Eyebrows have been raised with the recent announcement of the Neon Dynasty Championship thanks to its $450,000 prize pool – which in fairness matches that of the Innistrad Championship – as well as the choice of formats for the event.
While the prize pool is nothing new, is Magic Esports pushing this reward as a cover-up for the lack of a Standard section within the event? Possibly…
We’re taking a look at how the tournament is set to play out and what the invited players can earn should they run the gauntlet and come out on top.
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Neon Dynasty Championship Structure
There’s nothing too new here apart from the choice of formats for this event. Rather than Standard and Historic being the go-to, we are instead going to see Alchemy and Historic used. This is sure to rile up the crowd who have been driven away from MTG Arena by the introduction of the new ‘living format’.
It’s understandable as Alchemy cards do play a role in Historic without little choice from players but ejecting Standard from a major set championship may be a step too far. The announcement has been met with very little positive reception so far.
It doesn’t help that both Alchemy and Historic are digital formats meaning if there is any intention of returning to paper events, neither would be possible. With the recent hiring of Huey Jensen as the Director of Play Programs at Wizards of the Coast, it was believed that the direction of top-level play would be the exact opposite of where it seems to be heading.
For now, we will keep one eye on the Neon Dynasty Championships to see how things play out but it’s starting to feel like the community is getting anxious for in-person paper play to return sooner rather than later.
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Dates, Times & Prizes
The Neon Dynasty Championship will take place between Friday, 11 March and Sunday, 13 March. and the timings for each day works out as follows;
Day 1: Friday, March 11, 2022 – 9:00 a.m. PST / 17:00 UTC / 02:00 a.m Saturday, 12 March JST
Day 2: Saturday, March 12, 2021 – 9:00 a.m. PST / 17:00 UTC / 02:00 a.m Sunday, 13 March JST
Top 8: Sunday, March 13, 2021 – 9:00 a.m. PDT / 16:00 UTC / 01:00 a.m Monday, 14 March JST
The $450,000 prize pool is split to leave the winner walking away with $20,000. Second place should take home, $15,000, third place $11,000 and fourth place $9,000.
Those players invited but not making it past the initial swiss stage (places 127-254) will take home $750.
