Pro Players Club
The Pro Players Club is a system set up by Wizards of the Coast to reward players on the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It was announced in May 2005 by Randy Buehler and replaced several older and more complicated sytems like the end-of-the-year payout. It took effect with Pro Tour London in 2005.
There are currently four ranks in the Pro Players Club: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.[1][2]
History
Prior to the establishment of the Pro Players Club, Wizards had experimented with various ways of enabling a pro lifestyle by giving top players a method of somewhat regular income. The first of these was the Masters Series, introduced for the 2000–01 season. Each event took place prior to the Pro Tour and in the same city; the top players in the world were invited to a 32-man single-elimination tournament with a cash prize of $150,000.[3] The Masters series was phased out following the 2002–03 season, as the single-elimination nature of the event proved too volatile and high variance, and too low profile next to the Pro Tour taking place almost simultaneously. In its place, the End-of-Year Payout system was introduced. This system paid the top fifty finishers in the Player of the Year race a total of $635,000 at the end of each season; however, this was phased out during the next season, as it did not give immediate rewards to players for traveling to events, and it failed to encourage top players to stay on the Pro Tour for the next season.[4]
The Pro Players Club was introduced on the 2nd of May, 2005.[5] It featured a system with six levels based on Pro Points earned during the previous season, where a level 3 player would be invited to all Pro Tours, and level 6 players were also given significant appearance fees for attending Grand Prix and Pro Tour events, as well as airfare and a hotel room for all Pro Tours. Exact benefits and level requirements have since changed over the years, and prior to the 2008 season, the system was changed to having eight levels. During the 2012 season, the Pro Players Club was overhauled, and the previous eight levels were replaced by three: Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
Cycles
In July 2017, it was announced that starting with the 2018–19 season, instead of being tied to annual seasons, the Pro Players Club levels are tied to cycles. There are four cycles in a year, each tied to an Expansion and including one Pro Tour, and the last four cycles count towards a player's point total, with the Pro Players Club membership being checked at the close of each cycle.[2] Originally, at most 3 Pro Point finishes in each cycle would count towards point total, as receiving feedback that current event schedule may cause unfairness of South American and APAC players, a revised version was released in September 2017; which points are calculated from top 12 Pro Point finishes in last 4 cycles instead.
For players winning Pro Tour, World Championship, or Magic Online Championship, they will become Platinum level immediately for 5 Cycles (including the cycle that event was in). Similar applied to Rookie of the Year's Gold Level, which essentially lasted until the end of season like previous system. This change is effective in 2017 World Championship.
Along the changes, a fourth level, Bronze, was introduced, effective immediately.
Earning Levels
From the Pro Tour Players Club Guidelines and Procedures:[6]
| “ | When a member reaches the required number of Professional Points in the current Professional Points season, he or she is immediately promoted to the applicable Club Level for the rest of the current season. At the beginning of each new season, every member will be awarded the membership level based on his or her final point total in the previous Professional Points season. | ” |
Starting with the 2012 season, players that win a Pro Tour event or the World Championship are immediately promoted to Platinum level until the end of the next season. Winners of the Magic Online Championship and the Rookie of the Year are immediately promoted to Gold level until the end of the next season. Since the 2015–16 season, the winner of the Magic Online Championship is promoted to Platinum level (instead of the previous Gold level).
For the 2013–14 season, only the five best Grand Prix results (in terms of Pro Points earned) count towards a player's total number of points during a season. This cap was increased to six for the 2014–15 season until 2017-18 season.[7][8]
Levels and benefits
In the 2012 season, the Pro Players Club was changed to a system with three ranks; benefits and requirements are adjusted on a yearly basis if necessary. In 2017, a new rank, Bronze, was added.
The current 2017–18 system's benefits and requirements are listed below:
Bronze (10 points)
Bronze-level players receive:
- one bye at all individual-format Grand Prix tournaments.
- invitations to their country's Nationals.
- an invitation to one Regional Pro Tour Qualifier during each Regional Pro Tour Qualifier season.
Silver (20 points)
Silver-level players receive:
- two byes at all individual-format Grand Prix tournaments.
- an invitation to the Pro Tour immediately following their promotion to Silver level after the start of a pro season. If they already have an invitation to that Pro Tour, or chooses not to attend, the invitation will be deferred to the next Pro Tour of that pro season (if any), and so on.
- an invitation to the first Pro Tour of the season. If they already have an invitation to that Pro Tour, or chooses not to attend, the invitation will be deferred to the next Pro Tour of that pro season (if any), and so on.
- invitations to their country's Nationals.
- 15 QPs each month for the Magic Online Championship Series.
- an invitation to one Regional Pro Tour Qualifier during each Regional Pro Tour Qualifier season.
Gold (35 points)
Gold-level players receive:
- three byes at all individual-format Grand Prix tournaments.
- invitations to all Pro Tours.
- expenses-paid air travel ticket to all Pro Tours.
- invitation with one bye at their country's Nationals.
- 35 QPs each month for the Magic Online Championship Series.
Platinum (52 points)
Platinum-level players receive:
- three byes at all individual-format Grand Prix tournaments.
- a complementary sleep-in special at all Grand Prix (where available).
- invitations to all Pro Tours.
- expenses-paid air travel ticket to all Pro Tours.
- invitation with two byes at their country's Nationals.
- 35 QPs each month for the Magic Online Championship Series.
- appearance fees for attending select tournaments:
- Pro Tour – $3000
- World Magic Cup – $1000
- Nationals and Grand Prix – $500
- For Grand Prixes, however, appearance fees is only paid in the first 6 events attended.
- Players Cards (similar to Pro Tour Player Cards) which have their name, photo, and team in the Team Series (if any) printed on them.