The 2020-21 season—and battles ahead of the Kaldheim Championship—continues for league competitors at the February Zendikar Rising League Weekend. Both the Magic Pro League and Magic Rivals League face off in intraleague competition in the second League Weekend of the year.
With all 70 players of the MPL and Rivals League streaming live and playing online through MTG Arena, everyone can follow their favorites battling for $400,000 in season prizes and postseason playoff spots. Learn more about League Weekends and the race to the playoffs—and watch the story unfold live.
How Can I Follow The Event?
The February Kaldheim League Weekend will be streamed live February 27 and 28 on twitch.tv/magic, beginning at 8 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET/4 p.m. UTC) each day. Since the round-robin pairings are already set, that means we can lock in the most compelling matches to be featured on stream. Here's what you'll see on our broadcast this weekend, beginning with the Rivals League (all match start times are approximate and in PST).
| Rivals – Saturday (2/27) | |||||||||
| Start Time | Rank | Player | Archetype | Points | vs. | Rank | Player | Archetype | Points |
| 8:10 a.m. | 10 | Shintaro Ishimura | Sultai Rogues | 20 | vs. | 8 | Luca Magni | Temur Adventures | 21 |
| 9:20 a.m. | 10 | Mike Sigrist | Mono-White Aggro | 20 | vs. | 2 | Zachary Kiihne | Mono-White Aggro | 23 |
| 10:30 a.m. | 8 | Corey Burkhart | Jeskai Cycling | 21 | vs. | 2 | Matt Sperling | Naya Adventures | 23 |
| 11:40 a.m. | 19 | Jakub Tóth | Sultai Control | 18 | vs. | 19 | Alexander Hayne | Dimir Rogues | 18 |
| 12:50 p.m. | 5 | Luis Scott-Vargas | Mono-Red Aggro | 22 | vs. | 10 | Ivan Floch | Sultai Control | 20 |
| 2:00 p.m. | 2 | Eli Kassis | Naya Adventures | 23 | vs. | 1 | Stanislav Cifka | Sultai Control | 24 |
The tight scrum of players just behind the Rivals League leaders can make their move to break away from the pack—or catch up to the lead—across this weekend's showdowns. Both Shintaro Ishimura and Luca Magni are looking to build on their recent successes and continue their rise toward the top of standings.
Tied-for-second Zachary Kiihne can stay on top by taking down former Player of the Year Mike Sigrist, while similarly ranked Matt Sperling will face off against Players Tour Phoenix champion Corey Burkhart in another battle at the top.
Jakub Tóth put in the work to make up ground at the January Kaldheim League Weekend, and his journey continues with a showdown against Pro Tour Avacyn Restored champion Alexander Hayne—also in the hunt for a solid weekend result.
Finally, the Rivals League features wrap up Saturday with an outstanding quartet of players. Hall of Famer Luis Scott-Vargas faces off against Pro Tour Magic 2015 Champion to see who will stay higher in standings, then No. 1 and No. 2 ranked ranked players—Stanislav Cifka and Eli Kassis—end the weekend with a match that could define the standings once again.
| MPL – Sunday (2/28) | |||||||||
| Start Time | Rank | Player | Archetype | Points | vs. | Rank | Player | Archetype | Points |
| 8:10 a.m. | 8 | Andrea Mengucci | Four-Color Doom Foretold | 21 | vs. | 11 | Rei Sato | Temur Adventures | 20 |
| 9:20 a.m. | 7 | Jean-Emmanuel Depraz | Mono-White Aggro | 22 | vs. | 5 | Ondřej Stráský | Sultai Control | 23 |
| 10:30 a.m. | 14 | Brian Braun-Duin | Dimir Rogues | 16 | vs. | 8 | Reid Duke | Naya Adventures | 21 |
| 11:40 a.m. | 3 | Brad Nelson | Sultai Control | 24 | vs. | 5 | Martin Jůza | Mono-Red Aggro | 23 |
| 12:50 p.m. | 3 | Seth Manfield | Sultai Control | 24 | vs. | 13 | Javier Dominguez | Naya Adventures | 18 |
| 2:00 p.m. | 1 | Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa | Mono-White Aggro | 28 | vs. | 2 | Gabriel Nassif | Abzan Control | 27 |
Sunday's MPL feature matches highlight just how tough the field is—even for the players at the top:
- Mythic Invitational winner Andrea Mengucci squares off against former League Weekend leader Rei Sato as both look to make up ground on the leaderboard.
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz and Ondřej Stráský are both in striking distance to No. 3 in standings, with these European champions making their run to make back-to-back Magic World Championship appearances.
- Hall of Famer Reid Duke too is ready to move up in standings, but after a hot January weekend 2016 World Champion Brian Braun-Duin can capitalize on his momentum against a player standing in his way.
- At the top of the standings, Brad Nelson and Martin Jůza are neck-and-neck, while Hall of Famer Seth Manfield will look to hold off 2018 World Champion Javier Dominguez in his journey back to the top.
- Finally, reigning World Champion Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa faced down fellow Hall of Famer Gabriel Nassif in a No.1 vs No. 2 clash of titans to close the February League Weekend.
In addition to 12 selected feature matches—six Rivals League matches Saturday and six MPL matches Sunday—competitors will be sharing each of their matches on their personal streams. With 70 competitors and 374 total matches, you can watch your favorite players all weekend long.
Decklists will be published on Magic.gg Saturday, February 27 shortly before the start of the League Weekend. You'll also find exclusive content by following @MagicEsports on Twitter and the hashtag #MTGLeagueWeekend.
Preliminary standings will be provided throughout the broadcast and shared by @MagicEsports on Twitter at the end of the League Weekend. Official standings and League Weekend match results, as well as a recap from across the league, will be updated by Tuesday, March 2 on Magic.gg.
When Will League Weekend Decklists Be Published?
All decklists will be published on Magic.gg Saturday, February 27 at approximately 7:30 a.m. PST (3:30 p.m. UTC).
Will There Be Open Decklists Between Players?
Decklists are open and players will be able to review their opponent's Constructed decklists anytime throughout the League Weekend.
Who Are The Casters?
- Riley Knight: Play-by-Play
- Mani Davoudi: Expert
- Eilidh Lonie: Play-by-Play
- Corey Baumeister: Expert
- Maria Bartholdi: Host
Who Is Playing?
70 players are competing in each league weekend, featuring the 24 players of the Magic Pro League and 46 players of the Magic Rivals League. Everyone plays round-robin head-to-head within their league for points towards their season standings.
Check out the League hub for the complete February Kaldheim League Weekend pairings.
You can learn more about League Weekends here.
How Much Money Is On The Line?
There's a $400,000 prize pool divided across three splits—Zendikar Rising Split, Kaldheim Split, and Strixhaven Split—with $50,000 each for the MPL and Rivals League, as well as an end-of-season bonus $50,000 for each league. Competitor league standings at the end of each split determine prizes.
Here's how it breaks down by league:
| MPL Standing | Prize |
| 1-4 | $3,500 |
| 5-12 | $2,500 |
| 13-20 | $1,500 |
| 21-24 | $1,000 |
| Total | $50,000 |
| Rivals Standing | Prize |
| 1-4 | $2,250 |
| 5-12 | $1,500 |
| 13-24 | $1,250 |
| 25-36 | $750 |
| 37-44 | $500 |
| 45-46 | $250 |
| Total | $49,500 |
The February Kaldheim Weekend is the second of two League Weekends in the Kaldheim Split, which concludes with the Kaldheim Championship taking place March 26– 28.
| Dates | Event | Format |
| Jan. 16-17, 2021 | January Kaldheim League Weekend | Historic |
| Feb. 27-28, 2021 | February Kaldheim League Weekend | Standard |
| Mar. 26-28, 2021 | Kaldheim Championship | Standard and Historic |
What Is The Format?
The February Kaldheim League Weekend will feature the Standard Constructed format.
- Matches are Traditional Standard Constructed—best of three games—including sideboards.
- Players will have 30-minute timers in MTG Arena to complete up to three games in each match.
- Each round has 60 minutes in total to finish.
Each MPL player will play 11 matches, five on Saturday and six on Sunday. Rivals League players will play 11 matches, six on Saturday and five on Sunday.
Each match victory is worth one point toward a player's league standings.
Players will play each other player—round-robin pairings—in their league over the season. The season has three splits, with the first two—Zendikar Rising Split and Kaldheim Split—featuring two League Weekends each. MPL competitors play each other twice during these splits—46 total matches—while Rivals players play each other once—45 matches.
Broadcast Schedule
Saturday, February 27: 8 a.m. PST (08:00) / 4 p.m. UTC (16:00) / 1 a.m. JST January 17 (01:00)
- Six feature matches from Rivals League play.
Sunday, February 28: 8 a.m. PST (08:00) / 4 p.m. UTC (16:00) / 1 a.m. JST January 18 (01:00)
- Six feature matches from MPL play.
You can watch all 12 selected feature matches for the February Kaldheim League Weekend live on twitch.tv/magic.
Looking to follow your favorite player? The League hub's Player Streams have you covered with links that show you when they're streaming live.
Can I Co-Stream the Event?
Following Twitch's Content Sharing Guidelines, you can co-stream the League Weekend broadcast from twitch.tv/magic using OBS or XSplit. This allows anyone on Twitch to cover the event in their voice and with their community. To be clear, co-streamed content is not endorsed by Wizards, and we expect anyone who participates in co-streaming to follow Wizards' Fan Content Policy.
How Can I Qualify for the League?
Your journey to join the Magic Pro League or Magic Rivals League begins on MTG Arena. The February 2021 Ranked Season is underway now. Finish in the top 1,200 ranked players at the end of the month to unlock your invitation to the March Strixhaven Qualifier Weekend.
Ascend to the Strixhaven Championship, taking place in June, and prove yourself as a Challenger on the path to the MPL and Rivals League!