The 2014–15 Pro Tour season was the twentieth season of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour. It started on 9 August 2014 with Grand Prix Portland and Utrecht and ended on 2 August 2015 with the conclusion of Pro Tour Vancouver. The season consisted of 51 Grand Prix and four Pro Tours, located in Honolulu, Washington, D.C., Brussels, and Vancouver.
Mode
Four Pro Tours and 51 Grands Prix were in the 2014–15 season. These are the events that award 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 20 (Silver level), 35 (Gold), and 46 points (Platinum), however only the six best Grand Prix results were counted towards seasonal point (the newly introduced "Grand Prix" invitation spot in Magic: The Gathering World Championship, however, will count every event in the season). Pro Club Levels came 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 were 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. Sixteen 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+154436–381534351214341114331013328—2317—2306—128–294——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.
On 31 October 2014, Wizards of the Coast revised the pro point structure and retroactively applied the changes to all events in the current season. On 2 April 2015, they further revised the threshold of Pro Players Club level, lowering the threshold required for Platinum status from 48 to 46.
On 24 April 2014, ChannelFireball, the organizer of Grand Prix Las Vegas, announced the number of pre-registered players in that Grand Prix had exceeds the 5000 threshold, and the Grand Prix main event would be split into two independent Grand Prix main events sharing same venue. Making the total number of Grand Prix in this season to 52 instead of original 51.
Grand Prix
GP Portland (9–10 August 2014) Format: Team Limited Attendance: 1947 (649 teams) 1. Reid Duke Owen Turtenwald William Jensen 2. Eric Severson Benjamin Weitz Josiah Skallerup 3. Matt Katz Ben Yu Jameson Painter 4 Eric Froehlich Luis Scott-Vargas Paul Cheon
GP Utrecht (9–10 August 2014) Format: Standard Attendance: 1518 Oliver Polak-Rottmann Eliott Boussaud Richard Webels Susanne Bornelöv Ciprian Catană Alex Stok Armel Primot Christoffer Enggaard Larsen
GP Kobe (23–24 August 2014) Format: Modern Attendance: 2299 Teruya Kakumae Yuusei Gotou Shohei Mita Yuuki Akaboshi Ken Sawada Bo Sun Yuuki Ichikawa Takuya Yamada
GP Sydney (23–24 August 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 813 Paul Jackson James Zhang Matthew Griffin Maitland Cameron Chris Sparks Tomoharu Saito Park Jun Young Don van Ravenzwaaij
GP Shanghai (4–5 October 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 1287 Yu Yin Xu Su Tamada Ryoichi Han Bing Zhang Meng Qiu Liu Yuchen Oh Joo-hyun Shuhei Nakamura
GP Salt Lake City (6–7 September 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 878 Brandon Nelson Sammy Batarseh Chris Woodall Eric Froehlich Paul Rietzl Jamie Parke Nathan Holiday Shady Badran
GP Orlando (4–5 October 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 2277 Eugene Hwang Melissa DeTora Sol Malka Artur Villela Pierre Mondon Harry Corvese Ian Farnung Frank Lepore
Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir Honolulu (10–12 October 2014) Prize pool: $250,000 Format: Standard, Booster Draft (Khans of Tarkir-Khans of Tarkir-Khans of Tarkir) Attendance: 357
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Ari Lax$40,000302 Shaun McLaren$20,000262nd final day3 Thiago Saporito$12,500224 Mike Sigrist$12,500225 Ivan Floch$10,000182nd final day6 Ondřej Stráský$10,000187 Yuuya Watanabe$10,000183rd final day8 Lee Shi Tian$10,000183rd final day
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Ari Lax342 Shaun McLaren293 Thiago Saporito254 Mike Sigrist225 Owen Turtenwald21
Grand Prix
GP Los Angeles (18–19 October 2014) Format: Standard Attendance: 1766 Daniel Scheid Denis Ulanov Eric Pei Carlo Falcis Ryoichi Tamada Brad Nelson Isaac Sears Christopher Goldsmith
GP Stockholm (25–26 October 2014) Format: Standard Attendance: 1043 Matej Zatlkaj Einar Baldvinsson Thiago Rodrigues Lukas Blohon Giovanni Rosi Matteo Cirigliano Christian Seibold Alexander Pasgaard
GP Nashville (1–2 November 2014) Format: Team Limited Attendance: 1392 (464 teams) 1. Matt Nass Jacob Wilson Jesse Hampton 2. Tom Martell Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa Shahar Shenhar 3. David Sharfman Orrin Beasley Pat Cox 4. Sam Black Matt Severa Gaudenis Vidugiris
GP Santiago (1–2 November 2014) Format: Standard Attendance: 660 Eduardo dos Santos Vieira Rodrigo Soto Nicolas de Nicola Daniel Gaete Quezada Willy Edel Pedro Carvalho Fernando Barros David Sologuren
GP Ottawa (22–23 November 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 1353 Seth Manfield Neal Oliver Lucas Siow Xavier Allegrucci Shahar Shenhar Sam Black Pascal Maynard Jessica Buchanan
GP Madrid (15–16 November 2014) Format: Modern Attendance: 1900 Immanuel Gerschenson Till Riffert Ricardo van den Bogaard Jose Rodriguez Pozo Marcio Carvalho Kevin Grove Andrew Devine Steffen van de Veen
GP Strasbourg (29–30 November 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 1996 Tamás Nagy Pierre Dagen Martin Jůza Kentarou Yamamoto Oleg Plisov Max Pritsch Daan Pruijt Kees Van Montfoort
GP New Jersey (15–16 November 2014) Format: Legacy Attendance: 4003 Brian Braun-Duin Tom Ross Royce Walter Philipp Schonegger Phillip Braverman Daniel Jordan Joseph Santomassino Lam Phan
GP San Antonio (29–30 November 2014) Format: Standard Attendance: 1182 Ryan Scullin Orry Swift Jeremy Frye Albert Ake Angel Solache Larry Li Randall Gay Gareth Aye
Magic: The Gathering World Championship Nice (2–7 December 2014) Prize pool: $150,000 Format: Vintage Masters Booster Draft, Standard, Khans of Tarkir Booster Draft, Modern Vintage Masters "packs" will be generated by Magic Online exclusively for event's use. Attendance: 24
Top 4 playoff
Final standings
The following twenty-four players received an invitation to the 2014 World Championship due to their performance in the 2013–14 season. They are ordered according to the final standings of the event.
#PlayerPrizePro pointsQualified due to1 Shahar Shenhar$50,000132013 World Champion2 Patrick Chapin$20,00012Pro Tour Journey into Nyx winner3 Yuuya Watanabe$10,00010Pro Point leader Japan4 Kentarou Yamamoto$10,00098th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified5 Shaun McLaren$5,0009Pro Tour Born of the Gods winner6 Yuuki Ichikawa$5,0008Pro Point runner-up Japan7 Ivan Floch$5,0008Pro Tour Magic 2015 winner8 William Jensen$5,0008Most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified9 Sam Black$3,00086th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified10 Lars Dam$3,00072013 Magic Online Champion11 Josh Utter-Leyton$3,00073rd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified12 Paul Rietzl$3,00075th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified13 Owen Turtenwald$3,0007Pro Point leader North America14 Reid Duke$3,0007Pro Point runner-up North America15 Stanislav Cifka$3,00062nd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified16 Tom Martell$3,00064th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified17 Raphaël Lévy$2,00062013 World Magic Cup winner18 Jérémy Dezani$2,00062013–14 Player of the Year19 Jacob Wilson$2,00067th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified20 Willy Edel$2,0005Pro Point leader Latin America21 Nam Sung-Wook$2,0005Pro Point runner-up APAC region22 Raymond Perez Jr.$2,00052013–14 Rookie of the Year23 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa$2,0004Pro Point runner-up Latin America24 Lee Shi Tian$2,0004Pro Point leader APAC region
World Magic Cup Nice (5–7 December 2014) Prize pool: $250,000 Format: Team Constructed, Team Limited Attendance: 72 teams
Top 8
Final standings
PlaceCountryPlayerPrizePro Points1 DenmarkMartin Müller$12,0008Simon NielsenThomas EnevoldsenLars Birch2 GreeceMarios Angelopoulos$6,5007Bill ChronopoulosPanagiotis SavvidisSocrates Rozakeas3 EnglandFabrizio Anteri$4,0006David InglisFrancesco GiorgioRiccardo Reale4 United StatesOwen Turtenwald$4,0006Isaac SearsAndrew BaeckstromNeal Oliver
PlaceCountryPlayerPrizePro Points5 South KoreaNam Sung-wook$2,0005Oh Joon-hyunCho Jeong-wooKim Sang-eun6 SerbiaAleksa Telarov$2,0005Miodrag KitanovicBoris BajgoMilos Stajic7 SlovakiaIvan Floch$2,0005Jan TomcaniMichal GuldanMatej Zatlkaj8 BrazilWilly Edel$2,0005Gabriel FehrThiago SaporitoMatheus Rosseto
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Shaun McLaren402 Owen Turtenwald393 Ari Lax38 Ivan Floch5 Shahar Shenhar36
Grand Prix
GP Baltimore (13–14 December 2014) Format: Limited Attendance: 1235 Gerard Fabiano David Foster Harry Bradford Ben Stark Chris Fennell Craig Wescoe Timothy Wu Josh Utter-Leyton
GP Manila (3–4 January 2015) Format: Standard Attendance:1410 Joseph Sclauzero Kuo Tzu-Ching Lee Shi Tian Makihito Mihara Won Dae-hoon Christian Calcano Martin Jůza Arnulfo Taghoy, Jr.
GP Mexico City (31 January–1 February 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 641 Pascal Maynard Mario Flores Chapman Sim Andreas Canavati Axel Martinez Juan Carlos Botis Martin Jůza Eduardo dos Santos Viera
GP Milan (13–14 December 2014) Format: Modern Attendance: 1760 Magnus Lantto Niccolo Belini Piotr Glogowski Louis Deltour Miguel Gatica Eduardo Sajgalik Lucantonio Salvidio Dario Parazzoli
GP Omaha (10–11 January 2015) Format: Modern Attendance: 1168 Erik Peter Stephen Speck Pascal Maynard Jonathan Paton Zac Roorda Scott Lipp Andrew Elenbogen Stephen Berrios
GP San Jose (31 January–1 February 2015) Format: Team Limited Attendance: 1968 (656 teams) 1. Eric Froehlich Luis Scott-Vargas Paul Cheon 2. Matthew Sperling David Williams Paul Rietzl 3. Ari Lax Chris Fennell Craig Wescoe 4. Robert Smith Sean Gifford Tyler Blum
GP Denver (3–4 January 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 1536 Andrew Brown Matthew Sperling Sam Pardee Valentin Mackl Edward Nguyen William Jensen Paul Cheon Lukas Parsons
GP Shizuoka (10–11 January 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 2236 Akito Shinoda Bo Sun Chihiro Kawada Yuuki Ichikawa Yuki Matsumoto Satoshi Yamaguchi Junichi Yabuta Shinji Nakano
Pro Tour Fate Reforged Washington, D.C. (6–8 February 2015) Prize pool: $250,000 Format: Modern, Booster Draft Attendance: 407
Top 8
Final standings
PlacePlayerPrizePro PointsComment1 Antonio Del Moral Leon$40,000301st Spanish player to win a Pro Tour2 Justin Cohen$20,00026Pro Tour debut3 Jelger Wiegersma$12,500225th final day4 Jesse Hampton$12,500222nd final day5 Eric Froehlich$10,000184th final day6 Seth Manfield$10,000187 Jacob Wilson$10,000182nd final day8 Lee Shi Tian$10,000184th final day
Pro Player of the year standings
RankPlayerPro Points1 Lee Shi Tian532 Eric Froehlich503 Owen Turtenwald494 Ari Lax485 Shahar Shenhar45
Grand Prix
GP Seville (14–15 February 2015) Format: Standard Attendance: 799 Immanuel Gerschenson Pierre Sommen Carlos Ballester Garcia Nicholas Merrien Martin Jůza Marcio Carvalho Marcos Cordero Valle Alexandre Habert
GP Liverpool (7–8 March 2015) Format: Limited Attendance: 1797 Martin Dang Nikolas Labahn Lukas Blohon Marcio Carvalho Andreas Jonsson Kenneth Ellingsen Daniel Oppliger Timothée Simonot