Hall of Fame
The Magic: the Gathering Hall of Fame enshrines the most significant and influential competitors of the game. It consists of an online museum dedicated to the Hall of Fame members, as well as Magic Hall of Fame Exhibit, which is displayed at selected events. Players were voted into the Magic Hall of Fame on an annual basis by a select committee but since 2020 the practice has not been revisited.
Until 2019, the Hall of Fame was known as the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Fame. The Hall opened in 2005.[1][2]
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a player must have at least 150 lifetime Pro Points (prior to 2014, only 100 Pro Points were needed), must have participated in their first Pro Tour event (including Worlds prior to 2011) at least 10 seasons before the current voting year, and must not be currently suspended by the DCI. Starting in 2017, an added rule prescribes that a player must have at least two Pro Tour final-day finishes, which was considered an informal qualifier for most of the committee already.[3] In 2019, that was amended to encompass the broader scope of high-level tournaments. The statistic was being recast as "Top Finishes," which included Pro Tour Top 8s, team Pro Tour Top 4s, World Championship (2012 to the present) Top 4s, Mythic Championship Top 8s/Top 4s, Mythic Invitational Top 4s, and Magic Online Championship Series Top 4s.[4]
As competitive Magic has expanded to include MTG Arena, Wizards of the Coast announced their intention to amend the future eligibility rules for the Magic Hall of Fame further in 2020.[4] They were exploring a lot of options, including opening the Hall of Fame to non-pro players who've had a profound impact on the game.[5] This would include people like Richard Garfield. A nominating committee was also under consideration.[6] In August 2020, it was said that going forward the new Magic Hall of Fame would not only feature competitive players, but also innovators, contributors, and longtime stewards, but has yet to be revisited since.[7]
Removal from ballot
Players who have been eligible for the Hall of Fame, but received less than 10% of the votes in three years, are removed from the ballot. Prior to 2018, this was restricted to three consecutive years.[3] Players who had been removed from the ballot could be reinstated by earning four or more Pro Points within one calendar year.
Selection process
Each year, eligible players are selected for the Hall of Fame through voting by a Selection Committee consisting primarily of certain Wizards of the Coast employees, reporters and commentators of the Pro Tour, high-level judges, previously inducted Hall of Famers, and professional players with at least 150 Pro Points.
For the first three years, the top five players on the ballot with the most votes were elected. This was changed in 2008; only players who received at least 40% of the votes would be inducted – or, if no one on the ballot reached 40%, the top vote getter. In theory, this means that as few as one player could get inducted, but also that the number of inductees could be in excess of five. In 2017, the threshold was raised to 60%.[3]
Each year, at the first Pro Tour of the new season, an induction ceremony is held to award Hall of Fame rings to that year's Hall of Fame elects, officially enshrining them into the Hall. Prior to 2012, this ceremony was at the Magic World Championships.
Benefits
Being elected to the Hall of Fame used to have several benefits in addition to the recognition:
- Three byes at all individual format Grand Prix events
- Invitation to all Pro Tours and Nationals
- One bye at Nationals
- Complimentary sleep-in special at all Grand Prix events (where available)
- 35 QPs given each month in Magic Online Championship Series
- A $1500 appearance fee for participating in the Pro Tour where the Hall of Fame introduction ceremony was held (i.e. the first Pro Tour of the season). If the player is also a Platinum-level pro, both appearance fee rewards applied.
- Prior to the 2016–17 season, this appearance fee was also awarded upon attendance at all other Pro Tours, as well as the World Magic Cup.
The Hall of Fame appearance fee was in addition to what, if anything, they received for their Pro Players Club level. For byes and Magic Online QPs, however, only the higher reward applied.
With the shift to MTG Arena and the COVID-19 epidemic, it is unclear how many benefits are retained - those in the Hall have not received invites to the Set Championships. With no Grand Prix or Nationals due to COVID-19, and no Hall of Fame ballot from restructuring, many benefits have been retired.
New benefits have been automatic entry into MTG Arena Qualifier Weekends, one Regional Championship and Pro Tour per season.
Inductees
| Class of 2005 | Votes |
|---|---|
 Jon Finkel Darwin Kastle Alan Comer Tommi Hovi Olle Råde
|
97.1% 62.3% 52.2% 46.4% 34.8% |
| Class of 2006 | Votes |
|---|---|
Bob Maher, Jr. Dave Humpherys Raphaël Lévy Gary Wise Rob Dougherty
|
60.0% 56.8% 42.6% 39.0% 38.2% |
| Class of 2007 | Votes |
|---|---|
 Kai Budde Zvi Mowshowitz Tsuyoshi Fujita Nicolai Herzog Randy Buehler
|
90.4% 62.3% 49.7% 41.5% 35.6% |
| Class of 2008 | Votes |
|---|---|
Dirk Baberowski Mike Turian Jelger Wiegersma Olivier Ruel Ben Rubin
|
52.4% 50.1% 48.2% 46.0% 45.6% |
| Class of 2009 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Antoine Ruel Kamiel Cornelissen Frank Karsten |
63.4% 62.5% 44.8% |
| Class of 2010I | Votes |
|---|---|
| Gabriel Nassif Brian Kibler Bram Snepvangers |
89.3% 49.4% 40.0%II |
| Class of 2011 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Shuhei Nakamura Anton Jonsson Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz |
89.3% 69.8% 50.6% |
| Class of 2012 | Votes |
|---|---|
 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Kenji Tsumura Masashi Oiso Patrick Chapin |
85.7% 81.8% 76.2% 44.9% |
| Class of 2013 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Luis Scott-Vargas William Jensen Ben Stark |
95.6% 60.0% 59.0% |
| Class of 2014 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Makihito Mihara Paul Rietzl Guillaume Wafo-Tapa |
86.8% 72.6% 60.9% |
| Class of 2015 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Eric Froehlich Shota Yasooka Willy Edel |
66.4% 62.5% 47.6% |
| Class of 2016 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Yuuya WatanabeIII Owen Turtenwald |
90.3% 70.9% |
| Class of 2017 | Votes |
|---|---|
Josh Utter-Leyton Martin Jůza |
86.3% 66.4% |
| Class of 2018 | Votes |
|---|---|
Seth Manfield Lee Shi Tian |
65.2% 64.2% |
| Class of 2019 | Votes |
|---|---|
| Reid Duke |
94.28% |
| Class of 2020-onwards | Votes |
|---|---|
| None[7] |
Controversy
Although Mike Long was eligible since the first year of the Hall of Fame (2005), he was not inducted. Though he has the necessary statistical credentials and garnered some votes (21.7% in 2005 at the most), he was not voted in. Mark Rosewater is among those who have voted and argued for his induction.[8] However, his alleged cheating and his shady reputation repeatedly prevented his induction. He fell off the ballot following the 2012 voting, when he received 5.2% of the votes.
Notes
- ^I In 2010, Tomoharu Saito was voted into the Hall of Fame, receiving 47.7% of the votes. However, at Grand Prix Florence, two weeks before the induction ceremony, Saito was disqualified and subsequently suspended from the game for 18 months. The Hall of Fame rules state that suspended players cannot be voted for, but Saito had already been voted in. However, Wizards of the Coast announced that due to the suspension, Saito would not be a part of the 2010 Hall of Fame. Saito was eligible for Hall of Fame again in 2012, and has received 11.2%, 18.3%, 14.7%, and 13.9% of the votes from 2012 to 2015, respectively.
- ^II In the originally announced voting results for 2010, Bram Snepvangers barely missed getting voted into the Hall of Fame, receiving 39.95% of the votes. Following the announcement, however, it was discovered that there was an error in the calculations, and that Snepvanger's correct result was 40.03%, barely enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Gabriel Nassif and Brian Kibler.
- ^III In April 2019 Yuuya Watanabe was disqualified from Mythic Championchip II in London for marked cards.[9][10] He was subsequently banned for 30 month from DCI-sanctioned events and removed from the Magic Pro League as well as the Hall of Fame.[11]
References
- ↑ Chris Galvin (June 06, 2005). "The Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 20, 2005). "Decking the Hall". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ a b c Mike Rosenberg (June 8, 2017). "Pro Tour Hall of Fame Updates". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-15.
- ↑ a b Brian David-Marshall (August 20, 2019). "The Call to the Hall of Fame". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-05-27.
- ↑ Magic Esports (August 22, 2019). "MagicEsports". Twitter.
- ↑ Hipsters of the Coast (August 22, 2019). "HipstersMTG". Twitter.
- ↑ a b Ben Drago and Bear Watson (August 27, 2020). "Esports Update: Changes to 2020-2021 Magic Pro League Play". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (February 11, 2003). "It’s a Long Story". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-12-14.
- ↑ Round 16 Disqualification. Wizards of the Coast (April 27, 2019).
- ↑ David McCoy (April 28, 2019). "Yuuya Watanabe Disqualified from Mythic Championship II London for Marked Cards". Hipsters of the Coast.
- ↑ Statement Regarding Yuuya Watanabe. mtgesports.com (May 09, 2019).