Location and Times

The Arena Championship 5 takes place online as a direct-challenge tournament using Magic: The Gathering Arena on the following days:

Day 1: Saturday, March 30, 2024 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 Sunday March 31 JST.

Day 2 + Top 8: Sunday, March 31, 2024 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 Monday April 1 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.

Event Formats

The formats for Arena Championship 5 are Traditional Explorer and Traditional Murders at Karlov Manor Draft (both Best-of-Three with sideboard) on Magic: The Gathering Arena.

Deck Submissions

Players must submit their Traditional Explorer decklist no later than Monday, March 25, 2024 at 11:59 a.m. PDT (18:59 Monday UTC / 3:59 Tuesday JST). Decklists must be submitted to MTG Melee via your Player Controller for the event.

Invitation List

The current Leaderboard standings and invitation list for Arena Championship 5 is available online.

If you believe you are an invited competitor but are not on the invitation list, please email premierplay@wizards.com.

Tournament Structure

The event will be 9 rounds of Swiss, with 3 rounds of Traditional Murders at Karlov Manor Draft and 6 rounds of Traditional Explorer Constructed, followed by a single-elimination Top 8 playoff using Traditional Explorer Constructed.

In addition, whenever a competitor reaches seven (7) match wins, they immediately advance to the Top 8 playoff and are removed from future pairings in Swiss rounds.

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 selected the correct format for each round.
  • Explorer Tournament Match for Explorer
  • Limited Tournament Match for Draft

For the Arena Championship 5 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 if Traditional Explorer or Traditional Limited, 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.

The following are acceptable examples in which a player may concede the game:

• 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.

The following are unacceptable examples in which a player should not concede:

• 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 Explorer and Traditional Limited 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.

Day 1: 6 Swiss Rounds

Drafting begins on Saturday, March 30, 2022 – 8:00 a.m. PDT / 15:00 UTC / 00:00 Sunday March 31 JST.

Play begins on Saturday, March 18, 2022 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 Sunday March 19 JST.

• Rounds 1-3: Murders at Karlov Manor Draft
• Rounds 4-6: Explorer Constructed

Day 2: 3 Swiss Rounds and Single-Elimination Top 8

• Rounds 7-9: Explorer Constructed
• Top 8: Explorer Constructed; Finals are best of three matches.

Prizes

There is a $200,000 prize pool which will be awarded to competitors based on their final standing in the tournament.

Additionally, the winner and finalist of Arena Championship 5 will be invited to the Magic: The Gathering World Championship to take place in 2024.

Qualification Timing

Each Ranked Season and Arena Open creates invitations for the Qualifier Weekend in the following month. Each Qualifier Play-In creates invitations for the Qualifier Weekend in the same month. Every Qualifier Weekends feeds an Arena Championship, and, starting with the September 2022 Qualifier Weekend, the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour as follows:

MTG Arena Accounts

Each qualified player will be provided access to an account on Magic: The Gathering Arena stocked with enough wild cards and gems to craft cards for both Standard and Explorer formats. This account may be used by the player to prepare for, and is required to be used to participate in, the Arena Championship.

Additional rules that apply to Magic: The Gathering Arena play using this account will be provided to players with account information.

Tournament Policies

Wizards will use Digital MTR and IPG documents to govern the Arena Championship:

• Digital Magic Tournament Rules
• Digital Magic Infraction Guide

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 Arena Championship 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 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.

Event Eligibility

Players that have an account currently suspended or banned are not eligible to compete in and may not receive invitations to Events.

Certain individuals may not be eligible to compete in certain Events because of their employment status (e.g., Wizards, Hasbro, or other employees).

Review the Magic: The Gathering Arena Premier Event Invitation Policy for complete details.

Prize Eligibility

Monetary prizes earned at the Arena Championship are issued by the U.S. offices of Wizards of the Coast LLC. All monetary prizes at these events are issued in U.S. Dollars, and are subject to the following additional terms and conditions:

• All taxes are the responsibility of the individual receiving the Monetary Prize.
• Before being awarded any Monetary Prize, the potential recipient must, among other things, submit to Wizards of the Coast LLC or its designated affiliate(s): (i) have agreed to the terms when signing up for their Wizards Account, (ii) the appropriate IRS tax form, (iii) provide proof of identification, and (iv) any other documentation designated by Wizards.
• Monetary Prizes will be facilitated by a third-party payment processor which may require a separate account creation. Details will be shared prior to the Event(s) and incorporated into the Event Rules.

A player eligible for a prize must claim their prize within one (1) calendar year from the date of the Event in which they won the prize, or the prize is forfeited.

All inquiries about all Monetary Prizes should be directed to PremierPlay@wizards.com.

Wizards of the Coast LLC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify all prize or award structures, and to substitute any prize or award for another prize or award in its sole discretion.

Additional prize eligibility and information is available online.

Appeals

If a player believes that a reporting error has caused an invitation to be wrongly withheld, they may file a formal appeal with Wizards of the Coast.

The appeal should be sent to PremierPlay@wizards.com. The appeal must be submitted and received by Wizards of the Coast no later than two (2) calendar weeks prior to the start date of the upcoming Event in question.

Decisions made during the event may be appealed to the tournament manager. The tournament manager's decisions are final.