MLG have announced that their 2012 season will be split between four seasonal Championships. Full details about the Winter Championship are now also known.

After a highly successful 2011, MLG have opted for a little shake up. This could be viewed as a smart move for the organisation who came under fire a little last season following the format that granted Korean players a privileged position. The most significant change is the division of the year into four seasonal competitions; Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Each of these will culminate in a Championship event.

Championship Dates

Winter Championship: March 23-25
Spring Championship: June 8-10
Summer Championship: August 24-26
Fall Championship: November 2-4

No details have been given about the Spring, Summer or Fall events but the full plan for Winter has been announced.

On their website MLG announced:

We have invited 139 of the world’s best players to compete in the Regional Online Qualifiers (Confirmed Player List coming soon), and the Top 8 from each Region (NA/EU/KR) will be flown, all expenses paid, to NYC to compete live in the Winter Arena, alongside the Top 8 finishers from MLG Providence ’11. The Top 16 from this Arena will be flown, all expenses paid, to the Winter Championship, where they will go straight into Pool Play. The bottom 16 will go into Open Winners Round 5, where it’s just a quick two-win hop into the Championship Bracket.

This invitational model deviates slightly away from the completely open bracket format that MLG is known for and some voices within the community have raised the issue of whether invitation only qualifiers are really fair on aspiring players trying to make a name for themselves. Others point to the large amount of players invited by MLG as an answer to this concern. Further, it isn’t the case that the Open Bracket has been scrapped for the Championship, it is simply the case that entrants will be at a significant disadvantage to those who excel in the Arena. However, regardless of the merits of the invitation process fans will surely be excited by the prospect of four championship events for the 2012 season.

Winter Season Schedule

Regional Online Qualfiers: First two weeks of February
Winter Arena: Feb 24-26, New York, NY
Winter Championship: March 23-25, Columbus, OH

The Prize Pool

1st Place: $25,000
2nd Place: $15,000
3rd Place: $9,000
4th Place: $5,500
5th/6th Place: $3,500 each
7th/8th Place: $2,250 each
9th- 12th Place: $1,500 each
13th-16th Place: $1,000 each