It is Looking Like 2020 Is Going to be A Massive Year for MTG

After an exhilarating Mythic Championship VII, the hype for a huge 2020 year in Magic is already in full effect. Over 1 million people tuned in to the Game Awards last night to see the Theros Beyond Death Trailer, and Wizards also announced a MMO set in the Magic Universe. Couple that with the Netflix series on the Magic Lore and the 2020 competitive season and you have quite the year.

It all starts in Hawaii with what some pros are calling the biggest Magic tournament of all time. As we say on the podcast, it is not very often that the Superbowl gets followed up by a bigger sporting event, but that is the case this year. On February 14-16, $1,000,000 will get divvied amoung 16 competitors, creating an average payout of $62,500 per player. We do not know the prize structure yet, but if I had to guess I would say we could see as much as $500,000 go towards the winner. Nobody is going to be covering Worlds with more tenacity and fervor than The Mythic Rare podcast, and the next two months of buildup are going to be massive!

Of course Standard will be looking much differently at that point as well, with the release of Theros Beyond Death. The trailer illustrates the Ashiok vs Elspeth feud, two cards which are obviously the marketing focal points of the set. On YouTube alone the trailer has 1.9 million views over night, but that total is actually much higher if you factor in Twitter, Twitch and third party sharing. We analyze the few cards that have been officially spoiled already on the podcast, but make sure to check the Aetherhub front page for all the spoilers as they are released.

The friends list was also released yesterday, capping a large game update that also opens an event allowing players to use Elspeth and Ashiok, as well as some insane legacy cards like Black Lotus. This free to enter event was a welcomed surprise compared to certain money grabs like Brawlidays, and is a blast to play. You also get Theros packs for winning, which is a great reward for a free to enter event no matter how you shake it. Hopefully some new players downloaded Arena after the game awards, and having an event related to the Theros trailer to welcome them was a great idea.

Not too many details are released yet about the Netflix series, but we do know it is being directed by the Russo brothers, who also directed Avengers: End Game. It will be an animated series, and the release date could be sooner than expected since the Netflix page about the show has already been up for a month or so. It will be interesting to find out what the budget for this project is, and if this TV show will really be pushed by Netflix or not. Having a show on Netflix is difficult to ignore however, and hopefully the show appeals to fans of anime and other genres to attract more players to Arena. 

All of that is in the future, but if you are looking for a way to fill your time between now and Worlds, check out the Aetherhub Community Tournaments every Saturday! This week will be one of the first big tournaments since Mythic Championship VII, and also your chance to see if the Seth Manfield Simic Flash deck will have a significant impact on the meta. I am looking forward to playing (and probably losing) to you all in it this weekend!

 You can also follow the Mythic Rare Podcast on Twitter here: @MythicRarePod

You can listen to all the episode on SoundCloud!