In a recent MTG livestream, a bunch of information about the Pro Tours and Regional Championships in 2025 was revealed. Three MagicCon events that host the Pro Tours were announced, with all of them strangely being in the U.S. We also learned more about the corresponding RCQ (Regional Championship Qualifier) seasons in 2025.
In a rather interesting decision, only Standard and Modern will be represented as RCQ formats for 2025. Following the Standard RCQ season that runs from November 16 to March 22, the three rounds of RCQs for 2025 will be Modern, Standard, and Standard again, respectively.
This has caused quite the reaction from the MTG community. After all, Pioneer is missing, and there are a lot of people who are not happy about this decision. Let’s take a closer look.
Frustration Regarding Pioneer
While there are definitely players that don’t like Pioneer as a format, the general consensus amongst the player base is that not having one of the RCQ seasons be Pioneer is rather confusing. As Reddit user azetsu points out, this is quite a decision following an absolutely massive Pioneer Regional Championship in Washington D.C. The event was obviously successful, and helped draw extra attention to the format.
On top of that, many players believe the overall Pioneer metagame has finally reached a state where it’s diverse and exciting. Despite there being a large recent focus on Pioneer in previous RCQ seasons, players seem much happier with the metagame post-ban with new cards added.
Meanwhile, a lot of players have voiced their criticisms with Modern. As such, there have been a lot of suggestions to switch Modern out for Pioneer. With Pioneer being super fresh, players seem generally interested in seeing how the post-ban metagame shakes out over time. Ultimately, it’s not too surprising that the choice to not feature Pioneer in 2025 has gotten a lot of backlash.
A Positive Aspect
The one nice thing about the announcement that a lot of players have vocalized is the emphasis being placed on Standard. Wizards of the Coast has clearly made it a point to try to revive Standard over the last year. Making store championships Standard-focused was a step in the right direction. Now, with multiple RCQ seasons being Standard in 2025, the format should garner more interest, which is a net positive for the game.
Given the current structure of events, though, this essentially forces Wizards of the Coast to pick between Modern and Pioneer for the other remaining RCQ season. The number of players that want Pioneer represented in undeniable, but Modern still has a solid following.
As a result, some players have suggested revamping the event layout to add an extra Regional Championship. This could help give each major format solid representation. It’s worth monitoring if any changes to the 2025 schedule get announced. For now, though, Pioneer is unfortunately left aside for competitive MTG in 2025.
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