| Players Tour Series 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | January 31, 2020 - April 26, 2020 | |||
| Location |
 Brussels, Belgium Nagoya, Japan Phoenix, USA Houston, USA (cancelled) | |||
| Attendance |
384 192 355 0 | |||
| Format | Theros Beyond Death Booster Draft, followed by Pioneer Constructed | |||
| Prize pool |
$200,000 $150,000 $250,000 $250,000 | |||
| ||||
Players Tour Series 1 is the first Players Tour Series, continuing the tradition of professional Magic: The Gathering Organized Play of the Pro Tour and the Mythic Championships.
Description
The Series took place between January 31, 2020 and April 26, 2020.[1] It was part of the shortened 2020 Players Tour Season. The Series was to consist of three regional Players Tours for which Player Points were awarded, and one Final. Nearly 1,000 players were invited, including the 24 members of the 2020 Magic Pro League and 32 members of the 2020 Rivals League for the partial 2020 Players Tour Season.[2] Individual players were limited to playing in just one regional Players Tour event per Players Tour Finals.
Players Tour Series 1 was the first Premier Event level to feature the Pioneer format since its inception in October 2019. It also featured Theros Beyond Death Draft.
Players Tour Europe
- January 31-February 2, 2020: Brussels, Belgium
384 players entered the fray in Brussels. At the end of eight rounds, the original field of 384 was whittled down to 130. Leading the charge into Day 2 were two players at 9-0: Bernardo Torres from Portugal and Juan José Rodríguez López from Spain.[3] After the Top 8 was decided on Day 2, Joel Larsson won Players Tour Brussels today with his homebrewed Sultai Delirium deck, defeating Magic Pro League member Piotr Glogowski on UB Inverter of Truth 2–1 in the finals.[4][5]
| Place | Player | Prize | Player Points | Deck | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Joel Larsson
|
$35,000 | 26 | Sultai Delirium | |
| 2 |  Piotr Glogowski
|
$25,000 | 24 | Inverter Combo | MPL |
| 3 |  Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
|
$20,000 | 22 | 5-Color Niv to Light | MPL |
| 4 |  Brent Vos
|
$15,000 | 20 | Lotus Breach | |
| 5 |  Juan Jose Rodriguez Lopez
|
$12,000 | 18 | Mono-Red Aggro | |
| 6 |  Mattia Rizzi
|
$10,000 | 18 | Bant Spirits | |
| 7 |  Zhang Zhiyang
|
$8,000 | 18 | Mono-Black Aggro | |
| 8 | Valerio Luminati
|
$6,000 | 18 | Bant Spirits |
Players Tour Asia-Pacific
- February 1–2, 2020: Nagoya, Japan
Unlike the Brussels and Phoenix PT's, Nagoya only ran for two days. The format was the same, however, featuring competitive tabletop play in THB Booster Draft and Pioneer.[6] Out of the 192 players, 19% registered UB Inverter of Truth, compared to 12% of the field at Players Tour Brussels. Only one player went undefeated on day 1: Yuuta Takahashi. Kenta Harane won Players Tour Nagoya on Sunday evening with Bant Spirits, defeating Magic Pro League member Ken Yukuhiro on Sram Auras 2–1 in the finals.[7][8]
| Place | Player | Prize | Player Points | Deck | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenta Harane
|
$35,000 | 26 | White-Blue Spirits | |
| 2 | Ken Yukuhiro
|
$21,000 | 24 | Orzhov Sram | MPL |
| 3 | Yuuta Takahashi
|
$15,000 | 22 | Inverter Combo | |
| 4 | Shintaro Ishimura
|
$12,000 | 20 | Blue Devotion Inverter | |
| 5 | Shota Yasooka
|
$10,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | MPL |
| 6 | Akira Asahara
|
$8,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | |
| 7 |  Lee Shi Tian
|
$6,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | MPL |
| 8 |  Dmitri Butakov
|
$4,000 | 18 | Mono-Black Vampires |
Players Tour Americas
- February 7–9, 2020: Phoenix, USA
The power of the Lotus Field-Underworld Breach-Hidden Strings combo deck was unleashed after Brussels, with effectively any deck that could not outrace the Inverter-Oracle or Breach combos falling far on the wayside, such as the Heliod-Ballista decks and the mono-Green Ramp decks.[9][10][11][12] In a surprising repeat of the previous two events, a well-known GP ringer, Corey Burkhart, defeated a MPL member (William Jensen) in the finals.[13]
| Place | Player | Prize | Player Points | Deck | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Burkhart
|
$35,000 | 26 | Inverter Combo | |
| 2 | William Jensen
|
$30,000 | 24 | Lotus Breach Combo | MPL |
| 3 | Jacob Wilson
|
$20,000 | 22 | Sultai Delirium | |
| 4 | Zachary Kiihne
|
$15,000 | 20 | Mono-Red Aggro | |
| 5 | Allen Wu
|
$12,000 | 18 | Lotus Breach Combo | |
| 6 | Austin Bursavich
|
$10,000 | 18 | UW Control | |
| 7 | Peter Ingram
|
$8,000 | 18 | Inverter Combo | |
| 8 | Thomas Ashton
|
$6,000 | 18 | Bant Spirits |
Finals (Series 1)
- April 24–26, 2020 - Houston, USA (cancelled)
The Players Tour Final was originally expected to invite approximately 120 players.
Participants were to be:
- Top finishers from Players Tour events (based on record)
- Top finishers from previous Players Tour Finals
- All 24 MPL players
- Each Grand Prix winner in a qualifying season
Doing well at a Players Tour Finals would qualify you for the next Player Tour Finals, depending on your final record. All Finals participants qualify for the next regional Players Tour.
The COVID-19 outbreak in January resulted in preventative measures taken in March, which included the cancellation of Players Tour Finals Houston.[14] All invites were shifted to the next relevant event: the Players Tour Series 2 Finals.
References
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 28, 2020). "Players Tour Series 1 Survival Guide". Magic.gg.
- ↑ David McCoy (January 28, 2020). "Everything You Need to Know About Players Tour 1". Hipsters of the Coast.
- ↑ Tobi Henke (January 31, 2020). "Highlights from Day 1 of Players Tour Brussels". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Tobi Henke (February 1, 2020). "Highlight of Day 2 of Players Tour Brussels". Magic.gg.
- ↑ David McCoy (February 3, 2020). "Joel Larsson Wins Players Tour Brussels". Hipsters of the Coast.
- ↑ Rick Hagon (February 1, 2020). "Players Tour Nagoya Day 1 Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Rick Hagon (February 2, 2020). "Players Tour Nagoya Day Two Highlights". Magic.gg.
- ↑ David McCoy (February 2, 2020). "Kenta Harane Wins Players Tour Nagoya". Hipsters of the Coast.
- ↑ David McCoy (February 8, 2020). "UB Inverter and Lotus Breach Headline Pioneer at Players Tour Phoenix". Hipsters of the Coast.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 8, 2020). "Highlights from Players Tour Phoenix Day 1". Magicthegathering.com.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 8, 2020). "Highlights of Players Tour Phoenix Day 2". Magic.gg.
- ↑ Corbin Hosler (February 9, 2020). "Highlights of Players Tour Phoenix Day 3". Magic.gg.
- ↑ David McCoy (February 10, 2020). "Corey Burkhart Wins Players Tour Phoenix". Hipsters of the Coast.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (March 12, 2020). "Changes to Magic's Competitive Season and Event Schedule.". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.