Between the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Pro Tour there's always a lull in the action as players break for lunch. In recent years, Wizards has taken advantage of this as a time to make exciting announcements about the future of organized play to make events bigger and better for Magic players and spectators of all kinds. Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar was no different, and Hélène Bergeot joined Marshal Sutcliffe at the news desk to share what 2016 has in store.

The first announcement was the cancellation of Grand Prix Buenos Aires, to be replaced by Grand Prix Costa Rica in San Jose on June 3–5, 2016.

The second announcement has to do with the Regional Pro Tour Qualifiers for Pro Tour Madrid on April 22–24 of 2016. This round of regional qualifiers will take place on February 20 and 27 of 2016 at the locations below, and will feature a number of exciting changes. First and foremost, last chance qualifiers will be added so that unqualified players can still road trip to the regional qualifier with their friends and battle for a chance to compete in the event itself. Additionally, there will be two Magic Online Regional PTQs coinciding with the live events, with participation capped at 212 players. Finally, there is a spectacular new promotional card for those who participate in Regional PTQs in 2016. Check out the new promo Snapcaster Mage!

Furthermore, there will be updates to both the Pro Player Club levels and the way that Pro Points are distributed at the Grand Prix and Pro Tour levels. Pro Tours will now award five Pro Points to players finishing with 29 or 28 match points. Similarly, Grand Prix will now award two Pro Points to players who finish with 33-35 match points and one Pro Point to players who finish with 30-32 match points. The changes in Pro Points at the Grand Prix level are retroactive to all Grand Prix since August 8th. The changes in availability of Pro Points also necessitates a change in the point thresholds for the Pro Player Club. In 2016, the point thresholds for Gold and Silver will be lowered with the goal of making these intermediate levels more attainable, while Platinum has been increased to ensure that this level is only reached by the most elite players in the world.

Perhaps the most exciting announcement was a reiteration of the changes to invitations to the World Championships for next year. Invitations will still be given out to the World Champion of the previous year, as well as each Pro Tour Champion and the Magic Online Championship Series winner, as well as the players in each global region who earned the most Pro Points during the previous season. However, this year there will be title invitations instead of invitations for at-large Pro Points. What are these titles? Take a look:

As a spectator of these events, these title invitations are something I am enormously excited for because of the stories that can come out of it. What decks does the Constructed Master bring to the table? What secret technology has the Draft Master brought to the table that other Pros missed out on? Can the Grand Prix Master hang with the best players on the Pro Tour? Of course, the most exciting thing to me is the addition of the Outstanding Hall of Famer slot. Anything that encourages the very best players in our game to continue pushing our players and community to grow and improve seems like an incredible change to me.

In light of all of these changes, one thing is certain. 2016 is going to be a spectacular year for Magic players and spectators alike. The events are bigger and better, the community is growing, the sets are spectacular, and things are only going to be getting better.