Mythic Championship VII marks the end of the 2019 Magic Pro League season. On top of the drama inherent in a premiere Magic event, the players were also competing for Mythic Points to secure their spot in the Magic Pro League’s 2020 season—and as Mythic Championship VII draws to a close, all 24 slots in the Magic Pro League have been determined.
Thanks to @jpball5 for crunching these numbers and sharing them.
The 2020 Magic Pro League
The Magic Pro League is undergoing significant changes after its 2019 season. First, its upcoming 2020 season will be a partial seven-month season from January through July 2020, after which it will transition to year-long seasons again. Second, the size of the Magic Pro League will be reduced to 24 players from its original makeup of 32.
The 24 players in the 2020 Magic Pro League will come from two groups: the Top 20 players in the 2019 Magic Pro League and the Top 4 Challengers from the 2019 season.
The 20 Players Returning to the Magic Pro League
Going into Mythic Championship VII, four players had already locked their place in the 2020 season: Javier Dominguez, Marcio Carvalho, Seth Manfield, and Andrea Mengucci. As the tournament concludes, we now know all 20 returning members of the Magic Pro League:
- Andrea Mengucci
- Andrew Cuneo
- Autumn Burchett
- Brad Nelson
- Brian Braun-Duin
- Carlos Romao
- Javier Dominguez
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz
- Ken Yukuhiro
- Lee Shi Tian
- Marcio Carvalho
- Martin Juza
- Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
- Piotr Glogowski
- Rei Sato
- Reid Duke
- Seth Manfield
- Shahar Shenhar
- Shota Yasooka
- William Jensen
The 4 Challengers Joining the Magic Pro League
Three players had already locked their place in the Top 4 Challengers and thus the 2020 Magic Pro League season going in to Mythic Championship VII: Raphael Levy, Ondrej Strasky, and Chris Kvartek. Gabriel Nassif needed to make the Top 16 of the tournament to secure his own spot—and got exactly 16th place.
- Chris Kvartek
- Gabriel Nassif
- Raphael Levy
- Ondrej Strasky
The 2020 Magic Rivals League
The change in the structure of the Magic Pro League in 2020 will be accompanied by the introduction of the Magic Rivals League, which will function as kind of a minor league for the Magic Pro League. For the shortened 2020 season, the Magic Rivals League will be made up of 32 players: the bottom 12 Magic Pro League players from the previous season, the Top 8 MTG Arena and tabletop players (16 total) that are not in the Top 4 overall (who join the MPL), as well as four discretionary invites. It will then expand to 46 players for its full 2020-21 season.
The 12 Players Leaving the Magic Pro League
After Mythic Championship VII, the bottom 12 players in the Magic Pro League will be relegated to the Magic Rivals League. They are:
- Alexander Hayne
- Ben Stark
- Christian Hauck
- Eric Froelich
- Grzegorz Kowalski
- Janne Mikkonen
- Jessica Estephan
- John Rolf
- Lucas Esper Berthoud
- Luis Salvatto
- Matthew Nass
- Mike Sigrist
The Top 8 Arena Challengers
- Greg Orange
- Kai Budde
- Kenji Egashira
- Matias Leveratto
- Miguel da Cruz Simões
- Simon Goertzen
- Stanislav Cifka
- Theo Moutier
The Top 8 Tabletop Challengers
- Eli Kassis
- Louis-Samuel Deltour
- Luis Scott-Vargas
- Matt Sperling
- No Ah Ma
- Peter Yeh
- Sebatian Pozzo
- Thoralf Severin
The Discretionary Invites
The remaining for spots in the Magic Rivals League will be awarded via discretionary invites that will be announced at a later date.