Events: World Championship
2018 World Championship Event Information
Sep 21-23, 2018
Las Vegas, Nevada
General Information
24 of the world's best Magic: The Gathering players compete in 2018's World Championship for their share of a $300,000 prize pool, including a $100,000 first place prize, in a three-day tournament featuring Dominaria Booster Draft and Standard Constructed.
Also part of the World Championship is the 2017-18 Pro Tour Team Series Championship, featuring the top two finishing teams in the 2017-18 season as they compete in a special Guilds of Ravnica Team Sealed challenge to see which team will walk away with more than $100,000.
Tune in to twitch.tv/magic starting Friday, September 21 at 9 a.m. PT/12 a.m. ET/4 p.m. UTC to see it all unfold!
2018 World Championship Competitors
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Seth Manfield
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Luis Salvatto
Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan Champion and Latin American Geo-Region Champion
Luis Salvatto put on a clinic during Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan in Bilbao with Lantern Control, earning his second Pro Tour Top 8 and his first win, making him Argentina's first Pro Tour champion and inviting him to his first World Championship.
2017-18 Team Series Championship
The 2017-18 Team Series Championship features two teams battling on Sunday, September 23. The format for this event is Guilds of Ravnica Team Sealed, one full week ahead of official Prereleases.
Live Streaming Video
Follow live streaming video coverage of the 2018 Magic: The Gathering World Championship on twitch.tv/magic September 21-23! Coverage starts each day at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET/4 p.m. UTC!
Player Information
The 2018 Magic: The Gathering World Championship will take place at:
Las Vegas Production Studios
4290 Las Vegas Studio Ct
Las Vegas, NV 89103
USA
Formats for Friday: 3 rounds of Dominaria Booster Draft, 4 rounds of Standard Constructed
Formats for Saturday: 3 rounds of Dominaria Booster Draft, 4 rounds of Standard Constructed
Formats for Sunday (Team Series Championship): Guilds of Ravnica Team Sealed
Formats for Sunday (Top 4 Playoff):Standard Constructed
Nearest Airport: McCarren International Airport
Hall Hours
The tournament hall will be closed to the public and will only be open for staff, players, and their guests.
Tournament Information
Format
The Magic: The Gathering Tournament Rules and Infraction & Penalty Guide are in effect for this event unless specifically overruled by information in this Format document.
Day One will consist of 3 rounds of Dominaria Booster Draft, followed by 4 rounds of Standard Constructed.
Day Two will consist of 3 rounds of Dominaria Booster Draft, followed by 4 rounds of Standard Constructed.
Day Three will consist of two parts: The Team Series Championship, and the Top 4 Playoff.
The Team Series Championship will be Guilds of Ravnica Team Sealed.
The Top 4 Playoff will be Standard Constructed.
World Championship Tournament Length & Advancement
World Championship
- 14 Swiss Rounds total, 60 minutes per round.
- When time is called, the active player will finish the turn and five additional turns will be taken.
- Stalling and slow play rules will be strictly enforced during the tournament.
- All players may participate in all 14 Swiss rounds on Friday and Saturday’s competition.
- The Top 4 players after Round 14 will advance to Sunday’s single-elimination playoff rounds.
World Championship Playoff
- Playoff matches will be best 3 out of 5.
- The first two games played in a 3 out of 5 playoff match on Sunday are pre-sideboard games. After Game 2 is completed, players may exchange cards from their deck for cards in their sideboard.
- Standings after the Swiss rounds will be used to determine final order in the standings for losing players in the semifinal playoff round.
- While there are no time limits in the playoff rounds, players are expected to play at a reasonable pace and finish their matches within 90 minutes.
- For the first game of each match in the playoff, the player that finished higher in the Swiss rounds chooses either to play first or to play second. For subsequent games in each playoff match, the usual Play/Draw rule applies (loser of the previous game decides whether to play first in the next game).
Team Series Championship
The Team Series Championship will consist of Guilds of Ravnica Team Sealed, in which both teams split into two groups of three.
Teams will construct 40-card decks on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. on September 23, with each group within their team receiving twelve booster packs from which to construct a total of three decks per group. The two groups may help each other during deck construction. Deck construction will last for 90 minutes.
Match play with the Team Sealed decks will take place at roughly 10:15 a.m. local time. The groups in each team will be paired against one another randomly, and the two groups that face off will play one at a time.
All matches for the Team Series Championship are best two-out-of-three. When two team members in a single group have won two games, their group is declared the winner of the entire match.
If, at the end of two team matches, one team has won both, that team will be declared the Team Series Championship. If both teams are tied at the end of two matches, the winning group from each team will face off to determine a winner.
Notes
- Planeswalker Points Multiplier 12x (Lifetime Total only), REL: Professional.
- Players are required to use the same Standard Constructed decks turned in to tournament staff for all days of competition.
Media Requests
Please send an email to press@wizards.com if you wish to set up a media credential for the 2018 Magic: The Gathering World Championship. Wizards of the Coast asks that all media requests be submitted according to this schedule:
Video coverage: By August 24 (4 weeks prior to the event)
Non-video coverage: By September 7 (two weeks prior to the event)
Requests made after that date, including requests made on-site, may be denied.
Prize Structure
World Championship
| Place | Amount |
| 1 | $100,000 |
| 2 | $50,000 |
| 3-4 | $25,000 |
| 5-8 | $10,000 |
| 9-16 | $5,000 |
| 17-24 | $2,500 |
| Total | $300,000 |
The winner of the 2018 Magic: The Gathering World Championship is also granted Platinum in the Pro Tour Players Club for the remainder of the Guilds of Ravnica cycle, plus the next four full cycles following that.
Pro Points
- One Professional Point is awarded for each match won after a player’s third match win in the tournament in the Swiss rounds.
- Two Professional Points are awarded for each match won in the Top 4 playoff rounds.
- No professional Points are awarded for losses and draws.
Team Series Championship
| Place | Per Player | Per Team |
| 1st | $17,000 | $102,000 |
| 2nd | $8,500 | $51,000 |
| 3rd | $4,000 | $24,000 |
| 4th | $4,000 | $24,000 |
| Total | $201,000 |
3rd and 4th place in the 2017-18 Pro Tour Team Series will receive their prize money after the verification of results from Pro Tour 25th Anniversary in August. The recipients of 1st and 2nd place prizes will be awarded after the completion of the 2018 World Championship.
Social Media
Twitter
The hashtag for the 2018 Magic: The Gathering World Championship is #MTGChamp. Join the conversation!
Twitter: #MTGChamp
Facebook
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