Magic Online is not without its flaws, which we’ve written about extensively in the past. However, it’s still here and it’s certainly made vast improvements over the past year or two. Of course, the interface is still antiquated and it doesn’t run on Mac OS but that doesn’t stop thousands of Magic players from logging in and trying to qualify for Pro Tour Amonkhet.
There are three paths that bring players to the Pro Tour from the relative anonymity of the digital version of Magic. They are the Magic Online Championship Series (MOCS), the Magic Online PTQ, and the Magic Online RPTQ.
Similar to the live and in-person PTQ systems we highlighted yesterday, the difficulty of qualifying for the Pro Tour through these events should not be underestimated. For example, online RPTQ’s offer an alternative for players who can’t attend an in-person RPTQ, but that makes the competition even harder as top players from around the world will be participating.
The MOCS requires players to have extremely high dedication to come up with the requisite number of qualifier points to earn invitations to a Monthly Event. You’d have to win a league competition every other day, on average, if you wanted to compete in every Month’s event. Even then, you need to win six of eight swiss rounds against the rest of the tough competition online to qualify for one of the quarterly Playoff Events.
The top two finishers of the Playoff Event earn invitations to the Pro Tour. That is not an easy route to go by. If you’d rather spike an individual tournament (meaning spend all day playing an event open to the public and hope to come out on top) you can try MOCS Opens which award a Pro Tour invitation to the winner. Good luck!
Last but not lease are Magic Online’s PTQs which are as grueling as any other event we’ve talked about that has the words “Pro Tour” and “Qualifier” in the same sentence. First you have to play in a Constructed or Limited Preliminary event which seven and nine times each week, respectively. Win four of five swiss matches in one of those events and you’re off to a PTQ Finals event which will be swiss with a top 8. Win it and you’re invited to the Pro Tour.
Player Focus: Brandon Burton
I’m not going to try to tell you the story of Brandon Burton. Instead, you should read this amazing piece of journalism that Corbin Hosler wrote back in 2015 when Burton competed at Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar. Burton is better known as sandydogmtg on Magic Online and for Pro Tour Amonkhet he won an MOCS Open and a PTQ Final. Not too shabby. In fact, no other invitee to Pro Tour Amonkhet can claim both accolades.
Last year Burton won Grand Prix Indianapolis. After Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar, Brandon has also been invited to Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch and Pro Tour Kaladesh. Now, the Silver Club pro player will work to secure his place at Pro Tours to come with a strong performance in Nashville.