The competitive community for Magic: The Gathering has taken to social media to express frustration over a significant reduction in the prize pool for the game’s upcoming World Championship. The event will have a total prize pool of $250K USD, down from the previous championship’s $1M. A previous article published by Wizards of the Coast did confirm a $1M prize pool for this upcoming World Championship as well.
Worlds prize pool gutted by 750k which was expected, but still kinda sad.
Not sure how much I’ll prep, feeling 0 motivation to play Magic at the moment so I’m kinda hoping for flat payout, so I can just “skip it”.https://t.co/V1hulP1baV
— Ondřej Stráský (@OndrejStrasky) June 17, 2021
Last month, Wizards of the Coast announced that it would be eliminating its current esports structure including the Magic Pro League.
I think some people missed the point on the Worlds thing. It’s not about cutting pro play. That’s Wizards choice (even if I think it’s a bad one). It’s about Wizards promising a certain prize pool for Worlds and then going back on their word after the fact.
— Saffron Olive (@SaffronOlive) June 18, 2021
Wizards of the Coast has not yet revealed any details regarding the future of official, organized competition for Magic.
I’m ok with the canceling of the MPL/RIvals, especially because of the advance notice. What I’m not okay with is having players play an entire year to qualify for a 1 million dollar tournament, only to cut the prizepool by 75% at the last minute. It feels like a slap in the face.
— Seth Manfield(Envy) (@SethManfield) June 18, 2021
According to May’s announcement, the Magic Pro League will play out a final 2021-2022 season culminating in another World Championship with a $250K prize pool.
