Elite, Pro, Academy, Club | What does the new Nike boot names mean?

At the start of the new year Nike introduced not only a fresh new colorway, Fast AF, but also a change in the way they name their boots. It looks like a minor detail when reading it, but with a significant meaning. Still confused? Then use a couple of minutes to get an overview.

So what’s the reason behind the changing names? Well it’s to make it more easy and simple, so you don’t get lost in a jungle of different names and models. The most significant change is that they are going from different names for each silo and tier, to just having one common name for each tier on all silos. Names such as Mercurial Veloce and Victory, and Hypervenom Phatal and Phelon might be some of them you remember. To simplify this, Nike will now only have following four: Elite, Pro, Academy and Club. Seems simple right?

Before we jump in to a more in-depth explanation on what boots are going to be called and why, we just have to clear a quick change for the Magistas. Let’s take the Nike Magista Obra II and Nike Magista Opus II as an example. The main difference between these boots is the Dynamic Fit collar, which also was understood by the way the named the boots with Obra being the DF version, and the Opus as low-cut version.

From now on the will both be called Obra 2, this makes sense thus it’s the same silo! But the change will go on through all tiers, so all boots are going to be called Nike Magista Obra 2, instead of Magista Orden and Onda and so on. But then you might ask “How do I distinguish the high-end with the take-downs?”. Well this is when the name changes kicks in.

The Obra with Dynamic Fit will be called Nike Magista Obra 2 Elite DF, while the old Opus now will be called Nike Magista Obra 2 Elite. Going a tier down to the affordable boots, the old Orden will now be called Nike Magista Obra 2 Pro DF, and the Onda will be called Nike Magista Obra 2 Pro.

Let’s give it a try with the new Mercurials. Top tier level is now called Mercurial Superfly 6 Elite and Mercurial Vapor 12 Elite. Going down to the Pro tier, the boots will now be called Mercurial Superfly 3 Pro and Mercurial Vapor 12 Pro, instead of the Mercurial Victory DF and Mercurial Victory.

One rather small change, with a big meaning, still confused? Then take a look at our Nike Fast AF football unboxing video with JayMike and PWG, and see how they solve the riddle! Or run through this overview and find your boot and see the change it got!

HYPERVENOM

Nike Hypervenom Phantom DF -> Nike Hypervenom Phantom DF Elite

Nike Hypervenom Phantom -> Nike Hypervenom Phantom Elite

Nike Hypervenom Phatal DF -> Nike Hypervenom Phantom DF Pro

Nike Hypervenom Phatal -> Nike Hypervenom Phanton Pro

Nike Hypervenom Phelon DF -> Nike Hypervenom Phantom DF Academy

Nike Hypervenom Phelon -> Nike Hypervenom Phantom Academy

Nike Hypervenom Phade -> Nike Hypervenom Phantom Club

TIEMPO

Nike Tiempo Legend -> Nike Tiempo Legend Elite

Nike Tiempo Legacy -> Nike Tiempo Legend Pro

Nike Tiempo Ligera -> Nike Tiempo Legend Academy

Nike Tiempo Rio -> Nike Tiempo Legend Club

MAGISTA

Nike Magista Obra DF -> Nike Magista Obra DF Elite

Nike Magista Opus -> Nike Magista Obra Elite

Nike Magista Orden DF -> Nike Magista Obra DF Pro

Nike Magista Orden -> Nike Magista Obra Pro

Nike Magista Onda DF -> Nike Magista Obra DF Academy

Nike Magista Onda -> Nike Magista Obra Academy

Nike Magista Ola -> Nike Magista Obra Club

MERCURIAL

Nike Mercurial Superfly -> Nike Mercurial Superfly Elite

Nike Mercruial Vapor -> Nike Mercurial Vapor Elite

Nike Mercurial Veloce DF -> Nike Mercurial Superfly Pro

Nike Mercurial Veloce -> Nike Mercurial Vapor Pro

Nike Mercurial Victory DF -> Nike Mercurial Superfly Academy

Nike Mercurial Victory -> Nike Mercurial Vapor Academy

Nike Mercurial Vortex -> Nike Mercurial Vapor Club