- William “Huey” Jensen was the guest on the Weekly Magic Twitch stream this week to announce the Magic Spotlight Series (MSS) coming in 2025.
- I’ve now listened to the full broadcast multiple times and read/listened to every scrap of official information I could find for this recap. Information provided here is as factual as I can make it, and I will clearly mark any speculation as such. If anyone has any questions or knows of any information I have not included here, please contact me on Twitter.
- There will be 8 MSS tournaments in 2025, 5 taking place in the US, 2 in Europe, and 1 in Japan.
- These will be Open tournaments, with event and tournament entry fees handled by the hosts.
- US: StarCityGames
- To the best of my knowledge SCG does not charge entry for any SCG Con. The price for entry in the MSS itself has not been announced yet.
- Europe: Fanfinity
- Japan: BIG MAGIC
- US: StarCityGames
- Each event will have a purse of $50k, along with promo cards for anyone who enters and foil promo cards for anyone who finished in the Top 128
- The prize structure for the first two events will be the same as far as money is concerned:
- 1st: $10k
- 2nd: $5k
- 3rd – 4th: $2.5k
- 4th – 8th: $1k
- 9th – 16th: $750
- 17th – 32nd: $550
- 33rd – 64th: $350
- Each event will also award a PT invite to everyone who finishes in the Top 8, and winning will grant you a “special prize” that will depend on the event. This may be product, a special trophy, or more.
- The special prize for the first event in January will be 6 Play Booster Boxes for every Standard set released in 2025.
- Each event will have a theme it is centered around, although it is possible that they may run the same theme at more than one event over the course of the year.
- The first MSS will take place at SCG Con in Atlanta on January 4th and 5th.
- This will be a Standard event, focused around the Foundations set releasing later this year.
- Players who Top 8 this event will qualify for the first PT of 2025.
- The structure for each MSS will be the same: 9 rounds on Day 1 (18 pts or a 6-3 or better record needed to advance to Day 2), 6 rounds on Day 2, followed by a cut to Top 8. The Top 8 will be played to completion on Sunday after the 6 rounds of Day 2.
- The second MSS will take place on March 15th to 16th 2025 at Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
- The format for this event will be Modern, and the special prize for 1st has not yet been announced.
- The remaining 6 locations and formats have yet to be announced.
- All 8 of these events will have official coverage, managed by the host of the event.
- There will be no pass-down PT invites, nor will players who don’t make the Top 8 but have the same record as someone who did be given out.
- It’s possible the events will have a cap, that’s up to the host and the venue.
- It’s possible we get more than 8 events in 2026, but it’s far too early to speculate on that.
- Standard will be “heavily supported” when it comes to formats this year. They’ve penciled in which formats they plan to run, but all William Jensen would commit to is that they’ll “…try to hit the key notes”.
- During his interview with LSV for Channel Fireball, William said the MSS will be “Single-format. Well, that’s at least the first couple, which we’re ready to talk about today.” I’m speculating here, but that leaves the door open for Limited events being possible in the future.
- This is completely separate from the Regional Qualifier (RC) system, and there is no plans to consider the current RC season when setting the format for the MSS.
- There are currently no plans for any kind of Arena integration for these events.
WotC Announces The Magic Spotlight Series
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