"What should I watch?" you ask.
"Everything," I answer.
Which should be good enough, honestly, because there really is no part of the Mythic Invitational you're going to want to miss when the action kicks off live from PAX East on twitch.tv/magic. Still, "everything" sounds a bit daunting, so how about we cut it to the five things that are going to make this event so special? Plus, that way, you can read all about them and still have time to melt more faces with Mono-Red on MTG Arena. Speaking of which ...!
You must have heard about this by now, but Magic: The Gathering Arena is extraordinary, sumptuous, stupid amounts of fun, and almost everything a gaming fan could want out of the first—and best—trading card game. And yes, every turn of every match at the Mythic Invitational takes place on this new digital platform. By Sunday, you'll have the screech of the Arclight Phoenix in your dreams, and may well be using "Planestalk" (which is, of course, how Planeswalkers have conversations) in your everyday life.
We all have something that makes us sit up straight, our eyes widen, and our pulses race. For me, the idea of winning a single booster at Friday Night Magic is enough to bring out my fiercest competition. But even if your tolerance level is quite a bit higher, how about this: You've fought through an incredibly talented group of sixteen, with only you and three others advancing. You've done it again, this time with only the best sixteen in the tournament, leaving you in the final four. And now, on Sunday, here you are, needing the top of your deck to be kind, with $250,000 on the line. Block. Don't block. Attack with one, or attack with everything? You're about to be a quarter of a million dollars' worth of right or wrong. That's human drama, right there.
64 players line up for the Mythic Invitational, and it's a truly astonishing lineup. Half the field showcases the Magic Pro League, and together they form a truly formidable wall of talent for our community favorites and Challengers to get through: Hall of Famers, Players of the Year, Team Series Champions, Pro Tour winners, and some of the best deck builders in the history of the game. That's the MPL.
There's a ton of great talent elsewhere in the bracket, too. The eight qualifiers from the Mythic Ranks inside MTG Arena include Mythic Championship regulars Thiago Saporito, Teruya Kakumae, and Ondřej Stráský. From around the world of competitive gaming come the likes of Hearthstone World Champion Thijs Molendijk (Thijsss), fellow HS alumni Janne Mikkonen (Savjz) and Jeffrey Brusi (SJow), and first-person shooter standout Sheila Weidman (Pterodactylsftw). And then, as if the field wasn’t stacked enough, add in Pro Tour champions like Andrew Elenbogen, Wyatt Darby, Luis Scott-Vargas, Gabriel Nassif, and the winner of the first Mythic Championshiop, Autumn Burchett. It's a truly breathtaking field.
Magic has always been a game that can be played in many, many ways. The Mythic Invitational introduces a brand-new format—Duo Standard. The rules: submit two decks that are legal for Arena Standard play. Want to cover your bases? Play one aggressive and one controlling deck. Want a chance against almost anything? Maybe two midrange decks are the right answer. Convinced you've broken the format? Then make both your decks exactly the same! Gameplay sees one of your decks chosen at random for Game 1, the other used for Game 2, and then your choice for a deciding Game 3. The twists and turns of this format, where one bad metagame call can spell the end of the road, are going to be so much fun to watch.
From Autumn Burchett's first tournament appearance since their historic win at the inaugural Mythic Championship last month to a slew of popular community favorites getting their chance on the big stage, to all-time greats like Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, Luis Scott-Vargas, Gabriel Nassif, and Yuuya Watanabe shooting for the biggest prize in Magic's history, there's just so much potential for drama at the Mythic Invitational.
Whatever you want from Magic, you're going to get it at the Mythic Invitational. See, when it comes to this event, what should you watch? The answer truly is "everything."