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April Strixhaven League Weekend Viewers Guide

April 08, 2021
Wizards of the Coast

The sprint to the 2020-21 postseason continues for league competitors at the April Strixhaven League Weekend. Both the Magic Pro League and Magic Rivals League face off in intraleague competition in the fifth League Weekend of the year.



With all 70 players of the MPL and Rivals League streaming live and playing online through MTG Arena, everyone can follow their favorites battling for $400,000 in season prizes and postseason playoff spots.

How Can I Follow the Event?

The April Strixhaven League Weekend will be streamed live April 10 and 11 on twitch.tv/magic, beginning at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. ET/3 p.m. UTC) each day. With Swiss pools and each match determining which players will stay safe—or fall to relegation—there's no guarantee for feature matches.

Only the best showdowns and biggest victories await viewers all weekend long.

Be sure to check out our overview of the Strixhaven League Weekends for the details on Swiss pools and how players can lock in a Magic World Championship invitation—or end with relegation—each weekend.

Swiss pools are based on standings, which means we know the pools starting on Saturday morning—including those in prime position to earn an invite to Magic World Championship XXVI.

MPL Swiss Pool 1
Pod A Pod B Pod C
Standings Player Standings Player Standings Player
1 Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa 9 Seth Manfield 17 Shota Yasooka
2 Gabriel Nassif 10 Javier Dominguez 18 Brian Braun-Duin
3 Ondřej Stráský 11 Autumn Burchett 19 Andrew Cuneo
4 Brad Nelson 12 Jean-Emmanuel Depraz 20 Lee Shi Tian
5 Márcio Carvalho 13 William Jensen 21 Chris Kvartek
6 Reid Duke 14 Martin Jůza 22 Piotr Głogowski
7 Andrea Mengucci 15 Shahar Shenhar 23 Raphaël Lévy
8 Rei Sato 16 Ken Yukuhiro 24 Carlos Romão

With Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa holding a narrow one-point lead over both Gabriel Nassif and Ondřej Stráský, and just one or two more over both Brad Nelson and Márcio Carvalho, "Who earns a World Championship slot?" is a question left wide open at the top of the MPL. With Hall of Famers and all-stars that close, any one of these players can have a hot weekend to claim their ticket.

If reigning World Champion Damo da Rosa finishes the weekend at the top of the standings, the invitation will be added to the slots awarded to top-finishing players at the MPL Gauntlet—an outcome that's definitely possible for the Elite Spellbinder himself.

Rivals League Swiss Pool 1
Pod A Pod B Pod C
Standings Player Standings Player Standings Player
1 Matt Sperling 9 Bernardo Santos 17 Thoralf Severin
2 Eli Kassis 10 Yuta Takahashi 18 Kenji Egashira
3 Stanislav Cifka 11 Austin Bursavich 19 Jacob Wilson
4 Luca Magni 12 Chris Botelho 20 Alexander Hayne
5 Christian Hauck 13 Luis Scott-Vargas 21 Miguel Da Cruz Simões
6 Riku Kumagai 14 Ivan Floch 22 Grzegorz Kowalski
7 Zachary Kiihne 15 Luis Salvatto 23 Shintaro Ishimura
8 Corey Burkhart 16 Mike Sigrist 24 Simon Görtzen

Rivals League Swiss Pool 1
Pod D Pod E Pod F
Standings Player Standings Player Standings Player
25 Yoshihiko Ikawa 33 Greg Orange 41 Matias Leveratto
26 Théo Moutier 34 Kai Budde 42 Sebastián Pozzo
27 Lucas Esper 35 Matthieu Avignon 43 John Rolf
28 Jakub Tóth 36 Ryuzo Fujie 44 Beatriz Grancha
29 Frederico Bastos 37 Ben Stark 45 Ally Warfield
30 Louis-Samuel Deltour 38 Matt Nass 46 Joel Larsson
31 Eli Loveman 39 Brent Vos    
32 Kenta Harane 40 Ma Noah    

Just three points separate the top seven players that start in Pod A on Saturday morning. Matt Sperling, Eli Kassis, and Stanislav Cifka have been Rivals League leaders throughout the season, but MTG Arena all-star Luca "LordofIronforge" Magni's outstanding performance wrapping the Kaldheim Split put him into contention. Riku Kumagai is hot off his Top 8 finish at the Kaldheim Championship on top of a strong showing during the Kaldheim Split as well.

It sets up a murderer's row of players all ready to claim a coveted promotion to the MPL next season along with a World Championship slot.

In addition to feature matches at twitch.tv/magic, competitors will be sharing each of their matches on their personal streams throughout Saturday and Sunday. With 70 competitors and Swiss pools setting up new battles each day, the excitement will be nonstop all weekend.

Decklists will be published on Magic.gg Saturday, April 10 shortly before the start of the League Weekend. You'll also find exclusive content by following @MagicEsports on Twitter and the hashtag #MTGLeagueWeekend.

Standings will be provided throughout the broadcast and shared by @MagicEsports on Twitter at the end of the League Weekend. Official standings and League Weekend match results, as well as a recap from across the league, will be updated Monday, April 12 on Magic.gg.

When Will League Weekend Decklists Be Published?

Decklists are available now! Check out the League Weekend hub for all the details.





Will There Be Open Decklists Between Players?

Decklists are open, and players will be able to review their opponent's Constructed decklists anytime throughout the League Weekend.

Who Are the Casters?


Who Is Playing?

70 players are competing in each league weekend, featuring the 24 players of the Magic Pro League and 46 players of the Magic Rivals League. With the Strixhaven Split, everyone plays in head-to-head Swiss pools within their league based on standings.

Learn more about Strixhaven League Weekends and the final stretch to the postseason.

How Much Money Is on The Line?

There's a $400,000 prize pool divided across three splits—Zendikar Rising Split, Kaldheim Split, and Strixhaven Split—with $50,000 each for the MPL and Rivals League, as well as an end-of-season bonus $50,000 for each league. Competitor league standings at the end of each split determine prizes.

Here's how it breaks down by league:

MPL Standing Prize
1-4 $3,500
5-12 $2,500
13-20 $1,500
21-24 $1,000
Total $50,000

Rivals Standing Prize
1-4 $2,250
5-12 $1,500
13-24 $1,250
25-36 $750
37-44 $500
45-46 $250
Total $49,500

The April Strixhaven League Weekend is the first of three League Weekends in the Strixhaven Split, which includes the Strixhaven Championship taking place June 4–6.

Dates Event Format
April 10–11, 2021 April Strixhaven League Weekend Standard and Historic
May 15–16, 2021 May Strixhaven League Weekend Standard and Historic
June 4–6, 2021 Strixhaven Championship Standard and Historic
July 3–4, 2021 July Strixhaven League Weekend Standard and Historic

What Is the Format?

The April Strixhaven League Weekend will feature both Standard and Historic Constructed formats.

  • Matches are Traditional Standard or Historic Constructed—best of three games—including sideboards.
  • Players will have 30-minute timers in MTG Arena to complete up to three games in each match.
  • Each round has 60 minutes in total to finish.

Each player will play 3 matches of Swiss pairings within their pod for each of four sets of Swiss pools. Swiss pools group eight players based on standings—beginning with the top eight players by standings, then the next eight and so on—and be placed into new pools after rounds 3, 6, and 9.

  • Saturday: Rounds 1 through 6
  • Sunday: Rounds 7 through 12

Each match victory is worth 1 point toward a player's league standings. The player that finishes at the top of standings at the end of Sunday in both the MPL and Rivals League earns an invitation to Magic World Championship XXVII—and an invitation to the MPL for the 2021-22 season.

Check out our Strixhaven League Weekends explainer for even more details.

Broadcast Schedule

Saturday, April 10: 8 a.m. PDT (08:00) / 3 p.m. UTC (15:00) / Midnight JST April 11 (00:00)

  • Six feature matches from across the top pods of both MPL and Rivals League Swiss pools.

Sunday, April 11: 8 a.m. PDT (08:00) / 3 p.m. UTC (15:00) / Midnight JST April 11 (00:00)

  • Six feature matches from across the top-performing players and top pods of both MPL and Rivals League Swiss pools, followed by tiebreaker matches (if necessary).

You can watch every feature match for the April Strixhaven League Weekend live on twitch.tv/magic.

Looking to follow your favorite player? The League hub's Player Streams have you covered with links that show you when they're streaming live.

Can I Co-Stream the Event?

Following Twitch's Content Sharing Guidelines, you can co-stream the League Weekend broadcast from twitch.tv/magic using OBS or XSplit. This allows anyone on Twitch to cover the event in their voice and with their community. To be clear, co-streamed content is not endorsed by Wizards, and we expect anyone who participates in co-streaming to follow Wizards' Fan Content Policy.

How Can I Qualify for the League?

Your journey to join the Magic Pro League or Magic Rivals League begins on MTG Arena. The April 2021 Ranked Season is underway now. Finish in the top 1,200 ranked players at the end of the month to unlock your invitation to the May Strixhaven Qualifier Weekend.

Ascend to the Strixhaven Championship, taking place June 4–6, and prove yourself as a challenger on the path to the MPL and Rivals League!

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