Wizards Play Network

The Wizards Play Network (WPN) is a website maintained by Wizards of the Coast that provides support for grass roots play on a global level, a wider variety of play formats and broader reaching local events that go beyond events such as FNM and the Pro Tour.

History
It was created in October 2008 as a follow up to Gateway program. According to Wizards of the Coast, it is all about putting choices and direction in the hands of those who know it best, the retailers and game organizers.

Premium Series
In 2016, WPN introduced the Premium Series, sanctioned tournaments organized by independent tournament organizer. Like Grand Prix, these tournaments allow the organisation of a Trials system.

The new WPN
Beginning with Core Set 2020 in 2019, the original four-level system of classifying the WPN-shops and the support they received was replaced by a system based on Tickets and Engaged Players. The first is meant to measure quantity, the second is an attempt to measure quality.
 * Tickets represent the total number of entries across all of a store's events. Any format. Commander, Modern, Ranked, Casual—everything counts. And it counts the same player multiple times.
 * Engaged players are the best indicator of the quality of experience a store offers. An Engaged Player is defined as a player who joins six events in either Standard, Draft, or Sealed per year—so, once every two months.

Promo packs are allocated based on Tickets, Engaged Players, and the length of a season. So, if a season is ten weeks long and a store receives eight promo packs per week, they'll receive a lump sum of eighty promo packs at the beginning of the season. The minimum is four promo packs per week, at five Engaged Players and 250 Tickets.

WPN Premium
WPN Premium is a public recognition of the best stores in the world. This concept was also introduced in 2019.

Premium stores will get the same benefits as all WPN members, plus exclusive events, priority and recognition in the Store and Event Locator, upgraded promo materials, MTG Arena codes for exclusive content, etc. Less than five percent of stores qualify for premium status. To be considered for WPN Premium, a store needs to hit these metrics:


 * 40 Engaged Players (previously 60)
 * 2000 Total Tickets (previously 3000)
 * 15 Activated Players (previously 200)

Activated Players are new players that join six events in their first year of in-store play.

WPN promo packs
From Core Set 2020 onward, WPN stores receive packs of promotional cards containing the following:
 * 1) One promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from the most recent set.
 * 2) One promo-stamped rare or mythic rare from a short public list curated by Magic's design studio.
 * 3) One promo-stamped alternate-art basic land (later replaced with an MTG Arena code card).
 * 4) One special, season-specific card akin to an FNM promo, e.g. an alternate frame card

One in four of the packs the store receives contains all-foil contents.