During the break between the quarterfinals and semifinals of today's Pro Tour >Magic Origins Top 8, Director of Global Organized Play Helene Bergeot unveiled the 2016 Organized Play schedule and some changes to the current system. (Edit: This information has been updated with schedule changes and prize payouts as announced in September 2015.)

The September 10th update also listed which Grand Prix qualify for which Pro Tour:

November 28, 2015–March 20, 2016

Feeds: Pro Tour Madrid 2016

GPs (12): Oakland, Vancouver, Nagoya, Mexico City, Houston, Detroit, Bologna, Melbourne, Washington, D.C., Paris

March 26, 2016–June 5, 2016

Feeds: Pro Tour Sydney 2016

GPs (10): Albuquerque, Barcelona, Beijing, Toronto, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Manchester

June 10, 2016–August 28, 2016

Feeds: Pro Tour Honolulu 2016

GPs (13): Columbus, Prague, Pittsburgh, Taipei, Sao Paulo, Montreal, Stockholm, Sydney, Portland, Rimini, Indianapolis, Lille, Guangzhou

September 3, 2016–November 27, 2016

Feeds: The First Pro Tour of 2017

GPs (11): Louisville, Kyoto, Atlanta, London, Kuala Lumpur, Providence, Warsaw, Santiago, Dallas, Rotterdam, Chiba

December 2, 2016–December 11, 2016

Feeds: The Second Pro Tour of 2016

GPs (3): Denver, Madrid, Milwaukee

Note: The early-2017 Grand Prix will be added to this list once those events are scheduled later next year.

2016 Pro Tour Schedule

There are fewer Grand Prix on the schedule for 2016 than there were in 2015. Bergeot called 2016 a "year of stabilization" with a projected return to growth in 2017.

Additionally, the following changes have been made to Grand Prix:

• Prize payouts will have a baseline of $50,000. If an event has 3,000 or more players, the payout increases to $75,000.
• All players who earn a Pro Tour invite from Grand Prix will also receive a travel award.
• The cut off for Day Two will now be a 6-3 record instead of 7-2.

Individual Grand Prix Prize Payouts (per player)

Team Grand Prix Prize Payout (per team)

Preliminary and Regional Pro Tour Qualifier 2016 Schedule

The goal of this schedule is to shrink the amount of time between the start of the PPTQ season and the associated Pro Tour. Bergeot also announced that Regional PTQs will now feature Last Chance PPTQs and that Regional PTQs will be coming to Magic Online to help players located in remote areas.

Independent tournament circuits are getting some attention in 2016. Qualifiers will have a 2x Planeswalker Points modifier while Finals will have a 4x modifier. Select series will also award a Pro Tour Invitation at the discretion of Wizards of the Coast. Full implementation of this system is expected to take place in 2016.

Coinciding with the PAX Prime convention, the dates for the World Championship have yet to be finalized.

The World Magic Cup is slated to take place the week after the Team Limited Grand Prix in Rotterdam, Netherlands - November 18-20, 2016. Expect quite a few National Teams to make the trip early.

• June 18th, 2016 - Standard
• July 9th, 2016 - Modern
• September 17th, 2016 - Standard

Also unveiled during the break, the National Champions and team captains for the 2015 World Magic Cup. One spot is still up for grabs: if Mike Sigrist makes the finals of Pro Tour Magic Origins he will overtake Hall of Famer Elect Eric Froehlich at the helm of the squad from the United States.

Update: Mike Sigrist has made the finals of Pro Tour Magic Origins and is now the National Champion for the United States, as well as the 2015 Player of the Year.

2015 World Magic Cup Captains

A full write up of the Organized Play Announcement can be found in this article.

Video of the announcement can be found below.