The Players Tour (PT) is a competitive international league for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game, culminating in the World Championship. It consists of a series of tournaments held throughout the world, each requiring an invitation to participate. The Players Tour permanently replaced the Pro Tour in the 2020 season. Every PT awards a total of $250,000 in cash prizes, with $50,000 going to the winner. The Players Tour is split into three regions: Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Each region hosts three events, resulting in nine Players Tour events per season. History The first major Magic: The Gathering tournament was the 1994 World Championship held at Gen Con '94. It was a single-elimination 512-person Constructed event run over three days of competition. The winner, Zak Dolan, received a trophy, a number of booster packs from expansions ranging from Arabian Nights to Ice Age, a deck of Magic: The Gathering poker cards, and a T-shirt. Another World Championship was organized in 1995. In 1995, Brand Manager Skaff Elias suggested that organized play needed to be expanded. He worked to create a yearly tournament structure to allow players a chance to compete for cash prizes. Pro Tour The Pro Tour debuted in 1996 under the name The Black Lotus Pro Tour, featuring events only in the United States. A tournament was held in New York on February 16–18, 1996. The series included three more Pro Tour events, culminating in the final Pro Tour, the World Championship, held in Seattle. After this first season, Pro Tour events began to be held in Europe and Asia. In the following years Pro Tour seasons (one year each from August to August the next year) always consisted of five and later six Pro Tours. From 2003 to 2005 Wizards of the Coast made an effort to bring the Pro Tour seasons in accordance with the calendar year. This resulted in the '03-'04 and '04-'05 seasons being composed of seven Pro Tour events. The 2006 and subsequent Pro Tour seasons were reduced to five and later four Pro Tours per year. In 2012, the season schedule was again adjusted, now starting and ending in May. Additionally, the World Championship lost its status as a Pro Tour event, resulting in three Pro Tours to be held each season. In 2014, the amount of Pro Tours went back up to four a season. Cash prize pools gradually increased