Editor's Note: The 2021-22 Rivals League roster has been updated to reflect William Jensen leaving the league to join Wizards of the Coast.
With the Innistrad Championship just a few weeks away, taking place December 3–5, we're excited to share the complete rosters of the Magic Pro League and Magic Rivals League for the 2021-22 season as well as the qualification paths for all players to Magic World Championship XXVIII.
Magic World Championship XXVIII Qualification
As the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, we'll continue the tradition of elite competition as a capstone event for competitive play with Magic World Championship XXVIII. With three Championship events to qualify through, every competitor has a direct path to the final event of the season.
Here's how players can qualify:
- Being the Magic World Championship XXVII Winner. (Congratulations again, Yuta Takahashi!)
- Finishing in the Top 6 of any 2021-22 Championship event—the Innistrad Championship, Neon Dynasty Championship, or New Capenna Championship.
- Becoming one of five (5) MPL or Rivals players not already qualified with the most World Championship Qualifying Points during the 2021-22 Season.
- Becoming one of eight (8) non-MPL and non-Rivals players not already qualified with the most World Championship Qualifying Points during the 2021-22 Season.
- Receiving an at-large invitation, eligible to all players within and outside of the leagues, through earning the most World Championship Qualifying Points during the 2021-22 Season to ensure a total of thirty-two (32) competitors for Magic World Championship XXVIII.
There's a few details to cover here.
Magic World Championship XXVIII will be a 32-player event, up from 16 players in recent years. Our vision for the World Championship continues to be a celebration of global competitive play that takes place at an in-person event. We'll share additional details, such as total prizes, formats, and location—in-person or remote play—later in 2022.
World Championship Qualifying Points (WCQPs) are earned directly from performance in Championship events. Each match point earned in Championship event is a WCQP, with four (4) additional points awarded to the two Top 8 players that lose out in the playoff and finish outside of the Top 6 in each Championship.
Players will be able to track their WCQPs through the official Standings leaderboards here on Magic.gg. Standings for World Championship qualification will be updated shortly after the conclusion of each Championship.
World Champion Yuta Takahashi and players that earn invitation through a Top 6 finish in a Championship do not create passdown invitations by finishing in the Top 6 in multiple events, and do not factor into invitations based on WQCPs—the five league players, the eight non-league players, and any at-large invitations.
Any player with multiple qualifications for the World Championship creates an at-large invitation—and if no player secures multiple qualifications, then there will be no at-large invitations.
Players otherwise tied for an invitation based on WCQPs will have their tie broken by their Championship performance. Check out the official Magic World Championship XXVIII Invitation Policy for full tiebreaker details.
The 2021-22 Season Rosters
These players are members of the 2021-22 season of the Magic Pro League:
- Chris Botelho
- Kai Budde
- Stan Cifka
- Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa
- Jean-Emmanuel Depraz
- Javier Dominguez
- Arne Huschenbeth
- Yoshihiko Ikawa
- Eli Kassis
- Riku Kumagai
- Luca Magni
- Seth Manfield
- Jan Merkel
- Noriyuki Mori
- Gabriel Nassif
- Sam Pardee
- Keisuke Sato
- Rei Sato
- Lee Shi Tian
- Matt Sperling
- Ondřej Stráský
- Yuta Takahashi
- Gavin Thompson
- Jacob Wilson
From reigning World Champion Yuta Takashi to returning pros such as Lee Shi Tian and rising stars like Chris Botelho, each player battled across the 2020-21 season to earn an exclusive spot among the game's greats. Congratulations!
These players are members of the 2021-22 season of the Magic Rivals League:
- Matthieu Avignon
- Federico Bastos
- Ian Birrell
- Brian Braun-Duin
- Autumn Burchett
- Corey Burkhart
- Austin Bursavich
- Márcio Carvalho
- Andrew Cuneo
- Louis-Samuel Deltour
- Reid Duke
- Kenji Egashira
- Ivan Floch
- Piotr Głogowski
- Simon Görtzen
- Kenta Harane
- Christian Hauck
- Alexander Hayne
- David Inglis
- Shintaro Ishimura
- Martin Jůza
- Zachary Kiihne
- Grzegorz Kowalski
- Matti Kuisma
- Raphaël Lévy
- Eli Loveman
- Andrea Mengucci
- João Moreira
- Théo Moutier
- Brad Nelson
- Logan Nettles
- Ma Noah
- Tomáš Pokorný
- Sebastián Pozzo
- Sam Rolph
- Carlos Romão
- Luis Salvatto
- Bernardo Santos
- Luis Scott-Vargas
- Thoralf Severin
- Shahar Shenhar
- Mike Sigrist
- Miguel Simões
- Jakub Tóth
- Brent Vos
- Shota Yasooka
- Ken Yukuhiro
Replacing Chris Kvartek, who recently joined Wizards of the Coast, the next highest finisher from the Challenger Gauntlet, Tomáš Pokorný, accepted invitation to join the Rivals League. Congratulations to him and everyone else that joined for the 2021-22 season!
We're grateful for all the players that competed across the 2020-21 season, and look forward to their continued play in the 2021-22 season in pursuit of World Championship qualification.
The World Awaits
We're excited for the first wave of World Championship XXVIII qualification at the Innistrad Championship, and look forward to the full 2021-22 season of elite Magic competition. We'll see you out on the battlefield!