There's just something special about sitting down for the player meeting of a huge Magic tournament.

A thousand players all in the same room, from all walks of life, experience levels, and distances traveled, all joined together on equal footing to compete for the same prize pool.

The Regional Championships sort of have this feel, but also feel like more of a stepping stone than a singular event. For the players trying to make it to the Pro Tour, they had to win their local RCQ, and now they're at this one event that can get them there. Conversely, for players already qualified for the Pro Tour, The Regional Championship feels like an afterthought, something that isn't necessary to play in because they're already qualified.

Frankly, The Regional Championships often feel more like a means to an end than anything else.

However, it's not like there are other options to get out and play. Unfortunately, the tournament landscape, once perhaps too fruitful and numerous, has dwindled down to basically just RCQs, The Regional Championships, and the Pro Tours since Covid. No more Grand Prix, no more SCG Tour, and frankly just not a lot of opportunities to play serious paper Magic.

Well not any more!

Big, open tournament Magic returns with the Spotlight Series!

In a lot of ways this "new" big tournament series is very similar to the old Grand Prix series, just a bit simpler. This is obviously an awesome thing, as for a long time Grand Prix events were the backbone of competitive tournament play. Many Magic: The Gathering players have tons of fond memories of the Grand Prix days, and I'm very excited for newer players to have this experience too.

Here's the basic breakdown for the Spotlight Series main events:

• Two day events, with an 18 point cut on Day One and a cut to Top 8 on Day Two
• Top 8 players qualify for the Pro Tour
• $50,000 total prize pool
• 8 events in 2025: 5 in the US, 2 in Europe, and 1 in Asia
• Run by regional organizers
• Full event coverage of the events
• The ability to go from nothing to qualified to the Pro Tour in one event

Aside from not having an overarching pro point system, this is very similar to the old Grand Prix system.

The regional organizers will have to freedom to run the weekend as they see fit, with StarCityGames running the US events at their SCGCONs that will also feature a whole host of other events. While this does add a bit of volatility to individual events across different regions, it does take some of the burden off of Wizards of the Coast and if that's what it takes to get these events back it is what it is.

Unfortunately, no events in South America, Canada, and other areas isn't ideal, but while this is obviously frustrating for those in those areas of the world, it is better than the alternative of having nothing. Hopefully the series does well in 2025 and can expand in 2026.

This Is Awesome!

In case you can't tell, I am extremely excited about this announcement. Quite frankly, Magic has had a desperate need for paper events that matter.

In store play has been in dire straights for a long time, as in a post-Covid world players haven't really been given a good reason to build paper decks, especially in Standard - there just aren't enough events worth playing in beyond a few RCQs. The pipeline back in the day was players would play at their local FNM each week to prepare for the big events that came into their area a few times a year, where if they had a good day maybe they could make day two, get a feature match, or even spike a Pro Tour invite.

Now that has returned!

These events are also great because they aren't tied to any preexisting system. If you haven't played in a while, you can just show up and play and have a chance at a huge prize as well as a Pro Tour invite, no other hoops needed. This is a big deal for lapsed players who have been out of it for a while and who many not be interested in playing small local RCQs.

We're still a long way from the hay day of the SCGTour and 50 Grand Prix a year, but it is so refreshing to see a return to paper Magic in a big way!