mtg pro tour format

Your Journey to the Top

From your local game store all the way to a Magic World Championship , Regional Championships and the Pro Tour offer competition and prizes every step of the way.

How to Qualify

• Top finishers at each region’s Regional Championships .
• Players that earn 30 or more match points at the previous Pro Tour.
• The 8 players who compete in the Magic: The Gathering Online Champions Showcase which grants invites to the corresponding Pro Tour.
• Players with 39 Adjusted Match Points from the previous 3 Pro Tours.
• Players who reach 7 wins on day two of Arena Qualifier Weekends.
• The top 8 finishers from Magic World Championship XXIX are invited to all Pro Tours in the 2024 season.
• Members of the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame receive one Pro Tour invite per season.

Adjusted Match Points will reward players with high finishes over the previous three rolling Pro Tours—even across seasons. Adjusted Match Points are the number of match points earned in a Pro Tour after a player's first 9 match points. Additionally, players who make the Top 8 will be awarded an additional 12 Adjusted Match Points (or a total if 39, if the number would have been lower than 39), regardless of their final standings.

Premier Tournament Invitation Policy (PDF)

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Welcome to the frontier plane of Thunder Junction! Everyone’s streaming in from across the Multiverse to be an outlaw here, so better practice your draw if you want to score big.

When is the next MTG Pro Tour and what’s the format?

Only the best get invited.

Wizards of the Coast has three Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour tournaments scheduled per season leading up to the World Championship . Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Thunder Junction Pro Tour . 

A Premier Play system was established during the MTG 2022-2023 season, featuring tabletop Regional Championship qualifiers, Regional Championships, Pro Tour tournaments, and the MTG World Championship. Digitally through MTG Arena , there are Qualifier Play-In events, Qualifier Weekend tournaments, and the Arena Championship.

The Magic World Championship is the pinnacle of all competitive play for that season, while the Pro Tour tournaments establish who competes at Worlds. Each Pro Tour follows the release of a Standard-legal set, featuring a main Constructed format and Limited Draft through the most recent MTG set. 

What is the next MTG Pro Tour tournament?

The next MTG Pro Tour is Thunder Junction , taking place in Seattle from April 26 to 28 . Most Pro Tour tournaments run during a MagicCon but there are times when the event is not open to the public. The Thunder Junction Pro Tour is one of those events that are closed to the public and don’t feature a MagicCon. 

Who gets invited to the next MTG Pro Tour?

Invitations to a Pro Tour tournament are spread across digital and tabletop gameplay . The top eight competitors from the last Magic World Championship are invited to each Pro Tour tournament for the next season while top players from previous Pro Tour events are invited to the next one. Here is a full breakdown of how invitations to an MTG Pro Tour tournament work. 

• Top eight from the last Magic World Championship
• Players who had 39 or more Adjusted Match Points from previous Pro Tour
• Players from previous Pro Tour with 30 or more match points
• Top players from Regional Championships
• Players from MTG Arena Qualifier Weekend with seven wins
• Top players from Magic Online Champions Showcase
• Hall of Fame MTG players who get to choose one Pro Tour per season to compete in
• Special invitations

What is the format for the next MTG Pro Tour?

The Thunder Junction Pro Tour features OTJ Draft and Standard Constructed gameplay. Three Draft rounds are scheduled for the first two days, followed by Standard Constructed Swiss rounds. The top eight compete only in Standard Constructed through single-elimination playoff rounds. 

How to watch the next MTG Pro Tour 

All MTG Pro Tour tournaments feature a broadcast team, airing live on Twitch . Hours of broadcast times are subject to change based on the location of the Pro Tour. The most recent tournament was Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor in Chicago. 

How the MTG Pro Tour Works in 2024

What's changing in the world of professional Magic?

By Seth Manfield | @SethManfield | Published 3/20/2024 | 12 min read

Magic: The Gathering has a long and storied professional scene, going back more than 30 years. On March 18, 2024, Wizards of the Coast announced several changes across multiple platforms , including Magic Online, MTG Arena and of course tabletop play. I'm going to talk about those changes, but I also want to provide my perspective on pro Magic, as someone who has been a professional player for some time now.

The Pro Tour and World Championships

In my opinion, while having digital Magic tournaments is important, there is no replacement for the Pro Tour and the branding behind it. A Pro Tour is first and foremost a tabletop tournament. The locations of these events have shifted over time, but the tour does include players from many regions of the world. 

The Pro Tour and World Championships have the largest prize purses, feature the most extensive broadcasts and are an opportunity for players to gather. The gathering part of Magic is something that has ebbed and flowed within the past decade, but having that opportunity is crucial for the success of the game. There are many positives about the Pro Tour, from the judges to the tournament organizers to the players. However, I do want to talk about the pathway to actually qualifying for the Pro Tour.

Qualifying for the Pro Tour

There is a large section of Magic players who know of the existence of the Pro Tour but don't understand how to truly get involved in the system. To be fair, it can seem a bit convoluted, at least at the start. The most direct path to qualifying for the Pro Tour when playing tabletop Magic starts with winning a Regional Championship Qualifier (RCQ). 

The Regional Championship Qualifiers are often local, though I do understand that some countries have fewer opportunities to hold RCQs, compared to others. How easy it is to play in an RCQ will vary based on where you live, though the goal is they are more accessible than the Regional Championships (RC). Personally, I think that winning a qualification to a RC at a RCQ is an attainable goal. Qualifying for the Pro Tour is very difficult, but making each step feel attainable is important so that players want to engage in the system. 

Once players do make it to the Pro Tour, there is a requalification system for future Pro Tours and potentially earning a slot at the World Championships. 10 Wins at the Pro Tour is good enough to qualify for the next Pro Tour. Each win after the third win at a Pro Tour gets you Adjusted Match Points (AMP's), which are used to string together multiple invites and potentially make it to the World Championships. It sounds more complicated than it is in practice. Good finishes at the Pro Tour level do allow you to get on a "Pro Tour train" of sorts. I know this because I have qualified for each of the last four Pro Tours without using my Hall of Fame invite (an invite only Hall of Fame players have access to). 

Regional Championship Qualifications

The latest changes to the Pro Tour qualification path relate to how many Pro Tour qualifications are given out at the RC. Here is the graphic that explains the latest shift in invites:

These changes are very important to the sustainability of the current system, which relies heavily on players qualifying for the Pro Tour at the Regional Championship. I do believe Wizards has since adjusted this graphic to 36 qualifications in the EMEA region, rather than 32. However, as William "Huey" Jensen put it best, the number of invites based on region is based on math. Simply put, there are more Magic players in U.S., for example, compared to other regions, so I do think the U.S. should have the most invites.  For some players at the RC's, the experience involved investing money into traveling to the tournament, spending time testing and then achieving the result of 11 wins out of 15 rounds. A record like 11-4 is impressive and should be rewarded. I'm hopeful that the new invitation numbers mean that the ratio of the size of the RC to how many invites are awarded closely lines up across every region. 

Pro Tour Locations

I do want to take a moment to address that most Pro Tours are being held in the U.S. The standard has become between the World Championships and the Pro Tour, three of these major tournaments happen in the U.S. and one is held in Europe within a full-year cycle. This lines up with MagicCon locations. These decisions are likely financially rooted, and there are clear incentives for Wizards of the Coast to want Pro Tours in the United States.

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Wizards of the Coast is based in the United States, so it makes logistics easier and caters to the largest portion of the player base. While I understand why it's happening, this is a shift compared to previous versions of the system where the Pro Tour locations were a bit more spread out across the globe. 

As someone who lives in the United States, I do feel privileged by being closer to these marquee events, as traveling to a Pro Tour overseas is a major expense and endeavor. Many players have been affected by these strategic decisions, and for some, it may not be financially viable to travel to the Pro Tour at all. 

The Pro Tour Just Got Larger

Awarding more qualification slots at the RC also means that Pro Tours will be larger. I think adding more slots to the RC and making Pro Tours this size (likely about 350ish players) needed to happen. However, this is still a delicate dance, because if prizes aren't increased, it does mean from an equity perspective, the tournament invite isn't worth as much as it was before. 

The Arena Championship

The Arena Championship is the most prestigious event offered on MTG Arena. Like qualifying for the Pro Tour, there are multiple steps to qualifying for the Arena Championship. The latest announcement, which I will get into, does make it significantly easier to qualify for the Arena Championship. This was a very positive announcement for players looking to have a chance to make it to the Arena Championship. Here are the key differences:

The first step is qualifying for the Qualifier Weekend. There are a ton of ways to qualify for the Qualifier Weekend day one. Whether it's a play-in event or by doing well on the Arena ladder, for those familiar with the ways to qualify for the Qualifier Weekend Day 1, they won't be changing. For those that aren't familiar, of all the hurdles I mention in this article across multiple systems, making it to the Qualifier Weekend Day 1 is the one I feel is the least difficult.

The adjustments to how to make the second day of the Qualifier Weekend, and how to subsequently make it to the Arena Championship, are just math. You don't need to have as good an overall record as you did in the previous system because there are more losses to give and fewer wins needed. It's also possible to qualify directly for the second day of future Qualifier Weekends. Inevitably this will mean that since it's easier to qualify for the Arena Championship, the number of players competing in the Arena Championship will also increase. Early estimates are that the field will be around 100 players, which is over three times the current size. 

To cap off the announcement, there is also an increase in prize support coming to the Arena Championships to help accommodate for the increased player count. At 100 players and a $250,000 prize pool, from an equity standpoint, the Arena Championship rivals or even surpasses the Pro Tour. Having 16 confirmed invites directly to the Pro Tour at each Arena Championship also means there is a direct path to the Pro Tour from online play. Overall, I'm quite impressed with the changes to the path to make it to the Arena Championship, and I suspect this will create an influx of players into the system. 

The Magic Online Showcase

I do also want to touch on the latest Magic Online announcements, as there have been some recent shifts on the platform. Magic Online is now run by Daybreak Games, and this has potentially caused a strategy shift in terms of the direct offerings on the platform. The Magic Online Showcase events, while still present, will be changing the prize money they give out. The number will decrease from $70,000 to $50,000. While a decrease in prize money is hard to look at positively, some corresponding shifts are being made in conjunction with this change.

The Magic Online Showcase events, even before the latest changes, are not on the same scope in terms of overall prize money allocation as the Arena Championship or the Pro Tour. It makes sense that the goal of the Showcase events is to grow the Magic Online community. It does appear that the money being removed from Showcase prizes is still being used to attract interest in Magic Online. These funds will be reallocated to enhance the new version of the Magic Online Creator Program, which I will get into a bit more later. 

My Thoughts About What It Means to Be a MTG Pro Right Now

If you were expecting an article strictly presenting the facts of what the latest changes to competitive Magic are, well you likely stopped reading before this point. However, I want to provide my perspective on the life of actually being an MTG Pro. 

I know that a lot of my commentary so far has been monetary in nature. How much money is being awarded? Is it worth it to attend the events? These are certainly important questions to consider when understanding what the stakes are at a given event, but the fact is that there is not enough money in the system to "only" play Magic as a full-time job. I repeat, simply being skilled at Magic and winning lots of games isn't a good long-term career plan . There is more to "making it" as a pro Magic player than playing Magic. As someone who has tried to do this, and done very well in tournaments, I should know firsthand. This doesn't mean I'm going to discourage trying to be MTG Pro, but there are some clear distinctions that need to be made. 

The Practical Nature of the Pro Magic Lifestyle

For someone who is solely focused on playing high-level Magic tournaments, Magic is best considered as the equivalent of being on a college sports team. You still need to complete your classes (meaning have another job), while putting time and dedication into your craft. The highest-level events are on the weekend and occur infrequently enough there is time for other pursuits outside of Magic, even when qualified for all the Pro Tours. While you can try to make a living just off playing MTG, grinding leagues and challenges on Magic Online as a job isn't something I would recommend. 

Content Creation

To engage with MTG as a full-time job, I believe it is necessary to create content. It used to be that pro Magic took center stage, and content creators, like streamers and YouTubers, were more of an afterthought. This is far from the case today. While I do believe that pro Magic is a cornerstone of the overall play structure within the game, content creation has become absolutely massive. Almost all the individuals who engage in MTG as their full-time job produce content. Streaming, writing articles, podcasts, platforms like Patreon and cultivating an online audience in general are all part of content creation. Sponsorships often go hand in hand with content creation. 

Working full-time within the MTG space means being versatile. I know I have personally been juggling many ways of creating content for the past few years. Here are some tips I have for those looking to get into the content side of MTG, while also playing competitively:

• Be Aware of How You Present Yourself: Whether this be in a conversation on Twitter or how you dress for a Pro Tour. Perception matters, especially when you are putting yourself in a position to be a role model for others. 
• Form Relationships with Other Creators: Having friends and others within the community to bounce ideas off and help you cultivate your audience is extremely important. 
• Prepare For Obstacles: This path is a long one and isn't easy. The benefits aren't going to be immediate. The way you create your content may need to change out of necessity. 
• Personality is Important: Are you someone naturally funny? How about a large social circle? Having a contagious personality pays off when it comes to content creation. 
• You Can Create Content and Play High-Level Magic at the Same Time: It may be as simple as streaming gameplay while preparing for a tournament. Creating content and participating in pro Magic don't need to be and aren't mutually exclusive.  This brings me to the new Content Creator Program on Magic Online. This program has a lot of potential and is something I hope to engage with. Streamed and broadcasted gameplay is important to help advertise and grow the game, and it sounds like Magic Online will be having much more of this moving forward. 

Wrapping Up

The key to successfully engaging with the pro Magic system is making sure it occupies a healthy spot within your overall lifestyle. I know for me, detaching thinking about winning games of Magic to providing for my family and making a living was incredibly important. Going into a tournament with the right mindset really makes a difference. Never expect to win, but be happy when you do. There is too much variance in the game, and the odds are too lopsided to expect to do well in one particular event. Playing should be about enjoying yourself, having fun and hoping that the cards go your way. If you have done all the right things to prepare, that big moment may present itself, but when it happens is unpredictable. 

The latest changes to premier-level Magic play all make a lot of sense. It's good to hear that Wizards of the Coast is listening to feedback and making changes accordingly. It turns out that the best changes are often toggling numbers within the system, and that's exactly what has happened in the case of the Arena Championship. 

Do I wish there were some more changes to Premier Play like GP-style events (separate from MagicCons), or enhanced team trios opportunities? Yes. Do I wish that there were some Pro Club-level benefits like previous versions of the system? I do from a player's perspective, but it's not worth dwelling on. In this case, it's hard to detach my wishes and what makes sense. The old Pro Player Club, which provided extra appearance fees, flights, hotel rooms and more, was great for players within the system, though it's unclear how much that system benefited Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast is going to make the decisions they deem are in the best interest of the company. I'm choosing to engage with the system as it stands right now and am happy to have the opportunity to do so.

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What Format Does MTG Pro Tour Use?

• by Ray - MTGA Central
• February 26, 2024 February 26, 2024

The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour is a premier event for competitive players of the game. The Pro Tour is a series of tournaments held throughout the year. These tournaments culminate in the Magic World Championship.

The format of the Pro Tour varies from event to event. It is important for players to understand the different formats used in order to be successful.

There are several formats used in the Pro Tour, including Standard , Modern, Legacy, and Limited.

Standard is the most commonly used format in the Pro Tour. It consists of the most recent sets of Magic cards.

Modern includes cards from the past 15 years, while Legacy includes cards from throughout the game’s history.

Limited formats, such as Booster Draft and Sealed Deck, require players to build decks from a limited pool of cards.

Key Takeaways

• The Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour is a premier event for competitive players.
• The Pro Tour consists of several different formats, including Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Limited.
• Understanding the different formats used in the Pro Tour is important for success.

Overview of the MTG Pro Tour

As a seasoned Magic: The Gathering player , I understand the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest Pro Tour formats.

In this section, I will provide an overview of the MTG Pro Tour , including its structure and organized play.

Pro Tour Structure

The Pro Tour is a tournament series that features the best Magic: The Gathering players from around the world. The tournament is held several times a year, and each event has a unique format.

The Pro Tour is a premier-level event, which means that it offers a higher level of competition than other Magic tournaments .

The Pro Tour is divided into several stages, including the Regional Championships, the Pro Tour Qualifiers, and the Pro Tour itself.

The Regional Championships are held in various locations around the world. They offer players a chance to qualify for the Pro Tour.

The Pro Tour Qualifiers are smaller events that are held in local game stores. They offer players a chance to qualify for the Regional Championships.

The Pro Tour itself is the main event, and it features the best Magic players from around the world. The Pro Tour has a unique format for each event. This means that players need to be prepared to face a variety of different decks and strategies.

Organized Play

Organized play is an important part of the Pro Tour. The Pro Tour is organized by Wizards of the Coast , the company that produces Magic: The Gathering.

Wizards of the Coast works with local game stores and event organizers to ensure that the Pro Tour events are well-run and fair.

In addition to the Pro Tour, Wizards of the Coast also organizes other Magic tournaments. These events offer players a chance to compete at a high level and win prizes.

Formats Used in the Pro Tour

The Pro Tour is a premier event in the Magic: The Gathering competitive scene, featuring the best players from around the world. The format of the Pro Tour changes from season to season, but it always features a mix of Constructed and Limited formats.

Constructed Formats

Constructed formats are those in which players bring their own decks to the event. The most common Constructed formats used in the Pro Tour are Standard, Modern, Pioneer, and Legacy.

• Standard : Standard is the most popular Constructed format used in the Pro Tour. It features the most recent sets of Magic cards, and players must build a deck using only cards from those sets. Standard is a popular format because it is constantly changing, with new sets being released every few months.
• Modern : Modern is a Constructed format that allows players to use cards from all Magic sets printed since 8th Edition. Modern is a popular format because it features many powerful cards from Magic’s history, and allows players to use their favorite cards from past sets.
• Pioneer : Pioneer is a relatively new Constructed format that allows players to use cards from sets released since Return to Ravnica. Pioneer is a popular format because it allows players to use cards from recent sets, while also featuring some of the more powerful cards from Magic’s history.
• Legacy : Legacy is a Constructed format that allows players to use cards from all Magic sets ever printed. Legacy is a popular format because it features some of the most powerful cards in Magic’s history, and allows players to use their favorite cards from past sets.

Limited Formats

Limited formats are those in which players build their decks from a limited pool of cards provided at the event. The most common Limited formats used in the Pro Tour are Draft and Sealed.

• Draft : In a Draft, players sit at tables with other players, and each player is given three booster packs of Magic cards. Players open one pack, select one card from it, and pass the rest of the pack to the player on their left. This process is repeated until all the cards have been drafted. Players then build a deck using only the cards they drafted, plus any basic lands provided by the event.
• Sealed : In a Sealed event , players are given a number of booster packs of Magic cards, and must build a deck using only the cards they opened in those packs, plus any basic lands provided by the event. Sealed events are popular because they test players’ ability to build a deck on the fly, without any prior knowledge of the cards they will be using.

Qualifying for the Pro Tour

Aspiring competitive Magic players dream of playing in the Pro Tour , and the journey to get there starts with qualifying.

There are several ways to qualify for the Pro Tour, including Regional Championships , Arena Qualifier Weekends , and Magic Online Qualifiers .

Regional Championships

Regional Championships are a series of events held around the world that offer players a chance to earn an invitation to the Pro Tour. These events are open to all players and offer a variety of formats, including Standard, Modern, and Limited.

To qualify for the Pro Tour through a Regional Championship, players must finish in the top 4 of the event. The number of invitations awarded varies depending on the size of the event, with larger events offering more invitations.

Arena Qualifier Weekends

Arena Qualifier Weekends are online events held on Magic: The Gathering Arena that offer players a chance to earn an invitation to the Pro Tour.

These events are open to all players and offer a variety of formats, including Standard, Historic, and Limited.

To qualify for the Pro Tour through an Arena Qualifier Weekend, players must finish with a record of 7-2 or better. The number of invitations awarded varies depending on the size of the event, with larger events offering more invitations.

Magic Online Qualifiers

Magic Online Qualifiers are online events held on Magic: The Gathering Online that offer players a chance to earn an invitation to the Pro Tour.

These events are open to all players and offer a variety of formats, including Standard, Modern, and Limited.

To qualify for the Pro Tour through a Magic Online Qualifier, players must finish with a record of 3-0 or better. The number of invitations awarded varies depending on the size of the event, with larger events offering more invitations.

The Road to the Magic World Championship

As a competitive Magic: The Gathering player, the ultimate goal is to qualify for the Magic World Champion ship and become the World Champion. However, the road to the World Championship is long and challenging.

In this section, I will discuss the different paths that players can take to qualify for the Magic World Championship .

Pro Points and Rankings

Pro Points are the currency of competitive Magic: The Gathering. Players earn Pro Points by participating in Grand Prix, Pro Tours, and other high-level events.

The more Pro Points a player has, the higher their ranking on the Pro Tour leaderboard .

At the end of each Pro Tour season, the top players on the leaderboard qualify for the Magic World Championship .

In addition to the Pro Tour leaderboard, there are other rankings that players can earn Pro Points towards.

For example, the Player of the Year ranking is awarded to the player with the most Pro Points at the end of the season. Players can also earn Pro Points by participating in their local Magic community through the Planeswalker Points system.

World Championship Qualification

There are several ways to qualify for the Magic World Championship. The most common path is through the Pro Tour leaderboard, as mentioned above. However, players can also qualify by winning a Grand Prix or by winning a Regional Championship.

Players who qualify for the Magic World Championship are among the best Magic players in the world. The event is highly competitive, with the top players from around the world competing for the title of World Champion. The winner of the Magic World Championship is considered the best Magic player in the world and is awarded the title of World Champion.

Pro Tour Gameplay

As a competitive Magic: The Gathering player, understanding the gameplay structure of the Pro Tour is essential. The Pro Tour is a high-stakes tournament series that features some of the best players from around the world. Here are some key things to know about the format of the Pro Tour.

Swiss Rounds and Top Cut

The Pro Tour is structured around a series of Swiss rounds, followed by a Top Cut.

During the Swiss rounds, players are paired against opponents with similar records. A player’s record is determined by their number of wins and losses. For example, a player with two wins and one loss would have a record of 2-1.

After the Swiss rounds are complete, the Top Cut begins.

The Top Cut is a single-elimination playoff round that features the players with the best records from the Swiss rounds. The number of players in the Top Cut can vary, depending on the size of the tournament.

Match Points and Standings

During the Swiss rounds, players earn match points based on their performance.

A win earns three match points, a draw earns one match point, and a loss earns zero match points.

In addition, players can earn bonus match points based on their opponents’ records. This is known as adjusted match points.

At the end of the Swiss rounds, the players with the best records advance to the Top Cut. In the event of a tie, tiebreakers are used to determine which players advance. The tiebreakers are based on a player’s adjusted match points and their opponents’ adjusted match points.

Final Match

The final match of the Pro Tour is a best-of-five series.

The winner of the final match is crowned the Pro Tour champion. The final match is played in front of a live audience and is often streamed online for fans to watch.

Notable Players and Decks

Hall of Fame Inductees

As an avid MTG fan, I always keep an eye out for the top players in the game. Two of the most notable players in the MTG Pro Tour are Javier Dominguez and Kai Budde.

Dominguez, a Spanish player, has been a consistent presence in the MTG Pro Tour since 2013. He is a three-time Pro Tour finalist and the 2018 World Champion.

Kai Budde, on the other hand, is a German player who has won a record seven Pro Tours, earning him a spot in the Hall of Fame in 2007.

These two players have been instrumental in shaping the MTG Pro Tour and are considered some of the greatest players of all time.

Iconic Decks

The MTG Pro Tour is known for its iconic decks that have dominated the tournament scene.

One of the most popular decks in recent years is Esper Legends. This deck was considered a brew a few weeks before the Pro Tour, but it quickly proved itself as one of the top decks in the format.

Rakdos Midrange and Grixis Midrange are also popular decks that have performed well in the Pro Tour.

Nathan Steuer won the Pro Tour March of the Machine playing Rakdos Midrange, which was also the most played deck in the tournament.

Rakdos Breach is another deck that has been making waves in the MTG Pro Tour scene, thanks to its powerful combination of cards.

Pro Tour Events and Locations

As a Magic: The Gathering player, I know that the Pro Tour is one of the most prestigious events in the game. It brings together the best players from around the world to compete in high-stakes tournaments and showcases the latest strategies and decks in the game.

Global Tournament Circuit

The Pro Tour events are held across the globe, with locations in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Each event features top players from around the world, who have earned their place through a series of qualifying events.

The Pro Tour is a global tournament circuit that is held throughout the year. The circuit is made up of several events, including Grand Prix tournaments, Regional Championships, and the Pro Tour itself.

The Pro Tour is the pinnacle of the circuit and features the best players in the world competing for the title of Pro Tour Champion.

Digital and Tabletop Play

In addition to the traditional tabletop play, the Pro Tour also features digital play.

Players can compete in online tournaments to qualify for the Pro Tour, and the Pro Tour itself has a digital component. This allows players from all over the world to compete, regardless of their location.

Related Reading: MTG Pro Tour Format

Everything about MTG organized play 2022-2023 season and Premier Play System – Delve into the intricacies of the MTG organized play for the 2022-2023 season, highlighting the blend of Limited Draft and Constructed formats.

Return of the Pro Tour: FAQ – Magic – A comprehensive FAQ that sheds light on the eagerly anticipated return of the MTG Pro Tour, detailing format changes and player qualifications.

The Pro Tour is Back! OP Announcement Details New – Unpack the latest updates on the MTG Pro Tour’s revival, including new formats and qualification paths for players.

Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour – An official overview of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour, including the top finishers and Hall of Fame members’ privileges for the season.

Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour returns, Wizards of the – Insights into the reimagined Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour, focusing on the revamped competitive system and its implications for players.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the format for the MTG Pro Tour determined?

The format for the MTG Pro Tour is determined by Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Magic: The Gathering.

They typically choose formats that are popular among players and that showcase the game’s diversity and complexity. The format for each Pro Tour is announced well in advance so that players can prepare accordingly.

What are the typical formats played at the MTG Pro Tour events?

The MTG Pro Tour events typically feature a variety of formats, including Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Limited.

Standard is the most commonly played format at Pro Tours, followed by Limited. The specific format for each Pro Tour is announced well in advance.

Which formats were featured in the most recent MTG Pro Tour?

The most recent MTG Pro Tour featured the Standard format.

The event was held in Minneapolis in 2023 and was won by professional player Owen Turtenwald.

How often does the format of the MTG Pro Tour change?

The format of the MTG Pro Tour changes regularly.

In the past, Pro Tours have featured different formats such as Extended, Block Constructed, and Two-Headed Giant. The frequency of format changes varies, but players can expect the format to change every few Pro Tours.

What was the format for the last MTG Pro Tour in Minneapolis?

The last MTG Pro Tour in Minneapolis was played in the Standard format. This format requires players to build decks using only cards from the most recent sets released by Wizards of the Coast.

Are there any new formats introduced in the MTG Pro Tour?

Wizards of the Coast occasionally introduces new formats for the MTG Pro Tour. In the past, they have introduced formats such as Team Unified Standard and Team Trios Constructed. These formats require players to work together with their teammates to build decks and compete against other teams.

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Pro Tour 25th Anniversary: Everything You Need to Know

Pro Tour 25th Anniversary is in the books, and it was one of the most entertaining Pro Tours we've had in a long time, thanks to the team format featuring sweet decks from Standard, Modern, and Legacy. Normally, we wrap up a Pro Tour with a by-the-numbers article breaking down which decks performed best at the tournament, but this is impossible for a team event (since records are recorded by team wins and losses, rather than as wins and losses by individual players).

However, we do have some good news: Wizards published every single deck to show up at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary, so rather than delving deep into the numbers, today we're going to look at some of the most interesting decks and cards to show up in each format; then, we'll wrap things up with a list of the most played cards (in each format) at the event! If you want to jump straight to the decklists (there's almost 500 decks!), be sure to check out the  Pro Tour 25th Anniversary tournament page .

One of the big conversations heading into the Pro Tour was about the Core Set 2019 buy-a-box promo Nexus of Fate , with people discussing the extra-turn spell in both control and ramp strategies, which left people wondering if the card would show up on Magic 's biggest stage. The answer is yes, but not in the way most people expected. Six players shows up with Nexus of Fate in Standard, and each was playing a version of Turbo Fog, looking to slow down the game with Haze of Pollen and Root Snare  and draw a bunch of cards with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria , Search for Azcanta , and Karn, Scion of Urza , before eventually taking an essentially infinite number of turns with Nexus of Fate by repeatedly finding it with all of the card draw after it shuffles back into the library. Then, it wins somehow, either by making a bunch of tokens with Karn, Scion of Urza or by ultimating Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and exiling away all of the opponent's permanents (there was even a flawless victory on camera)!

As a result, Nexus of Fate itself had an interesting week. First, Wizards decided to release a bunch more copies on Magic Online by upping the rate that it appeared in Treasure Chests, after the mythic hit $70 in digital form. Then, as a result of the Pro Tour results, the promo more than doubled in paper, from about $20 a few days ago to over $40 today. This is especially problematic because unlike normal mythics, people can't just open more packs of Core Set 2019 to find copies to drive down the price. It will be interesting to see what happens in coming weeks—if the Turbo Fog deck proves to be real, then prices of Nexus of Fate could get even more absurd. 

While the team format of Pro Tour 25th Anniversary makes it hard to know exactly how well any individual deck performed at the event, some of the players on the deck reported having great records (winning around 80% of their matches). This is unsurprising, at least in some ways, since around 60% of the Standard metagame was either red- or green-based aggro, and neither of those decks has any realistic chance of beating a Fog every turn, nor can they stop the infinite-turn combo with something like a Negate or Disallow . If your local metagame is overflowing with red and green aggro decks, keep Turbo Fog in mind—it might be the perfect choice. On the other hand, things become tougher if everyone is playing control decks (although we saw some sideboard Carnage Tyrant s serving as a trump card against control.

Steel Leaf Champion and Goblin Chainwhirler

While Turbo Fog was the breakout deck at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary, it's also true that RB Aggro and Mono-Green Stompy are still at the top of the Standard metagame. RB Aggro made up a massive 40% of the metagame at the tournament, and this doesn't include a couple of other Goblin Chainwhirler decks with a smattering of players (like Grixis and Mono-Red Aggro). Meanwhile, Mono-Green Stompy made up nearly 20% of the metagame, and we certainly saw some massive green creatures like Steel Leaf Champion and Ghalta, Primal Hunger smashing face over the weekend. 

The big question moving forward is what the future holds for these decks. Turbo Fog appears to be a natural predator, but the metagame could adjust, with more control decks to fight against Turbo Fog (assuming it becomes popular), which would then allow the aggro decks to remain near the top of the format by sneaking in under the control decks. Over the mid-term, Mono-Green Stompy is in a much better position than RB Aggro, simply because RB Aggro loses most of its best cards at rotation while Mono-Green Stompy doesn't lose much of anything. Regardless, for the short term, you should still expect a heavy dose of RB Aggro and Mono-Green Stompy at your local events and on Magic Online .

Beyond Turbo Fog, the other breakout deck Standard deck at the Pro Tour was Aetherflux Storm. While the deck has been floating around on the fringes of the format for a while now, the printing of Sai, Master Thopterist gave the archetype a huge boost in power. Rather than simply relying on the Aetherflux Reservoir / Paradoxical Outcome storm kill, the deck now has a legitimate backup plan of playing Sai, Master Thopterist , playing a bunch of random artifacts to make Thopter tokens, and then either beating down with 1/1 fliers or by playing a Karn, Scion of Urza to make some massive construct tokens. Of course, this is another short-term deck, since many of the pieces rotate (although it's possible that Sai, Master Thopterist , Karn, Scion of Urza , and Tezzeret, Artifice Master could form a powerful artifact-based beatdown deck after rotation— we did see a couple of players at the Pro Tour drop Aetherflux Reservoir altogether and just beat down ), but the deck isn't too expensive to put together (outside of Karn), and it's rare that true combo decks are competitive in Standard, so if you get a chance, give it a shot before rotation—it's super fun, and Pro Tour 25th Anniversary showed that the deck is fairly competitive as well!

Cool Standard Decks

Since the metagame was so dominated by RB Aggro and Mono-Green Stompy, there weren't a ton of off-the-wall Standard decks that showed up at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary, but there were a handful of interesting lists.

In Modern, the breakout deck of Pro Tour 25th Anniversary was pretty clearly RB Vengevine. You might remember a deck called Bridgevine making the rounds a few months ago and offering some amazingly fast kills (along with a ton of inconsistency) based on getting Bridge from Below and Vengevine into the graveyard, casting a bunch of Walking Ballista s and Hangarback Walker s for zero mana (so they die when they enter the battlefield) to make a bunch of 2/2 Zombies with Bridge from Below , and returning Vengevine s to the battlefield. 

RB Vengevine is basically Bridgevine but all grown up, thanks to a seemingly minor addition from Core Set 2019 : Stitcher's Supplier . While the uncommon doesn't look all that threatening, it's the perfect card for the deck, stocking the graveyard with Vengevine s and Bridge from Below s on Turn 1 while also allowing the deck a second line of attack in Gravecrawler thanks to the fact that Stitcher's Supplier is a Zombie. Throw in Viscera Seer to sacrifice the Gravecrawler , and you have some weird combos, like being able to get Vengevine back from the graveyard any time you want by casting Gravecrawler twice or making a 2/2 Zombie for each black mana you have available by sacrificing Gravecrawler to trigger Bridge from Below and then simply recasting it from the graveyard. The end result is a deck that's extremely fast and scary, often dumping multiple creatures on the battlefield on Turn 1 and potentially killing by Turn 2 or 3 with the help of Goblin Bushwhacker . It's possible that moving forward, RB Vengevine will take over for Hollow One as the graveyard-based creature-combo deck of choice.

Militia Bugler

While we didn't see many Core Set 2019 cards in Modern this weekend, Militia Bugler had a massive impact, showing up as a four-of in many Five-Color Humans lists. On camera, it was key to the tribal deck being able to fight through the sweepers and removal of various control and midrange decks, along with almost working like a tutor for find things like Kitesail Freebooter or Meddling Mage to help the Humans deck lock down combo strategies. While Militia Bugler was already being moved into Humans prior to the Pro Tour, its performance this weekend means that it should be a staple in the deck moving forward. 

The other big story in Modern from Pro Tour 25th Anniversary was Ironworks Combo (often called KCI). Not only did the Eggs-like combo deck come in as the third-most-played Modern deck at the tournament, but it also managed to sneak into the Top 8 in the hands of Ben Stark. Throughout the course of the weekend, the deck looked pretty insane on camera, fighting through hate spells with ease and winning with some very long, intense combo turns. The metagame numbers show that the deck is a legitimate top-tier deck in the Modern format, while the Top 4 finish suggests that it's good. Combine this with the long, boring, annoying combo turns, and calls for a banning are on the rise. I'd be careful about buying into the deck before the next banned-and-restricted update—even some people who play the deck think that it should be banned, which is a pretty good sign that something could happen soon.

The bigger question is what would be banned. Banning Krark-Clan Ironworks would kill the deck outright, although some people argue that Ancient Stirrings would be a better option (although banning Ancient Stirrings would cause a lot of collateral damage, with decks like Tron, Eldrazi, Lantern, Hardened Scales, and even some builds of Affinity taking a hit). Speaking of bannings, there were also some rumblings about Faithless Looting being a potential target over the weekend, since the sorcery seems to be showing up in more and more decks while also allowing for fast graveyard-based combo kills, as seen in RB Vengevine, Grishoalbrand, Hollow One, and more. While it's certainly possible that nothing will change at the next banned-and-restricted update, at this point, the odds are likely in favor of something from Ironworks Combo being banned, with Faithless Looting being a dark horse candidate for a surprise banning.

The other big Core Set 2019 addition to Modern was Supreme Phantom to Spirit Tribal. Unfortunately, the Pro Tour didn't add much clarity to which Spirits build is best. While Bant Spirits was the most played build of Spirits, UW Spirits showed up as well (and because we don't have individual players' records, we have no idea which version performed best). Regardless, seeing the Spirits tribe show up as the seventh most played deck in the Modern format certainly legitimizes the strategy and is a huge testament to the power of Supreme Phantom . 

Cool Modern Decks

In Modern, there weren't really any brand new decks at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary, but there were a handful of sweet one-of decks that don't show up all that often. Here they are!

I should start by saying that I'm far from a Legacy expert, so I'm going to try to avoid making any hot takes about a format that I don't understand all that well. Instead, we'll stick to some general observations and cool deck lists. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that Modern staple Death's Shadow is a thing in Legacy as well, with the deck not only being one of the most played in the format but making it into the Top 4 as well. While Death's Shadow lists have shown up in Legacy before, the big innovation for the Pro Tour is Reanimate , which not only offers the deck another line of attack by reanimating a massive threat from the graveyard (like a Street Wraith you cycle on Turn 1) but also provides another way to lose life to grow Death's Shadow itself. Oh yeah, and the build that made the Top 4 was even playing Throne of Geth solely to add a counter to opponents' Chalice of the Void s (which are pretty unbeatable with just one counter).

Speaking of Modern decks showing up in Legacy, Eldrazi Stompy looks suspiciously like the deck that broke Modern after Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch a couple of years ago, but with even more two-mana lands in Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors . Otherwise, the deck plays almost exactly like the old Modern build, slamming huge Eldrazi turn after turn while also locking opponents out of the game with Chalice of the Void . 

One of the big questions heading into the weekend is which decks would benefit most from the recent banning of Deathrite Shaman . The answer looks to be Temur Delver, which used to be a popular deck in the format but had been pretty much unplayable thanks to the rise of the one-mana planeswalker. At its heart, Temur Delver is a mana-denial tempo deck, looking to stick a threat or two, blow up opposing lands with Stifle and Wasteland , and ride the threat to a win before the opponent can draw out of the mana issues. The problem is that with Deathrite Shaman around, every land that goes to the graveyard is actually a source of mana, since the opponent can simply exile it with Deathrite Shaman to cast their spells. With Deathrite Shaman out of the way, it looks like Nimble Mongoose and Stifle are back to being a major part of the Legacy format.

Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

Cool legacy decks.

Legacy is a weird place with tons of fringe combos and unique cards. Here are some of the sweetest under-the-radar decks to show up at Pro Tour 25th Anniversary this weekend!

Most Played Cards

Standard—Overall

Standard— core set 2019.

Modern—Overall

Modern— Core Set 2019

Legacy—Overall

Legacy— Core Set 2019

Anyway, that's all for today! What stood out to you from Pro Tour 25th Anniversary? Which deck are you most excited to try out? Is Turbo Fog real? What did we learn about Modern and Legacy? Let me know in the comments! As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at [email protected].

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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

• Card Database

An Oral History of the First Pro Tour

In early 1996, Magic: The Gathering was just under three years old, but Organized Play was just taking its first wobbly steps. There had been a couple of World Championships, a US Nationals, and scattered local tournaments offering collections of the Power Nine and complete sets of Legends as prizes. Homelands had just come out, and there was this new format called Type 2 that was scuffling along behind a format in which you could Fork an Ancestral Recall , eat all your Moxen, and then Berserk your gigantic Atog .

Still, we were having fun even if nobody knew quite where it was all going—until an ad appeared in the pages of The Duelist for something called "The Magic: The Gathering Black Lotus Pro Tour." It was billed as a professional tournament with bigger cash prizes than anyone had ever seen for playing a game.

That event took place 20 years ago this February, and it had a profound effect on what we thought of as tournament Magic . Today, Wizards of the Coast gives away millions of dollars every year to an elite cadre of the game's best players through Grand Prix, Pro Tours, and the Pro Players Club, but back then, a tournament with a $12,000 first prize was unprecedented. I interviewed a handful of people who were at that event in an attempt to capture the oral history of the tournament.

Joining me to share their memories from that event are:

• Richard Garfield, the inventor of Magic: The Gathering .
• Skaff Elias, one of the original Magic playtesters and the first Magic Brand Manager. He pushed the idea of Magic as an intellectual sport.
• Mark Rosewater, the current Magic Head Designer, who has discussed his role at the Pro Tour on two podcasts. Those can be found here and here .
• Elaine Chase, the current Senior Director of Global Brand Strategy and Marketing for Magic: The Gathering . Before her long journey at Wizards, she was a competitor at the event.
• Charlie Catino, who, along with Skaff, was one of the first people to playtest Magic . In his role as an R&D Director, he has been responsible for Duel Masters for the past fifteen years.
• Jon Finkel is a Pro Tour Hall of Famer who has been playing at the highest level throughout the 20 years of the Pro Tour.
• Graham Tatomer, a Santa Barbara winemaker who won the Junior Division of that first Pro Tour.
• Michael Loconto, a Worchester social worker who defeated Bertrand Lestree in the finals of the first Pro Tour to become the very first Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Champion.

Before the Black Lotus Pro Tour

Skaff : I came to be involved with Magic sheerly through pure luck. Richard Garfield was a fellow grad student in the math department at Penn. He had us all play games with him, and one of the games was this little thing he was working on for Wizards called "Magic." I think I was the third person to play it. And basically I have been playing it ever since.

Graham : It just turned out that Santa Barbara was kind of a hot spot for the game right when it came out. For Limited Edition (Alpha) and Limited Edition (Beta) we got an unusually high amount of players and actual cards. I was really drawn in by the fact that you got to make your own deck and that there were a lot of different avenues to take. There was this competitive factor to it that I liked as well. I was fifteen or sixteen years old when I got involved—around the release of Unlimited Edition . I was at the tail end of high school, where it felt like I didn't have that much to actually do. There was plenty of time to build decks and play against each other in local tournaments.

Elaine : Before the first Pro Tour, I was pretty active in the New York competitive scene. Gray Matter Conventions ran $1,000 tournaments at the time, and I played in those. I played in all sorts of communities in New York City, New Jersey, Upstate New York.... Magic at that time was a huge part of my life, and I would spend multiple days a week at multiple locations playing the game.

Charlie : I was one of the original playtesters for Richard Garfield's game. I basically played Magic before anyone else played Magic . I had a lot of experience and obviously, like all the players later on, when I first got into Magic I immediately realized what an awesome game it was and how much fun I had playing it. I just loved it so much and I dove incredibly deeply into it.

Michael : A lot of us played at SMK Collectibles in Hudson, Massachusetts. I remember buying Antiquities booster packs; that was the set that was out when we started to play. I'm sure everybody has a story about running to the store and hoping that there would be packs there. Unfortunately it wasn't Unlimited . We used to run a lot of tournaments for the store. Jim Lemire and I would be the judges. At the time, other than New York, the place to be was Hudson, Massachusetts.

Mark : I got hired by Wizards of the Coast in October 1995. I learned shortly afterwards from Skaff Elias that he was starting up a Pro Tour. Because I had been working freelance for Wizards, I wasn't allowed to play in tournaments. I told Skaff that I wanted to be involved, and he made me the liaison to R&D.

Jon : I was living in England when Magic came out. I was either fifteen or sixteen years old and I went to this local game store called Fun and Games. I walked in there and people were playing Dungeons & Dragons and other games, but the very first day people were playing Magic and it looked interesting. I asked about it and was pretty much instantly hooked. I moved back to the United States in New Jersey during the summer of '95 and started going to game stores and playing in some local tournaments. I thought I was pretty good—like every brash seventeen-year-old does—but I probably didn't play enough lands.

Richard : Obviously Magic was super-successful, but it was still in this turbulent non-stabilized state. I very much believed in this idea that if you took a game seriously that would help all levels of the game. The example that was used was that of basketball. The existence of the NBA didn't make it so that everybody's games are all super serious and exclude people who didn't participate in the NBA.

Balance | Art by Mark Poole

The Birth of the Pro Tour

Skaff : I was in R&D and at some point they needed a Brand Manager for the product, so I became the Brand and Business Manager for Magic —not too long before the Pro Tour. Part of the brand and marketing plan we came up with was to turn Magic into an intellectual sport. We felt that was really important for the long-term health of Magic .

Richard : When Ice Age came out, there were early posts analyzing the set, and they said there were only two good cards in the set. This is an unbelievably bad result for someone who's been working on the set for years and years. You look at that you just think, "This is ridiculous," with putting all this time, and in the end there were two cards that are of interest to people because they wanted to play with all these old, powerful cards. If we were in the business of selling cards to people, we were going to run out of cards sooner than we wanted. But if we were in the business of selling environments, we could make a new environment whenever we want. That's basically where the game was before the Pro Tour came around.

Mark : Skaff and I worked really closely together trying to get the event off the ground. Remember, in the early days there was nothing to model after. It was like the Wild West. Every tournament was run radically different.

Skaff : Golf and tennis were the two key examples for us that we were following. We talked to a lot of people at various sports marketing agencies and we decided that the best course of action was to start holding high-dollar tournaments and create stars out of the top people by having significant payouts. I understand the first Pro Tour wasn't necessarily that, but it was the first step towards that.

Mark : We wanted to name the Pro Tour, and one of the first things we came up with was "The Black Lotus Pro Tour." We sent out postcards announcing it, and we later learned that the lotus had connotations in some foreign markets that were not good. It is symbolic of drug trafficking in Asia, for example. We were just calling it the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour internally, and eventually that stuck.

Richard : The main thing was that there were a lot of design issues. As far as designing the way the tournament would work at the time—payouts, what would happen if people took too long playing, and so on—that was hard work, but it was minor compared to politically getting the company on board with it. Because if it [didn't] have the support of the company and a unified vision coming from them, then it wasn't going to work.

I remember a board meeting in those days with people talking about how to get in touch with what the players wanted. I suggested we could hire the players, and most of the people at the board meeting laughed. It just showed such a huge lack of respect for the people buying the product. All this political stuff had to be overcome. For me, this was the [most pressing] of the difficulties we faced.

The Phone Lines Are Open

Mark : We invited everybody that we could think of who were good players, including using rankings for the first time ever. We invited the top 25 or top 50 or whatever. Then we needed to fill out the rest of the tournament and we had no other means to do it. So the way you got into the first Pro Tour was by calling in.

Graham : I don't even think there were qualifiers for it. Whoever called first just got in. It filled up in a couple hours if I remember correctly. It was the same for the Juniors Division, but it just never filled up. Sam Beavers was actually the guy my parents called to ask, "Hey, if we fly our son out to New York, does he have a chance to win this thing?" He told them I definitely had a chance and they said, "Let's do it." After that first Pro Tour it was never like that again—you actually had to qualify for things, there was no sign-up sheet.

Skaff : We weren't really that connected to the players at the time, because everything was so casual. For the first Pro Tour, it was really difficult to jump-start everything. That was the hardest part. We basically had no contact information for the vast majority of good players. We knew we had limited slots and it was a call-in. We used as much information as we could, but in the end we had to have a call-in.

Elaine : It was first come, first serve, and at the time I had really well-trained fingers because that's how you got concert tickets—by calling into Ticketmaster. There was a lot of redialing on the phone when you got a busy signal. I would just hit redial...redial...redial. I actually got through, and my fiancé—now husband—also wanted to play. I asked if I could sign us both up and they said I had to hang up and dial again. Fortunately I got us both in. It was in New York City, I was in New York; there was no way I was gonna miss it. I was really excited to participate.

Mark : I remember I had friends, such as Mark Chalice, who desperately wanted to get in and they couldn't get through. They would call me and I just told them to keep trying, keep trying.

Michael : I remember all my friends trying to get in. I remember that I got through once and then the person on the other end hung up on me. And then it was busy...busy...busy. And then somehow—God bless—I got through on the phone lines. The rest is history I guess. Literally. It's amazing that that's how they did the first one.

Apocalypse Chime | Art by Mark Poole

A New Standard for Deck Construction

While it was still pretty common for tournaments to be held using what would now be considered Vintage as the default format, the format for that first Pro Tour was a modified version of Standard—or, as it was known at the time, Type 2. For this tournament, players build their decks including at least five cards from each set that was legal in the format: Fourth Edition , Chronicles , Ice Age , Fallen Empires , and Homelands .

Mark : The whole point of the Pro Tour is that it's a marketing vehicle. We want to be aspirational, but we were also trying to get them to focus on what the latest sets were going to be. Obviously right now Pro Tours are named after the new set that's just come out. Our problem was that the latest set to come out right before that first Pro Tour was Homelands ....

Elaine : I can't even remember what all the sets were except that Homelands was one of them. It was the biggest pain ever. I mean, which Homelands cards were I going to force in? Do you actually build a deck with the Homelands cards in it, or do you just try and stick them in the sideboard? It was one of the things that made Autumn Willow stand out for that tournament. I built White Weenie and I put Aysen Highway in the sideboard. That was my big tech. If I played against another White Weenie player, I could drop it and swing for the kill. I guess I was trying to make "Plainswalkers" a thing before I even worked here.

Skaff : The idea at the time was that we wanted people to have to rethink deck construction. We wanted deck construction and what teams/individuals would be thinking about to be a little bit off the normal. It was pretty close to Type 2, so we wanted to promote Type 2 with this added skill twist to it.

Jon : I don't think Alliances was out yet, because as soon as I saw Thawing Glaciers I thought it was the best card ever and I definitely would've played that. I remember that Homelands and Fallen Empires were the really hard ones there. Fallen Empires had Hymn to Tourach , Order of the Ebon Hand , and Order of Leitbur . I ended up playing a blue-white Millstone deck, but I played Serra Angel s, Blinking Spirit s, and two Order of Leitbur s. Homelands had Serrated Arrows and then the terrible tri-lands.

Charlie : We really wanted to encourage diversity and make sure that all sets were represented. We wanted the environment to be interesting and a little different. We wanted to make sure no sets felt bad to the players.

Michael : I remember trying to get Homelands cards in there—that was a hard one. Looking back now, I can see why people rip my deck. People don't know what it was like back then. They just know 60 cards, but back then it was different. I knew a kid who played 100-card decks competitively. Hallowed Ground was one of the cards I wasn't sold on; it was just in there because it needed to be.

Mark : Anyone who's ever heard me talk about this knows that [ Homelands ] is the weakest set—on every level—that we've ever made. It was not a particularly strong set-design-wise, was not a very powerful set development-wise. It was just a very kind of "eh" set. But that was the set that was out and we needed to focus on it. We wanted people to play with Homelands cards, but how do we make that happen other than maybe a Serrated Arrows here or there? We came up with a format that made you play with five cards from every set that was legal in Type 2.

Upstairs/Downstairs

In the early days of the Pro Tour, the field was broken up into two divisions: Seniors and Juniors. The Junior Division was held on an entirely different floor of the building that housed that first tournament. While the Seniors were cutting to a Top 16, the Juniors cut to a Top 8. Also all the prize money for Juniors was paid out in the form of college scholarships.

Skaff : I know this sounds almost quaint now, but at the time it was very controversial to put money on tournaments. You could put all sorts of other prizes, but you very rarely saw straight cash payouts. We wanted to not get on the bad side of parents, and it felt like that could happen if we put cash on the Juniors. So the prizes for the Juniors at the first Pro Tour weren't cash, they were scholarships. For the whole Junior tour they were managed as scholarships. There was a bit of marketing there, and we wanted the right emphasis for kids. We wanted to encourage kids to go to college.

Graham : I almost didn't go to college, because I already knew I wanted to work in the wine industry and I had a fair amount of experience. It was because I had that $12,000 scholarship—which essentially paid for all my tuition and books—that I was able to go to community college in Santa Barbara and then UCSB. It's pretty incredible that it worked out that way. It was really awesome.

Richard : Wow, that's cool!

Skaff : Honestly that makes me feel so good. That is exactly what we wanted to happen. We were all nerds growing up and we felt bad that people with hand-eye coordination and muscles could get scholarships. There are just not the amount of academic scholarships that there are for sports. We really wanted people to be able to take their hobby—which is essentially what you do with baseball or basketball—and have that equivalent for intellectual sports. We wanted more respect for intellectual pursuits.

Merchant Scroll | Art by Liz Danforth

Getting Ready

Graham : It's not hard to see in general what the most powerful cards are. It's unusual that something totally out of the blue comes along, but I guess the deck I brought—Necropotence—was pretty out of the blue. The way that came about was there was this one guy—I don't know his name, we just called him Frenchy—and Joel Unger had this unbelievable respect for him as a deck builder. He was the first person messing around with Necropotence . I got the deck from Joel, who had just gotten it from Frenchy and was testing it at our local tournaments.

Michael : At the time, Necro decks were just not a thing around here. We weren't really prepared for that situation that much—thank God I ducked a couple of those. After the first tour, the Necro deck just busted out all over the place.

Jon : I just played a lot of Magic . There were a couple of stores I went to, especially Hero's Outpost in North Plainfield, which was the most local store. I went to Outer Realms in Linden, which was the store where the best people played. People like Eric Phillipps, David Bachman, Andy Longo, and Aaron Kline—who did well at that first Pro Tour—all went there.

Elaine : [My husband] Kierin was my playtesting partner, and for the most part it was just the two of us building a bunch of different decks and playing them against each other, just like we would for any of the Gray Matter events we went to. There wasn't this huge playtesting regimen like there is now; it was just "Hey there's a tournament with wonky deck restrictions, let's see what we can build."

Skaff : That first Pro Tour was insane. You don't want to just put an event on and then have no one hear about it. It was really supposed to drive excitement through the whole Magic community. You don't even do it to begin with unless you have that strategy in place so that you can leverage the value. Then if you are going to have press there, you want to make it look good. We had real budget constraints, but we wanted a good site. We wanted it to be in NY because that was the center of the Magic community. Without much money, we made it look really good. For a little random game company just coming it out, we made it look astounding. Maybe it is rose-colored glasses, but it was really impressive.

Jon : That first Pro Tour was very much a media event with very high production values. Now the Pro Tour is really designed to be viewed online, but then we had this huge gala event. That site was beautiful, although it couldn't hold very many people.

Skaff : When a player went there, we wanted them to feel like it was a respectable event. We wanted them to say "Hey! This is kind of cool. This is real." Because those players go out and tell their friends about it. That was the seed of the original Magic Pro Tour community. We wanted them to feel some confidence that we would be around.

Elaine : The funny thing about the first Pro Tour is that I didn't even think there would be a second one. They had done a big Ice Age Prerelease and the Homelands event in New York called "The Gathering 1," and there was no The Gathering 2. They were just all these different types of events that were doing all these different things. At the time, my take on it was that it was the new marketing flavor of the month and that they were going to keep trying things and move on and do something else.

Charlie : It's hard to put people in the mindset where we were back then. We had a lot of passion for Magic , we had a lot of great ideas for Magic , we just didn't have much experience. We were trying to learn from all these things that happened and trying to improve, but when you do something for the first time you're gonna try a lot of stuff that nowadays maybe you wouldn't do. The important thing is to learn from it. A lot of the early starts for the judge programs and forming tournament environments came from all the decisions that went into that tournament.

Skaff : Even things like registration don't sound hard, but if you don't think about it you are going to screw it up. The registration, how everything is calculated, scheduling the number of rounds and the tournament structure. We studied every tournament format known to man. Before, when it was casual, it really didn't matter—but now that there was money on it, people were going to game the system at every opportunity. We had to think about how we would manipulate this, how we would screw the system over so that we could win money by figuring out loopholes in the system. All of the tournaments that were run after that were completely different than they were before it.

Mark : When Magic first came out, Richard Garfield's vision for the game was one of discovery. Richard didn't want information put out, he wanted people to discover Magic cards in the wild. So for the first year or year and a half, people were super secretive about what was in a deck. I covered Worlds in 1995 and I wasn't allowed to list the decks. I did play-by-play, and I showed what was in their hands, but we didn't tell you their whole decks. At this tournament not only were we going to tell you, but we were going to print [commemorative copies of] the decks so you could buy them—you could play them. That was a very different approach from how we handled Magic in the past.

Richard : By the time we were doing the Pro Tour, I had completely given up on that idea already. I think it [lasted] a year maybe where it was a real part of the game, and I took immense satisfaction when lists would come out in magazines or online that were incomplete or incorrect because people had to do all the research on their own. My memory is, which again could be fuzzy, that after about a year it was clear that the idea of people discovering things in that way was impossible and they wanted to get the answer. I had given up on [my previous vision].

In the beginning, the way I imagined Magic being played was with people buying one deck, having some fun, and then maybe buying another deck. Then maybe mixing and matching them. I didn't anticipate people buying more than four or five decks. If everyone in your group only bought four to five, there was going to be this process of exploration. That play group of eight people wouldn't even see all the cards, they're not even gonna all be there. It was pretty clear, pretty early, that this is not how it was going to go down. And I embraced that reality.

Jon : It wasn't the way it is now where everybody knows everything all the time.

Skaff : We had these sports marketing people from the beginning telling us we were crazy if we didn't make it all single-elimination, but we were confident that we wanted Swiss for two reasons. One, it is more skill-testing. It gives people more play. You don't want to drive six hours in that snowstorm and lose in the first round. So we knew we wanted Swiss, but you have this strong pressure of wanting single-elimination. Single-elimination is very easy for people to understand. It is crystal clear and every game is exciting and nail-biting. We wanted a combo of those two...so we just did it. We are sort of proud of that format. It has become the standard for Magic stuff, but you see it in other places too now.

Necropotence | Art by Mark Tedin

A Snow-Covered Island

Perhaps running a tent-pole marketing event in the middle of the winter in New York City was not the best idea.

Mark : Skaff had it in his mind that it had to be in New York City. He also really wanted the Pro Tour to start in February, but he never seemed to piece together that it snows in February in New York City.

Jon : It was the blizzard of '96—how could you forget the blizzard of '96? I probably drove in—at the time I lived really close to the Holland Tunnel. My car was this old Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback that was definitely not optimized for winter driving. I'd drive the car to PTQs and $1,000 tournaments all over the place, and there must have been a 20% chance that I got into an accident, but somehow I always came out on the right side of it. I min-crashed with it.

Elaine : There had already been two huge blizzards, including the blizzard that dumped two feet of snow in New York. Then the Pro Tour happens and there's this third blizzard with another ten-plus inches. We nearly didn't make it to the city, our car was slipping and sliding all over the place. Once we got there, all of Manhattan was closed. Try to picture Manhattan with no cars, with nobody going anywhere; it was the most insane thing ever.

Richard : I used to attend the MIT puzzle hunt, and it was always held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day—or as we who did the hunt used to call it, the coldest day of the year. This idea of having a large group of people get together in terrible weather and play games indoors was something I had lived through several times, and I thought maybe in some ways that was how it ought to be.

Michael : Oh my God, the weather! I remember being scared, I can tell you that. Jim Allen and I, we rented a van or something; he was driving and I was up front with him. Everyone else was either sleeping or passed out and I remember try to get one of my other friends to stay awake. I said, "I don't want to die."

Graham : I am from Southern California and New York was covered in snow. I had never been to New York City. I was just so wowed by the city, seeing everything so tall and covered in snow. I was just going with the flow, you know? I don't remember anything out of the ordinary other than it being very cold.

Charlie : The reason I remember that is because I didn't bring a winter coat. I wasn't thinking along those lines. I remember walking back one of those nights from the tournament site to the hotel with Skaff Elias, who also didn't bring a winter coat, and never wearing anything other than shorts. The snow is coming down like crazy and we were there without jackets, wearing tennis shoes.

Skaff : And I was out there on the roof of the Puck Building in my shorts, trying to fix stuff, with baling wire trying to hang signs and banners. It was obviously a disaster. We had talked about it before and asked "What if this happens?" but we were pretty adamant that it had to be in NY for a number of reasons. Number one was that it was a lot easier for international travel, and we wanted to make sure we had people from other countries there. The Magic community there was so strong and so many people could drive to it. It was by far the best city for the first Pro Tour.

Michael : Jim Allen was driving crazy. It was like a bat out of hell. It looked like the Millennium Falcon with the lights in the snow going by the windshield, and I was legit scared we were going to go off the road or something. My friend Jim would just maniacally laugh. I couldn't tell if he was really insane or just teasing me. To this day I don't know.

Mark : I grew up in the Snow Belt, where you really needed a foot and a half of snow for a real shot at a snow day. When I shot the video, I tried to do an introduction outside the building. It was so windy, with so much snow, that we did eight takes on it before we gave up. It was so snowy that we delayed the start of Day One. It was supposed to start at like 9 or 10 a.m. and we delayed until the afternoon.

Skaff : You never know...once your boss gives you approval to do stuff, you gotta do it because the rug could be yanked out from under you at the next turn. We didn't really have options. We knew that the weather could be a factor and we kept altering things—how late registration was, when the rounds would start. We did everything we could to bend things to accommodate people. It was nerve-wracking but—and maybe it was false optimism—I never thought things would be ruined. I am from the Northeast. I have driven stupidly in snowstorms a lot, so I thought, "Get there, suck it up, put some scrapes on the side of your car. That's what guard rails are for."

In the Eye of the Storm

Elaine : There was this party the night before for the people who were able to make it. There were people passing around pseudo-fancy appetizers, but everyone was starving because nobody could get anything to eat. They actually ordered a bunch of pizzas for us, which was really awesome. The pizzas would come out and people would just devour them.

Michael : The first night we got there...we were partying pretty hard. I'll never forget this, though: Richard Garfield, who at the time was kind of a big deal, was there and I had never met him. We were all practicing in the hallways of the hotel and I'd had a few too many drinks. I went up to him and I said, "Hey Richard! I'm Michael Loconto and I'm gonna see you Sunday when I win this thing!"

And then after it was all said and done and I'm standing there with him, he was shaking his head saying, "I can't believe you actually won." We used to have a really good time when we played.

Mark : We wanted to make sure that it was a spectacle. The night before, there was a party where we had food and drinks for the players. We even had to make sure all the players actually came; I had to get on the phone with the players and make sure they knew that this was going to be a big deal for Magic .

Elaine : Later that night, we went back to the hotel and we were watching Letterman. It was hilarious because nobody could get in or out of the city and Letterman taped in front of a live audience. He has the camera guy turn around to show the audience and there were like five people in the audience for Letterman. Then they went to check out the standby line and there were like twelve people on the standby line. He lets them all in and they don't even fill up the first row. Kierin and I just looked at each other and said "Holy crap! We should've gone to Letterman!"

Stormbind | Art by NéNé Thomas & Phillip Mosness

Pairings Are Up

Graham : There were a lot of little kids there. It felt like maybe there were fifteen of us that were actually competing in the tournament. It was just unfair that a twelve-year-old had to play a seventeen-year-old, you know? The fact that I had a Necropotence deck and I was given that playing field? My entire match would be done in ten or twelve minutes.

I do remember judges laughing when I played Demonic Consultation for the first time. I was like "Okay, laugh all you want." They certainly weren't laughing at the end. I remember an incredible number of fast matches. I remember losing to this guy who played Karma [in his main deck]. That was my only loss. I had to have a judge question if that was seriously in his [main] deck and the judge said it was.

Charlie : Not only was I the head judge for the Juniors, I was also the tournament organizer. I had note cards and I had pencils with erasers. I knew ahead of time how to do pairings — I played chess tournaments and I knew how a tournament should be run. I just got the note cards out, put all the 1-0s in a pile, put all the 0-1s in a pile, and paired them for Round 2. I kept track of all the results on the notecards. I took the pile of notecards back to my hotel room after dinner and spent quite a bit of time calculating—by hand—all the players' tiebreakers. I used that to determine the order that everybody finished in. Obviously I had to double-check that because it was an important thing. Not only did I calculate the tiebreakers, but I double-checked all my math. I had to calculate this for all 120-something competitors.

Elaine : I do remember that there was a big delay at the beginning of Round 1 because they were scouring the room and looking under tables and things to make sure there weren't any cheating implements. You could only go into the room with your deck and tournament materials—you couldn't bring anything else in with you. They had an enforced coat and backpack check that they didn't tell anybody they were going to have, and they were charging people money for it. At the time, we were poor Magic players and nobody wanted to pay the couple bucks to have them check our stuff. We complained loudly enough until they said we didn't have to pay...although I'm not sure if they just made that a special case for us or if they did it for everybody.

Skaff : Once the tournament started, I don't remember very much. I had been called up to the Juniors several times. Finkel was crying, and I had to take care of that.

Jon : Ten minutes after I won my first round, there were three cards sitting on our table. I had been Jester's Capped in Game 2 and our match went to three games. The judge asked me if they were my cards. I said they were, and I got a game loss for Game 3. I had won the match—those cards could've been there for any number of reasons. I threw what could charitably be called a tantrum. It definitely involved crying—I'm glad there was no video. That's actually how I met Skaff, I was demanding my money back and stuff. They calmed me down, but I still think that game loss was kinda [unfair].

Charlie : I remember being a little worried about making the rules call, but fortunately I was given Beth Moursand, who was really good at the rules. That helped a little bit for my concerns. I don't remember there being anything that extreme though.

Mark : There are so many things about how a Pro Tour is run that you take for granted now. For example, I'm the creator of Feature Matches—and that didn't even happen until the second Pro Tour. And there it was me putting up a list of tables with matches you might want to go see. It wasn't until the third Pro Tour that we created a special area where you could go as a spectator. For the first Pro Tour, spectators could just walk around and watch any match they wanted.

Elaine : I did horribly and lost very quickly. As soon as both Kierin and I were out of Top 16 contention, we went to get lunch. We went up to Brian David-Marshall and he told us to stay, because even if we weren't gonna make the cut, there were still going to be invites given out—I don't remember if it was Top 32 or Top 64—to the next tour in LA. And I remember saying specifically "Yeah right! Like they're going to do another one of these! Do you want us to bring you back anything?" So we dropped and of course I spent the next two years of my life trying to get back on the Pro Tour.

Jon : I won my next five rounds and then I was playing against Ross Sclafani; the winner was going to be in the Top 8. The tiebreaker was game win percentage and I suggested to Ross that we should say whoever wins won the match 2-0. He called the judge and the judge said we couldn't do that. Now, of course, you know that now—but then? You had no idea. I ended up losing, but I made the Top 8 anyway and lost in the quarters.

Demonic Consultation | Art by Rob Alexander

After a day of Swiss play and a laborious evening of tiebreaker calculations, the Top 16 for the Seniors and the Top 8 for the Juniors came back to play on Sunday. Bertrand Lestree and Michael Loconto were the last two Seniors playing at the end of their bracket, while Graham Tatomer faced off against Aaron Kline.

Graham : I played the final match against a White Weenie deck played by Aaron Kline. That was a really tough match, and I topdecked a couple times to save my [bacon]. I remember topdecking a Nevinyrral's Disk to win. That was gnarly.

They told us to play slow and explain everything. I was always a very fast Magic player. I felt like if I played too slow I might lose my natural instinct for the game. I remember at one point they announced that Aaron had won the match. We didn't really communicate when it happened. I was gonna kill him the next turn, but he had Karma out. I had a Zuran Orb and could sacrifice my lands to gain life. I looked at him and he said "Yeah I get it." I just swept up all my cards and so did he. They just thought he had won. I would have died to Karma if I didn't sacrifice any lands, but I could just sacrifice all my lands—it didn't matter—[and] I was about to kill him.

At any Pro Tour after that, you would've had to be very specific about what you were doing—about every step. Aaron was nice enough to say "Yes, you're totally not gonna die to Karma while you have the Zuran Orb out." I think about that moment a lot. I should've been more professional, but I was a kid. It was just this minute of confusion where all the people thought that he won. He would've won the tournament with that game, but we went the full five games.

Michael : My deck used Millstone s to run people out of cards. It was mainly defensive with lots of board wipes: Wrath of God , Swords to Plowshares (thank God for Swords), and Balance . You had Blinking Spirit s and Mishra's Factories to block all their stuff. I was just trying to make the games last as long as I could and hopefully run [my opponents] out of cards.

I remember at the end it was gonna be a best-of-seven match for the finals and the deck just took way too long. I don't think they ever expected that kind of thing. They brought me and Bertrand in after—I think I lost the first game and won the second game—and said it was super late and they didn't rent the venue for long enough. They needed to have a winner. They said we could just split the money and play one game for the title. That's how it went.

Graham : Oh my God! Is that what happened—they went from best-of-seven to best-of-three? Ours was nothing like that, we finished all five games! They even made a comment about it in the video. "These Juniors don't hold back, they're playing really fast." I think Aaron also had a tendency to be a really fast player. I think he was a regular White Weenie player and that's not like playing a control deck. I think that was the slowest that both Aaron and I each played those decks, but you could only go so slow with those. It's time to play Hypnotic Specter and get things done.

Charlie : I remember finishing our tournament and coming down and being asked to sub in for one of the judges because they needed a break—the final was just going so long. The other thing that I remember is a friend of mine and some other judges going to grab dinner. They went to a place kind of far away, someplace they had to wait a while. When they eventually came back, they had no idea that the match would still be going.

Mark : They both understood that this was the first Pro Tour and they both wanted to be the guy that won it. On top of that—people don't remember this—but Bertrand Lestree played in the World Championship and lost to Zak Dolan in the finals. On paper Bertrand was supposed to win that match, but Zak won that one. He did not want to become the guy who also lost in the finals of the first-ever Pro Tour. He was going to take his time. They were playing slow, slow decks to start with, and they just didn't want to make any mistakes. Originally we were gonna play best-of-seven, but then after five hours we decided it was gonna be best-of-three.

Michael : It was the final game and he had a Whirling Dervish that was just wrecking me. I'm not sure, but I think I made a mistake—maybe something with my Mishra—I had to topdeck a Swords to Plowshares and I had already used a few in that game. [Man], did I get lucky. I was holding one Plains in my hand—I had no lands. I just held that one Plains and laughed. I had to draw that Swords right there. He probably lost his mind after that.

We ended up becoming really good friends after that; he was a real character. He was like Shawn "Hammer" Regnier. He would always dig and say stuff and try to get inside your head, but after I won we really hit it off. We would always hang out after a Pro Tour. I remember asking him for his autograph. He wrote, "[Expletive deleted] Swords!" and then he signed it "Bertrand." I still have that. That, I'll never get rid of.

Swords to Plowshares | Art by Kaja Foglio

Summer Is Coming

Before that Pro Tour, the card Necropotence was not regarded as a tournament-viable card by the vast majority of the tournament goers.

Mark : Necropotence got a one-star rating in Inquest magazine. What was interesting about the tournament was Graham Tatomer obviously wins with the Necro deck and Leon Lindbeck makes the Top 8 with it—a really early version of the deck. It wasn't until that summer that that deck really took off.

Richard : I don't remember if we knew exactly how powerful that card was, but I knew it didn't surprise me. My design philosophy in those days was that if you didn't make a few banned cards, you weren't being aggressive enough. You had to be taking chances. My philosophy was give the players lots of interesting tools and let them play with those tools. My philosophy of discovery regarding the cards had gone by the wayside, but the discovery of combinations was very much a part of the game. Players are constantly finding new ways to combine cards in the game that we didn't anticipate.

Michael : I definitely dodged a few bullets that day in the pairings.

Graham : You were so powerful with that deck and you could really demoralize your opponent. I tried to use psychology as far as putting pressure on the opponent, and that deck really worked out for that—it forces people to makes mistakes or give up too early.

Closing Thoughts

Richard : The experience of going to events, where people were excited to meet me, have me sign cards, and play with me, was not new. I'd been doing that for a few years—but the tenor here was changing, because this was the first time that I felt like the players were starting to become really good and were taking the game really seriously. On the surface this was very much like all those previous meetings, but I felt like something had changed. Before the Pro Tour I could go in any card shop and beat most of the players with an all-commons deck. It was ridiculous. Then the Pro Tour came around and I couldn't walk into a card shop and beat everybody with an all-commons deck anymore.

Graham : It was incredible, obviously. My dad was with me and he was just thrilled. He's kind of a nerd himself. He would rather be the smartest one instead of the strongest one. For his son to win was kind of a big deal. Joel Unger was there, and it was great to have him there. It was incredible. They were also happy for me. When I got back to Santa Barbara, most of the people hadn't even heard yet. We weren't all that connected yet with texting and the internet. But everyone was thrilled when they found out that I won. It was pretty positive.

Skaff : The Pro Tour is probably the thing I am most proud of out of everything I have ever worked on. It is such a standard part of the game. I don't think people understand how important it is to the success of the game, because they have never lived in a world without it.

Mark : What the first Pro Tour really did was establish standards of how to run a tournament. The funny thing is that first tournament...we got a lot wrong. We learned a lot along the way, but it was a giant leap from what came before.

Jon : I think that if you look at the first Pro Tour and you hold up the Juniors against the Seniors and look at lifetime Pro Points, it has to be a blowout for the Juniors—an absolute blowout. Darwin was probably the best player who played in the Seniors. The Juniors had me, Steve O'Mahoney-Schwartz, Bob Maher, and Brian Kibler.

Elaine : For me, the Black Lotus Pro Tour really was a turning point in terms of the scale and scope that Magic had in the gaming universe—and in my universe.

Charlie : Twenty years ago, we were just formulating all of this: what a tournament should be like, what formats should be like, what's fun about Magic —all that kind of stuff. I definitely felt like we accomplished a lot. We learned so much from that very first event, it gave us so much to think about how we could make the next event better.

Michael : Years and years later, somebody came up to me and told me I was in a magazine again. They showed me and I was like "Wow." I showed my mom and she ended up calling out to Wizards asking them if they still had the cover painting [of me and Bertrand]. Wizards was super cool and they put it in a frame and sent it out to her. It is hanging next to the uncut sheet of my deck.

Mark : There are also some stories I could tell you that probably shouldn't be printed, so if you want to shut that recorder off—

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Breaking news, paige spiranac remembers ‘incredibly kind’ grayson murray in tribute after his death.

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Paige Spiranac honored the late Grayson Murray on Sunday, reflecting on the PGA Tour pro’s kindness in a heartfelt tribute following his death by suicide Saturday.

In a post shared on X , the longtime golf influencer, 31, recalled how Murray “went out of his way” to celebrate her accomplishments, “whether big or small.”

“I’ve known Grayson since our junior golf days and I’ll never forget how he always went out of his way to congratulate me on accomplishments whether big or small. He had always been incredibly kind to me. Unbelievably sad and my prayers go out to his friends and family,” Spiranac wrote to her one million followers.

Murray won three Callaway Junior Championships from 2006-08. He later enrolled at Arizona State University in 2014.

Meanwhile, Spiranac began her collegiate golf career at the University of Arizona in 2011 before transferring to San Diego State for her sophomore year.

Murray’s parents revealed Sunday their son took his own life. He was 30 years old .

“We have spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone,” Eric and Terry Murray said in a statement. “It’s surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but that we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It’s a nightmare.

“We have so many questions that have no answers. But one.

“Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and – it seems – by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.

“We would like to thank the PGA TOUR and the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support. Life wasn’t always easy for Grayson, and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now.”

A two-time PGA Tour winner, Murray had been competing in this weekend’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, but withdrew Friday during the second round due to illness.

The news of his death was first reported Saturday.

Murray, who turned pro in 2015, had been open about his battles with alcoholism and depression in the past.

Upon winning the Sony Open in January, Murray spoke candidly about his struggles.

“It’s not easy,” Murray said. “I wanted to give up a lot of times. Give up on myself. Give up on the game of golf. Give up on life, at times.”

Members of the PGA Tour honored Murray on Sunday during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge by wearing red and black ribbons, a nod to his beloved Carolina Hurricanes, at the request of the Murray family.

Murray, a Raleigh, N.C., native, wore red and black on Sundays for the team.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to  SuicidePreventionLifeline.org .

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⛳️ Hiroshi Tai claims individual golf title

⚾️ DI baseball championship bracket released

🏆 Notre Dame wins DI men's LAX title

T&F championship selections announced

Kaitlyn Schmidt | NCAA.com | May 26, 2024

2024 college baseball conference tournaments: schedules, brackets, auto-bids.

The 2024 NCAA DI baseball conference tournaments are completed and ran from May 17 through May 26. They decided most of the 32 automatic bids to the 2024 Men's College World Series. Below is information on each conference tournament, including dates, brackets and more.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Here's the bracket and schedule for the 2024 DI baseball tournament

The 2024 NCAA baseball selection show will air on Memorial Day — Monday, May 27 at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

*Tarleton State won the WAC tournament, but is not eligible for NCAA tournaments until completing the four-year transition from DII to DI. Grand Canyon was awarded the WAC bid.

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