Las Vegas is the scene, MagicCon is the party, Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ the event. Together, they form an exquisite triangle of entertainment. It's the second Pro Tour of the year, and it's shaping up to be an exciting showdown of Magic's best.
What Is the Pro Tour?
The Pro Tour is the culmination of many paths—all competitive—to one of Magic's most prestigious tournaments, with $500,000 in prize money (and a trophy), invitations, and points to qualify for the annual Magic World Championship all up for grabs.
Nearly 350 competitors—from Regional Championship events, top finishers at previous Pro Tours, MTG Arena, Magic Online Premier Play, and more—have invitations to play in Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. The invitation list is available online (and subject to change).
Competitors who finish Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY with thirty (30) or more match points will be invited to Pro Tour Edge of Eternities at MagicCon: Atlanta.
All players compete for their share of $500,000 in prizes, with the Pro Tour Champion winning $50,000. All competitors will receive at least $500 regardless of the final placing.
Where and When Can I Watch the Pro Tour?
We'll be streaming all three days of Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, running from June 20–22, at MagicCon: Las Vegas. You can follow along over on the official Magic: The Gathering YouTube channel or twitch.tv/magic.
On Friday and Saturday—June 20 and 21—the broadcast begins at 11 a.m. PT (1 p.m. CT/3 a.m. JST, June 21 and 22) with three rounds of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Draft followed by five rounds of Standard Constructed.
On Sunday, June 22, for the Top 8 playoff, the broadcast begins at 10 a.m. PT (12 p.m. CEST/2 a.m. JST, June 23) with all four quarterfinal matches, followed by semifinals matches then the finals of Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY.
On Friday and Saturday, the broadcast begins later in the day at 11 a.m. PT with a featured drafter to follow into their Round 1 gameplay. As we continue the Pro Tour broadcast, we'll catch up to the tournament, showing a full feature match from every round and reducing downtime until we're pacing live gameplay on a short delay.
The Sunday Top 8 playoff broadcast begins at 10 a.m. PT, showing a full quarterfinal match and then as many games from other quarterfinal matches as possible, moving on to a full semifinal match (and as much of the remaining semifinals match) then the complete finals.
Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY
The season kicked off in September with Matt Nass claiming victory at Pro Tour Aetherdrift. Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY, which runs from the June 20–22, is the second Pro Tour of the season. The final Pro Tour will be Pro Tour Edge of Eternities at MagicCon: Atlanta this September. That sets the stage for Magic World Championship 31 from December 5–7, 2025.
Day One and Day Two: Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Draft and Standard Constructed
This event will have the same structure as Pro Tour Aetherdrift. Roughly 330 players will start on Friday morning by drafting Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY. They'll play all three rounds with the same players from their draft group, playing each round matched against a player with the same record. For example, the two undefeated 2-0 players in Round 3 will face off to claim victory for that table of eight drafters or the "Draft Trophy" for those digitally inclined.
Regardless of record, everyone gets to unveil their Standard deck for five more rounds on Day One. Their first goal will be to reach four wins, because that's the gateway to Day Two, where the formula is repeated—three more rounds of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Draft in the morning, then five rounds of Standard in the afternoon. There's a lot to at stake on Day Two—personal milestones, a winning record, qualifications for the next Pro Tour, and spots at the World Championships. But the main goal is to reach the Top 8 to play on Sunday.
Day Three: Standard Constructed Top 8
For those who make it to the Top 8, it's single elimination all the way. Matches are longer—these are Best-of-Five games—with sideboarding commencing after two games. With Standard Constructed as the Sunday format, matchups can change the tide of the event. Each player could face a succession of winnable games or a murderer's row of tough matchups. Once there, two players will face off, with the winner claiming $50,000, the trophy, and a Pro Tour Champion title that stretches back almost 30 years.
Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Draft Overview
Players had their first chance to experience this set during last weekend's Prerelease events, and our Pro Tour competitors are already hard at work studying the key cards of the Limited environment. As with most sets that are legal in all formats, Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY has ten two-color archetypes, which you can see here.
The Saga of Standard
The 60-card Standard format takes center stage during the afternoon, where the Pro Tour has historically showcased shifts in the metagame. Over the years, many players have taken their cue from these events to define Standard for the coming months, so it will be interesting to see if that holds true this time around. Because, of course, when it comes to demonstrating their prowess, that's precisely what tournament winners have been doing in droves lately—showing off their Izzet Prowess decks. If you've been in the Standard trenches lately, names like
What will Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY's injection into Standard do to the winning formula? What cards will revolutionize the format, and what old favorites will resurface? Will
Casting Spells with the Casting Team
We've assembled a powerhouse party of casters for this event. They'll be providing you with exciting coverage all weekend long. Maria Bartholdi anchors the news desk as usual, alongside the double act of Eilidh Lonie and Corey Baumeister. Over in the commentary booth, Marshall Sutcliffe and Paul Cheon will kick us off each day with our featured drafters, while Cedric Phillips and Mani Davoudi unpack the intricacies of new Standard. And if you can't get to a device to watch all the action live, you can read along right here on Magic.gg with Corbin Hosler and Meghan Wolff.
The Power Players of the Pro Tour
Who will Marshall and Paul be talking about on Sunday afternoon as they watch the Top 8 unfold? As usual, playtesting teams will be a big part of the developing story of the weekend. We'll be keeping our eyes on Handshake Moxfield, ChannelFireball Ultimate Guard, Moriyama Japan, Sanctum of All, and the three "Heavy Play" teams—Worldly Counsel, Cosmos, and Rampant Growth. Team NRG, who put two players into the Top 8 in Chicago, split ahead of Vegas, with Zevin Faust moving to Handshake Moxfield and Ian Robb sticking with former NRG teammates in the restyled Flexslot Diamond. It's a new name, but with plenty of familiar faces, including Robb, Corey Burkhart, and Mark Jacobson, we might be hearing a lot from the 'slot.