A look back at the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series, Season 2 Regional Championship Qualifiers (RCQs)
The Regional Championship Qualifiers (RCQs) are a pivotal part of the Magic: The Gathering tabletop Premier Play system, where top players from local qualifiers come together to compete against each other. These championships are a key stepping stone, offering players the opportunity to qualify for the elite Pro Tour or even the prestigious World Championship.
Ben Short
Ben Short
Ben Short
Season 2
Season 2 of the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series saw nearly 900 RCQ events run in 435 different game stores across 39 countries in the EMEA region in the August – November 2024 period. The winners of the Season 2 RCQ events have earned their seats at the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series Regional Championship Prague (RC) on 24-26 January 2025.
Format
For Season 2, game stores could choose to run RCQ events in either Modern or Sealed format. Modern was significantly more popular, with over 85% of game stores opting for this format.
Season 3 is already underway with game stores being able to run RCQ events in either Standard Constructed or Limited formats.
Breakdown by Country - RCQs
Season 2 RCQ events were run in 39 different countries, with 9 countries running their first ever RCQ events: Andorra, Cyprus, Estonia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Namibia, and Norway.
The number of participating stores and RCQ events nearly doubled compared to season 1.
Italy (+39), France (+33) and Spain (+31) saw the largest increase in the number of participating game stores when compared to Season 1.
Country | Number of reported RCQ events in Season 1 | Number of reported RCQ events in Season 2 |
Italy | 143 | 248 |
Spain | 96 | 146 |
United Kingdom | 41 | 89 |
Italy (+105), Spain (+50) and the United Kingdom (+48) saw the largest increase in the number of reported RCQ events when compared to Season 1.
Breakdown by Country - Destination Qualifiers
Working with our partners, eight different Destination Qualifiers were hosted across eight different countries in Season 2.
You can check out our Destination Qualifiers Season 2 recap article here.
|
Event |
Format |
Slots Available |
|---|---|---|
|
Lotus Vale (Germany) |
Modern, Pioneer |
8 |
|
Mind Stage Games (Sweden) |
Modern |
8 |
|
Axion Now The Gathering (England) |
Modern, Pioneer |
6 |
|
MTG Paprykarz Open Series (Poland) |
Modern, Sealed |
8 |
|
Cerny Rytir Qualifier (Czech Republic) |
Modern, Sealed |
16 |
|
Distrito Zero & Arcanis Project (Spain) |
Modern |
8 |
|
Playtime Como (Italy) |
Modern |
4 |
|
Relic TCG (France) |
Modern |
4 |
Season 3 - There’s still time to get involved!
Season 3 RCQs are well underway but you still have a chance to qualify for the Ultimate Guard European Magic Series Regional Championship in Bologna on 25-27 April 2025.
Full details of remaining local game store RCQ events and Destination Qualifiers can be found here.
Want to read more about previous RCQs? You can find the RCQ Season 1 recap here.
Stay informed of all our most recent updates by joining our Discord community.
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