History
The first World Championship was held in 1994 at the Gen Con fair in Milwaukee. Despite the name the tournament varied considerably from later Worlds. The tournament was open to all competitors, its mode was single-elimination, and it featured just one format, Type I (now Vintage). Starting with the 1995 Worlds all subsequent Worlds were open to invited players only.
With the introduction of the Pro Tour in 1996 the World Championship became the final stop of each Pro Tour season. As the final event to award Pro points every season, Worlds also since hosts the Pro Player of the Year award ceremony. Traditionally held in August, Worlds was moved to the end of the year between 2004 and 2006, when the Pro Tour season was adjusted to the calendar year. Since the inception of the Hall of Fame in 2005 Worlds also hosts the induction ceremony of each year's class.
Major changes to the World Championships were announced in 2011, to take effect in 2012. As of 2012, the World Championships shall no longer be a single event and instead will be split into a separate national team event and individual player event. The team event shall be called the World Magic Cup, featuring four player national teams. The individual player event, which was altered to feature only 16 players, shall be called the Magic: The Gathering Players Championship.
Read more about this topic: Magic: The Gathering World Championship
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