Magic: The Gathering has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons as of late and right now, Wizards of the Coast is in serious need of a PR win.
With the collectible card game’s recently revealed The Walking Dead crossover continuing to be spurned by fans across the internet, attention has been diverted away from the upcoming Grand Finals competition which, as outlined earlier in the year, boasts a grand prize pool of $250,000. Every player who has made their way this far in the tournament will get a share of the pot regardless of how well they perform, of course, though it’s the winners of both Historic and Standard championships who will walk away with $25,000 in their pockets.
Due to continued social distancing restrictions necessitated by COVID-19, the entirety of 2020’s year-end playoffs have been shifted over to Magic‘s digital counterpart, Arena, and, as always, audiences can watch every fixture from the comfort of their own homes via Amazon’s Twitch streaming platform.
The action kicks off tomorrow, October 9th, for Standard and Historic Constructed formats, both of which will be played out in a total of six Swiss rounds. As players aren’t eliminated based on initial wins and losses, all 32 contenders will progress through to day two on October 10th. Any participant who fails to reach a total of eight wins here, however, will be eliminated from the competition.
Only eight players will qualify for day three on October 11th, with progression to Magic: The Gathering‘s Grand Final decided by double-elimination playoffs. Those interested in showing support for a particular competitor can find the full list of qualifiers (and regional starting times) by hitting the link down below.