The 2025 NRG Series culminates in the most ambitious Championship to date. The following twenty-four players will compete for stakes in the $35,000 cash prizes at NRG headquarters in Buffalo Grove, IL, on December 13th and 14th, 2025.
| Solo Showdown Winners | Team Showdown Winners | At-Large Winners | At-Large Winners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grayson Nemets, 2025 MVP | Andrew Elenbogen | Season 1: Jake Coenen | Season 2: Casey Ryback |
| Harrison Kanfer | Benji Solomon | Season 1: Rodney Bedell | At Large: Will Kowalczyk |
| Nathanael Perigo | Greg Michel | Season 1: Cliff Boyardee | At Large: Charlie Dusterberg |
| Jacob Cupp | Matt Sikkink Johnson | Season 2: Joseph Gearlds | At Large: Alden Cates |
| Fanchen Yang | Vinnie Fino | Season 2: Ryan Hayes | At Large: Wesley Hickman |
| Jesse Hampton | Jack Potter | Season 2: Gerrick Alford | 2024 Champ: Theo Jung |
As is historic with the NRG Series Champs, Magic: The Gathering athletes will showcase their skills across three formats.
What’s new in 2025 is one of the formats will be limited draft of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The other two formats will be Standard and Modern.
How is the $35,000 Champ’s Cash Prize Pool Divided?
| Place | Cash Prize | Invite |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $10,000 | 2026 #NRGChamps + First Pro Tour of 2026 |
| 2nd | $5,000 | |
| 3rd-4th | $2,500 | |
| 5th-8th | $1,000 | |
| 9th-24th | $400 + $50 per Stage One match win |
Stage One: Getting to Top 8
The structure is straightforward: Stage one is 12 rounds of Magic, featuring 3 pods drafting and playing 3 rounds of limited, followed by four or five rounds each of Standard and Modern. Which formate will have five rounds will be determined at random the morning of Day 2. Eight wins automatically qualify a Champ’s player for Top 8 (The Eight to Top 8 System). Any Champ’s player with 6 losses is eliminated.
Each day, players will randomly get paired across opponents regardless of record, excluding the draft which will be paired in pod, keeping in mind that players with particularly strong tournaments (or weak ones) are removed from the pairings once they reach 8 wins (mathematically locking them into Top 8) or 6 losses (eliminating them from the tournament). This pairing restriction resets overnight, so players may face opponents they played on Day 1 again on Day 2.
If there’s an odd number of players in any round, the lowest-ranked player based on tournament tiebreakers will receive a bye, which counts toward their goal of 8 match wins. Players who have already received a bye will not be considered for future byes.
As players reach 8 match wins, they will be seeded into the Top 8 accordingly. The first player to 8 wins will be the #1 seed, the second will be #2, and so on. If multiple players reach 8 wins in the same round, the tie-breaking procedure below will determine their seeds.
Once the 12th round has concluded, if there are fewer than 8 players that have reached the 8-match win threshold, players with fewer than 8 wins will be considered based on the tournament tie-breaking procedure.
Stage Two: The Top 8
If you’ve followed the NRG Series in previous years, the elimination rounds of this year’s Championship will be a little different. All top 8 will start the day drafting. Then, for each match, each player will eliminate one of the three formats and the third format will be contested for the match.
The weaker seed will have the first format veto, and the stronger seed will have the second format veto (thus locking in the format) and the choice to play/draw. For example, Natalie, the #8 seed, vetoes Sealed. Then Andy, the #1 seed, chooses to veto Standard. So, the match between Andy and Natalie is Modern, with Andy having the play/draw option.
This means that any of the three formats could be contested across the four quarterfinal matches, requiring players to demonstrate mastery and matchup knowledge across multiple formats to advance.
The Top 4 matches will follow the same veto procedure as the Top 8 round. Players will be allowed to veto the same format in multiple rounds if they so choose.
The Championship finals is a classic—instead of best-of-three games to determine a winner, we’re playing best-of-three matches. Here’s how the final will look:
- Match 1: Stronger seed picks any format and gets their choice of play/draw in Game 1
- Match 2: Weaker seed picks either of the remaining formats and gets their choice of play/draw in Game 1
- Match 3 (if necessary): The remaining format will be played, and the stronger seed gets choice of play/draw in Game 1
This year’s NRG Series Championship is a gauntlet, requiring expertise in multiple formats to earn the trophy, and we’re looking forward to seeing who comes out on top and earns the top prize of $10,000, an invitation to defend their title at the 2026 NRG Series Championship, and an invite to the first Pro Tour of 2026!
For those who prefer visuals…
Here is the Stage One & Stage Two plan:
| Day 1 | Day 2 |
|---|---|
| R1: Draft | R9: Standard or Modern (Modern if the Random 12th is Standard) |
| R2: Draft | R10: Standard |
| R3: Draft | R11: Standard |
| R4: Standard | R12: Wildcard Round (Standard/Modern at random on Day 2) |
| R5: Standard | Draft Top 8 |
| R6: Modern | Quarter Finals – Lower seed blocks a format, and the Higher seed picks from the remaining formats and chooses to play/draw. |
| R7: Modern | Semi-Finals – Lower seed blocks a format, and theY Higher seed picks from the remaining formats and chooses to play/draw. |
| R8: Modern | Finals – Top seed picks round 1 format and to play/draw. Round 2 format is picked by the lower seed and play/draw options. The final Round 3, if needed, is the remaining format with play/draw to the top seed. |
MVP Perk 2025 (Makes 2 picks, Out of Pod for Draft and Avoid for constructed)
The 2025 NRG Series MVP will get two strategic selections. First, the MVP will banish one player from their draft pod. Further, the same or a different player can be picked and dodge throughout the remaining five rounds in Stage One. That’s right—whether they pick their feared rival, a testing teammate, or a player known to play decks that match up strongly against their own, the MVP will not be paired against the player of their choice during Stage One.
When pairings are reset for Day 2, if the MVP is still competing, the MVP may again choose a remaining player to dodge for the four remaining rounds of Stage One*.
The MVP will make their Day 1 decision before the publication of the metagame breakdown and each player’s decklists. The Day 2 decision is made before midnight on Day 1.
* unless necessary for tournament pairings
More Tournament Logistics
Players will not be allowed to draw during the tournament. Round timers will be extended to 60 minutes to allow matches to come to their natural conclusion. Should time expire, players will have a normal 5-turn extension before entering Sudden Death. If the match score is tied after the fifth turn of extension, and the match score is tied, the player with the highest life total wins the game, and therefore the match. If players are tied for the highest life total, the next change in life total determines the result of the match. These procedures are detailed in the Magic Tournament Rules, section 2.4. Additionally, since players are competing to win 8 matches across the first 12 rounds, intentionally drawing a match has no benefit.
Due to the nature of live event coverage, decklists will be open for the event. Players may review their opponents’ decklists before their match, during sideboarding, and when making format decisions during the elimination rounds.
Due to the unique tournament structure, modified tiebreakers will be in use for this event as follows:
- Total match wins
- Head-to-head result vs. other player(s) involved in the tie*
- Game win %
- NRG Series leaderboard ranking
* In the case of a three (or more) way tie, head-to-head will only be applied if a player has won against all the other players within the tie. If needed, the head-to-head and game win % may be applied iteratively to determine placement within a multi-way tie.
Coverage
We’re excited to provide the Magic community with two full days of video and social media coverage from #NRGCHAMP live from the floor. Tune in to our video coverage on twitch.tv/NRGSeries for all the early-round action on Saturday, and come back Sunday to help us crown our Champion. Don’t forget to follow us on social media @NRGSeries for updates leading up to the event, and stay in the loop with #NRGCHAMP!
Wrapping Up
The 2025 NRG Series Championship is our tenth iteration of this event, and we continue to strive towards a structure that accomplishes the following goals:
- Familiarity for regular tournament players and viewers
- Rewards for outstanding performances with seeding advantages in elimination rounds
- Fair chances for players with early losses to redeem themselves.
- Recognition of expertise across multiple tournament formats
We look forward to your thoughts or questions on this year’s Championship structure on Facebook and X. We hope you’ll join us on December 13-14 as we crown our 2025 NRG Series Champion. Until then!