World Magic Cup
The World Magic Cup (WMC) is a yearly three-day tournament, usually held in the fall or early winter. It is a National Team competition, featuring more than 70 countries, and serves as the successor to the Team World Championship held every year at the World Championships from 1995 to 2011.
Description
The World Magic Cup was announced in December 2011 as the successor to the recently abolished Team World Championship. Initially, there was to be no replacement, but this was changed after the negative community response to the initial announcement.[1] The WMC is an invitation-only tournament consisting of National teams with four members each: three winners of World Magic Cup Qualifier tournaments, and the National Champion. The National Champion is the country's player with the most Pro Points during the previous Pro Tour season.
On day one of competition, there are three rounds of Team Sealed followed by four rounds of Team Unified Modern. The top 48 teams advance to day two. The second day of competition is divided into two phases, and the format for both is Team Unified Modern. For Phase 1, teams are divided, according to their standing within the event (seeding), into eight groups of six teams each. The top two teams in each group receive a bye in the first round, while the other teams play one round of singe elimination; the sixteen losing teams in this round are eliminated from the tournament. The remaining four teams in each group play up to three rounds of double elimination, the top two teams advancing to Phase 2. Teams are divided into four groups of four teams each, according to their standing within the event. The teams then once again play up to three rounds of double elimination, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the third day of competition. There, the top eight teams compete in a seeded (based on total number of points from day one and day two), single-elimination bracket; the format is Team Unified Modern.
Teams cannot change their decks during the competition; however, they can be played by different team members. Matches are played three-on-three, with one player on each team serving as the "Coach"; the Coach doesn't play, but may help the other members of their team during the match.
Past formats
At the 2012 World Magic Cup, the first day of competition was individual play with three rounds of Magic 2013 Booster draft followed by four rounds of Standard. Each win counted towards that player's team score, and the top 32 teams after seven rounds of Swiss advanced to the second day, where national teams played each other as three-player teams. The teams consisted of the three players with the best individual record on day one, with the fourth player acting as the "Coach", being able to advise the other players during the match. Teams were divided, according to their standing within the event (seeding), into eight groups of four teams each, where each team played every other team in the group once, the format being Magic 2013 Team Sealed. The top two teams in each group advanced; if two or more teams were tied, the team(s) with the highest seed advanced. The teams were then divided again, according to their standing within the event, into four groups of four teams each, where each team played every other team in the group once, the format being Team Constructed, with one team member playing Standard, another playing Modern, and the third playing Block Constructed. The top two teams in each group advanced to Day 3 of competition; if two or more teams are tied, the team(s) with the highest seed advanced. On the third day of competition, the top eight teams then competed in a seeded (based on total number of points from Day 1 and Day 2), single-elimination bracket.
From 2013 to 2015, on day one, there were three rounds of Team Sealed followed by four rounds of Team Unified Standard. The top 32 teams advanced to day two, where teams were divided, according to their standing within the event (seeding), into eight groups of four teams each, where each team played every other team in the group once, the format being Team Sealed. The top two teams in each group advanced; if two or more teams were tied, the team(s) with the highest seed advanced. The teams were then divided again, according to their standing within the event, into four groups of four teams each, where each team played every other team in the group once, the format being Team Unified Standard. The top two teams in each group advanced to day three of competition; if two or more teams were tied, the team(s) with the highest seed advanced. On the third day of competition, the top eight teams then competed in a seeded (based on total number of points from day one and day two), single-elimination bracket; the format being Team Unified Standard.
From 2016, Modern would be used instead of Standard in team constructed portion. Unlike previous team constructed format, no card other than basic land can be used by more than one deck (and respective sideboard) within their team. The structure is also changed to stepladder format in favor of higher seeding teams. There would have no draw game during day 2.
Prizes
The World Magic cup awards players both money and Pro Points, and for the top eight teams, invitations to the next Pro Tour, including airfare.
Place | Payout (per player) | Pro Points |
---|---|---|
1 | $12,000 | 8 |
2 | $6,500 | 7 |
3–4 | $4,000 | 6 |
5–8 | $2,000 | 5 |
9–16 | $1,500 | 4 |
17–32 | $1,000 | 3 |
33+ | - | 2 |
Total | $250,000 | - |
Past winners
Year | Country | Players |
---|---|---|
2012 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon TWN Taiwan | Tzu Ching Kuo |
Tung-Yi Cheng | ||
Yu Min Yang | ||
Paul Renie | ||
2013 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon FRA France | Raphaël Lévy |
Timothée Simonot | ||
Yann Guthmann | ||
Stephane Soubrier | ||
2014 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon DNK Denmark | Martin Müller |
Simon Nielsen | ||
Thomas Enevoldsen | ||
Lars Birch | ||
2015 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon ITA Italy | Marco Cammilluzzi |
William Pizzi | ||
Francesco Bifero | ||
Andrea Mengucci |