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 then 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 three members each: the National Pro Point leader and the two finalists of that country's Nationals (or the top 3 players if the National Pro Point Leader finished first or second at Nationals). Prior to 2017, the teams consisted of four members: three winners of World Magic Cup Qualifier tournaments, and the National Champion; the latter being 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 Standard. 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 Standard. 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, Prior to 2017, when teams consisted of four players, the last member was considered the "Coach", who could 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.
In 2016, Modern was used instead of Standard in the Team Constructed portion of the event. The Team Unified construction rule also changed with this event: no cards other than basic land could be used by more than one deck (and respective sideboard) within a team. The structure was also changed to a stepladder format in favor of higher seeded teams. Starting in 2017, Standard will once again be used for the Team Constructed portion of the event.
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 | $15,000 | 8 |
| 2 | $8,500 | 7 |
| 3–4 | $6,000 | 6 |
| 5–8 | $4,000 | 5 |
| 9–16 | $2,000 | 4 |
| 17–32 | $1,000 | 3 |
| 33+ | - | 2 |
| Total | $250,500 | - |
Past winners
| Year | Country | Players |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon Taiwan | Tzu Ching Kuo |
| Tung-Yi Cheng | ||
| Yu Min Yang | ||
| Paul Renie | ||
| 2013 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon France | Raphaël Lévy |
| Timothée Simonot | ||
| Yann Guthmann | ||
| Stephane Soubrier | ||
| 2014 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon Denmark | Martin Müller |
| Simon Nielsen | ||
| Thomas Enevoldsen | ||
| Lars Birch | ||
| 2015 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon Italy | Marco Cammilluzzi |
| William Pizzi | ||
| Francesco Bifero | ||
| Andrea Mengucci | ||
| 2016 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon Greece | Bill Chronopoulos |
| Panagiotis Papadopoulos | ||
| Nikolaos Kaponis | ||
| Tziotis Petros | ||
| 2017 World Magic Cup | Template:Flagicon Japan | Yuuya Watanabe |
| Kenta Harane | ||
| Shōta Yasooka |
Most successful countries
The following table shows the countries who have won the World Magic Cup at least once, or have made it to the top eight of multiple World Magic Cups. No country has won more than once, and no country has made it to the top eight more than three times.
| Country | Wins | Top 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Flagicon Italy | 1 | 3 |
| Template:Flagicon France | 1 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Denmark | 1 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Greece | 1 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Japan | 1 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Taiwan | 1 | 1 |
| Template:Flagicon Slovakia | 0 | 3 |
| Template:Flagicon Austria | 0 | 3 |
| Template:Flagicon Hungary | 0 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Scotland | 0 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Belgium | 0 | 2 |
| Template:Flagicon Poland | 0 | 2 |