The Pro Tour (often abbreviated as PT), is the second highest form of competitive play (after the world championship) for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game. It consists of a series of tournaments held throughout the world, each requiring an invitation to participate. The word Pro in Pro Tour originated from the evergreen mechanic protection, often considered by players as the most important mechanic in the game after the draw step. Every Pro Tour awards a total of $240,000 in cash prizes, with $50,000 going to the winner. Pro Tour competitors also receive Pro Points, the amount depending on their results. Pro Points award special benefits to players, including automatic qualification and travel awards for subsequent Pro Tours. Currently, four Pro Tours are held during a twelve-month season. The Pro Tour was introduced in 1996 with the first event being held in New York. Over 100 such tournaments have been held since. Finishing within the Top 8 of a Pro Tour is considered to be one of the greatest accomplishments a competitive Magic player can achieve. Professional players are thus often compared by the number of Pro Tour Top 8 finishes they have made throughout their career. The most successful players on the Pro Tour are Kai Budde, who won seven Pro Tours out of ten Top 8 finishes, and Jon Finkel, who won three Pro Tours, while making it to the Top 8 sixteen times.
| Place | Individual |
|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 |
| 2 | $20,000 |
| 3-4 | $15,000 |
| 5-6 | $10,000 |
| 7-16 | $5,000 |
| 17-24 | $3,000 |
| 25-32 | $2,000 |
| 33-48 | $1,500 |
| 49-64 | $1,000 |
The Magic: The Gathering World Championship (commonly referred to as "Worlds") is a yearly tournament to crown the best Magic player in the world. It has been held annually since 1994, and is considered the most prestigeous Magic tournament, with a cash prize of $100,000 being awarded to the winner, the highest amount in a Magic tournament.Since 1995, Worlds has been an invitation-only tournament. From 1996 to 2011, it was the event that concluded the current Pro Tour season, with invitations being awarded to high-level Pro players, players with a sufficiently high DCI rating, as well as the top finishers in each country's National Championship. The event featured an individual competition, with the winner being crowned the Magic: The Gathering World Champion, as well as a national team competition, where the winning team became the Team World Champion. After the 2011 season, the World Championships was split in two. The individual competition was replaced by the Players Championship, a highly exclusive event featuring just 16 top pro players. In 2013, this event was renamed to the 'World Championship' once again, and since 2014, 24 players have been invited to compete. The team competition was replaced by the World Magic Cup, a national team competition that in 2014 featured teams from 72 countries.
| Place | Individual |
|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 |
| 2 | $50,000 |
| 3-4 | $25,000 |
| 5-8 | $10,000 |
| 9-16 | $5,000 |
| 17-24 | $2,500 |