The Regional Championship seasons have a surprisingly large impact on the MTG scene. Regional Championship qualifiers create a lot of demand, deciding which two-player MTG format is the most popular for a time. Currently, for season eight, Modern is the format for the Regional Championship Qualifier season. At the end of September, the season seven Regional Championships will begin for the Pioneer format.
If you aren’t a huge fan of either of these formats, don’t worry! The next Regional Championship Qualifier Season has been announced, and the format of choice for that season has been revealed. If you’re a fan of the Standard format, whether you participated in the recent Store Championship series or played on MTG Arena, now could be your time to rise to the Pro Tour.
RCQ Season: Standard
Thanks to a post recently made by Canada’s Face to Face Games, it has been confirmed that the next Regional Championship Qualifier season will be Standard. Considering that we had two back-to-back Pioneer seasons before the current Modern season, the return of a format we haven’t seen in a while is indeed a refreshing change.
Of the three rotating RCQ formats, Standard is, by far, the most accessible. Not only are the decks the cheapest to build, but Standard has MTG Arena, the most accessible way to play Magic available. Pioneer may finally catch up to MTG Arena with the introduction of Pioneer Masters but, for now, the ability to easily practice for your Regional Championship Qualifiers could attract a surprisingly large Standard crowd.
The slight downside with Standard is that it’s a rotating format. Once you’ve built a Modern or Pioneer deck, the deck is largely safe outside of bans or a massive Horizons-style release. From this perspective, arguing that Modern is a strictly more expensive format is not unreasonable.
Announced alongside the Standard reveal was the season nine Regional Championship for Canada, which will be taking place between May 23rd and May 25th, 2025 in Montreal. If you want to try out some Standard for yourself, season nine should start on November 4 of this year. Notably, the Regional Championship series for season seven should still be running during that time.
Season Nine Promos?
Even though we now know what format season nine of the Regional Championship series is going to be, it appears as though the promotional cards for this season have not been revealed yet.
Traditionally, there are three different promotional cards presented as part of a Regional Championship season. One is gifted to competitors, one to the top eight finishers or Qualifier events, and one to players who attend the Regional Championship. Foils of each card are also available. Larger qualifiers can award foil cards instead of nonfoil cards, while the final card is offered in foil to top Regional Championship finishers. The Regional Championship promotional cards for season eight were received with mixed reviews. It will be interesting to see what players think of the next season’s promotional cards.
Either way, seeing the return of the Standard format in the upcoming Regional Championship Qualifier Season is undoubtedly a good thing. Having a healthy rotation of formats allows fans of each one to have their time in the sun.
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