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.[1]. There are currently four ways to qualify for an RPTQ:[2]
- 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.[2][1]
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.
In 2017-18 season, Two Magic Online's PTQs are held in each Pro Tour qualifier season (excluding Pro Tour 25th Anniversary), one in Standard or Modern, one in Sealed deck. For Constructed PTQ, all players who are unqualified for the associated Pro Tour are allowed to participate. For Sealed deck PTQ, in however, are invitational events which only players having entry token may enter.
PTQ Preliminaries are held a week before the Sealed deck PTQ for players who are unqualified for the associated Pro Tour and having no PTQ entry token. It is a five-round event which all players having 4-1 or better record are rewarded with a entry token, which allow them to enter a Sealed deck PTQ within two Qualifier Seasons. Before 2017-18 season, PTQ Preliminaries also applied to Constructed PTQ, and separated entry token is used (i.e Constructed and Limited PTQ are indepentent to each other and players must have the entry token corresponding to the Preliminary event). But it was dropped in 2017-18 season and Constructed PTQ become a single-day event instead.
Like paper format's Pro Tour Qualifier, player may still participate other PTQs as long as they are unqualified for the associated Pro Tour. And the winner of the event also receives airfare for that Pro Tour.