New Invite Policy Changes Randy Buehler There are a number of improvements to the Invite Policy that governs the 2001-2002 Pro Tour season and I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight them. I'll also touch on a few of the changes that were effective with the 2000-2001 season, but haven't gained a lot attention yet. First of all, the new policy governs not only all the tournaments during the 2000-2001 season, but also qualifiers for tournaments during that year. So the new policy governs this summer's upcoming Team QTs (and GPs) for PT New York. A couple small modifications were made to the way Pro Points are awarded. The minimum per player at a Team Pro Tour is now 2 points (it used to be 1, but now we've synched it up so all PT appearances are worth a minimum of 2 PT Points). In addition, 2nd and 3rd - 4th at Team PTs are now worth 18 and 12 per player respectively (up from 12 and 10). Finally, (and this one was actually in the 2000-2001 policy and therefore applies this summer) participation in the team competition at Worlds is now worth PT points all the way down to 16th place. Speaking of the Worlds team competition, there are some other improvements worth talking about that were in the 2000-2001 policy and thus are in effect this summer. National teams are going to have 3 members now. The 4th place finisher at each Nationals still gets an invitation to Worlds, but he or she will be designated as an official "alternate" and his or her points won't affect the team's total unless one of the three team members drops out of Worlds for some reason. The team competition on Saturday (and the finals on Sunday) will use the Team Rochester Draft format (not sealed deck and Standard, as was used in previous years). Also, every team that attends Worlds will receive prize money of at least $1,000 per attending team member. Effective this spring/summer, all the major National Championship in the world will have prize money (in addition to the money available at Worlds). Effective with the 2000-2001 winner, the Rookie of the Year award now has a prize associated with it - airfare and hotel accommodations to one Pro Tour of the winner's choice in the following season. The 1700-flag award at Grand Prixs has been modified into a much easier to understand, much easier to calculate "Amateur Award." If you have zero lifetime Pro Tour Points, you are eligible for that money, which is still $7,500 spread among the Top 16 eligible players at each Grand Prix ($5K for team GPs). Ratings "flags" no longer affect eligibility for this money. Continentals is now a little easier to get into - the Top 8 otherwise uninvited from each Nationals will receive invites, instead of just the Top 8. The number of ratings-based invitations to various National Championship tournaments is now going to vary from country to country. The actual number will be either 10, 25, 50, or 75 depending on the size of the Magic-playing population in each country and these decisions will be made and announced by September 1, 2001. (This will start with 2002 Nationals.) The system for inviting teams to the Team Pro Tour has been clarified and cleaned up significantly. First of all, it will now take 50 PT Points in the Worlds 2001 Professional Standing for a team to earn an invitation on PT Points. Those teams will register as teams at player registration for the Pro Tour itself (no advance registration is necessary). Ratings-based invitations will be given to every team with a DCI 3-person Limited rating of 1700 or higher. When handing out invitations during the qualifier season, any team that already has 50 points accumulated toward the Worlds Professional Standing (including 2 points credit for each invitation of each team member to any intervening PTs) will be skipped over. In addition, any team that wishes to renounce its invitation may do so during the tournament where the invitation is earned (but at no other time). Masters Series Gateway tournaments will now have an eligibility requirement of 7 PT Points (starting at the New Orleans Masters Series event). Grand Prix Trials are now open to everyone, including players who already have 3 byes. If someone with 3 byes wins, the byes pass down to the highest finisher who didn't already have 3. Grand Prix bye-levels based on DCI rating are now the same in both Limited and Constructed, but they still vary by continent: Europe & North America APAC & Latin America 1 round bye 1800 1700 2 round bye 1900 1800 3 round bye 2000 1900 Grand Prix bye-levels based on PT Points are now: 1-round bye 7 2-round bye 14 3-round bye 28 There will be one day ("D-Day") before each qualifier season on which byes are awarded for the entire qualifier and Grand Prix season. This D-Day will be 6 weeks before the month in which the QT season starts. Players will have 2 weeks after the "D-Day"