The event schedules for the Rivals Gauntlet and MPL Gauntlet have been updated. See this article for more details.
Rivals Gauntlet Information for Invitees
Locations and Times
The Rivals Gauntlet takes place online as a direct-challenge tournament using Magic: The Gathering Arena on the following days:
Day 1: Thursday, September 2, 2021 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 Friday September 3 JST
Day 2: Friday, September 3, 2021 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 Saturday September 4 JST
Day 3: Saturday, September 4, 2021 – No matches on this day (MPL Gauntlet Top 8)
Day 4: Sunday, September 5, 2021 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 Monday September 6 JST
Please note that the above times are the expected start times for each day's play and broadcast. Players who qualify for this event will receive instructions that may have designated check-in times earlier than listed above.
Formats
The format for the Rivals Gauntlet is Traditional Standard aConstructed (Best-of-Three with sideboard) on Magic: The Gathering Arena.
Deck Submission
Players must submit their decklist via the MTG Melee tournament page by Sunday, August 29 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time (6:59 a.m. Monday UTC)
Players with a late decklist submission will be unable to submit through MTG Melee and must submit their decklist to esports@wizards.com instead. Players who are late with their decklist submission are also subject to tournament error penalties, which will upgrade for every 4 hours they are late on their submission.
Players who fail to submit a decklist within 24 hours of the deadline will be automatically dropped from the tournament.
No changes are allowed to a player's decklist past the submission deadline.
Invitees
The Rivals Gauntlet is an invitation-only tournament. The following players are invited to compete in the Rivals Gauntlet:
- Players finishing 13th-16th in the 2020-2021 Magic Pro League
- Players finishing 21st-32nd in the 2020-2021 Rivals League
- Players finishing 5th-12th in the Challenger Gauntlet
The Rivals Gauntlet invitation list is available online. If you believe you are an invited competitor but are not on the invitation list, please email esports@wizards.com.
Prizes
IMPORTANT: There are no direct monetary prizes for this event – only invitations are at stake.
- The winner earns an invitation to World Championship XXVII in October 2021 and will be offered an invitation to the 2021-2022 Magic Pro League.
- Players finishing 2nd-4th will be offered an invitation to the 2021-2022 Magic Pro League.
- 2nd place is the player eliminated in the Championship Round
- 3rd place is the player eliminated in the Lower Bracket Final
- 4th place is the player eliminated the Lower Bracket Round 3
- All other players will be offered an invitation to the 2021-2022 Rivals League.
Tournament Structure
The event will be 12 rounds of Swiss, with 6 rounds of Traditional Standard Constructed on each of Days 1-2), followed by playoff rounds using the same decks Play-draw choice is assigned randomly by the game.
Day One: 6 Swiss Rounds + Tiebreaker Round (if needed)
Rounds 1-6: Standard Constructed
- All players will advance of Day Two – standings and tiebreakers will carry over (this is a change from previous versions of this document).
Day Two: 6 Swiss Rounds + Tiebreaker Round (if needed)
Round 7-12: Standard Constructed
Pairing controls will be reset at the start of Day 2 – players can face a single opponent once on Day One, then again on Day 2 (including the end of Day One and the start of Day Two – Rounds 6-7).
If a player reaches seven (7) match losses before Round 12 begins, that player is removed from the event.
If a player reaches nine (9) match wins before Round 12 begins, they immediately advance to the Top 8 section of the playoff bracket and receive byes in each remaining Swiss round.
Playoff Seeding
Seeding is determined by:
- The round in which a player reached their 9th win
- Their OMW%, GW%, and OGW% as of the round in which they earned their 9th win
- Seeding for the Top 8 is locked after each round in which a player reaches their 9th win
At the end of Round 12, standings will be used to determine seeding into the Top 8. Tiebreaker values (OMW%, GW%, and OGW%) will used to initially rank players in the same score group (e.g. who initially ranks 7th, 8th, 9th, etc).
Players below 8th place not involved in a tiebreaker round are eliminated at this point.
Ties involving 8th place will be resolved using a Tiebreaker Round.
Tiebreaker Round (Day Two): A single best-of-three Traditional Standard match among pairs of players along the cut line as described below. Play-draw choice is determined at random for this round.
Top 8 – 8th plays 9th for the 8 seed
- The winner of the match advances as the 8 seed, while the loser is eliminated.
Multiplayer Scenarios – Top 8
- If 7th-9th (and no lower) are tied, only 8th-9th play (7th advances to Top 8)
- If 8th is tied with only multiple players below them, only 8th-9th play (10th, 11th, et al are eliminated)
- If 7th-10th have the same record, 7th plays 10th and 8th plays 9th in the tiebreaker round.
- Higher-ranked winner advances as the 7 seed
- Lower-ranked winner advances as the 8 seed
- Losers of these matches are eliminated
- Similarly, if 6th-11th all have the same record, 6th plays 11th in addition to the matches described above – winners are seeded 6th-8th based on rank at end of Swiss rounds.
Top 8 – Double-Elimination Bracket
Matches are best two-out-of-three games Traditional Standard Constructed. Play-draw choice in each match is determined by the higher-seeded player.
Exception: The Championship Round will be best two-out-of-three matches.
- Match 1 – The winner of the Upper Bracket chooses play or draw.
- Matches 2-3 – The player who lost the previous match chooses play or draw.
Tournament Mechanics
All rounds of competition use the Tournament Match Direct Challenge settings via Direct Challenge in Magic: The Gathering Arena, which means:
30-minute time banks for player priority are enforced in-client.
- Timers are on.
- Matches are best two-out-of-three games.
- Players should double-check to ensure they have not selected "Tournament Match – Limited", "Challenge Match", or "Tournament Match – Historic" in Direct Challenge settings.
- Players should double-check to ensure they have selected the correct format for each round ("Tournament Match – Standard").
Each round will be timed by tournament officials at 60 minutes:
- Players must challenge their opponent by the time the round has officially started based on the time provided by the tournament organizer.
- Players who have not been able to begin their match, but have received communication from their opponent, should contact a tournament admin once the round has begun.
- At the end of 60 minutes, tournament admins will message players who have not yet reported their match. Players still in a match at that time are expected to respond to the admin's message to confirm they are still playing.
For the Rivals Gauntlet there are no draws, intentional or otherwise, during the Swiss rounds. Players are expected to play until a winner is declared, either via traditional means of ending a match or via a player's time bank running out.
Additionally, concessions of matches that have not reached a clear, natural conclusion are not allowed in this tournament. All competitors are expected to play to the best of their abilities to reach a point of natural conclusion for each match.
Acceptable examples of when a player may concede the game include:
- A player is being attacked for lethal damage and sees no means of surviving the turn.
- A player has reasoned that they have no lines of play in which they can win the current game and wishes to concede to conserve their time bank.
- Players have been instructed to concede games in an admin-ruled match remake due to a compromised match that was restarted.
Situations in which a player conceding are unacceptable include:
- A player has not played a single turn of a game.
- A player is choosing to concede when it is clear they have an advantage.
- A player chooses to mulligan to virtually no cards as a workaround to not technically concede, despite drawing multiple playable hands.
In general, the goal of this rule is ensuring that matches in this tournament are decided by players completing matches of Magic: The Gathering Arena in best-of-three Traditional Standard and Traditional Historic Constructed formats and are not influenced by outside motivations. Players that violate this rule with the intent that goes against the philosophy of this rule may be subject to penalties as defined in the Digital Magic Tournament Rules.
MTG Arena Accounts
Each qualified player will use their existing Premier Play account (from either the Challenger Gauntlet, the Rivals League, or the Magic Pro League) on Magic: The Gathering Arena to participate in the event. Players should contact esports@wizards.com if additional items are needed on their account.
Tournament Policies
Wizards will use Digital MTR and IPG documents to govern the Rivals Gauntlet:
Additional player requirements, including streaming and other policy changes that supersede the Digital MTR, will be communicated to players prior to the start of the tournament. Consult this page for all policy documents that pertain to Premier Play on Magic: The Gathering Arena.
Magic: The Gathering Arena Known Issues and Disconnects
Players should review the known issues in Magic: The Gathering Arena prior to participation in sanctioned digital events. Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for impact on game and match results as a result of players experiencing known issues.
Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for the results of any disconnection or network problems experienced by players.
Hardware Disclaimers and Feature Matches
Players competing in the Rivals Gauntlet are assumed to be competing with hardware that meets the recommended specifications for running Magic: The Gathering Arena (found in the Magic: The Gathering Arena FAQ). Players who are found to be using hardware that is under the recommended hardware specifications are solely responsible for any and all issues they experience, will be subject to any and all tardiness or disconnect penalties that may delay their matches from starting or progressing, and may be removed from the tournament if their hardware of choice delays the tournament or presents issues with progressing the tournament at a reasonable pace.
The above includes any issues a player may experience as a result of under-specification graphics cards, processor clock speeds, using an unsupported operating system, or using a computer with less RAM than as recommended. Additionally, players assume any and all responsibilities that their Internet connection is stable, reliable, and fast enough to support playing in the tournament, and assumes responsibility for issues experienced as a result of their connection or Internet Service Provider (ISP).
This hardware disclaimer includes if a person's hardware is incapable of supporting broadcast feature match selection. Additionally, players participating in this tournament must agree to be willing to support a feature match to the best of their abilities, including hardware and software settings and requests to comply with production team members if obstructive or distractive elements appear in the player's background of a web camera. Failure to cooperate with production and player management team members may result in tournament penalties.
Competitors are expected to use a desktop or laptop computer for all rounds of competition. Players should not use a mobile device, tablet, or other platform in early access.
Outside Assistance
During matches, players may not seek play advice from spectators and spectators may not give play advice to players. Reports of players receiving outside assistance will be investigated and penalties will be assigned, up to and including disqualification. Players who receive unsolicited outside assistance from another player or spectator are expected to report the incident to tournament officials and submit any supporting evidence of attempt to provide outside assistance.
Disclaimer
Wizards of the Coast reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to suspend, modify, and change this document or the program it supports at any time and for any reason without notice.