sent to Chile. To ensure that each player is able to receive a promo card before leaving the event, the Tournament Organizer will be providing players with the Stoneforge Mystic promos rather than wait for a correct shipment of Progenitus promos to arrive. We have also ensured that the remaining Progenitus promos from Grand Prix Porto Alegre will be on hand in Santiago should any players prefer to receive a Progenitus promo rather than Stoneforge Mystic.

Un error en una de nuestras bodegas de distribución ha causado que las cartas promocionales incorrectas fueran enviadas a el Grand Prix Santiago. En lugar de mandar la carta promocional de Progenitus de este año, se envió la Mística Fragua de Piedra del año pasado. Para asegurar que cada jugador reciba una carta promocional en el evento, el organizador del torneo dará a los jugadores las cartas promocionales de Mística Fragua de Piedra en lugar de esperar el envio de Progenitus. También nos hemos cerciorado que las cartas sobrantes de Progenitus de Grand Prix Porto Alegre estarán disponibles en Santiago para aquellos jugadores que prefieran recibir esa carta promocional en lugar de Mística Fragua de Piedra.

Hey everyone! We processed our usual weekly update today for the 2016-17 Premier Play leaderboard. This is the info we use to determine the Player of the Year, the geo-region champions that are invited to the World Championship, and more. It also displays the Pro Points earned at the top six Grand Prix finishes for players, acting as a helpful means for players to reference on how likely they are to improve on their Pro Point total for the season.

Here's the thing: This week’s entry had all the data we know people want, except for…well, some rows don’t have a name. There are some rows on the leaderboard in which we have an assigned DCI number, recorded finishes, Pro Points, all that tied to a number, and…no name.

This issue is connected to the recent retiring of the legacy DCI account system. The names that aren’t displaying are from folks who we have the data and DCI number for, but who have not migrated their DCI number to the Wizards Account system.

As the initial articles have stated, we were aware that some challenges might emerge with this transition to the Wizards Account system but felt it necessary for the long-term benefits. This is one of those challenges.

In lieu of this, we strongly recommend everyone who knows they have earned at least 10 Pro Points check this week’s 2016-17 Leaderboard update and Rookie of the Year race update. If you don’t see your name on this list and you know you should be on the leaderboard, you should contact customer service as soon as possible. Not doing so may impact our ability to award you prizes and perks tied to your seasonal Pro Point and Planeswalker Point earnings, such as tournament invitations and Pro Club statuses, so treat this request seriously.

Info on doing that was published in the March 21 article regarding this transition, which you can find below:

The surest way to solve any issues or answer any questions you might have is to contact customer service. If you need to contact customer service, you can do it one of these ways:

If you have a Wizards Account, you can contact customer service through wizards.custhelp.com.

If you do not have a Wizards Account, you can create one at accounts.wizards.com, and then use online help at wizards.custhelp.com.

If those options are not available to you, you can call us at any of the phone numbers found here, based on your region. Note that there are limitations to the amount and type of information that can be retrieved or given out over the phone due to privacy concerns, but our customer service representatives will do the best they can to address any issues you might have.

If you are contacting customer service, you can make the process go smoother and faster by including the following information in your email or having it ready when you call:

·        First and last name

·        DCI number

·        Date of birth

·        Email address registered with the account

·        Current email address (if different)

Any event information you can provide, such as the store name and location where you first received your DCI number or a recent event match record.

Grand Prix in 2018: Follow-Up and FAQ

Following our announcement regarding the plan for 2018’s Grand Prix and beyond, we’ve received several questions regarding how one event organizer will be able to manage all GPs worldwide, concerns with entry fees, and how one company will be able to run GPs in regions outside of North America.

We understand those concerns, as does Channel Fireball Events (CFBE). One of the primary benefits of a single organizer managing GPs globally is that it lets CFBE invest in the infrastructure necessary to focus on delivering a consistent, high-quality and accessible experience to players worldwide. They can also partner with other organizers to leverage their existing skills and knowledge to run events around the world.

CFBE is working on a program that is ultimately for you, the Magic community. Their goal is to deliver an experience that fans all around the world want to be a part of, and they’re listening. We encourage you to share your feedback and what you’re looking for in a good GP to events@channelfireball.com.

In the meantime, we’ve received some other questions that we’d like to address in an FAQ below.

 Q: Does this mean there will only be one Grand Prix on a weekend?

A: The schedule will be announced later this summer, but CFBE can partner with other organizers to leverage their existing skills, staff, and knowledge to run events around the world on the same weekend.

Q: How long is the agreement with CFBE?

A: This is a multi-year commitment, so CFBE will be organizing GPs for the foreseeable future.

Q: What social media channels do I need to follow to know more about GPs?

A: Magic’s social media channels, and specifically magicprotour on Twitter or the Organized Play Tumblr, are both excellent outlets for updates regarding GPs and other premier play opportunities. Channel Fireball’s Facebook and Twitter pages will be a good source for updates and info as we approach 2018, as well as for the events they are running this year.

Q: What does this mean for online coverage of GPs?

A: As per our announcement with Twitch regarding Magic coverage, we are committed to expanding coverage of our events, including at Grand Prix. We’ll have more details on the coverage schedule as we approach 2018.

Q: Will this impact the number of GPs I see in my region?

A: Our goal is to continue to ensure a global presence and to grow the Grand Prix program, including the number of GPs that will take place each year. We’ll have more details to share with you in the article later this year that announces the 2018 schedule.

Q: How will this impact the prize pool for GP main events?

A: The prize pool for the GP main event will continue to be at least $50,000, as referenced on the Grand Prix page of the Magic website.