2026 World Championship Circuit
The Player’s Council is excited to unveil the 2026 World Championship Circuit!
This tournament series will take place over the next 6 months and will culminate in the 2026 World Championship.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CIRCUIT OVERVIEW
The World Championship Circuit will be a series of monthly tournaments.
There will be a total of 6 circuit tournaments: 3 each of PC-Fellowship and PC-Movie, all taking place from May to September. Every four weeks, a tournament will run on Saturday at times convenient for our two major time zones (1300 UTC and 1700 UTC).
We will continue using a point system for awarding invitations. Championship Points will be awarded for each Circuit Tournament as follows:
1 point to players participating but placing below the top half
2 points for finishing in the top half but not the top 3
3 points for placing 3rd
4 points for placing 2nd
5 points for winning an event
A player’s 4 highest event scores will be summed to become that player’s Invitation Score. More than 4 events may be participated in, where players may attempt to improve their lowest scores, but only the top 4 will count.
2025 WC Competitor Starting Scores
As part of their prize packages from participating in the 2025 World Championship, the following players will receive starting scores as if they already played a Circuit Tournament.
These Scores will count like those earned in any other Circuit Tournament and may be selected as one of the competitor’s top scores when determining if they receive an invitation (as well as their starting seed if they receive an invitation).
6 Points – basmelis, dstaley, Chadwick537, Sithdorra
5 Points – stephan77, talial, m_scarpato, Rutil
4 Points – Wingfoot81, scyld, enolen, rbranco, tOmas, Modrzew, balrog69, BetoSb
QUALIFYING FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
There are two ways to qualify for the final World Championship and receive an invitation:
Up to 6 invitations will be issued to winners of certain in-person events that happen throughout the world.
All remaining invitations will be issued to players from the championship circuit, sorted by Invitation Score.
A grand total of 16 Invitations will be granted, meaning that at least 10 players will be selected from among the highest-scoring Championship Circuit participants.
If an invited player does not wish (or is unable) to participate in the World Championship event, their seat will pass to the player with the next highest invitation score that does not yet have an invitation.
The World Championship Main Event will take place in October or November (exact Date TBD) and will be a double elimination event with the winner’s bracket playing PC-Movie and the loser’s bracket playing PC-Fellowship matches. Player’s will be seeded in this event based on their Invitation score (top score being seeded 1st and playing against the invitee with the lowest score). Invitations coming from live events will be seeded as if they had an invitation score between 8 and 15 (based on their placement in and the size of the event itself).
World Championship Circuit Schedule
Two events will be ran during each of the following dates; one at 1300 UTC and one at 1700 UTC.
May 2nd – PC Fellowship 1300 UTC
May 30th – PC Move 1300 UTC
June 27th – PC Fellowship 1300 UTC
July 25th – PC Movie 1700 UTC
Aug. 22nd – PC Fellowship 1700 UTC
Sept. 19th – PC Movie 1700 UTC
CHAMPIONSHIP CIRCUIT TOURNAMENT PRIZES
Each circuit tournament will award digital prizes on Gemp as follows:
First through Third Place – 3 High Place Event Award Booster Packs
Others in the top half – 2 Event Award Booster Packs
Participation (at least 1 game) – 1 Event Award Booster Pack
Additionally, all players that finish all matches for any tournament in a given month will receive that month’s Full Art card that will be announced before the event.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you have questions not listed below, please bring up your concern on the PC Discord.
WHY ARE ONLY 4 CIRCUIT EVENTS USED TO CALCULATE MY INVITATION SCORE?
It is a balancing act to ensure that invitations are being issued to players with the highest skill and not automatically to players with the most spare time. By capping the point accrual at 4 events, it ensures that players cannot (accidentally or intentionally) spam their way to the top of the invitation list simply by attending each event while also ensuring that players receiving invitations must be committed to playing more than a single tournament if they place well in their first event.
The Player’s Council recognizes that, as much as we all love it, this game is very much a hobby and not everyone can be available for each and every circuit event. At the same time, players who do have the time can use it to hone their skills and attempt to score higher in later events.
WHY DON’T THE WINNERS OF EACH TOURNAMENT GET AN INVITATION?
As mentioned above, it is a balancing act: we want to push players to consistently perform in the circuit leading up to the main event in order to fill it with not just good players but reliably great ones who are passionate about playing regularly.
WHERE ARE THE DECIPHER FORMATS?
The Player’s Council strongly believes that the backbone of competitive skill is best expressed through the exploration and navigation of uncharted territory. It is not just the process of endlessly refining the same scenarios, but in recognizing and exploiting trends found at the bleeding edge that the true champions are forged.
While there is plenty of skill to be leveraged when playing Decipher formats, we want to cultivate a competitive ecosystem that is built on adaptability in an ever-changing game. After all–while the game was still running, no two Worlds events were played using the same format, were they? To call yourself Champion then, you had to internalize and exploit the latest sets better than the competition. We wish to offer that experience once again.
Interested players are encouraged to run Decipher-format events, and invitations will be issued to winners of a limited number of in-person events. If you are interested in awarding a World Championship invitation to the winner of your in-person event of any format, please contact the Player’s Council.
WHAT ERRATA SCHEDULE WILL BE FOLLOWED?
A Spring 2026 errata batch will be issued before April 18th, and if necessary further errata batches will be deployed throughout the summer. As much as possible, errata will be frozen before the August/September Circuit Tournaments, with only emergency errata being issued between then and the World Championship in October.
I DON’T HAVE STARTING POINTS FROM LAST YEAR’S WC, CAN I STILL HOPE TO PLAY IN THIIS YEAR’S MAIN EVENT?
Absolutely! Players from last year have proven their dedication and skill at this game already and have earned a single event’s points (as if they placed second, first, or even better than is normally possible) but it’s still only a single event in their portfolio for this year. Remember only a player’s top 4 events will be counted so a starting score only means they can do poorly in, or miss, one event before they’re in the same footing as someone who placed well in their first tournament.
We look forward to seeing you all on Gemp!
Sincerely,
Mock and the Player’s Council