This morning, Wizards of the Coast announced that it is adding 16 “discretionary” invites to each of the upcoming 2019 MTG Arena Mythic Championships: Mythic Championship III (in June), as well as Mythic Championships V and VII (dates to be announced).
“The lack of inclusion and diversity in esports and competitive gaming, especially when it comes to women, is an embedded, long-standing issue,” Wizards said in their announcement. “With the MPL and MTG Arena opening up the playing field in a big way, we want to state in no uncertain terms that we know the pool of talent is broad, and that we think it should be represented in a concrete way to the viewers and fans of competitive Magic.”
“The barriers women face when attempting to play competitively are significant,” they continued. “The MPL is making a purposeful effort to remove barriers and invite a slate of accomplished players who more fully represent the complete Magic community.” Therefore, Wizards will use these invites “to invite a broader representation of the Magic competitive community to high-level play.”
The 16 discretionary invite slots will be added to the MTG Arena Mythic Championships in addition to the existing 52 slots. Of those 52 slots, 32 of those will go to the 32 players in the Magic Pro League (with new additions Jessica Estephan, Janne “Savjz” Mikkonen), 16 will go to the Top 16 of the Mythic Championship Qualifier Weekend on May 25–26, and the final four will go to the top four finishers at the previous MTG Arena Mythic Championship. Since Mythic Championship III will be the first MTG Arena Mythic Championship, those four slots will go to the three winners of Pro Tour 25th Anniversary—Allen Wu, Ben Hull, and Gregory Orange—and the winner of Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica—Andrew Elenbogen.
