If the terrible COVID-19 situation has brought anything positive, this would be the boom of Magic The Gathering Arena and its associated esports scene. The Grand Finals might be in history, but another big event will go down before the end of 2020. Prepare to witness the Zendikar Rising Championship!
The event will be played on MTG Arena and streamed live as the best players from the Qualifier Weekends, MTGO Qualifiers, the Rivals League, and the MPL will clash in dual-format Standard/Historic battles.
More than 180 players will compete in the Championship, from established names like Gabriel Nassif, Autumn Burchett, and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, all the way to lesser-known rising stars. The complete invitation list can be found on Magic's official website.
In terms of the show’s cast, we’ve got all the familiar faces including talented commentators Marshall Sutcliffe and Paul Chen, as well as charismatic hosts Maria Bartholdi and Sean [Day9] Plott.
This tournament will sport the same Historic/Standard fair we’ve come to expect. The format goes as follows:
Day One: Historic and Standard Constructed
- 7 Swiss rounds, with records and match points carrying over to Day Two.
- Rounds 1-3: Historic Constructed
- Rounds 4-7: Standard Constructed
- All matches are a best two-out-of-three games.
- 30-minute timer for each player, each match.
- Players must earn four or more match wins to advance to play on Day Two.
Day Two: Historic and Standard Constructed
- 8 Swiss rounds, ending to a Top 8 cut.
- Rounds 8-11: Historic Constructed
- Rounds 12-15: Standard Constructed
- All matches are a best two-out-of-three games.
- 30-minute timer for each player, each match.
- Players who earn their 12th match win are advanced to Top 8 and do not compete in additional Swiss rounds.
Day Three: Top 8 Double-Elimination Playoff
Oh, did we mention prizes? There are $250,000 on the line! $15,000 will go to the winner, a generous $12,000 go to the runner-up, $9,000 for the third, and so on. Even the planeswalkers who end up between the 93rd and the 184th slot won’t go home empty-handed: there’s a $500 prize for them. In addition, all players will receive a Nahiri’s Binding playmat, some boosters, a backpack badge, and - if they don’t already have one from the 2020 Mythic Invitational - a backpack to slap that badge on!
The Zendikar Rising Championship starts December 4th on the official Magic Twitch channel.
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