Magic League

The seasonal Magic League was an official ongoing tournament that played out over the course of days or weeks rather than hours. It ran from 2012 to 2019. The League had two main goals: reduce the amount of time it takes to play competitive Magic and allow players to play on their own schedules. The league used to be organized by the DCI, but the organization was later transferred to individual shops. This sealed deck tournament followed up on Game Day events and uses the Standard format.

Start
The first league was July / August 2012, in commemoration of the release of Magic 2013. It was created as a a five-week tournament, played in local game and hobby stores around the world, a month after each a new card set was released.

Each participant would play three matches per week, for a total of fifteen over the course of the league. Players joining the league late could play extra matches to catch up to the current match cap of three times the current total of weeks of the league. Over the course of the league, players were able to add more boosters to their league deck. There were optional achievements that players could complete to earn a Planeswalker Points badge and achievement.

Because League play wasn't making the returns on investment, and most stores would run leagues anyways, Magic 2014 marked the last physical League kit to be offered to stores. Starting with Theros, stores were able to download a digital asset kit, which didn't include special prizes anymore. However, for subsequent sets the promos apparently were available again.

Prizes
The base prize for the Top 10 finishers in the league was an exclusive token card.


 * Magic 2013: 1/1 Goblin
 * Return to Ravnica: 2/2 Knight with vigilance
 * Gatecrash: 1/1 Soldier
 * Dragon's Maze: 1/1 Bird
 * Magic 2014: 1/1 Sliver
 * Theros: 2/2 Soldier
 * Born of the Gods: 1/1 Soldier
 * Journey into Nyx: 2/3 Minotaur
 * Magic 2015: 1/1 Squid with islandwalk
 * Khans of Tarkir: 1/1 Warrior
 * Fate Reforged: 1/1 Monk with prowess

Kaladesh onwards
With Kaladesh, WotC launched a playtest version of a new, easy-entry Magic league system, with the goal of collecting feedback from stores for a full launch with Amonkhet.

The goal of the league was to foster league-style play with a low barrier to entry for newer players that could still be just as enjoyable for long-time fans of Limited. The start date used to be the Monday after the release of a new set.

The Magic League worked as such:
 * Players opened three booster packs and used those boosters to build a 30-card deck.
 * The league lasted four successive weeks.
 * Match cards were used to track wins and losses.
 * Every week, players added a booster pack to their pool, rebuilding as often as they liked.
 * Players could also add a booster after three losses, once per week.
 * Matches consisted of a single game. Each player got one free mulligan at the start of the game.
 * Players played against each other, earning Planeswalker Points.
 * Players could join the Magic League at any time during the four-week period. In addition to their initial booster pool, they were allowed to purchase boosters for the weeks they missed.

Termination
The Magic League was retired after Ravnica Allegiance. According to WPN, because they demanded a lot of resources from stores and Tournament Organizers (TOs) and did little to drive play.