Today Wizards of the Coast introduced a new WPN—one that scales to serve every community, one that measures quality as well as quantity, one designed to nurture the long-term growth of tabletop Magic: The Gathering.

If you haven't seen the announcement already, put a pin in this article and check it out here. Then, if you have questions, take a look at the below.

While we worked on the new WPN, we had a chance to workshop our ideas with distributors, our Retail Advisory Panel, and some prominent members of the Magic community. Below are the most common questions that came up during those conversations.

If you have question not addressed in the below, please reach out to your local support team.

New Metrics: Tickets, Engaged Players

1. Now that we have new metrics, what is required for me to remain in the WPN?

Stores need a minimum of 250 Tickets and 5 Engaged Players over the course of a year to remain in the WPN. Tickets are all event entries across all your events. Engaged players are players who join six events per year in Standard, Draft, and Sealed.

2. What formats do Tickets and Engaged Players count?

Tickets counts all Magic play in your store. Standard, Draft, Commander, Modern—everything.

Engaged Players counts Standard, Booster Draft, and Sealed format events, both Casual and Tournaments. Between the two metrics, we can incentivize all Magic play, but keep the focus on current content.

3. What if my store meets one requirement but not the other?

We value both metrics for the continued success of Magic and meeting the minimum requirements for both is critical to remain in the WPN.

4. Where can I check my store metrics?

The weekly WPN Update email will include a section that has your store metrics. You should have this in your inbox now, and you'll see it once a week going forward (usually on Wednesdays).

5. I have multiple stores. How will I know each store's metrics?

Please contact a WPN representative to get that information.

6. Are delinquent events still factored in WPN metrics?

Reporting all your events is vital, since it's how you make sure you get credit for your Tickets and Engaged Players. That said, delinquent events will not be counted against you. And going forward, they will be canceled automatically after one week.

7. What's my store level now?

You don't have one. The old WPN level system (Core, Advanced, Advanced Plus) has been replaced with one that rewards stores with far greater precision.

All WPN stores will receive support based on the size of their community (as measured by Tickets and Engaged Players).

Promo Packs

8. What are the new promo packs?

Promo packs function just like promo cards, but with four cards in each pack. These packs are the prizes for any and all play (program-related or other) during a season. Stores are empowered to reward players whenever and however best builds their community of play.

At the beginning of each season, stores will be given a number of packs based on their community size.

One out of every four promo packs you receive will include all-foil contents. (You'll know the all-foil packs by their packaging.)

9. How should I give out the promo packs?

Promo packs are not tied to specific events or programs and can be rewarded at any event. We recommend saving promo packs for your programmed events in this way:

Draft Weekend—15% Friday Night Magic—30% (~3% per week) Magic Weekend—20% New Player Events and Prizes—10% (Bring-a-Friend Reward) Other Events—25%

If you run Magic events above and beyond those listed here, feel free to support those events with promo packs and adjust these percentages accordingly.

Premium, all-foil promo packs are suggested for 1st place prizes in tournaments as well as for events that cater to players that want to show off their decks, like Commander.

Also keep in mind that the quantity you receive is dependent on Tickets and Engaged Players. We also suggest supporting the events that are driving your business. However, ultimately you may use them at any Magic event.

10. Which events are the promo packs for?

Give out promo packs however will best grow your community.

11. What is in a promo pack?

Each pack will contain 4 cards:

Slot one is a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from the most recent set. Could be any rare or mythic rare.

Slot two is a promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from a short, curated list. These will be from Standard-legal sets, and they'll be hand-selected by Magic’s design studio. These lists will be public.

Slot three is a foil promo-stamped alternate art basic land.

Slot four is the promo slot. With each Standard-legal set there will be a selection of special, season-specific cards with special treatments such as alternate frames/alternate art promos.

12. Will the promo packs be localized?

Promo packs will be available in all languages in which Magic is printed, and foil promo packs will be available in Chinese Simplified, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

13. What's your recommendation for how many packs to hand out at different events (FNM, Magic Weekend, etc)?

We recommend saving promo packs for your programmed events in this way:

Draft Weekend—15% Friday Night Magic—30% (~3% per week) Magic Weekend—20% New Player Events and Prizes—10% (Bring-a-Friend Reward) Other Events—25%

If you run Magic events above and beyond those listed here, feel free to support those events with promo packs and adjust these percentages accordingly.

Premium promo packs are suggested for 1st place prizes in tournaments as well as for events that cater to players that want to show off their decks, like Commander.

14. What about stores that use all their promo packs in their first event?

Stores will be responsible for managing their promo pack quantities throughout each season.

15. Is there a maximum number of promo packs a store can receive, or does it increase indefinitely?

The current limit is 26 packs per week, but please keep in mind that less than 1% of the WPN currently qualifies for that many packs.

16. Will the leftover promo policy remain the same?

The leftover promo policy will remain the same. If you have leftover promo packs, you can use them during the current and following season(s).

17. How will Buy-a-Box promo card allocation be calculated?

Buy-a-Box promos will remain stand-alone cards and are based on the new metrics as well (Tickets and Engaged Players).

18. How many Prerelease events can stores run?

All stores can run nine traditional Prerelease events and two Prerelease Party events.

Prerelease and Prerelease Early Sale Promotion

19. How will I get Prerelease product orders now?

Beginning with Core Set 2020, you can schedule your events up to the day of the event. For Prerelease, you will still be contacted by your Preferred Distributor at the usual time to place your Prerelease order. You can change your Preferred Distributor by contacting your local support team.

20. Will you continue the Prerelease Early Sale Promotion?

Yes, we plan to continue the promotion.

21. How does this affect Prerelease allocations?

It doesn't. Your Prerelease allocation and corresponding prize support will be determined by your attendance at your two previous Prereleases, just as it was before.

22. How does this affect the Prerelease Early Sale Promotion?

The number of advance boxes you'll be able to order will continue to correspond to the number of Buy-a-Box promos you receive. Going forward, that number will be based on the updated metrics (Tickets and Engaged Players).

Stores will be able to order between 2–26 cases of product depending on community size (as measured by Tickets and Engaged Players).

WPN Premium

23. What is WPN Premium?

WPN Premium is a public recognition of the best stores in the world, and a way for Wizards to support them in a way that equals their contribution to the Magic community.

24. What do WPN Premium stores get?

Premium stores will get the same benefits as all WPN members, plus exclusive events, priority and recognition in our Event Locator, upgraded promo kits—including a Magic lighted sign for the inaugural class—as well as priority assistance from a dedicated support rep, and more.

25. What are the requirements for WPN Premium?

To qualify for consideration for WPN Premium, a store must meet the following criteria:

Meet all the requirements of the WPN Quality Checklist

3,000 Tickets

60 Engaged Players

20 Activated Players

Provide certain point-of-sale data (upon request)

Have at least six months of WPN membership

All metrics are considered on a rolling 12-month basis. If you're close to this threshold, you're still welcome to apply.

26. What are “Activated Players”?

Activated Players are new players that join six events in their first year of in-store play. So, kind of like new Engaged Players, but the events they join can be any format.

You'll see your Activated Player total each week in the WPN Update, along with your other stats. However, it's only relevant if you're interested in pursuing WPN Premium.

27. Once I qualify for WPN Premium, do I remain WPN Premium forever?

Annual reverification is required. If a store fails to uphold the quality or quantity requirements of the status, they may have their status revoked.

28. How do I apply to be a WPN Premium store?

You can apply here. Please have a video walkthrough of your store prepared, and allow up to two weeks for a response.

We believe Premium status is within reach of any WPN location. But the bar is high. If you believe you offer an experience that ranks among the best, apply.

Dungeons & Dragons

29. Is D&D play support going away?

Our D&D support is unaffected by these changes to the WPN.

We continue to encourage stores to schedule and report D&D play and run preview adventures when they are available. We'll continue to support D&D in stores with preview adventures, alternate art covers, and representation in the Event Locator.

30. Will D&D events count in a store’s metrics?

Since all promotional support is focused on Magic: The Gathering, we are only looking at Magic metrics to determine that support. There are no plans to include metrics for D&D events at this time.

31. What will happen to D&D-only stores?

These stores will remain in the WPN and continue to receive preview adventures, alternate art covers, and representation in the Event Locator.

32. Are they still in the WPN?

Yes.

By Jordan Comar