Mike Rosenberg is a writer and gamer and has been part of the Magic text coverage team since 2011. He joined Wizards as organized play’s content specialist in June 2014.

The month of November means something different for everyone. For some, it's a questionable excuse to not shave for an entire month. For others, it's a month with a lot more holiday time than your typical month in a year. And for many, it's a time to root for your country in this year's World Magic Cup.

The World Magic Cup is Coming!

In about two weeks, representatives from 73 countries will get their game faces on in Rotterdam to compete in the 2016 World Magic Cup, one of Magic's most electric premier play offerings. The tournament takes place November 18–20 and features multiple days of team play, starting with three rounds of Kaladesh Team Sealed before moving on to Team Unified Modern for the rest of the weekend, as teams of four from 73 countries compete to become World Magic Cup champions. $250,000 is also up for grabs for top finishing teams, with the winning team receiving $48,000 evenly split between the four teammates.

The World Magic Cup has a tradition of bringing out the most electric emotions from both competitors and fans. Here are a couple of highlights from the last few years:

The World Magic Cup meme that will live on forever. Fun fact, the cameraman for this shot is Shawn Kornhauser of Walking the Planes and Enter the Battlefield fame. This is one of the moments he is proudest to have captured on film, as the varied display of emotion across all the faces captured in this big moment—Team USA losing to a topdecked Bonfire of the Damned, and the advancement of eventual World Magic Cup winners Team Chinese Taipei—makes this a clip you can watch over and over and still find things you didn't notice from a prior viewing.

Funny enough, this particular clip took on a life of its own and has been turned into gifs and loops on a variety of channels (much to the chagrin of the Team USA competitors of that year, who get to live this moment again and again every time it's mentioned. I'm probably not helping with that either, so sorry!).

Another instant classic came from 2013, as the finals of that year came down to one match, one game, and one big draw step. Personally, this is one of my favorite clips to feature Rich Hagon in the commentator booth.

Timothée Simonot, the French competitor in that match, has also made the rounds in Magic news once again with his Twisted Color Pie Magic Online Cube submission.

Raphaël Lévy, the winning-team captain from 2013, will return this year as France's national champion.

The win, which put Denmark on the map and started two Danish players on their path deeper into the Pro Tour, came from a series of comeback plays—including the now famous "Daneblast"—in 2014's World Magic Cup.

We will see both Martin Müller and Simon Nielson, two of 2014's World Magic Cup–winning team members, representing Denmark again in 2016.

A fun moment from second-time Top 8 country Scotland last year was one of 2015's World Magic Cup highlights. Scotland knew they were playing for a chance at the Top 8, but only found out that they had made the cut once their match was completed. The reaction, as you see, involves team members Martin Clement and Stephen Murray tackling coverage floor reporter Tim Willoughby in excitement upon hearing that they were through.

And of course, it's hard to forget about Team Italy's win in 2015. This event was also the launch of Andrea Mengucci to the top of the standings, as only a few months later he earned his second Pro Tour Top 8 with a second-place finish at Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad.

Mengucci will return this year as Italy's team captain.

We'll have more on the World Magic Cup as we approach the big weekend of November 18–20, including a reveal of the event-exclusive playmat that will be available for purchase later next week. In the meantime, mark your calendars for November 18–20, as we'll be bringing you live video coverage of all three days on twitch.tv/magic! Exact info can be found below:

Play-by-Play Commentators : Marshall Sutcliffe, Tim Willoughby, and Gaby Spartz

: Marshall Sutcliffe, Tim Willoughby, and Gaby Spartz Color Commentators : Luis Scott-Vargas and Simon Görtzen

: Luis Scott-Vargas and Simon Görtzen News Desk : Rich Hagon and Brian David-Marshall

: Rich Hagon and Brian David-Marshall Feature Match Floor Reporters : Tim Willoughby and Gaby Spartz

: Tim Willoughby and Gaby Spartz Feature Match Spotter : Neil Rigby and Rashad Miller

: Neil Rigby and Rashad Miller Writer-Reporters : Tobi Henke, Chapman Sim, and Frank Karsten

: Tobi Henke, Chapman Sim, and Frank Karsten Content Managers/Editors : Chris Gleeson and Mike Rosenberg

: Chris Gleeson and Mike Rosenberg Social Media : Nate Price

: Nate Price Executive Producer: Greg Collins

This Weekend: Grand Prix Dallas/Fort Worth

Looking for a preview of what decks you can expect to see at the 2016 World Magic Cup? Grand Prix Dallas/Fort Worth features two days of Modern Constructed as its main event, with some new Kaladesh cards mixing things up. The new lands are expected to spice up mana bases for Modern's top decks, and there are definitely other Kaladesh cards predicted to make waves.

While our writer-reporters Marc Calderaro and Corbin Hosler bring you all kinds of deck goodness, live video coverage will be brought to you by twitch.tv/channelfireball and will take place both Saturday and Sunday, so tune in to catch all the excitement!