Earlier today, we announced the 2019 Pro Tour schedule, which includes six Pro Tours covering three different continents. We’re excited for next year’s expanded schedule, but we also know that the announcement has led to some questions.

We’re still finalizing a few details about next year, and will be sharing more with you soon, and updated rules to the Premier Event Invitation Policy as well as the Pro Tour Players Club will be posted in the near future to accommodate 2019’s schedule. Before then, we want to address the most received questions that have come since the announcement today.

What does the prize payout look like for Pro tours next year?

$250,000 per Pro Tour. The prize payout will be the same as it has been for the first two Pro Tours in 2019. We’re evaluating potential changes beyond that and will have more to share with you in the future.

What about formats?

We will be announcing formats for Pro Tours no later than 8-12 weeks before they take place.

Will any Pro Tours in 2019 be team format?

None of the 2019 Pro Tours will be a team Pro Tour.

How will the 2019 World Championship work with this schedule?

We will announce how qualifying for the 2019 World Championship will work before the end of 2018.

How will the 2018-19 Pro Tour Team Series work with this schedule?

The 2018-19 Pro Tour Team Series will count five Pro Tours, starting with Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica and ending with Pro Tour Barcelona on July 26-28, 2019. As a reminder, the rules for the 2018-19 Pro Tour Team Series can be found on the Pro Tour Team Series page.

How will the Pro Club work with six Pro Tours?

Benefits as they are written in the Pro Club and the current cycle system will remain and continue as-is through the [Milk] Cycle (June 23, 2019). After that, there will be some adjustments to benefits.

What are those adjustments?

We’re still finalizing them. A big part of why they’re not done is that we want to run these changes by different teams and individuals that we’re working closely with.

However, to give you some context on stuff that will be in place after the first two Pro tours of 2019:

-We’re looking to award roughly the same amount in appearance fees within a quarter to Platinum players after the [Milk] cycle compared to what they’re getting right now in each quarter.

-Gold and above will qualify a player for every Pro Tour taking place in the cycles in which they are Gold or above. This means being Gold or Platinum during the [M20] cycle—which includes Pro Tours in Dallas/Fort Worth and Barcelona—will qualify you for both of them. However, Gold and Platinum won’t get travel awards to every Pro Tour, just one Pro Tour of their choice in the cycle that they’re Gold or higher.

-The Pro Club is still tracking points earned in the most recent four cycles.

Okay. What are those cycles?

[Milk] Cycle - March 25, 2019 - June 23, 2019

[M20] Cycle - June 24, 2019 - September 22, 2019

[Archery] Cycle - September 23, 2019 - December 22, 2019