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Regionals Cancelled, or May 15th?
by Bill Stark | posted at 2010-04-03 01:35:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, DailyMTG, Nationals, Regionals, National Qualifiers, Scott Larabee
Nationals Qualifier season is about to begin, but reports are coming in that Wizards is changing the structure by which they've done qualifications in the United States. Previously, Regionals has awarded 4-8 qualification slots for Nationals (depending on player turnout), and Regionals tournaments have been held roughly based on player population geographically.
Reports started coming in this past weekend that this year, Regionals would be abandoned in favor of Nationals Qualifier tournaments. At a PTQ in Maine, held last weekend, the announcement was made that Nationals Qualifiers would replace Regionals. The announcement detailed that qualifications would be allocated by player population within a state. At the PTQ, the example given was that California would receive eight slots while Maine would receive two.
To date, Wizards has released no notification that this is to be the case. Further investigation into the matter has only made things murkier. The website for Crossroads Games in Maine cites May 15th as the date of a Nationals Qualifier, awarding two invites to Nationals (http://www.crossroadgames.com/calendar/index.php?month=5&year=2010). At the same time, Cascade Games is offering up Regionals events which they are also referring to as Nationals Qualifiers in Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Arizona. In each of those events, the Top 8 players play a single elimination round and the Top 4 finishers qualify for Nationals. This is functionally identical to the 2009 Regionals tournaments. (You can find information on those dates here: http://cascadegames.com/)
HobbyTownUSA, a tournament venue for PTQs and other events in Nebraska lists May 15th as a Nationals Qualifier and offers the following: "Previously labeled as Regionals, Wizards has renamed this event to the National Qualifiers." Front Range Magic of Colorado simply has a "save the date" notice on their events calendar, scheduled for May 15. Without official confirmation from Wizards of the Coast, it is unclear whether 2010 means Regionals or Nationals Qualifiers for Americans. In an interview with Brian David-Marshall, published on DailyMTG.com on Friday, Scott Larabee (DCI Program Manager) said this about May 15th, Regionals, and Nationals Qualifiers: "We have also blacked out [for WPN Championship Qualifiers] National Qualifier Day which is May 15. This is what used to be called Regionals."
Stay tuned to our pages for more information as it comes in, including the schedule as it becomes available.
You can read more information about non-U.S. Nationals Qualifiers from Wizards of the Coast here.
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Bill Stark is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheStarkingtonPost.com. He began playing Magic in 1995 after being introduced to the game by his brother. Since then he has competed at all levels of play including the JSS, Grand Prix, Nationals, and Pro Tour. In addition to his career as a pro, Bill began writing about the game early on for TheDojo.com, the first website dedicated to Magic. Since then he has written and edited for nearly every major Magic website on the web. In 2007 he began work as an official coverage reporter for Wizards of the Coast, flying to Grand Prixs, Nationals, and World Championships to record the events happening at each. He was also hired for six months as an R&D intern at Wizards where he worked on the redesign for DailyMTG.com as well as helping to develop multiple Magic sets. After leaving Wizards, he started TheStarkingtonPost.com to utilize his many contacts in the industry to provide a better information solution for fans of TCGs, gaming, and Magic: The Gathering.