2012 Players Championship

The 2012 Players Championship was held on 29–31 August 2012 in Seattle, Washington, United States. 
==Decription==
The 2012 Players Championship was the inaugural Players Championship event after the previous Worlds system had been abolished; however, future iterations of the Players Championship event were named the World Championship, and the 2012 Players Championship has also been granted status as a World Championship event.
The tournament featured only 16 players; methods for qualification were exceedingly difficult to generate a field of players consisting of the best in the world. In a top four that featured Jon Finkel and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, considered two of the best players of all time, former Player of the Year Yuuya Watanabe defeated another former Player of the Year Shota Yasooka in the final 3–2 to win the first-ever Players Championship. He simultaneously was awarded the 2012 Player of the Year title, as the title was not awarded to the player with the most Pro Points during that season (though Watanabe was the player with the most Pro Points in the 2011–12 season, meaning he would have won the title regardless), thereby becoming only the second player after Kai Budde to win that title more than once. His victory also retroactively made him the 2012 World Champion.
==Invitations==
The following 16 players were invited to the event:
Player 	Method of qualification
Owen Turtenwald 	2011 Player of the Year
Jun'ya Iyanaga 	2011 World Champion
Reid Duke 	2011 Magic Online Champion
Samuele Estratti 	Pro Tour Philadelphia winner
Brian Kibler 	Pro Tour Dark Ascension winner
Alexander Hayne 	Pro Tour Avacyn Restored winner
Josh Utter-Leyton 	Most Pro Points – North America
Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa	Most Pro Points – Latin America
Martin Jůza 	Most Pro Points – Europe
Yuuya Watanabe 	Most Pro Points – Japan
Tzu Ching Kuo 	Most Pro Points – APAC region
Jon Finkel 	Most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
Luis Scott-Vargas 	2nd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
Shota Yasooka 	3rd most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
David Ochoa 	4th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
Shuhei Nakamura 	5th most Pro Points of otherwise unqualified
Category:2012