Thompson added that he, and other pros, have had to pay for their own flights to tournaments, a complaint that arose during 2016’s #PayThePros conversation, in which Magic pros argued they should be better compensated for their role in the game’s success. Magic now has more pro tours, which means bigger prize pools, but qualifying for a chance to win that money also costs a lot of money, and time. Worse, as he added on the phone to Kotaku, players in Latin America and other regions have more difficulty earning a shot to enter the Pro Tour.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Thompson also took issue with Wizards of the Coast’s supposed lack of marketing for its big competitive tournaments and star Magic players. He argued that this might stunt the pro scene: “Wizards does not promote its players well... Professional players are the least utilized tool at WotC’s disposal. Many of them have larger Twitter followings than WotC’s official accounts.”

He continued:

“WotC is used to being in a position of power and leveraging that however they can. . . I want WotC to know that its player base cares about these issues and are willing to sacrifice in order to demonstrate that. At the end of the day, we all love Magic and want it to be the very best version of itself that it could possibly be. We have shown that we care by continuing to play the game and hoping that things get better, but that clearly hasn’t worked.”

Advertisement

The prize pool for this weekend’s event is $300,000, with a $100,000 first place prize. The majority of players responding to Thompson’s post on Magic: The Gathering’s subreddit appear to be supporting his decision to bow out of the tournament.

When Kotaku asked about Thompson’s claims, a Wizards of the Coast representative declined to comment, but sent Kotaku a statement about Thompson’s protest, which said, “We wish this weren’t the case, but we respect his desire to make his voice heard.” The representative noted that Wizard uses pro players as consultants who help design what the “Pro Club” looks like, and added, “There’s still room to grow and this is going to be a big year as we continue to improve Pro Magic in 2019 and beyond.”