Magic Around the World- Miguel Gatica

May 1, 2016

Hello,
My name is Miguel Gatica(23) and I’m a full time MTG player since last September.
I live in Costa Rica but I have been traveling a lot lately.
My most notable Magic Accomplishments are:
-Last season: 25 pro points
– Lifetime: 66 pro points.
-Finished 12th (Tie breakers) in Pro Tour Return to Ravnica
-Finished 9th (Tie breakers) at GP Costa Rica
– 3 times National Champion(09,10,13) and 6 times National Team Member.
Today I’m going to write about Magic around the World.
Why did I choose this topic?
I chose this topic because most people don’t realize how lucky they are.
In some places Magic is more expensive . In other places it is difficult to find product and in other places it is harder to get to qualify for bigger events.
Besides I think it is interesting to know about these kind of things and not just strategy-based articles.
For example, let’s take my country Costa Rica, magic here is a lot more expensive than in the US.

Costa Rica:
Booster Pack: $5-6
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $4
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $25 Limited:$35

We only have 1 PTQ per year… yep, per year and not per season. So for us it is very hard to qualify for a Pro Tour. But clearly we have smaller PTQs. Also airplane tickets are not that cheap, it costs us around $600 to go to a US Grand Prix.
That’s one of the main reasons that WMCQs are so good for most of the non-US countries.
Central American countries and Mexico:

Mexico:
Booster Pack: $3
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $1.5
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $25 Limited:$20

Panama:
Booster Pack: $4
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $3
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $20 Limited:$35

Guatemala:
Booster Pack: $4.5
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $2
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $25 Limited:$30

Since Mexico and US share borders their product is basically as cheap as in the US. They get a considerable amount of PTQs per season.
Panama and Guatemala also get 1 PTQ per year, they are very similar to Costa Rica. But their PTQs are very small. I actually won a RTR PTQ in El Salvador and since then I have stayed on the tour.
Is very hard for people of central american countries to get all the cards for constructed events, so we usually have to order them online.

US, Canada and Puerto Rico:
United States:
Booster Pack: $3
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $5
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $25 Limited:$30-35

Canada:
Booster Pack: $4
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $10
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $25 Limited:$35

Puerto Rico:
Booster Pack: $4
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $2
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $25 Limited:$35

Basically they are pretty much the same except the Normal Tournament Entry Fee.
It clearly depends on the amount of players that are playing at the event, and the amount of prizes they give. But that’s the entry fee of a normal average tournament that they do every week.
The US and canadian PTQs are huge, so is also hard for them to qualify but they get more chances per season.

Brazil:
Booster Pack: $5
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $4
PTQ Entry Fee Constructed: $30 Limited:$40

The product in South America is a little more expensive, they also get a considerable amount of PTQs per season.
In some countries like Uruguay or some parts of Argentina it is even more difficult to get product.
But they have a big community as far as I know. Besides I always see a lot of them at the Pro Tour, teamming up with Willy Edel.
Europe:

Sweden:
Booster Pack: $5.5
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $5-10
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $26 Limited:$42

England:
Booster Pack: $4
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $6.50
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $26.50 Limited:$40

France:
Booster Pack: $4
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $6.50
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $20 Limited:$34-40

Italy:
Booster Pack: $5
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $6.50
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $20 Limited:$35-40

Netherlands:
Booster Pack: $5
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $6.50
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $20 Limited:$30

They have several PTQs and it is easier for them to travel to those other countries since their Public transport system is great.
But Magic there is not that cheap. But I guess they have higher minimum wage than other countries in America (By America I mean all of America and not just the US).
The Rest of the World:

Israel:
Booster Pack: $6-7
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $6.
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $21 Limited:$35-40

Chinese Taipei:
Booster Pack: $3.5
Normal Tournament Entry fee: $10
PTQ Entry Fee for Constructed: $14 Limited:$26

Play the game, see the world:
Playing magic is just great. For me as a Central American guy, playing this game opened so many doors for me. Getting to meet all different kinds of people, learning different traditions and traveling around the World; is something I can not even describe.
I’m really thankful that I have really good magic friends in Costa Rica, Canada, US and the rest of the World.
PTQ Country Breakdown:

*Graphics taken from WoTC

Grand Prix Attendance:
outside the US in the last events (info from WoTC’s site):
Bangkok -867
Gothenburg -1006
Guadalajara -462
Beijing -894
Strasbourg -1363
Rio de Janeiro -709
Verona -1208
Canada -806
London -1970
Sydney -686
Singapore -894

Quality vs. Quantity:
“Popularity is not an indication of quality”
Times are changing. There was a time in which Japanese players were “bad” / “byes”.
Right now at Pro Tours non-Brazilian Latin Americans are considered byes at the Pro Tour. That’s the sad truth. I hope in the next few years this concept disappears.
At least some of us are doing things right.
But let me tell you something dear audience, there’s a lot of really bad US players at Pro Tours.
So I’ll give you an advice, never take quick conclusions of your opponent based on their nationality, how they look, etc. You’ll never know when you are going to play the next Diego Ostrovich, Jose Barbero or Willy Edel.
Besides being that kind of person is not going to take you very far, sure you can get along with it for a while, but at the long run it comes back.
*Props

The Future:
This is my first article; hopefully the first of many to come.
I wanted to do something different for the first one. But please feel free to give me some feedback and new topics for the following articles. (I’m trying to improve my english)
Next events: GP Kansas City, GP Rimini, World Magic Cup, Pro Tour Theros.
(I’m probably also going to more GPs, but I have to plan those)

Thank you guys for reading 
Miguel Gatica
Twitter: @MiguelGatica123
MTGO: MGatica
———————

Note: Prizes may vary by a couple of cents due to the Currency Exchange.
Note 2: I collected all the info from several players. So that’s the average of prizes from all the information I received.

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