Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
The pivot of esports to different forms of online play has been constant and varied since the COVID-19 pandemic has been going on. It’s a tough act to adapt with the inability to host any type of in-person event, but a lot of games are giving it their all to keep the scenes moving. Magic: The Gathering is one such scene affected due to the physical card aspects of the game. Fortunately, the online variation of Arena exists, and the MTG Arena Open was just announced to give players a chance to compete for in-game rewards and a cash prize of up to $2,000.
Wizards of the Coast announced the Magic: The Gathering Arena Open via the MTG Arena Twitter on May 22, 2020. Starting on May 30, 2020, MTG Arena will host a two-day event in which players over 18 in eligible territories will be able to compete for increasing prizes if they do well. The MTG Arena Open is an in-game event in which players will be able to play at their discretion between 8AM and 7AM PT. Players will play to win up to seven games, allowing a maximum of three losses to compete in the second day on May 31.
On Day 2, qualified players will again play a series of up to seven matches, this time allowing for a total of two losses to be knocked out. Depending on how well you do in the first and second day, a number of premium currency gems, and up to $2000 cash, is up for grabs if you can win all 14 of your games. According to Forbes, you can enter multiple times on Day 1 as long as you have either 20,000 gold (the game’s free currency) or 4,000 gems to spend on a single entry. Day 2 can only be played if you have a qualification token from Day 1, which requires seven wins before you rack up three losses.
The Magic: The Gathering Online Open is an awesome offering to the MTG community in this unfortunate time in which esports is suffering from the pandemic. It gives players a chance to prove their mettle and even score an awesome prize for it. Nintendo is doing something somewhat similar, sans any sort of monetary offering, with the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Online Open, but with an actual cash prize pool in MTG Arena Open’s event, it definitely feels like an awesome affair to take part in if you fancy your deck strategies the best among the bunch.