| 2020 Players Tour Season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | undetermined | |||
| Rookie of the Year | undetermined | |||
| World Champion | N.A. | |||
| PTs | 2 series + 1 finals | |||
| Grand Prix | 7 + 1 online | |||
| ||||
The partial 2020 Players Tour season is the twenty-fifth Players Tour season (formerly known as the Pro Tour).
Description
The Season started on January 10, 2020, with MagicFest Montréal, Canada and ends on July 24–26, 2020 with MagicFest San José, USA. Like the previous one, it was a transitional season. While the system originally was designed to arrange itself into the calendar year, this plan was reversed going forward, which had resulted in a 17-month season for 2018-2019 alongside a partial 7-month season in 2020. This partial season doesn't feature a World Championship. The next World Championship will take place at the culmination of the 2020–2021 season.[1]
Starting this season, the short-lived Mythic Championships were split into the tabletop Players Tour continental series and the digital Mythic Invitationals, and the Players Tour Finals and Rivals League were introduced.
The COVID-19 outbreak in January resulted in preventative measures taken in March. A large swath of the Grand Prix event schedule was canceled, and the Players Tour Finals Houston and the May Invitational also were canceled.[2] By April, it was clear that further events were not safely feasible to hold, and Wizards wrote off the entire season as not salvageable.[3] It was announced that some large events later in the year would be prospectively held, but that those events would not pay out points for League positions. Current Rivals and MPL players would hold their positions, with some newer players taken from the first series.
Any events, including the scheduled Players Tour Finals and Mythic Invitational won't be played for Player Points or Mythic Points, and therefore will not impact MPL or Rivals invitations for next season.
By May, the future of in-person gatherings was uncertain and likely to remain that way for some time. A new plan was needed, one that worked within current constraints to close out a completely disrupted season while providing hundreds of competitors with existing qualifications an opportunity to compete. Wizards of the Coast therefore shifted the 2020 Partial Season competitions from in-person destinations to online events, played remotely through MTG Arena.[4] At the same time, the end of the partial season was moved up to the fall of 2020. Later that month, all remaining Grand Prix were cancelled.[5] It is unclear if and how tabletop Grand Prix will return.
Players Tours
Series 1
- January 31-February 2, 2020: Players Tour Europe - Brussels, Belgium
| Place | Player | Prize | Player Points | Deck | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Joel Larsson
|
$35,000 | 26 | Sultai Delirium | |
| 2 |  Piotr Glogowski
|
$25,000 | 24 | Inverter Combo | MPL |
| 3 |  Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
|
$20,000 | 22 | 5-Color Niv to Light | MPL |
| 4 |  Brent Vos
|
$15,000 | 20 | Lotus Breach | |
| 5 |  Juan Jose Rodriguez Lopez
|
$12,000 | 18 | Mono-Red Aggro | |
| 6 |  Mattia Rizzi
|
$10,000 | 18 | Bant Spirits | |
| 7 |  Zhang Zhiyang
|
$8,000 | 18 | Mono-Black Aggro | |
| 8 | Valerio Luminati
|
$6,000 | 18 | Bant Spirits |
- February 1–2, 2020: Players Tour Asia-Pacific - Nagoya, Japan
| Place | Player | Prize | Player Points | Deck | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kenta Harane
|
$35,000 | 26 | White-Blue Spirits | |
| 2 | Ken Yukuhiro
|
$21,000 | 24 | Orzhov Sram | MPL |
| 3 | Yuuta Takahashi
|
$15,000 | 22 | Inverter Combo | |
| 4 | Shintaro Ishimura
|
$12,000 | 20 | Blue Devotion Inverter | |
| 5 | Shota Yasooka
|
$10,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | MPL |
| 6 | Akira Asahara
|
$8,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | |
| 7 |  Lee Shi Tian
|
$6,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | MPL |
| 8 |  Dmitri Butakov
|
$4,000 | 18 | Mono-Black Vampires |
- February 7–9, 2020: Players Tour Americas - Phoenix, USA
| Place | Player | Prize | Player Points | Deck | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Corey Burkhart
|
$35,000 | 26 | Inverter Combo | |
| 2 | William Jensen
|
$30,000 | 24 | Lotus Breach Combo | MPL |
| 3 | Jacob Wilson
|
$20,000 | 22 | Sultai Delirium | |
| 4 | Zachary Kiihne
|
$15,000 | 20 | Mono-Red Aggro | |
| 5 | Allen Wu
|
$12,000 | 18 | Lotus Breach Combo | |
| 6 | Austin Bursavich
|
$10,000 | 18 | UW Control | |
| 7 | Peter Ingram
|
$8,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | |
| 8 | Thomas Ashton
|
$6,000 | 18 | Bant Spirits |
- April 24–26, 2020: Players Tour Finals (Series 1) - Houston, USA (canceled)
Series 2
- May 1–3, 2020: Players Tour Europe - Copenhagen, Denmark
- Rescheduled: May 29–31 - Prague, Czech Republic (canceled)
- May 8-10, 2020: Players Tour Americas - Charlotte, USA
- Rescheduled: June 5–7, Seattle, USA (cancelled)
- May 9-10, 2020: Players Tour Asia-Pacific - Kitakyushu, Japan (canceled)
- July 10–12, 2020: Players Tour Finals (Series 2) - Minneapolis, USA (canceled)
Series 2 (rescheduled on MTG Arena)
There are four tournaments. Qualified players can play in only one of their choosing:[4]
- June 13-14, 2020: Players Tour 1
- June 13-14, 2020: Players Tour 2
- June 19-20, 2020: Players Tour 3
- June 20-21, 2020: Players Tour 4
The finals are divided over two weekends:
- July 25-26, 2020: Players Tour Finals (Series 2)
- August 1, 2020: Players Tour Finals, Top 8 Playoffs (Series 2)
Mythic Invitationals
- May 14–17, 2020: Mythic Invitational – Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (canceled)
- July 23–26, 2020: Mythic Invitational – Core 2021 (canceled)[4]
Mythic Invitationals rescheduled
August 28-30, 2020: Mythic Invitational.[4]
Grand Finals
With the rescheduling, an entirely new event, the 2020 Season Grand Finals, was added.[4] This will take place in the fall after the release of Zendikar Rising, with the Top 16 from both the Players Tour Finals and Mythic Invitational qualifying for this exclusive $250,000 prize pool event.
Invitees
- Top 16 competitors from the Players Tour Series 2 Finals
- Top 16 competitors from the Mythic Invitational 2020
Structure
The tournament structure for the 2020 Season Grand Finals will be announced at a later date.
Prizes
- $250,000 prize pool (First Place: $25,000)
Grand Prix
Feeding in the Players Tour Finals (Series 2)
Date: 11–12 January 2020
|
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1.
|
Date: 25–26 January 2020
|
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1.
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Date: 31 January - 2 February 2020
|
|
1.
|
Date: 1–2 February 2020
|
|
1.
|
Date: 7-9 February 2020
|
|
1.
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Date: 28 February-1 March 2020
|
|
1.
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Date: 7-8 March 2020
|
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1.
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- March 13–15, 2020: MagicFest Detroit, USA (Standard) (canceled)
- March 20–22, 2020: MagicFest São Paulo, Brazil (Modern) (canceled)
- March 27–29, 2020: MagicFest Louisville, USA (Pioneer) (canceled)
Feeding in the Players Tour Finals (Series 3)
- April 3–5, 2020: MagicFest Turin, Italy (Modern) (canceled)
- April 10–12, 2020: MagicFest Palm Beach, USA (Modern) (canceled)
- April 24–26, 2020: MagicFest Houston, USA (Limited) (canceled)
- April 30-May 3, 2020: MagicFest Copenhagen, Denmark (Limited) (canceled)
- May 7-10, 2020: MagicFest Charlotte, USA (Standard) (canceled)
- May 8-10, 2020: MagicFest Kitakyushu, Japan (Standard) (canceled)
- May 22–24, 2020: MagicFest Toronto, Canada (Modern) (canceled)
- May 29–31, 2020: MagicFest Prague, Czech Republic (Standard) (canceled)
- June 5–7, 2020: MagicFest Seattle, USA (Team Limited) (canceled)
- June 12–14, 2020: MagicFest Bilbao, Spain (Modern). Moved to Valencia (canceled)
- June 19–21, 2020: MagicFest Providence, USA (Pioneer) (canceled)
- July 10–12, 2020: MagicFest Minneapolis, USA (Limited) (canceled)
- July 17–19, 2020: MagicFest Liverpool, UK (Limited) (canceled)
- July 24–26, 2020: MagicFest San Jose, USA (Standard) (canceled)
References
- ↑ Elaine Chase (August 14, 2019). "The Future of Magic Esports". Magic Esports.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 12, 2020). "Changes to Magic's Competitive Season and Event Schedule.". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (April 1, 2020). "Esports Update: MPL, Rivals, and Competitor 2020 Partial Season Changes". Magic.gg.
- ↑ a b c d e Wizards of the Coast (May 20, 2020). "What's Next For the Magic Esports 2020 Partial Season". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Elaine Chase (May 29, 2020). "2020 MagicFest And The Future of Tabletop Magic Esports". Magic.gg.