| 2012 Players Championship | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 29–31 August 2012 | |||
| Location |
 Seattle, Washington, United States | |||
| Format | Cube Draft, Modern, Magic 2013 Booster draft | |||
| Prize pool | $108,000 | |||
| Winner |
 Yuuya Watanabe | |||
| ||||
The 2012 Players Championship was held on 29–31 August 2012 in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was the inaugural Players Championship event after the previous Worlds system had been abolished; however, future iterations of the Players Championship event were named the World Championship, and the 2012 Players Championship has also been granted status as a World Championship event.
The tournament featured only 16 players; methods for qualification were exceedingly difficult in order to generate a field of players consisting of the best in the world. In a top four that featured Jon Finkel and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, considered two of the best players of all time, former Player of the Year Yuuya Watanabe defeated another former Player of the Year Shota Yasooka in the final 3–2 to win the first ever Players Championship. He simultaneously was awarded the 2012 Player of the Year title, as the title was not awarded to the player with the most Pro Points during that season (though Watanabe was the player with the most Pro Points in the 2011–12 season, meaning he would have won the title regardless), thereby becoming only the second player after Kai Budde to win that title more than once. His victory also retroactively made him the 2012 World Champion.
Invitations[]
The following 16 players were invited to the event:
| Player | Method of qualification |
|---|---|
| Owen Turtenwald
|
2011 Player of the Year |
| Jun'ya Iyanaga
|
2011 World Champion |
| Reid Duke
|
2011 Magic Online Champion |
 Samuele Estratti
|
Pro Tour Philadelphia winner |
| Brian Kibler
|
Pro Tour Dark Ascension winner |
 Alexander Hayne
|
Pro Tour Avacyn Restored winner |
| Josh Utter-Leyton
|
Most Pro Points – North America |
 Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
|
Most Pro Points – Latin America |
 Martin Jůza
|
Most Pro Points – Europe |
| Yuuya Watanabe
|
Most Pro Points – Japan |
 Tzu Ching Kuo
|
Most Pro Points – APAC region |
| Jon Finkel
|
Most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified |
| Luis Scott-Vargas
|
2nd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified |
| Shota Yasooka
|
3rd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified |
| David Ochoa
|
4th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified |
| Shuhei Nakamura
|
5th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified |
