Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has released an overview of the upcoming 2020-2021 Magic Pro League Season.
Structure
The 2020-2021 season will maintain the same number of players for both the Rivals (48) and MPL (24).
- MPL and Rivals League players will play against other players within their leagues in recurring tournaments — League Weekends — where each match win awards one point toward their league standings.
- Final league standings at the end of the season, after seven total League Weekends, will place players into postseason tournaments — the MPL Gauntlet and Rivals Gauntlet — to determine the new invitees to the following season’s MPL and Rivals League.
- The four highest-finishing Challengers — non-league players — of each split’s Championship will qualify for the postseason Rivals Gauntlet for the opportunity to join the MPL or Rivals League.
The MPL, Rivals League, and Challengers who have continued success throughout the season will receive the “best opportunities for league promotion and invitation to the next World Championship.”
MPL
- Top 4 MPL players from final standings for the 2020-2021 season.
- Top 4 Rivals League players from final standings for the 2020-2021 season.
- Top 4 from the MPL Gauntlet.
- The four top-finishing Rivals League players outside the Top 4 from the MPL Gauntlet.
- Top 4 from the Rivals Gauntlet.
- The four top-finishing Challengers outside the Top 4 from the Rivals Gauntlet.
Rivals
- MPL players ranked 13th through 24th — the bottom 12 — from final standings for the 2020-2021 season.
- Rivals League players ranked 33rd through 36th — four players below the Rivals Gauntlet cutoff and above Challenger relegation cutoff — from final standings for the 2020-2021 season.
- The remaining sixteen players at the end of the MPL Gauntlet.
- The remaining sixteen players at the end of the Rivals Gauntlet.
League Weekends
League Weekends are scheduled “…monthly and share that month’s Qualifier Weekend’s format.”
- The 24 MPL players compete in two, six-round Swiss tournaments, one on each day.
- The 48 Rivals League players compete in two six-round Swiss tournaments, one on each day.
- Each day are separate tournaments, and standings do not carry over.
- Each match win is worth one point toward that player’s league standings.
How to Join
The 2020-2021 post-season is comprised of the MPL Gauntlet and Rivals Gauntlet, which determine who stays, leaves, and joins the MPL and Rivals Leagues.
MPL
- The Top 4 MPL players are invited to the 2021-2022 MPL and qualify for Magic World Championship XXVII.
- MPL players 5th through 12th will compete for an MPL invitation (and face Rivals League relegation) in the MPL Gauntlet.
- MPL players 13th through 24th will be relegated to the Rivals League.
Rivals
- The Top 4 Rivals League players are invited to the 2021-2022 MPL and qualify for the World Championship.
- Rivals players 5th through 20th will compete for MPL invitation (and do not face relegation to Challenger) in the MPL Gauntlet.
- Rivals players 21st through 32nd will battle fellow Rivals and Challengers for the last MPL invites (and do not face relegation to Challenger) in the Rivals Gauntlet.
- Rivals players 33rd through 36th with retain Rivals League invitation for the 2021-2022 Rivals League.
- Rivals players 37th through 48th will be relegated to Challengers for the following season.
Magic World Championship XXVII
- The 2019 Magic: The Gathering World Champion (Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa)
- The Top 4 MPL players from season standings
- The Top 4 Rivals League players from season standings
- The winner from the MPL Gauntlet
- The Top 2 from the Rivals Gauntlet
- The four highest-finishing Challengers from the Rivals Gauntlet
Currently, the Magic World Championship XXVII is scheduled to take place in the summer of 2021, but date and location may change depending on various external factors.
Addressing Feedback
Below are several pieces of feedback related to the “structure of and pathways to the MPL and Rivals League”, which WotC has chosen to address:
- Challengers can play head-to-head with MPL and Rivals League members without a points race against them for end of season qualifications.
- Separating consistent performance across the season — important for the league — from performance through rising levels of events — important for Challengers.
- Instead of round-robin prerecorded gameplay, we’ll focus on live competition in traditional Swiss tournaments for the MPL and Rivals League.
Read the original article from Wizards of the Coast.