Wizards of the Coast has adjusted the Magic: The Gathering esports schedule, revealing a single Players Tour Final via MTG Arena.
At the beginning of the 2020 partial season in Magic esports, there were three tabletop Players Tour Series’ scheduled. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Series two and three were initially rescheduled then overhauled into four PT tournament dates. The same will take place with two canceled tabletop Players Tour Finals tournaments, which are now condensed into a single event being played on MTG Arena.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2020 MTG Arena Players Tour Finals.
MTG Players Tour Finals 2020
Following the MTG Arena PT tournaments in June, a single Players Tour final will take place on July 25 to 26 and Aug. 1. The tournaments were originally scheduled as tabletop events but have now been moved to MTG Arena due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Decklists for the tournament will become availavble at the start of round one on July 25.
Format
With competition taking place digitally via MTG Arena as opposed to tabletop, the format for the Players Tour Finals is in Standard Constructed best-of-three.
- A total of 14 Swiss rounds in Standard Constructed.
- Day one contains seven Swiss rounds with the players who have 12 or more match points advancing to day two. All matches are best two-out-of-three games
- Day two will consist of seven Swiss rounds of Standard Constructed. All matches are best two-out-of-three games.
- The top-eight players will advance to a playoff rounds in Standard Constructed that will be played via MTG Arena on Aug. 1. All matches are best two-out-of-three games. The top-eight is seeded at random into the bracket.
- The top-16 players in the PT Finals will qualify to compete at the MTG 2020 season Grand Finals.
Prizes
A total prize pool of $250,000 has been revealed by WotC, but a full breakdown of the rewards hasn’t been released at this time.
- First place will earn $10,000.
- The minimum prize earned is $1,000 with prizes paid out to all players competing.
| Place | Prize earnings |
| First | $10,000 |
| Second | $8,000 |
| Third | $7,000 |
| Fourth | $6,000 |
| Fifth to Eighth | $5,000 |
| Ninth to 12th | $4,000 |
| 13th to 16th | $3,000 |
| 17th to 24th | $2,500 |
| 25th to 32nd | $2,000 |
| 33rd to 76th | $1,500 |
| 77th to 145th | $1,000 |
Who’s invited?
Players who already qualified for the Houston and Minneapolis Players Tour Finals have been invited to compete, along with those who qualify via the four PT Arena tournament and others.
- All Magic Pro League players.
- Players who qualified for the Houston and Minneapolis Players Tour Finals.
- Players who finish with 33 or more match points in the four Arena PT tournaments in June.
- The winner and finalist of each Magic Fest Online Finals event via MTG Arena.
A total of 145 players from around the world have earned a seat at the MTG Arena Players Tour Finals. Only 16 will recieve an invitation to the 2020 Grand Finals later this year, an exclusive 32-player event with a total prize pool of $250,000.
A complete list of all competitors can be found here.
Broadcast
Broadcast of the MTG Arena Players Tour Finals begins on Saturday, July 25 at 11am CT. Day two will also start at the same time but the Aug. 1 top-eight broadcast will begin at 2pm CT. Individual streams by players are not permitted, as coverage will only be available live via the Magic Twitch channel.
Similar to pre-COVID-19 live events, WotC has a number of casters covering the Players Tour Finals livestream.
- Maria Bartholdi: Host
- Cedric Phillips: Desk expert
- Riley Knight: Reporter and host
- Paul Cheon: Expert
- Marshall Sutcliffe: Play-by-play
- Corey Baumeister: Expert
- AliasV: Play-by-play
- Mani Davoudi: Expert
- DeQuan Watson: Play-by-play
Streamers can co-stream the MTG Arena Players Tour Finals following the Wizards’ Fan Content Policy and Twitch’s Content Sharing Guidelines.
Updated July 21 11am CT: Broadcast and prize earnings were updated via WotC Players Tour Survival Guide. The format and release time of the decklists were also updated.
