[Editor's Note: This article has been updated to remove the Planeswalker Point threshold from the qualifying season for Mythic Championship VI.]

2019 is the year of "More" in Magic: The Gathering esports and competitive gaming—more ways to play, more ways to qualify, more prizes, and more ways to watch than ever before.

Challengers—that's what we're calling players dedicated to competing at the highest levels but not in the Magic Pro League—can qualify for Mythic Championships through Mythic Championship Qualifier tournaments run by local WPN member stores, by tournament organizers, at a MagicFest, on Magic Online, or on MTG Arena.

This article details each path to qualification and the larger path to the $1 million 2019 Magic World Championship in December. If you want a bigger picture take on why Magic is moving down this path, check out this article here.

Below we'll cover two main topics—the path to the $1 million 2019 Magic World Championship and the various paths to qualifying for individual Mythic Championships. Let's start with the World Championship and zoom in from there.

2019 Magic World Championship and Mythic Points

In December 2019, sixteen players will conclude a groundbreaking year for esports and competitive gaming in Magic by vying for $1 million in prizes. Only the best MPL players and Challengers need apply.

The sixteen slots will be spread out across tabletop Magic and MTG Arena qualification paths. They include:

The 2018 Magic World Champion (Javier Dominguez)

The winners of each of the seven 2019 Mythic Championships (four tabletop and three MTG Arena)

The Top 4 MPL players with the most Mythic Points*

The Top 4 Challengers with the most Mythic Points*

*If a player in the Top 4 has earned an invitation through another means, that qualification slot will pass down to the next highest Mythic Point earner.

Mythic Points are a new, streamlined system designed to connect competitive gaming across MTG Arena and Magic tabletop. It's simple—do well at Mythic Championship events, earn Mythic Points. For 2019, Mythic Championships will award Mythic Points as such:

MTG Arena Mythic Points 1st 50 2nd 42 3rd–4th 37 5th–8th 32 9th–16th 24 17th–28th 17 29th–52nd 11 Day Two of MQW 5

Tabletop Mythic Points 1st 50 2nd 42 3rd–4th 37 5th–8th 32 36+ Match Points 24 33–35 Match Points 17 30–32 Match Points 11 27–29 Match Points 5

A few notes:

MQW stands for Mythic Qualifier Weekend. See below for details on those weekends.

Players who participate in the Mythic Invitational at PAX East in March will not receive Mythic Points.

Grand Prix will not award Mythic Points.

The last event to award Pro Points will be the Grand Prix at MagicFest Seattle, June 21–23, 2019.

The Pro Club program will end December 22, 2019. Platinum, Gold, and Silver invitations and appearance fees will end with Mythic Championship VI in Richmond, Nov. 8–10, 2019. Platinum Grand Prix appearance fees will end with the Grand Prix in Portland the week of December 21–22, 2019.



But now for the big question—how do you qualify for a Mythic Championship?

2019 Mythic Championship Qualification

Unique among trading card games, Magic weaves together both digital and in-person events to give more paths to becoming a Champion no matter how you want to play. Below we'll outline the paths to becoming a Champion. First, here's what the (still developing) Mythic Championship schedule looks like for 2019.

Mythic Championship I – February 22–24 – Cleveland, Ohio – Tabletop – $500,000 prize pool

– February 22–24 – Cleveland, Ohio – Tabletop – $500,000 prize pool Mythic Championship II – April 26-28 – London, England – Tabletop - $500,000 prize pool

– April 26-28 – London, England – Tabletop - $500,000 prize pool Mythic Championship III – June 21-23 – Las Vegas, Nevada – MTG Arena – $750,000 prize pool

– June 21-23 – Las Vegas, Nevada – MTG Arena – $750,000 prize pool Mythic Championship IV – July 26-28 – Barcelona, Spain – Tabletop – $500,000 prize pool

– July 26-28 – Barcelona, Spain – Tabletop – $500,000 prize pool Mythic Championship V – October 18-20 – Long Beach, California – MTG Arena – $750,000 prize pool

– October 18-20 – Long Beach, California – MTG Arena – $750,000 prize pool Mythic Championship VI – November 8-10 – Richmond, Virginia – Tabletop – $500,000 prize pool

– November 8-10 – Richmond, Virginia – Tabletop – $500,000 prize pool Mythic Championship VII – December 6-8 – Long Beach, California – MTG Arena – $750,000 prize pool

And don't forget that we have dedicated $2.5 million to tabletop prizes on the Grand Prix circuit as well!

Let's start with the tabletop qualification path.

Tabletop Mythic Championship Qualifier Qualification Paths

To qualify for a tabletop Mythic Championship (the events in Barcelona and Richmond, as Cleveland qualification has concluded and London qualification concludes March 10) players can either finish highly in a Grand Prix tournament or Mythic Championship, or win a Mythic Championship Qualifier run by a WPN member store, a tournament organizer (TO), at a MagicFest, or on Magic Online.

Now the nitty-gritty details. Let's start with the Mythic Championship Qualifiers:

There will be 150 WPN or TO-run events scheduled globally for the Mythic Championship in Barcelona. For this qualification season, which runs May 11–June 16, these events will be open to all players. We expect many venues will reach capacity quickly and highly recommend players preregister for these events. A full list of WPN-based locations and dates will be posted in mid-April.

When the qualification season begins for the event in Richmond, these events will also be open to all players.

We will continue to evaluate and evolve the system and play thresholds for future qualification periods to ensure we have built a strong, sustainable, and easy-to-understand system that appeals to all fans and players.

MagicFest events feature a variety of ways to qualify for a tabletop Mythic Championship.

Players who finish in the Top 8 or with at least 39 match points at individual Grand Prix will earn an invite.

The Top 4 teams and all other teams with at least 36 match points at team Grand Prix will earn invites.

Grands Prix that qualify players for Barcelona include: Tampa, Bilbao, Kyoto, Calgary, Sao Paulo, Niagara Falls, Yokohama, London, Madison, Kansas City, and Providence.

The winners of each MagicFest Mythic Championship Qualifier will qualify for the same Mythic Championship the Grand Prix main event feeds.

Starting with MagicFest Barcelona, 8 winning players from Last Chance Qualifiers run the day before the start of the Mythic Championship.

Magic Online will continue to qualify players for Mythic Championships, including:

The winner of each Magic Online Mythic Championship Qualifier Finals;

Each player who qualifies for the 2019 Magic Online Championship (to be held in 2020), including the winner of each MOCS Playoff, the winner of each MOCS Open, the winner of each Format Championship, and MOCS Leaderboard invitees; and

The runner up of each MOCS Playoff.

Finally, players who perform well at previous tabletop Mythic Championships will also qualify for future tabletop Mythic Championships.

For Barcelona, this includes: Challengers that finish with at least 33 match points in the previous Mythic Championship. The Top 8 teams in the 2018–19 Mythic Championship Team Series Leaderboard Platinum and Gold Pro Club members in the Core Set 2020 Pro Club Cycle Silver Pro Club members in the Core Set 2020 Pro Club cycle who did not already use their Silver invitation at Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica, Mythic Championship I (Cleveland), or Mythic Championship II (London).



Whew! Okay, now on to the new stuff—how to qualify through MTG Arena play for MTG Arena Mythic Championships.

MTG Arena Qualification Paths

The top sixteen Challengers from MTG Arena Mythic Qualifier Weekends will ultimately qualify for the $750,000 Mythic Championships. Here's the broad outline of how you can be one of the sixteen. (Editor's Note: This section has been updated for clarity.)

Be among the top 1,000 in Mythic Ranking in Constructed or Limited at the end of a qualifying month, and you will be eligible to compete in that season's Mythic Qualifier Weekend (MQW).

On Saturday of the Mythic Qualifier Weekend, eligible Challengers will compete in Stage 1. Everyone who reaches the maximum number of wins will advance to Sunday's Stage 2.

On Sunday of Mythic Qualifier Weekend, everyone who advanced will compete in a Swiss-paired tournament. The Top 16 players from that tournament will qualify for the Mythic Championship.

The March and April seasons will feed qualifying for Mythic Championship III with an MQW scheduled for the end of May or early June. Exact dates to be announced.

Additionally, the Top 4 placing non-MPL players in each MTG Arena Mythic Championship will be invited to the next MTG Arena Mythic Championship. For the first such event, Mythic Championship III, those four slots will go to the three winners of Pro Tour 25th Anniversary—Allen Wu, Ben Hull, and Gregory Orange—and the winner of Pro Tour Guilds of Ravnica—Andrew Elenbogen.

Of course, there are more details. Read on for the finer print.