Following the reveal of a revised 2020 Magic: The Gathering esports season yesterday, Wizards of the Coast is providing all June Players Tour competitors with fully-stocked MTG Arena accounts to compete with.
WotC revealed its revised 2020 esports plan for tabletop and digital players yesterday, creating several tournaments via MTG Arena. But for tabletop only players, in conjunction with a reduction in prize pool amounts, investing a minimum of $250 to $325 in MTGA for one Standard playable meta deck with only a month’s notice was asking too much.
The complaints were heard by the Magic esports team, who announced last night that players competing in the June Players Tour tournaments will have access to fully-stocked “God” accounts.
“Due to the generally gestures at the current state of the world we will be providing fully stocked accounts for Players Tour events taking place in June,” the Magic esports team said. “While this will not be our general policy for online events going forward, we listened to player feedback and are working to make things at least a little bit easier on them. We’ll share more details with players soon.”
Providing God accounts doesn’t cost WotC any additional money or time invested since the system already exists. This system has previously been used several times for major tournaments and during the Early Access MTG Arena Streaming event prior to a new set release. And for many tabletop competitors, the gesture is a simple yet reassuring one that shows WotC cares about its esports players.
Players Tour tournaments for those who qualified to compete in Series Two begin via MTG Arena on June 13, with the last event taking place on June 20. Those who compete in the Series Two tournaments and qualify for the PT Finals in July may have to invest in MTGA cards, though.
