The first series of Players Tours kick off this weekend in Brussels, Belgium and Nagoya, Japan, followed by Phoenix, Arizona next weekend. Here’s everything you need to know about the first major Pioneer tournaments!
This is an excerpt from this week’s Hipsters Weekly MTG Newsletter. Every week we tell you know what you need to know about the week’s most important Magic news. Subscribe here! And don’t forget to join our Players Tour fantasy leagues over on Thousand Leagues!
The Events
Players Tour Brussels will be the first tournament of Players Tour Series 1 and kicks off at 9 AM local time (3 AM Eastern) on Friday, January 31. Players Tour Nagoya will be a shortened two day tournament and begin on Saturday, February 1 at 9 AM local time (7 PM Eastern on Friday) and Players Tour Phoenix begins at 9 AM local (11 AM Eastern) on Friday, February 7.
Each Players Tour will have different prize payouts, as well. Players Tour Phoenix will award a total of $250,000, Brussels will award $200,000, and Nagoya $150,000. All three will give $35,000 to the winner while Phoenix will pay out to 110th place ($750), Brussels to 78th place ($750), and Nagoya to 50th place ($500).
The Players
Nearly 1,000 players are invited to the first Players Tours of 2020, including the 24 members of the Magic Pro League and 32 members of the Magic Rivals League for the partial 2020 season.
Players could choose which Players Tour they wanted to attend so each event will have a mix of MPL and Rivals in attendance.
The Format
Players Tour Series 1 will also be the first premier level Pioneer tournaments since the format’s inception last October and will also feature the brand new Theros Beyond Death Draft format.
Players Tours Brussels and Phoenix will follow the traditional three day structure familiar to fans of the Pro Tour and tabletop Mythic Championships: Days 1 and 2 will begin with three rounds of Draft followed by five rounds of constructed, with Day 3 being reserved for the Top 8 bracket—though the Top 8 will be returning to Best-of-Three matches. Because of the lower expected turnout in Japan, Players Tour Nagoya will have six rounds of Constructed on Day 1 and only three rounds of Constructed on Day 2 (along with the three rounds of Draft on each day), with the Top 8 occurring at the end of Day 2 at the conclusion of the swiss rounds.
The Coverage
Wizards has promised that all three Players Tours will have live video coverage, though they have yet to announce any details about said coverage. Stay tuned for more information.
The Fantasy Leagues
As usual, we’re running plenty of Players Tour fantasy leagues over on Thousand Leagues! You can enter one of our public leagues for the chance to win some sweet Hipsters gear—or you can start your own league and invite your friends!