Pro Tour Qualifier

Pro Tour Qualifiers (PTQs) are one-day Magic tournaments held by Wizards of the Coast. Performing well at a Pro Tour Qualifier can earn a player an invitation to an upcoming Pro Tour, one of the highest tiers of professional play in Magic.

Pro Tour Qualifiers

The original PTQ system, is a one-day tournament open to any player not already qualified for the upcoming Pro Tour. The winner of each PTQ received an invitation and, typically, airfare to the Pro Tour it was tied to.

The system was once retired in February 2015 (qualifiers tied to Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir) but was being brought back in February 2017, replacing Super Sunday Series as the main Side Event in Grand Prixes.

Preliminary/Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers

A newer system introduced in 2015, the Pro Tour Qualifiers organized by shops are split into two stages: Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier (PPTQ) and Regional Pro Tour Qualifier (RPTQ).

Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers

Under most circumstances, players have to win a Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier (PPTQ) in order to compete at a Regional Pro Tour Qualifier (RPTQ). PPTQs are held at Advanced-level stores; those stores may hold one PPTQ per RPTQ season. The format of PPTQs is either Standard(Modern if the PPTQ is tied to first Pro Tour of calendar year) or Sealed deck with Booster draft in the top eight, which is determined by stores.

Players who are already qualified for the RPTQ or the Pro Tour the PPTQ is tied to may not participate.

Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers

The Regional Pro Tour Qualifier (RPTQ) is an invitation-only tournament where the top finishers receive an invitation to the next Pro Tour, plus airfare. For Magic Online RPTQs, the top eight players qualify.. There are currently four ways to qualify for an RPTQ:

• Win one of the current season's Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier.
• Win the Last Chance Qualifier of the respective Regional Pro Tour Qualifier.
• Be Bronze or Silver-level in the Pro Players Club
• Finish well enough of one of the previous season's RPTQs. (determined by the attendance for non Magic-Online RPTQ)

Unlike PPTQs, RPTQs' formats are designated by WotC before the event; and RPTQs in the same season feature same format: Either Standard, Modern, or Limited (Sealed in the Swiss rounds, Booster draft in single elimination, if necessary). Tournament will be called at the point which all players qualify for the Pro Tour is decided. (For Magic Online RPTQs or events that would qualify 8 players to Pro Tour, event will be called after Swiss Round finished and no single elimination match will be played).

RPTQs are held about one to two months before the Pro Tour it qualifies for. There are currently 34 RPTQs per season: 16 in North America, 3 in South America (including Mexico), 9 in Europe, 4 in Asia Pacific, and 2 on Magic Online.

A player can only participate in one of the RPTQs of any given season.

Players who are already qualified for the Pro Tour the RPTQ is tied to cannot participate in the RPTQ tied to that event (like previous PTQ system, Silver-level pros that not used his/her Pro Tour invitations in that season may still participate RPTQ). Should a player have qualified for an RPTQ before he/she also qualified for the Pro Tour tied to it, the RPTQ promo card will be given out to the player upon their participation in that Pro Tour instead.

Starting with RPTQs tied to Pro Tour Ixalan, the number of players qualified for the Pro Tour and the next season's RPTQs is determined by the attendance. The only exceptions are Magic Online RPTQs, which will always qualify 8 players for the Pro Tour and the next season's RPTQs.

Note: An exception to the rule is RPTQs for Pro Tour 25th Anniversary. The PPTQ format is Standard, while the RPTQs are Team Unified Standard, where a qualified player, or a Hall of Famer (required to give up their HoF individual qualification for this event) can team up with any two players yet qualified to this Pro Tour(regardless of whether these are already qualified for the RPTQ), and the RPTQs always qualify the top two teams regardless of the number of participants. Notably, qualifications for this Pro Tour cannot be earned through Magic Online.

Magic Online Pro Tour Qualifiers

It is possible to qualify for the Pro Tour via Magic Online; Apart from the Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers hosted in Magic Online, there is also a independent qualifier system which also qualify players to Pro Tour.

Magic Online's PTQs are typically split into two stages. PTQ Preliminaries and PTQ Finals. PTQ Preliminary events are five-round events that are open to all who not already qualified, and a 4–1 or better record results in the player winning an entry token; this token can be used to enter a PTQ Finals of their choosing within two Qualifier Seasons, one of which would be held in the weekend following the Preliminary.

The PTQ Finals are invitation-only events; players who are unqualified for the associated Pro Tour and with the corresponding entry token may participate. Constructed event entry tokens may only be used to participate in Constructed PTQ Finals, and Limited event entry tokens may only be used to participate in Limited PTQ Finals. Starting in 2017-18 season, Constructed Preliminaries will be discontinued and become a single-day event instead.

The format is either Sealed deck, Standard, or Modern, and the winner of the event receives an invitation to an upcoming Pro Tour, plus airfare.

Eligibility for Magic Online Pro Tour Qualifiers is independent of Paper-format's Pro Tour Qualifiers. Players may still participate in PTQ/RPTQs (including Magic Online RPTQ) even if they had already participated in Magic Online PTQ Finals, should he/she not already have qualified for the associated Pro Tour through any means.