Since today is Election Day here in the USA, I thought that its time that I bring a topic to the forefront of Competitive Magic, Pro Level Play and Qualification.




Ari Lax recently wrote a piece on called Issues (Premium SCG only) talking about the benefits / problems with the Pro Players club. Now, the Pro Players Club is even more exclusive to get into than just making the Pro Tour which I understand completely.  It's a way to keep people who are qualified to stay qualified and earn them more than just an invite to the next PT.

But, what is out there for the Grinders?  Currently, there are only 3 ways for Grinders (not Pros) to qualify for the Pro Tour:

Win a Pro Tour Qualifer
Win a MTGO Pro Tour Qualifer
Finish in the Top 4 at a Grand Prix

As part of the Grinder Nation, The Phyrexian Arena believes that there are some problems with the current Pro Tour Qualifier and Grand Prix system that feeds the Pro Tour.

We feel that it is time for these problems get looked at by Organized Play for the good of the game.

Problem #1 - The PTQ system only gives 1 invite no matter the number of players who attended


The size of the Magic: The Gathering player base is growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years and is at an all time high.  I've attended Pro Tour Qualifiers in person that range in size from 80 to 225 players and each of them only award 1 Pro Tour Invitation.  I've played in Online Pro Tour Qualifiers that consistently max out (768 players) and only award 1 Pro Tour Invitation.  Only 1 person gets the blue envelop whether there is 8 players or 768 players.  See a problem with this system?

Problem #2 - The current Grand Prix system gives only 4 invites to the next Pro Tour no matter the number of players who attended.

Where any of you at GP Philadelphia a couple of weekends ago?  There were 1986 players there.  How many invites went out?  Exactly 4.  Again, I feel that there is a problem with the system.  These problems are only going to continue to grow as the game continues to grow exponentially in the coming years.  So what can be done to help the grinders in the future years?

The following are ideas from other pro level systems that I have been a player in at the pro level as well as other ideas that could be used to strengthen the system for the players who need it strengthened, the Grinder Nation:

Solution #1 - Set up a system for both PTQ and GP where the number of player entries determines the number of Pro Tour Invitations to be given out.

This seems to be the simplest of the solutions.  Players are clamoring for this, especially MTG Online where the queues fill to the max, you play 10 Rounds + the Top 8.  Wouldn't it be great if you get a Blue Envelop for making Top 8 at a PTQ with 150 players?  How about a Blue Envelop for the Top 64 players at Grand Prix with 1000+ players?  Now, I am not saying that WotC should give everyone the travel award who gets a Blue Envelop as that would cost WotC too much but giving more Blue Envelops per event based on attendance is an idea worth exploration by Wizards of the Coast.

Solution #2 - Set up a qualification system by which points are awarded for placement at the PTQ and Grand Prix events.

This is something that has been done with one of the games I played at the professional level, Vs. System.  The system they used would award points for placement in the Top 8.  For Vs. System, you received:

10 PC points for 1st place
5 PC points for 2nd
2 PC points for 3rd-4th
1 PC point for 5th-8th

It took 10 PC points to qualify for a Pro Circuit event.  (This next part is not exact and may be slightly incorrect).  As I recall, you could go to any Pro Circuit event within the calender year using the 10 PC points that you accumulated.  Remaining on the Pro Circuit would be determined by the total number of points you accumulated at Pro Circuit events.

In this new proposed system, the winner of the PTQ event would automatically accumulate the correct number of points to qualify for the Pro Tour (as well as the travel award) and the rest of the Top 8 / Top 16 / Top 32 would received PT points based on a scale and you could use so many of these PT points to play in a Pro Tour during that calender year.

Then, once you have reached the Pro Level, the similar point system could be used to determine if you get to remain playing on the Pro Tour (obviously this would not be used for automatic qualifiers like if your a member of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame for example)

So I am sure you are asking how can we help make this a reality?

A link to this article is being sent specifically Helene Bergeot, who is the Director of Organized Play for Wizards of the Coast.  If you are apart of the Grinder Nation and agree with the above ideas, forward this link to Helene Bergeot via Twitter or contact her via E-mail.

Pass this article on to your other Magic: The Gathering Grinders.  I want to see Facebook and Twitter blow up with the idea of changing the system. On Election Day, let your voice be heard!