The Magic: The Gathering World Championship is an invitation-only tournament. To be eligible to receive an invitation to participate in the Magic: The Gathering World Championship, you must meet the following criteria:

The 2016 Magic: The Gathering World Championship invitation list consists of the following players:

• The winners of the four (4) Pro Tour events in the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season.
• The 2015 Magic: The Gathering World Championship winner.
• The 2015 Magic Online Champion.
• The 2015-2016 Player of the Year.
• The player with the greatest number of Professional Points in the 2015-2016 Professional Points Standing (minus the number of Professional Points earned at the 2015 Magic: The Gathering World Championship) at the conclusion of the second Pro Tour of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season. If two or more players have the same Professional Points total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Pro Tour* Top 8 finishes immediately following second Pro Tour event of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) immediately following second Pro Tour event of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best Pro Tour* finish immediately following second Pro Tour event of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best individual-format Grand Prix finish immediately following second Pro Tour event of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season.
• The top 4 ranked players from the North America geo-region, the top 3 ranked players from the Europe geo-region, the top 3 ranked players from the Asia Pacific geo-region, and the top 2 ranked players from the Latin America geo- region in the 2015-2016 Professional Points Standing at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season. If two or more players have the same Professional Points total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Pro Tour* Top 8 finishes during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best Pro Tour* finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best individual-format Grand Prix finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Planeswalker Points 2016 Yearly Award Season.
• The player with the greatest number of Professional Points earned exclusively from Grand Prix during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season. If two or more players have the same point total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix 1st place finishes during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest ranking at the conclusion of the worldwide 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Planeswalker Points 2016 Yearly Award Season.
• The member of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame with the highest ranking at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season. If two or more players have the same Professional Points total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Pro Tour* Top 8 finishes during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best Pro Tour* finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best individual-format Grand Prix finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Planeswalker Points 2016 Yearly Award Season.
• The player with the greatest number of match points earned in Constructed- format, Swiss matches exclusively from Pro Tour events during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season. If two or more players have the same point total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Professional Points at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Pro Tour* Top 8 finishes during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best Pro Tour* finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best individual-format Grand Prix finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Planeswalker Points 2016 Yearly Award Season.
• The player with the greatest number of match points earned in Draft-format, Swiss matches exclusively from Pro Tour events during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season. If two or more players have the same point total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Professional Points at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Pro Tour* Top 8 finishes during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best Pro Tour* finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best individual-format Grand Prix finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Planeswalker Points 2016 Yearly Award Season.

Note: If a player is invited based on two or more of the above criteria, invitations do not pass down to the next highest finisher for each criterion. For each invitation criterion that a player achieves beyond the first, another “At-Large” invitation will be added (see below)

• The top ranked players at the conclusion of the worldwide 2015-2016 Professional Points Season that are not yet invited based on the above criteria sufficient to bring the total number of invited players to the 2016 Magic: The Gathering World Championship to 24. These invitations are referred to as “At- Large” invitations. If two or more players have the same Professional Points total, the tie will be broken as follows:
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Pro Tour* Top 8 finishes during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (Top 4 finishes from Team-format Grand Prix) during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best Pro Tour* finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the greatest number of match points in his or her best individual-format Grand Prix finish during the 2015-2016 Professional Points Season, or
  • The tied player with the highest point total at the conclusion of the Planeswalker Points 2016 Yearly Award Season.

*Note: The Magic: The Gathering World Championship and the World Magic Cup are not Pro Tour events.

A list of countries that constitute each geo-region can be found in Appendix A.