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:
RankPro Points awarded atPro TourGrand Prix(individual)Grand Prix(teams)World Magic Cup1308682266573–4225465–8184—59–16———417–32———333+———2
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.
PointsPro Points awarded atPro TourGrand Prix(individual)Grand Prix(teams)39+154436–38153435122434112433102332812317123061128–294——0–273——
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.
Grand Prix
GP San Diego (8–9 August 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 1493 Michael Majors Artur Villela Paul Rietzl Paul Yeem Loren Eakins Corey Brukhart Ben Weitz Dan Ward
GP Detroit (15–16 August 2015) Format: Team Limited Attendance: 2040 (680 teams) 1. Matt Nass Jacob Wilson Sam Pardee 2. Ben Stark Luis Scott-Vargas Eric Froehlich 3. Owen Turtenwald William Jensen Reid Duke 4 Brock Parker Matt Costa Shahar Shenhar
GP Hong Kong (8–9 August 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 851 Chye Yian Hsiang Jan Ang Victoriano Lim Liu Yuchen Wu Songwei Cheung Lap Chung Yam Wing Chun Kwok Suen Wang
GP Prague (29–30 August 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 1464 Elliot Boussaud Peter Vieren Hannes Kerem Davor Detecnik Mattia Rizzi Oliver Polak-Rottman Steve Hatto Alex Hottman
GP London (15–16 August 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 2152 Fabrizio Anteri Matteo Moure Erik Skinstad Bill Chronopoulos Piotr Wald Marco Cammilluzzi Martin Juza Daniel Fior
GP Santiago (29–30 August 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 799 Rodrigo Lopez Tomoharu Saitou Jorge Guerra Martin Quiroga Esteban Truyol Christian Flores Claudio Barrientos Ochoa Alberto Sanchez
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
Top 4 playoff
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.
#PlayerPrizePro pointsQualified due to1 Seth Manfield$50,00017Most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified2 Owen Turtenwald$20,000114th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified3 Paul Rietzl$10,00092nd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified4 Sam Black$10,00093rd most Pro Points North America5 Magnus Lantto$5,00092014 Magic Online Champion6 Martin Müller$5,00082014 World Magic Cup winner7 Shaun McLaren$5,00083rd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified8 Thiago Saporito$5,00082nd Most Pro Point Latin America9 Ondřej Stráský$3,0008Most Pro Points Europe10 Yuuya Watanabe$3,00072nd Most Pro Points APAC region11 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa$3,0007Most Pro Points Latin America12 Jacob Wilson$3,00076th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified13 Joel Larsson$3,0007Pro Tour Magic Origins winner14 Alexander Hayne$3,00072014–15 Grand Prix Player of the Year15 Martin Dang$3,0006Pro Tour Dragons of Tarkir winner16 Steve Rubin$3,00065th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified17 Kentaro Yamamoto$2,00063rd Most Pro Points APAC region18 Mike Sigrist$2,00062014–15 Player of the Year19 Eric Froehlich$2,00062nd Most Pro Points North America20 Lee Shi Tian$2,0006Most Pro Points APAC region21 Brad Nelson$2,00054th most Pro Points North America22 Antonio del Moral Leon$2,0005Pro Tour Fate Reforged winner23 Shahar Shenhar$2,00042014 World Champion24 Ari Lax$2,0002Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir winner
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Seth Manfield212 Owen Turtenwald16 Jacob Wilson4 Paul Rietzl135 Ondřej Stráský12
Grand Prix
GP Madrid (12–13 September 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 1420 Aleksa Telarov Francesco Giorgio Ashraf Abou Omar Michael Bonde Fabrizio Anteri Wenzel Krautmann Sergiy Sushalskyy Antonio Del Moral León
GP Sydney (10–11 October 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 996 John Seaton Alex Ball Kelvin Chew Prads Pathirana Hironobu Sugaya Zen Takahashi Paul Costentin Chester Swords
GP Oklahoma City (12–13 September 2015) Format: Modern Attendance: 1470 Zac Elsik Brian Braun-Duin Andrew Sullano Joseph Reiter Jasper Johnson-Epstein Benjamin Miller Paul Rietzl Matthew Duggan
GP Madison (10–11 October 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 1820 Raphaël Lévy Magnus Lantto Jon Graham Joe Lavrenz Paul Rietzl Andrew Maine Samuel Pardee Jérémy Dezani
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)
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Kaziyuki Takimura$40,000302 Ryoichi Tamada$20,000263 Jon Finkel$12,5002215th final day4 Paul Dean$12,500225 Owen Turtenwald$10,000183rd final day6 Ricky Chin$10,00018Pro Tour debut7 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa$10,0001810th final day8 Martin Müller$10,00018
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Owen Turtenwald392 Seth Manfield323 Kazuyuki Takimura30 Paul Rietzl5 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa29Source:
Grand Prix
GP Quebec City (24–25 October 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 804 Dan Lanthier Omar Beldon Jake Mondello Oliver Polak-Rottmann Reid Duke Edgar Magelhaes Pascal Maynard Nicolas Béland
GP Beijing (24–25 October 2015) Format: Team Limited Attendance: 813 (271 teams) 1. Craig Wescoe Richard Hoaen Mike Hron 2. Yuuya Watanabe Makihito Mihara Yuuki Ichikawa 3. Liu Yuchen He Yue Zhang Zhiyang 4. Shintaro Ishimura Yoshihiko Ikawa Kazuyuki Takimura
GP Indianapolis (31 October–1 November 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 1103 Brent Clawson Raymond Perez Jr. Scott Kirkwood Daniel Chan David Phelps Patrick Chapin Valentin Mackl Daniel Duan
GP Lyon (31 October–1 November 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 1952 Damien Bouillot Christian Seibold Tomoharu Saitou Vincent Lemoine Branco Neirynck Florian Reiter Mark Litvak Felix Weidemann
GP Atlanta (14–15 November 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 2073 Tom Martell Owen Turtenwald Dan Musser Aryeh Wiznitzer Evan Smith Brian Eason Samuel Black Joseph Pressley
GP Pittsburgh (21–22 November 2015) Format: Modern Attendance: 2679 Alex Bianchi Aaron Webster Robert Cucunato Craig Wescoe Corey Burkhart Robert Long Thien Nguyen Benjamin Nikolich
GP Porto Alegre (31 October–1 November 2015) Format: Modern Attendance: 789 Marcos Paulo De Jesus Freitas Vagner Casatti Caio Amaral Alejandro Cesa Thiago Saporito Gabriel Fehr Guilherme Merjam Diego Marquez
GP Brussels (14–15 November 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 1938 Lukas Blohon Simon Nielsen Antonio Castellani Martin Müller Magnus Lantto Grzegorz Kowalski Bart Van Etten Ondřej Stráský
GP Seattle-Tacoma (7–8 November 2015) Format: Legacy Attendance: 2014 Jarvis Yu Christian Calcano Brian DeMars Chase Hansen Andrejs Prost Gary Wong Martin Goldman-Kirst Xin Sui
GP Kobe (21–22 November 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 2571 Takuma Morofuji Joe Soh Akio Chiba Shota Takao Pavel Matousek Shunsuke Takahira Akihiro Okawa Shuhei Nakamura
World Magic Cup Barcelona (11–13 December 2015) Prize pool: $250,000 Format: Team Constructed, Team Limited
Top 8
Final standings
PlaceCountryPlayerPrizePro Points1 ItalyMarco Cammilluzzi$12,0008William PizziFrancesco BiferoAndrea Mengucci2 ThailandVeerapat Sirilertvorakul$6,5007Aekarash SorakupSuttipong PopitukgulChom Pasidparchya3 FrancePierre Dagen$4,0006Hichem TedjditiFathi Ben AribiArnaud Soumet4 AustriaValentin Mackl$4,0006Nikolaus EignerChristoph AukenthalerSebastian Fiala-Ibitz
PlaceCountryPlayerPrizePro Points5 DenmarkMartin Dang$2,0005Christoffer LarsenDaniel LindMartin Müller6 GuatemalaChristopher Virula$2,0005Fernando José Juárez OlivaJosé AndrésWilfredo Bojorquez7 ScotlandStephen Murray$2,0005Ray DoyleGrant HislopMartin Clement8 JapanYuuya Watanabe$2,0005Kenji TsumuraRyoichi TamadaSoyo You
Grand Prix
GP Oakland (9–10 January 2016) Format: Standard Attendance: 1928 Reid Duke Ben Rubin Woodrow Engle Cody Lingelbach Josh McClain Justin Nguyen Brett Sinclair Nathaniel Smith
GP Mexico City (30–31 January 2016) Format: Limited Attendance: 787 Fabrizio Anteri Tomoharu Saitou Rodrigo Goncalves Dos Santos Cristian Velasco Martin Dang Leonardo Ivan Ruiz Rivera Robert Wallerstein Marcio Carvalho
GP Vancouver (30–31 January 2016) Format: Limited Attendance: 1929 Adam Jansen Jérémy Dezani Nick Slind Gabriel Carlton-Barnes Allen Sun Aeo Paquette Chris Hewitt Eric Severson
GP Nagoya (30–31 January 2016) Format: Limited Attendance: 2565 Tomonori Hirami Ryota Takeuchi Ikuya Asai Fujimura Kazuaki Park Jun-young Shawn McNeace Sean Li Satoshi Haji
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)
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Jiachen Tao$40,000302 Ivan Floch$20,000263rd final day3 Luis Scott-Vargas$12,500226th final day4 Patrick Dickmann$12,500222nd final day5 Shuhei Nakamura$10,000186th final day6 Andrew Brown$10,000187 Pascal Maynard$10,000188 Frank Lepore$10,00018Pro Tour debut
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.
RankPlayerPro Points1 Owen Turtenwald572 Martin Müller46 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa4 Seth Manfield455 Reid Duke43 Fabrizio Anteri
Grand Prix
GP Houston (27–28 February 2016) Format: Standard Attendance: 1851 Owen Turtenwald Andrew Cuneo Mark Jacobson Brock Mosley Cody Lingelbach Brock Parker Chapman Sim Amir Radmard
GP Melbourne (5–6 March 2016) Format: Modern Attendance: 1105 David Mines Maitland Cameron Yuuki Ichikawa Louis Thomson-Gregg Chris Cousens Kentaro Yamamoto Lee Shi Tian Jason Chung
GP Detroit (5–6 March 2016) Format: Modern Attendance: 2553 Ralph Betesh Evan Buchholz Eric English Huang Hao-shan Gerry Thompson Eduardo Sajgalik James Zornes Ronnie Ritner
GP Washington, D.C. (12–13 March 2016) Format: Team Limited Attendance: 3366 (1122 teams) 1. Justin Cohen Matt Severa Mike Hron 2. Richard Hoaen Tom Martell Ian Spaulding 3. Owen Turtenwald William Jensen Reid Duke 4. Matthew Nass Jacob Wilson Sam Pardee
GP Bologna (5–6 March 2016) Format: Modern Attendance: 2181 Kayure Patel Alberto Mattioli Giuseppe Reale Ruben Perez Fabrizio Anteri Jaroslav Boucek Mattia Rizzi Alessandro Lippi
GP Paris (19–20 March 2016) Format: Standard