Over 200 Magic: The Gathering players from around the globe will compete at the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Championship tournament in the formats Alchemy and Historic.
The digital formats Alchemy and Historic via MTG Arena will get showcased in the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO) Championship tournament over the course of three days. A total prize pool of $450,000 is up for grabs, along with six invitations to the Magic World Championship taking place later this year. All three days will have a feature broadcast of the NEO Championship tournament. And decklists for every player competing are scheduled to release on March 11.
What is the NEO Championship schedule?
The action kicks off on March 11 and will run until March 13. Fans can watch the best Magic players in the world compete starting at 11am CT via the Magic Twitch channel. Casting the NEO Championship tournament is Maria Bartholdi, Mani Davoudi, Cedric Phillips, Marshall Sutcliffe, Riley Knight, Eilidh Lonie, and Corey Baumeister.
- March 11: Starts at 11am CT and will feature seven rounds of gameplay
- March 12: Starts a 11am CT and will feature eight rounds of gameplay with the top-eight players advancing
- March 13: Starts at 11am CT and will showcase a double-elimination playoff bracket
What is the NEO Championship format?
The first two days of the NEO Championship will showcase 15 Swiss rounds in the MTG Arena formats Alchemy and Historic. Players who earn a total of 12 wins by the second day are automatically advanced to the day three playoffs. All other top-eight slots will get determined after a total of 15 rounds played.
The third day of the NEO Championship will only feature gameplay in the Alchemy format via a double-elimination playoff bracket. And the winner of the final match is determined via best-of-three matches as opposed to best-of-three games.
- March 11: Rounds one to three are in the Alchemy format
- March 11: Rounds four to seven are in the Historic format
- March 12: Rounds eight to 11 are in the Alchemy format
- March 12: Rounds 12 to 15 are in the Historic format
- March 13: All playoff rounds are in the Alchemy format
Who is competing at the NEO Championship?
All Magic Pro League and Rivals League players will compete at the NEO Championship. All other players qualified via the Innistrad Championship, premier events, MTG Arena, and Magic Online. A complete list of all competitors can be found on the WotC site here.
What do players win at the NEO Championship?
The top six MTG competitors at the NEO Championship will earn a direct invite to the 2022 Magic World Championship. Players can also earn qualifier points based on standings. A total prize pool of $450,000 will get split between competitors who finish first to 237th.
- First: $20,000
- Second: $15,000
- Third: $11,000
- Fourth: $9,000
- Fifth to sixth: $7,000
- Seventh to 14th: $5,000
- 15th to 35th: $3,500
- 36rd to 63rd: $3,000
- 64th to 91st: $2,000
- 92nd to 111th: $1,500
- 112nd to 123rd: $1,000
- 124th to 237th: $750
