The Magic: The Gathering® Grand Prix tournament series is an international circuit of large-scale Qualifier tournaments featuring $30,000 in cash prizes, invitations to the Pro Tour™ for the top 16 finishers, and exclusive foil promo cards for participants.

Grand Prix—San Francisco is presented by Matchplay Events

Tournament Location

Parkside Hall
180 Park Ave.
San Jose, CA 95113

If you are flying in to the Grand Prix, it is recommended that you fly in to San Jose airport instead of San Francisco, as San Jose is much closer to the venue than SFO.

Tournament Schedule

Friday, August 24: Registration from 7:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M.
Saturday, August 25: Registration from 8:00 A.M – 10:00 A.M.
Tournament begins at 10:00 A.M. If less than 800 players participate in the event, the Top 64 players advance to competition on Sunday If 800 or more players participate, the top 128 advance to Sunday.
Sunday, August 26: The Top 64 (or 128) players begin play at 9:00 A.M.

Hotel

Crowne Plaza San Jose
282 Almaden Blvd.
San Jose, CA 95113

Entry Fee

$30

Format

• Time Spiral Block Constructed
• Deck lists are required
• Players must use the same deck on Day 2 that they used on Day 1

Tournament Length

• Swiss rounds - 50 minutes per round
• Number of Swiss rounds on Day 1 based on attendance and the number of byes in the tournament, and will be announced at the beginning of Day 1
• Day 2 will have 6 Swiss rounds followed by a cut to a top 8

Advancement

• All players may participate in all Swiss rounds of Day 1
• If the event has 799 participants or less, the Top 64 players advance to the second day of competition for prizes and invitations. If the event has 800 or more participants, the top 128 will advance to day 2.
• The top 8 players after the final Swiss round on Day 2 will advance to the top 8 single-elimination finals.

Top 8

• Top 8 matches will be best 2 of 3
• Top 8 matches will have no time limit
• Where necessary, the standings after the Swiss rounds will still be used to determine final order in the standings.

Judges

The Head Judge for Grand Prix–San Francisco will be John Carter.

If you wish to volunteer as a judge at Grand Prix–San Francisco, please contact Conan Blackwell at SFGrandPrix@gmail.com

Notes

• 40K, REL 4
• All Universal Tournament Rules and Magic: the Gathering Floor Rules are in effect for this event unless specifically overruled by information in this Format Document
• Players must bring pen, paper, card sleeves and appropriate counters.

Invitations, Eligibility, and Prize Money

The main tournament at Grand Prix–San Francisco is open to Magic players of all ages.

In the event that a player who wins an invitation to a Pro Tour stop at a Grand Prix has already qualified for an invitation, the invitation does not pass down under any circumstances. Previous qualification may be through a Qualifier tournament, through performance at a professional tournament, or by being an invited DCI™ player (valid upon the date of the official rank announcement for the appropriate professional tournament).

Prizes

• All participants in the Grand Prix will receive a Spiritmonger exclusive Grand Prix foil card, while supplies last
• The top 16 Players will receive invitations to Pro Tour-Valencia.
• Grand Prix–San Francisco will feature the standard "main-tournament" prize schedule as well as a special "Amateur" prize schedule. The Amateur prizes will be paid to the highest-finishing amateur players regardless of their standing in the Grand Prix. All prizes are in U.S. Dollars.

Main Tournament Prize Schedule

Amateur Division Prize Schedule

A player is considered to have amateur status if he or she has never participated in a Pro Tour or the World Championship. If a player has ever participated in one of these events, that player no longer has amateur status, may not participate in the Amateur Championship or Junior Super Series tournaments, and is not eligible for amateur awards at Grand Prix or other tournaments.

Tournament Byes (Byes are not cumulative throughout the season or year)

Byes will be given to players in the Grand Prix based on the following criteria:

Third-Round Byes

• Players with a Players Club level of 3 or higher
• DCI players with a Constructed rating of 2000 or higher. Byes do not pass down under any circumstances. Byes are based on the player's DCI Constructed rating on the Wednesday before the Grand Prix.
• Winners of Grand Prix–San Francisco Trials

Second-Round Byes

• Players with a Players Club level of 2
• DCI players with a Constructed rating of 1900 or higher. Byes do not pass down under any circumstances. Byes are based on the player's DCI Constructed rating on the Wednesday before the Grand Prix.

First-Round Byes

• Players with a Players Club level of 1
• DCI players with a Constructed rating of 1800 or higher. Byes do not pass down under any circumstances. Byes are based on the player's DCI Constructed rating on the Wednesday before the Grand Prix.

GRAND PRIX TRIAL
Friday, Date
4:00 – 8:00 PM
Cost: $15.00
Format: Time Spiral Block Constructed, 32 person single-elimination flights
Location: Parkside Hall
Prizes: Top player in each flight receives a Third-Round bye at the Grand Prix, Product Prizes

Other Grand Prix–San Francisco Trials will be run throughout North America in the weeks leading up to the Grand Prix. Each offers at least 1 Third-Round bye to Grand Prix–San Francisco.

ARTISTS
TBD

SIDE EVENTS
Side events at Grand Prix–San Francisco include a Pro Tour–ValenciaQualifier, plus many others.