Welp, the results are in. The people were heard. Draft won’t be featured in the main event of regionals and attendees will be able to play in all Swiss rounds of the event, basically reverting to the tournament structure of 2023. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s an article to catch you up: https://myherometa.com/2024/02/22/is-draft-the-enemy/. If you want to read the article UVS Games released, you can read that here: https://uvsgames.com/all-news/premier-play-in-2024.

With 2024 set, the players concerns answered and the year seemingly back on track, where does that leave us? Well, I for one am very excited for the coming events, but honestly I’m a little bummed. I really like the idea of making the cut for Top 32 to get to play in the 2nd format. I hope that as “sets that have been designed from the ground up to be fun for playing Limited events” are rolled out, we get to incorporate that back into the fold of major tournament play.

It’s expected by most that this will be a year of growth for UVS Games. I’m a believer, as anyone who reads this blog knows. However, this is going to be a tough year for a lot of TCGs. One Piece will have it’s first full year of OP, Lorcana (maybe) will start hosting major events, and Star Wars Unlimited will follow suit. There’s a TON of competition in the TCG landscape, not to mention whatever Fusion World will become and Grand Archive trying to gain steam. Making progress in this crowded market is tough. It’s a good decision to make the most popular change possible and get the player base on your side. I respect it.

Pouting aside, Local Qualifiers have already begun, and Nationals invites have already been awarded. I’m turning my attention to my LQ on March 9th at my LGS, but also UVS players will have to keep their heads on a swivel. The Webcam Regional takes place the following week on March 16th. Then the Challenger Series event “The Briarwoods” will land smack dab in the center of Season 1 the week after that, with the opportunity for new players to hop into the format. Regional hopefuls will have a month to save up their Season Points after that with Las Vegas’ Major Regional taking place on April 27th-28th and Local Championships the week after that.