Magic: The Gathering’s Neon Dynasty Championship this weekend was the first time a set championship included the new MTGA-only format Alchemy. And while the format has received some criticism, viewership for the event would suggest that fans aren’t averse to watching it.
The event, which ran from Friday, March 11 through Sunday, March 13, had around 10 hours of coverage a day on the game’s official Twitch channel. Each of the days had progressively stronger viewership, starting with an average of 6,250 and ending with a Championship Sunday that averaged 8,354, according to SullyGnome. The broadcast on March 12 had an average of 7,065 viewers.
The figures slightly outperformed the Innistrad Championship from Dec. 3 to 5. With comparable hours of airtime each day, the contest averaged 6,212 on Friday, Dec. 3, 6,025 on Saturday, Dec. 4, and 6,713 on Sunday, Dec. 5.
While the increase in viewership from the Innistrad Championship to the Neon Dynasty Championship was marginal, the fact that there was an increase at all is notable for Alchemy as a format, which was received by the community with some skepticism about its viability.
The Neon Dynasty Championship was a combination of Historic and Alchemy, while December’s tournament coverage included Historic and Standard contests. Standard is typically considered to be the flagship format for MTG. Alchemy follows most of the same restrictions as Standard, but it includes some MTGA specific cards and mechanics that can only be performed on an online client and aren’t possible when playing paper MTG.
But part of the stronger viewership could have something to do with the rotation that Standard and Alchemy received with the introduction of Neon Dynasty. Interest in competitive MTG often grows or wanes based on the competitiveness and health of the format based on the card pool available.
