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View Full Version : So, the next Pre-PTQ season is going to be Modern



Lord Seth
04-19-2015, 02:20 AM
I guess it's sort of old news (announced two weeks ago (liminary-pro-tour-qualifier-updates-2015-04-06)), but I only discovered it recently myself and it seems it was announced somewhat quietly, so figured I might as well mention it.

You know how this and the previous Preliminary PTQ season have let the stores choose Standard, Modern, or Sealed, resulting in like 5% of them being in the Modern format? Wizards has gone back to the idea of "seasons" having specific formats, so now in the Modern seasons stores will have their constructed Pre-PTQs be Modern, and in the Standard seasons it'll be Standard. (Stores can still choose to make their Pre-PTQs into Sealed format if they want) So the season that's June 6 to August 16 will be Modern format.

The format for the applicable Regional PTQ will Modern as well, and then that'll qualify you for the Modern Pro Tour.

I really like this format, and in fact it makes more sense than the previous PTQ season system. In that setup, you'd have a Modern PTQ season... that would then lead into a Standard Pro Tour. This will make it so the Modern Regional PTQs will lead into the Modern Pro Tour. So it's Modern->Modern->Modern (or Sealed->Modern->Modern) instead of Modern->Standard or Standard->Modern.

I don't think they've said how many seasons will be Modern-themed--I'm going to guess that, like the Pro Tour, we'll have three seasons of Standard/Sealed and then a season of Modern/Sealed--but it'll make it a lot more possible to play in Modern Pre-PTQs, even if it does mean they'll be Standard Pre-PTQs the rest of the year.

Mozex
04-22-2015, 07:56 AM
There is a list of the upcoming pro tour formats here:
http://magic.wizards.com/en/content/pro-tour-magic-event-types-events

I think this is a very good change. It made almost zero sense to play standardard in the PPTQ and then modern in the PTQ to then play modern and limited at the PT. I was surprised Wizards didn't match the format of the PPTQ to the Pro Tour from the start.

I don't think you information about the past seasons is correct. The PTQ for constructed pro tours has always (AFAIK) matched the pro tour format.

Lord Seth
04-22-2015, 02:06 PM
I don't think you information about the past seasons is correct. The PTQ for constructed pro tours has always (AFAIK) matched the pro tour format.I don't remember exactly what format PTQ season corresponded to which Pro Tour, but I can tell you you're wrong on this. They had the Modern PTQ season after the Modern Pro Tour, probably on the assumption that players would get excited by the decks featured in the Pro Tour and try playing those. Also, while I don't remember what format PTQ led up to the Block Constructed Pro Tour, I can tell you it definitely wasn't Block Constructed because no PTQs were in the format.

Maybe at some point they made sure to match up the PTQs with the Pro Tour format, but it wasn't in the years immediately preceding the shift to Pre-PTQs.

Mozex
04-22-2015, 10:36 PM
You are indeed correct.

Lord Seth
05-15-2015, 09:13 PM
I figure I might as well post the schedule here:
http://magic.wizards.com/en/protour/pptq1st16/locations

It took me way longer than it should have to find that link. It doesn't help that the Pro Tour doesn't seem to have a real name yet (note the link calls it "the first Pro Tour of 2016"), making it all the harder to search out.