The Magic World Championship XXVI is approaching fast and Magic: The Gathering pros from across the globe are preparing their best decks and putting on their Hawaiian shirts.
The showdown
The biggest event in MTG esports is about to go down in Honolulu, the capital city of Hawaii, between February 14 and 16, 2020. You can check out the flashy trailer here:
Sixteen of the best pro players in the game will showcase their decks and compete for their chunk in the hefty purse of $1 million. The winner will take home a whopping $300,000.
The prizes
Speaking of prizes, the Magic World Championship also has something for viewers at home. In a system very similar to (if not directly copied from) Hearthstone esports, every player of Magic: The Gathering Arena will be able to select one competitor as their champion and share their success in the tournament. The further your chosen makes it down the gauntlet, the better virtual prizes you’ll unlock in your MTGA account. Those unlocks include an exclusive card sleeve, some rare cards and if your favorite is declared a champion – a cool virtual “pet” trophy. The prizes look like this:
To learn more about the competitors and select your champion, refer to the dedicated page here. You’ll need to provide your email. The confirmation letter will include a cute little message directly from your chosen. For example, Polish pro player Piotr Głogowski has this to say:
“Thank you for wisely believing in me to go deep in the tournament. This was obviously a reasonable decision as I'm a decently potent Magic: The Gathering player, certainly well suited to claim the World Championship. I'll try my best to make this tournament as close to anime card battles as I can.”
A Yu-Gi-Oh reference in an official Magic email? Cheeky!
The glory
But as fun as this message is, the Magic World Championshipis really serious. There is much on the line for the participating pro players. On top of winning large sums of cash, the Worlds champion will also lift the shiny trophy and have their name immortalized in the greatest card game’s history.
Developer Wizards of the Coast sometimes does amazing things to honor their champions. A good example would be last season’s victor, Javier Dominguez, who appeared on his very own Rare card in the Throne of Eldraine set. A card that is actually good and made an appearance in some popular decks like Blue-Black Knights and Red Deck Wins.
Last, but not least is the thrill of the journey itself. The players will all fly to Hawaii – a highly desired holiday destination that’s the perfect place for a high-stakes game of Magic. Now it’s up to us, the viewers, to make things right. Bust out an ugly Hawaiian shirt, open a pack of cards and tune in to watch the best pros duke it out at the Magic World Championship!
