The kickoff moment for the 2020-21 season of the Magic Pro League and Magic Rivals League is here with the October Zendikar Rising League Weekend!
With all 72 players of the MPL and Rivals League streaming live, playing online through MTG Arena, everyone can follow their favorites battling for $400,000 in prizes and postseason playoff spots.
Magic's best battle head-to-head all weekend long. Learn more about League Weekends and the race to the playoffs—including Magic World Championship XXVII—here.
How Can I Follow The Event?
The October Zendikar Rising League Weekend will be streamed live October 24 and 25 on twitch.tv/magic, beginning at 8 a.m. PDT (3 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 this weekend:
| Rivals – Saturday (10/24): | |||
| 1 | Sebastián Pozzo | vs. | Corey Burkhart |
| 2 | Stanislav Cifka | vs. | Alexander Hayne |
| 3 | Joel Larsson | vs. | Ivan Floch |
| 4 | Simon Görtzen | vs. | John Rolf |
| 5 | Emma Handy | vs. | Kenji Egashira |
| 6 | Kai Budde | vs. | Luis Scott-Vargas |
| MPL – Sunday (10/25): | |||
| 7 | Shota Yasooka | vs. | Ken Yukuhiro |
| 8 | Reid Duke | vs. | William Jensen |
| 9 | Raphaël Lévy | vs. | Gabriel Nassif |
| 10 | Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa | vs. | Carlos Romão |
| 11 | Javier Dominguez | vs. | Andrea Mengucci |
| 12 | Brian Braun-Duin | vs. | Brad Nelson |
In addition to 12 select 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 72 competitors and 432 total matches, you can watch your favorite players all weekend long.
Decklists will be published on Magic.gg ahead 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. Official standings and League Weekend match results, as well as a recap from across the league, will be updated on Magic.gg two to three business days following the event.
When Will League Weekend Decklists Be Published?
All decklists will be published on Magic.gg Friday, October 23 at approximately 10 a.m. PDT (5 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?
Tim Willoughby will be anchoring as Newsdesk Host throughout the weekend. He'll be joined by four more to cover Play-by-Play and Expert commentary seats.
- Cedric Phillips: Expert
- Riley Knight: Play-by-Play
- Marshall Sutcliffe: Play-by-Play
- Corey Baumeister: Expert
Who Is Playing?
72 players are competing in each league weekend, featuring the 24 players of the Magic Pro League and 48 players of the Magic Rivals League. Everyone plays round-robin head-to-head within their league for points towards their season standings.
Complete October Zendikar Rising 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 dived 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 |
| 45-48 | $250 |
| Total | $50,000 |
The October Zendikar Rising League Weekend is the first of two League Weekends in the Zendikar Rising Split, which concludes with the Zendikar Rising Championship this December.
| Dates | Event | Format |
| Oct. 24-25, 2020 | October Zendikar Rising League Weekend | Standard |
| Nov. 7-8. 2020 | November Zendikar Rising League Weekend | Standard |
| Dec. 4-6, 2020 | Zendikar Rising Championship | Standard & Historic |
What Is The Format?
The October Zendikar Rising 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 player will play 12 matches, six on Saturday and six 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—47 matches.
Broadcast Schedule
Saturday, October 24: 8 a.m. PDT (08:00) / 3 p.m. UTC (15:00) / 12 a.m. JST October 25 (00:00)
- Six feature matches from Rivals League play.
Sunday, October 25: 8 a.m. PDT (08:00) / 3 p.m. UTC (15:00) / 12 a.m. JST October 26 (00:00)
- Six feature matches from MPL play.
You can watch all 12 selected feature matches for the October Zendikar Rising League Weekend live on twitch.tv/magic.
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. Ascend to the top of the Mythic rank and unlock your invitation to a Qualifier Weekend. Battle through the best online players and take your place at the Zendikar Rising Championship.