Wizards of the Coast released a series of updates to their Esports program today, including big changes to tiebreaker structure, the future of MPL Weekly, qualifications for both MTG Arena and Tabletop Magic, and Byes at Grand Prix events.
Tiebreakers
With today’s update, Wizards made it clear that they want players to understand how tiebreakers are determined leading into a competitive season.
For the 2020 Rivals League, tiebreakers will be determined by the following:
- Most 2019 Mythic Championship final days.
- Most Saturday appearances in 2019 Mythic Championships.
- Most points earned during tabletop 2019 Mythic Championship Swiss rounds (for tabletop slots), or the most match wins at a single MTG Arena Mythic Championship (for MTG Arena slots).
- Any matches not played due to having already advanced count as a win.
For the 2020 Magic Pro League, tiebreakers will be determined by the following:
- Number of Mythic Championship final days.
- Highest finish at a Mythic Championship.
- Then 2nd highest, then 3rd highest, et cetera until the tie is broken.
Lastly, for the 2019 Magic World Championship, tiebreakers will be determined by the following:
- Player with the greatest number of Mythic Championship final days.
- Highest final day finish at a Mythic Championship.
- Greatest number of Day Two finishes at Mythic Championships.
- Highest match win % across all pre-Sunday matches played at all Mythic Championships in 2019.
Wizards also intends to elaborate on “tiebreakers for both 2020-21 MPL and Rivals League invitations later this month, after Mythic Championship VII.”
MPL Weekly
With the new set of updates, Wizards also intends to suspend MPL Weekly in the early months of 2020 (January – July).
The decision to shift focus away from MPL Weekly was made to give more support to the Magic Rivals League, in which WotC will have “a whole new group of players to support,” and needs the extra time to work on things “behind the scenes”.
MTG Arena
While details on Mythic Qualifiers and Mythic Points Challenge are scheduled to be released in the next Esports update, Wizards confirmed the dates for the first Mythic Qualifier of 2020; encouraging players to set aside time the weekend of January 11-12.
In 2020, table top Magic players will have more ways to qualify for the Players Tour. The ways to qualify for the Players Tour are as follows:
- The Top 8 Players from Mythic Championship IV in Barcelona and Mythic Championship VI in Richmond will receive an invitation to the first Players Tour Finals in 2020.
- Players with 33 or more Match Points from Mythic Championship IV in Barcelona or Mythic Championship VI in Richmond will receive an invitation to the first Players Tour in 2020.
- Pro Club Platinum, Gold, and Silver Players from the Core Set 2020 and Throne of Eldraine cycles will receive an invitation to the first Players Tour in 2020.
- Members of the Magic Hall of Fame will receive an invitation to each Players Tour.
Editors Note – Each 2020 Star City Games Open also qualifies multiple participants for the Players Tour!
Grand Prix Byes
After considering for several months how Byes are implemented at Grand Prix events, Wizards has decided they are no longer “necessary with the new structure of the Players Tour” and plan to remove the system by May of 2020.
Removing the Bye system allows the tournament organizers to reduce the rounds required in Grand Prix events and allows them to explore “other structures for large events”.
Wizards stated they intend to look into the Byes system again in the future, but provided no further details at this time.
Read the original article from Wizards of the Coast.