Magic World Championship XXVI – All you need to know
Magic World Championship will bring together 16 of the best Magic: The Gathering players in the world at the culminating event of the 2019 season. The event will offer US $1,000,000 in the prize pool, which is the highest ever cash-prize in the 26-year-long history of Magic World Championship.
Magic World Championship XXVI will be held between February 14-16, 2020 at Honolulu, Hawaii, where we will see only the best Magic Pro League (MPL) and Mythic Championship players vying for $1 million in prizes. The championship will be played exclusively on MTG Arena for the first time in its history and offer $300,000 in prize winnings for the champion – the largest individual prize in Magic history.
Present at the tournament will be the reigning champion, Javier Dominguez, winners of each of the seven Mythic Championships, top four MPL players based on their Mythic Points and top four Challengers who earned them most Mythic Points throughout the season. Because Javier Dominguez won the Mythic Championship V, the spot was passed down to Ondřej Stráský who finished the event as a runner-up.
The tournament will be played over the course of three days, with 16 competitors duking it out in Booster Draft and Standard Constructed best-of-three (Bo3) series. That said, each day will feature its own set of rules and format.
Day One
The Magic World Championship will kick-off with Theros: Beyond Death Booster Draft. All players will begin their journey in eight-player Draft pods, where the player's decklists will be imported into MTG Arena for Draft play. Based on the players' performance, they will either advance to Standard Constructed play or continue with Draft play.
Theros: Beyond Death Booster Draft
Four 2-0 players will advance into the Winner Group.
Four 0-2 players will advance to Elimination Group.
Eight 1-1 players will play a third round of Draft.
After the third Draft round concludes, the four players who won advance into the Winner Group, while the 1-2 players drop down to the elimination group.
Standard Constructed (Bo3)
Winner Group will play two rounds, then the players will advance into the next stage based on their results.
Two 2-0 players advance to Top 8 Upper Semi-finals
Two 0-2 players advance to Saturday Play-In stage
Four 1-1 players play a third round of Constructed.
From the third round of Constructed, two 2-1 players advance into the Top 8 Upper Semi-finals, while the two players who lost advance to Saturday Play-In stage. Elimination Group will also be played in two rounds. Players will advance or be eliminated based on their record.
Two 2-1 players will advance to Top 8 Upper Semi-finals.
Two 0-2 players are eliminated from the tournament.
Four 1-1 players advance play a third round of Constructed.
After completing the third round, the four players will advance or be eliminated based on their record:
Two 2-1 players advance to Saturday Play-In.
Two 1-2 players are eliminated.
Once day one of Magic World Championship XXVI comes to an end, four winning players will have advanced to the Rop 8 on Day Two, while the remaining eight players remain in the field to duke it out for the final four slots in the Top 8.
Day Two
Standard Constructed Saturday Play-In
Day two will begin in the morning on Saturday, February 15, with eight-player Play-In stage which will be played as Bo3 Standard Constructed. The players will be contending a spot in the World Championship Top 8. After the first two rounds, players will either advance into the Top 8 or be eliminated based on their record.
Two 2-0 players advance into Top8
Two 0-2 players are eliminated from the tournament
Four 1-1 players advance into third round of Constructed.
In the third round, the remaining four players will play out two more matches and either advance into Top 8 or be eliminated.
Two 2-1 players advance into Top 8 Lower Bracket
Two 1-2 players are eliminated form the tournament.
Top 8 Double Elimination
Eight remaining players will be seeded into a double-elimination playoff to determine which four will advance into the Sunday Top 4 playoffs.Top 8 Upper semi-finals and all lower bracket rounds 1-3 are played as Bo3.
Four players with 2-0 and 2-1 record from Friday's Winner Group are seeded into the upper semi-finals, where the winners advance into upper finals, while the two losers get seeded into the lower bracket.
Four players with 2-0 and 2-1 record from Saturday Play-In stage are seeded into the lower bracket, where the two losers get eliminated from the tournament, while the winners advance into the second round, where they will meet with the losers of the upper bracket. Two players who win round two of lower bracket advance into lower bracket round three.
Day two of Magic World Championship XXVI will end with only four remaining players – two in the upper bracket finals and two in the lower bracket round three.
Day Three
Standard Constructed Top 4 Playoff
Day three will start with the upper bracket finals match, where the winner gets a pass into the grand finals, while the loser drops down to the lower bracket finals. In the lower bracket round three, we will see two players who advanced from lower bracket round two. The winner gets a pass into lower bracket finals, while the loser gets eliminated and finished the tournament at fourth place. The winner of lower bracket finals will advance into the grand finals, while the loser will finish at third place.
The grand finals will take off later in the day and will be played as Bo5. The player who earned a spot in the grand finals via the upper bracket will earn an advantage of one match, meaning he will only need to win two matches to triumph. The player who earned a spot in the grand finals via the lower bracket, however, will need to win all three matches to hoist the title.
The winner of the grand finals will be crowned as the Magic World Champion and $300,000 in prize winnings, which is the largest individual prize in Magic history.
Magic World Championship Players:
Javier Dominguez – 2018 World Champion
Autumn Burchett – Mythic Championship Cleveland 2019 winner
Eli Loveman – Mythic Championship London 2019 winner
Matias Leveratto – Mythic Championship III winner
Thoralf Severin – Mythic Championship IV Barcelona winner
Jean-Emmanuel Depraz – Mythic Championship V runner-up
Ondřej Stráský – Mythic Championship VI Richmond winner and 3rd most Mythic Points of Challengers
Piotr Glogowski – Mythic Championship VII winner
Andrea Mengucci – 2nd most Mythic Points of MPL
Seth Manfield – 3rd most Mythic Points of MPL
Marcio Carvalho – 4th most Mythic Points of MPL
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa – 5th most Mythic Points of MPL
Chris Kvartek – Most Mythic Points of Challengers
Raphael Levy – 2nd most Mythic Points of Challengers
Gabriel Nassif – 4th most Mythic Points of Challengers
Sebastian Pozzo – 5th most Mythic Points of Challengers
