Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour season 2015–16

Updated on Nov 22, 2023

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Pro Player of the Year Owen Turtenwald World Champion Seth Manfield Grands Prix 49		Rookie of the Year Oliver Tiu Pro Tours 4
Hall of Fame inductions Eric Froehlich Shouta Yasooka Willy Edel

The 2015–16 Pro Tour season was the twenty-first season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It started on 8 August 2015 with Grand Prix San Diego and Hong Kong and ended on 7 August 2016 with the conclusion of Pro Tour Sydney. The season consisted of 49 Grand Prix and 4 Pro Tours, located in Milwaukee, Atlanta, Madrid, and Sydney.

Mode

Four Pro Tours and forty-nine Grands Prix were held in the 2015–16 season. These in addition to the World Championship and the World Magic Cup are the events that awarded Pro Points, the points that were used to determine the Player of the Year Standings and Pro Club levels. Players were awarded Pro Levels for earning 18 (Silver level), 33 (Gold), and 50 points (Platinum), however only the six best Grand Prix results counted. Pro Club Levels come with certain benefits such as qualifications to subsequent Pro Tours, byes at Grand Prix, and airfare to Pro Tours. Based on the final standings of Pro Tours, Grand Prix, Worlds, and the World Magic Cup Pro Points are awarded as follows:

For competitors finishing outside the final elimination stage of Grand Prix and Pro Tours points are awarded depending on their score after the final Swiss round. 16 Swiss rounds are played at Pro Tours, 15 at individual Grand Prix, and 14 at Team Grand Prix. Pro Points are then awarded as follows.

Finally players that participated in the World Championship earned one Pro Point per win in the Swiss Portion and two Pro Points per win in the single elimination stage.

Magic: The Gathering World Championship

Seattle (27–30 August 2015)

Prize pool: $150,000

Format: Modern Masters Booster Draft, Standard, Magic Origins Booster Draft, Modern

Final standings

The following twenty-four players received an invitation to the 2015 World Championship due to their performance in the 2014–15 season. They are ordered according to the final standings of the event.

Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar

Milwaukee (16–18 October 2015)

Prize pool: $250,000

Format: Standard, Booster Draft (Battle for Zendikar-Battle for Zendikar-Battle for Zendikar)

World Magic Cup

Barcelona (11–13 December 2015)

Prize pool: $250,000

Format: Team Constructed, Team Limited

Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch

Atlanta (5–7 February 2016)

Prize pool: $250,000

Format: Modern, Booster Draft (Oath of the Gatewatch-Oath of the Gatewatch-Battle for Zendikar)

Pro Player of the year standings

At the end of this event, the top ranking player in Pro Points, Owen Turtenwald, was awarded the "Mid-season master" title, which will yield him an invitation to the 2016 World Championship.

Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad

Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad was the 100th Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. For the Top 8 single elimination stage the mode was modified from previous Pro Tours. Previously only the first game was played unsideboarded with players having access to their sideboard for all subsequent games in a match. From PT Shadows over Innistrad on, players only have access to their sideboard beginning with the third game of a Top 8 match. The Pro Tour's Top 8 included some of the most successful Magic players of all time, including Hall of Famers Jon Finkel, Luis Scott-Vargas, and Shouta Yasooka.

Tournament data

Location: Madrid (22–24 April 2016)

Prize pool: $250,000

Format: Standard, Booster Draft (Shadows over Innistrad)

Pro Tour Eldritch Moon

Sydney (5–7 August 2016)

Prize pool: $250,000

Format: Standard, Booster Draft

Pro Player of the Year final standings

The 2015–16 Pro Tour season ended after Pro Tour Eldritch Moon. These are the final standings of the Player of the Year race, including every player who at the end of the season reached Platinum, the highest Pro Club Level.