The first-ever $1 million Magic: The Gathering Mythic Invitational is the kick-off of an exhilarating new world of competitive Magic—and you could be there!

The members of the Magic Pro League (MPL) will face off against some of the biggest names in Magic gaming and streaming as well as select, top-ranked MTG Arena challengers in a 64-player brawl for their share of $1 million with $250,000 going to first place. This is all happening March 28–31 at PAX East in Boston, Mass., and streaming aaaalll weekend on twitch.tv/magic.

Who Is Invited

The Mythic Invitational will be inviting a mix of the best of the best, names you know and love to watch, and players who are selected from among the top players on MTG Arena from February 1–28.

We have already selected 56 of the 64 players who will compete in the Mythic Invitational. Competitors were invited to represent the depth and diversity of the Magic gaming community, selected for having both the skill and the audience that will excite fans. Those players include:

Update: Owen Turtenwald will not be participating in the Mythic Invitational and we are replacing him with Brian David-Marshall.

Magic Pro League (Updated March 27, 2019)

Invitees (Updated March 27, 2019)

Additionally, the top 8 constructed players in the February Mythic rankings on MTG Arena will also be invited! Want to qualify? Read on.

How to Earn an Invite

The final 8 slots in the Mythic Invitational will be filled with the best of the best constructed players in MTG Arena during the Feb. 1-28 preseason. Here’s how it’s going to work.

During the month of February—play MTG Arena! That’s a pretty easy step 1. If you aren’t already playing MTG Arena, you can download the game for free here.

Next—win! Achieving Mythic ranking is difficult, and getting to the top 8 is an even greater accomplishment. One worthy of an invitation to a $1 million tournament. You can play and win in ranked constructed, which includes best-of-one and best-of-three play.

We’ll be publishing official rankings of the top 100 weekly throughout the month of February and emailing players in the top 1000 once the season concludes. Note that your listed in-game ranking may not be accurately reflected in your displayed ranking, as the ranking system considers games played by other players that may not be visible moment-by-moment in what is displayed for any given player. All rankings will be final as of noon PT on Thursday, February 28.

Then, by Monday, March 4, we will email final, certified rankings to every player in the top 1,000. We’ll also contact the top 8 directly for more information. The top 8 will receive hotel and airfare accommodations for themselves and a four-day PAX East badge for themselves and one guest.For more details including additional rules and eligibility click here.

Prize Structure

Those 64 players will be competing for $1 million total, including $250,000 for winning the whole thing.

Payouts for the Mythic Invitational will break down like this:

Place Prize 1st $250,000 2nd $125,000 3rd $70,000 4th $45,000 5th–16th $12,500 17th–64th $7,500

Format

The first Mythic Invitational is going to be fast, tense, and full of dramatic moments.

The tournament will feature double-elimination play through all days of the tournament (including Sunday) using a brand-new format we're calling Duo Standard.

In Duo Standard, players will submit two Standard–legal decks. Players will not sideboard between games, though they may submit a sideboard (for cards such as Mastermind’s Acquisition). Players can submit two different decks, two of the same archetype with different cards in both, or the exact same deck twice. Have at it!

Match play will take place using both of each players' submitted decks. Matches will be conducted as follows:

Game 1

Which deck each player plays and who goes first will be determined randomly.

Game 2

In the second game, players will use the deck that they didn't play in Game 1.

The player who went second in Game 1 now goes first.

Game 3 (if necessary)

Each player selects one of their two Standard decks to play for the third game.

Then the player who goes first in this game is determined at random.

You can read more about the philosophy behind formats on MTG Arena and how they add to many ways you can experience Magic in Aaron Forsythe and Chris Clay's article, which also went up today!

Tournament Structure

Over Thursday and Friday, groups of sixteen players will battle in double-elimination flights until four players from each flight remain. Those remaining sixteen players will advance to Saturday where another double-elimination bracket will advance four players to the Sunday finale. The final four will then play double-elimination once again to try to grab that $250,000 first prize.

The initial rounds will start at 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. PT) Thursday through Saturday and will be streamed on twitch.tv/magic. The finals will begin at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT) on Sunday and will stream directly to your screen (still twitch.tv/magic) live from the PAX Arena.

Looking Forward

The first MTG Arena Mythic Championship will take place in mid-2019 and will feature Magic Pro League players battling against players who qualify via a traditional qualification system utilizing the in-game ranking system and structured tournaments. Details on how to qualify for this event will be published in February ahead of the start of the March ranked season.

Since the $1 million Mythic Invitational is an exhibition, it will not be part of Magic’s 2019 competitive ranking system, which will start with the tabletop Mythic Championship I in Cleveland. Details on the new system will be published prior to the event in Cleveland.

Be There!

The Mythic Invitational is going to be a historic weekend ushering in a new era of Magic esports. One way or another, you're not going to want to miss this event. Earn your invite through MTG Arena play, follow your favorite streamers as they prepare for the event, and follow along at home from twitch.tv/magic. We'll see you then!