Over the past few months, Modern has proven itself to be a diverse, fast-paced format filled with surprises from tournament to tournament around the world. We also know that you at home love watching it! With that, we’re happy to announce that Grand Prix Phoenix will be covered live on twitch.tv/magic March 17th and 18th. This will be the first Modern Grand Prix since the unbanning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf, which is sure to make this a tournament that you won’t want to miss.
Here are some more details about the coverage, and who you can expect to see:
March 16-18: Grand Prix Phoenix
Start Times: Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET/4 p.m. UTC
Video Producer: Rich Hagon
Video Director: Rashad Miller
Camera and Graphics: BJ Ogden and Garth Avery
Play-by-Play Commentators: Marshall Sutcliffe and Brian David-Marshall
Expert Commentators: Eduardo Sajgalik and Jacob Van Lunen
Hey everyone! We processed our usual weekly update today for the 2016-17 Premier Play leaderboard. This is the info we use to determine the Player of the Year, the geo-region champions that are invited to the World Championship, and more. It also displays the Pro Points earned at the top six Grand Prix finishes for players, acting as a helpful means for players to reference on how likely they are to improve on their Pro Point total for the season.
Here's the thing: This week’s entry had all the data we know people want, except for…well, some rows don’t have a name. There are some rows on the leaderboard in which we have an assigned DCI number, recorded finishes, Pro Points, all that tied to a number, and…no name.
This issue is connected to the recent retiring of the legacy DCI account system. The names that aren’t displaying are from folks who we have the data and DCI number for, but who have not migrated their DCI number to the Wizards Account system.
As the initial articles have stated, we were aware that some challenges might emerge with this transition to the Wizards Account system but felt it necessary for the long-term benefits. This is one of those challenges.
In lieu of this, we strongly recommend everyone who knows they have earned at least 10 Pro Points check this week’s 2016-17 Leaderboard update and Rookie of the Year race update. If you don’t see your name on this list and you know you should be on the leaderboard, you should contact customer service as soon as possible. Not doing so may impact our ability to award you prizes and perks tied to your seasonal Pro Point and Planeswalker Point earnings, such as tournament invitations and Pro Club statuses, so treat this request seriously.
Info on doing that was published in the March 21 article regarding this transition, which you can find below:
The surest way to solve any issues or answer any questions you might have is to contact customer service. If you need to contact customer service, you can do it one of these ways:
If you have a Wizards Account, you can contact customer service through wizards.custhelp.com.
If you do not have a Wizards Account, you can create one at accounts.wizards.com, and then use online help at wizards.custhelp.com.
If those options are not available to you, you can call us at any of the phone numbers found here, based on your region. Note that there are limitations to the amount and type of information that can be retrieved or given out over the phone due to privacy concerns, but our customer service representatives will do the best they can to address any issues you might have.
If you are contacting customer service, you can make the process go smoother and faster by including the following information in your email or having it ready when you call:
· First and last name
· DCI number
· Date of birth
· Email address registered with the account
· Current email address (if different)
Any event information you can provide, such as the store name and location where you first received your DCI number or a recent event match record.
Hélène details the return of Nationals along with changes coming to Grand Prix.
The World Magic Cup is one of the most exciting tournaments we hold every year. Players from all around the world come to represent their country for pride, glory, and the spirit of competition. It's truly my favorite event.
While we've received a lot of great feedback on this tournament over the last five years, most conversations about the World Magic Cup also triggered repeated requests to revive Nationals, as the same national spirit that people enjoy about the World Magic Cup was once also captured in these yearly tournaments that brought the communities of entire nations together. We loved the spirit of Nationals as well.
So we're bringing it back.
We'll get into the details below, but here's how it will work: The top Pro Point earner for that season will remain the Team Captain. The other two slots—yes, two, more on that in a moment—will be the top two finishers at Nationals! National Tournaments will be held all around the world on one of the following weekends: September 9, 16, or 23.
In addition to Nationals, we'll also be making some tweaks to several events associated with Grand Prix, including the end of in-store Grand Prix Trials and the return of the Sunday Pro Tour Qualifier at Grand Prix.
Now let's look at the details
BRINGING BACK NATIONALS
Moving past WMCQs
Over the past five years, the World Magic Qualifiers (WMCQs) provided an avenue for players to qualify for the World Magic Cup while alleviating the issues that had led us to cancel Nationals in a first place. Primarily, the lack of seasoned organizers in many countries was translating into Nationals being the main (if not the only) tournament, and it was impeding the development of regular play opportunities necessary to the development of local Magic communities.
The WMCQ program has helped establish a robust network of organizers, and we now feel we are ready to bring them the opportunity to organize Nationals.
To participate in their Nationals, players will still need to accrue a certain number of Planeswalker Points by the end of the Yearly Award Season (May 28, 2017), with a threshold differing based on the size of the country, as outlined in the Premier Event Invitation Policy.
A Return to Three-Person Teams
When we introduced the World Magic Cup, we originally implemented a four-person team model, with one player being a coach who could interact and help teammates, but who could not play for a portion of the event. We made that choice so that even if a member of a national team could not attend the tournament, the other players could still participate and represent their country.
A side effect repeatedly mentioned by World Magic cup competitors was that the four-person team model created a situation where some players spent large parts of the tournament not playing Magicand, in some cases, created an awkward tension across teams.
To help mitigate this issue, we are going to return to a three-person team model. The top Pro Point earner in the 2017–18 season will continue to be invited to represent their country as the Team Captain. The rest of the team will be determined after each country's Nationals, with the Top 2 finishers earning invitations and airfare to compete in the 2017 World Magic Cup.
A Shift Back to Standard
Last year, we ran the Constructed portion of the World Magic Cup as Team Unified Modern, and made updates to the Unified Constructed rules. While we liked what the change to Unified Constructed did, the feedback and result of Modern being the Constructed format of choice was mixed.
Based on this feedback and combined with the fact that we are looking at ways to highlight more current formats (i.e. formats based on current sets and accessible to all), we will be making the change back to Standard as the Constructed format that will be supported by the 2017 World MagicCup.
This means that the format for all Nationals will also be Standard.
We will start scheduling Nationals in March, and plan to post detailed information about these events by the end of May at the latest.
CHANGES TO GRAND PRIX–ADJACENT EVENTS
Sunday Pro Tour Qualifier Starts This Weekend
I'm happy to announce that we are bringing back the old Pro Tour Qualifier as one-shot events that players can participate in on Sundays at all Grand Prix as a new Sunday option for attendees.
The winner of each Pro Tour Qualifier receives an invitation to the Pro Tour that the Grand Prix is feeding. These events will be first come, first served and will have a maximum capacity of 225. We encourage anyone interested in signing up to do so as soon as they're committed to playing.
The End of In-Store Grand Prix Trials
The Grand Prix Trials (GPTs) tied to Grand Prix Las Vegas will be the final in-store GPTs to take place. While some good was accomplished by having Grand Prix Trials in local stores, more often than not this program had mixed success and limited turnout.
GPTs will continue to be held on-site on Fridays of Grand Prix before the main event for players who wish to earn byes for that event. Players can also continue to earn byes in Grand Prix main events by hitting the yearly Planeswalker Points threshold, which can be found on the Grand Prix page.
FEEDBACK WELCOME
Much of what we've announced today has been shaped by the feedback we received from you, feedback we welcome. If you have any questions or comments regarding this announcement, you're welcome to share that on social media via @magicprotour, where our community team and I will be working to answer any pressing questions you may have.
All the best to you in 2017, and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming premier event.
Last Friday, we announced the return of Sunday PTQs at Grand Prix, and that the format for these PTQs would be dependent on the format for the Main Event of the Grand Prix. Based on feedback that we had received, we decided that asking players traveling to a Modern or Legacy Grand Prix test and bring two top-level competitive decks to play in both the PTQ and the Main Event created a worse experience than we wanted to offer. Additionally, from an Organized Play standpoint, we want our tournaments that are for the express purpose of qualifying a player for the Pro Tour to be of a format that players will actually play on the Pro Tour: Standard or Limited. Therefore, we decided that PTQs would be Standard for all Limited Grand Prix and Limited for all Constructed Grand Prix.
With these caveats in place, Tournament Organizers are free to choose the style of tournament that best suits their logistical needs: either a single tournament with a 226-player cap or a series of eight 32-player flights that culminates with a Top 8. Regardless of the style of tournament that the Tournament Organizer chooses to run, players are restricted to a single entry (no multiple flights) to give as many unique players as possible a chance to play in the PTQ. In addition, entry into the PTQ is non-transferrable.
Date and Format Changes for GP Providence and GP Phoenix 2018
Hey everyone,
Since the 2018 Grand Prix announcement, a couple of things have shifted behind the scenes that have necessitated some changes.
Grand Prix Providence, which was slated to take place July 6-8, will be moving to August 17-19, 2018. The format for the main event will be shifted from Modern to Standard, matching the format of Grand Prix Los Angeles, which also takes place that weekend. GP Providence will remain in the Rhode Island Convention Center.
In order to maintain the same format spread as previously announced, we will be changing the format of the main event for Grand Prix Phoenix—which takes place March 16-18—from Standard to Modern.
We are in the process of updating the schedule in the previously announced article and on the web site.
For more information on specific Grand Prix as they get closer, head over to
Grand Prix Singapore next year—originally scheduled for June 8–10, 2018—is moving to the weekend of June 22–24. The decision to move was due to circumstances that were out of the control of ChannelFireball Events, the organizer for GPs next year. The format for GP Singapore main event will remain as Standard Constructed, matching the format for GP Pittsburgh, which also takes place that same weekend.
Please update your calendars accordingly. We'll be getting the word out on social media platforms today specifically regarding this news, but be sure to let your friends know if they were planning to go!
We’re just a few short weeks away from US Nationals in Richmond, Virginia on October 13th through the 15th! If you’re qualified and haven’t registered yet, now is the perfect time to do that on Card Titan’s site here! If you’re still hungry to compete (or want to get one of the sweet Inkmoth Nexus promo cards) there will be Last Chance Qualifiers on site on Friday until 6:00 PM.
And if you’re not competing, there’s a ton of fun things to do too! Artists Eric Deschamps and Jason Felix will both be on site, and there are a host of side events going all throughout the weekend.
Whether you’re playing for a chance at the World Magic Cup or just looking for a fun weekend of Magic, Nationals is going to be a blast. Check out everything in store on Card Titan’s site!
Standard Showdown events for Hour of Devastation begin July 22nd, and one addition starting with this series of events we wanted to highlight to you is the Planeswalker Point multiplier. Playing in Standard Showdown events will give you a multiplier of 2 (previously 1), allowing you to earn more Planeswalker Points by participating in these events!
For more information on Standard Showdown, and to find a store near you that’s running them, check out the Standard Showdown web page for more info.
