by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

BlizzCon 2014 is coming, and perhaps more importantly, so are the Hearthstone World Championships!

Complaints of tournaments catering only to established internet personalities can be put to bed. The Hearthstone World Championship tournaments will feature the best of the best, chosen from months of ranked play. These top competitors will be given the opportunity to duel on the biggest stage in all of Hearthstone, BlizzCon 2014. We’d speculated that this would be the case before, and we’re glad to be right on this one. Here are the details from the official Hearthstone blog:

Come one, come all, and begin your journey to the Hearthstone World Championships, to be held live at this year’s BlizzCon! Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned Hearthstone veteran, anyone has the potential to become the Hearthstone World Champion. We’re looking for the best of the best to put their skills to the test . . . and to prove they’re a cut above the rest!

Starting with Ranked Play Season 1, the best players from around the world will represent their region and battle it out Hearthstone style to decide who will become the Hearthstone World Champion.

How can you qualify for the World Championships? Excellent question! Each region has different ways to qualify, so check out the information for yours below:

Americas Qualifier Tournament

• The top 16 Legend players from each of the Ranked Play Seasons from April through August for the Americas region will be invited to participate in the Americas Hearthstone Qualifier Tournament.
  • Each player can only qualify for the Americas Qualifier Tournament once. In cases where a player achieves a qualifying rank for a second time or is ineligible to compete in the Americas Qualifier Tournament, the next highest ranking player will be selected to qualify for the Americas Qualifier Tournament.
• The top players from select community-run weekly tournaments held between April and August will be invited to participate in the Americas Qualifier Tournament. Further details, including which community tournaments qualify, will be announced at a later date.
• The top 3 players from select licensed events will also qualify for the Americas Qualifier Tournament. Further details, including which events qualify, will be announced at a later date.
• A Last Call Tournament will be held immediately prior to the Americas Qualifier Tournament to determine any remaining Qualifier spots. This Last Call Tournament will only be available to players who satisfy residency requirements for the Americas region. More details regarding this will be announced at a later date.
• Seeding for the Americas Qualifier Tournament will be based entirely on consistency of performance during the Ranked Play Seasons. Achieving a high rank multiple times will positively affect the player’s seeding during the Americas Qualifier Tournament.
• The Americas Qualifier Tournament will be best of five matches.
• The top 4 players from the Americas Qualifier Tournament will qualify for the Hearthstone World Championships at BlizzCon 2014.

Europe Qualifier Tournament

• The top 16 Legend players from each of the Ranked Play Seasons from April through August for the Europe region will be invited to participate in the Europe Hearthstone Qualifier Tournament.
  • Each player can only qualify for the Europe Qualifier Tournament once. In cases where a player achieves a qualifying rank for a second time or is ineligible to compete in the Europe Qualifier Tournament, the next highest ranking player will be selected to qualify for the Europe Qualifier Tournament.
• The top players from select community-run weekly tournaments held between April and August will be invited to participate in the Europe Qualifier Tournament. Further details, including which community tournaments qualify, will be announced at a later date.
• The top 3 players from select events will also qualify for the Europe Qualifier Tournament. Further details, including which events qualify, will be announced at a later date.
• A Last Call Tournament will be held immediately prior to the Europe Qualifier Tournament to determine any remaining Qualifier spots. This Last Call Tournament will only be available to players that satisfy residency requirements for the Europe Region. More details regarding this will be announced at a later date.
• Seeding for the Europe Qualifier Tournament will be based entirely on consistency of performance during the Ranked Play Seasons. Achieving a high rank multiple times will positively affect the player’s seeding during the Europe Qualifier Tournament.
• The Europe Qualifier Tournament will be best of five matches.
• The top 4 players from the Europe Qualifier Tournament will qualify for the Hearthstone World Championships at BlizzCon 2014.

Korea/Taiwan Hearthstone Qualifier Tournaments

• Korea: Two (2) players will be selected to represent Korea from the OGN Hearthstone League. More details will be announced by OGN at a later date.
• Taiwan: The top 2 players from the Taiwan Qualifier Tournament will qualify for the Hearthstone World Championships. More details will be announced at a later date.

China Qualifier Tournament

• All players for the China Qualifier Tournament will come from the official China Ranked Play Rankings, official Chinese grassroots tournaments, or licensed Chinese tournaments.
• The top 4 players from the China Qualifier Tournament will qualify for the Hearthstone World Championships at BlizzCon 2014.

Hearthstone World Championships at BlizzCon Tournament Format

The World Championships will be played in a best-of-five “Last Hero Standing” format, with 3 classes per player each match. In a “Last Hero Standing” format, when you lose a game, you must change the deck you are currently playing. Each player brings three decks and plays until one player wins three games.

Participants must have their own card collections. Sixteen total players will participate in the World Championships: 4 representatives from Americas, 4 from Europe, 4 from China, 2 from Korea, and 2 from Taiwan.

We want you to be a part of the card-slinging action! If you’ve got your sights set on becoming a world-renowned Hearthstone player and think you’re ready to battle it out to the end, participate in Ranked Play and take your first step on the road to the World Championships!

The full tournament rules will be made available at a later date.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to take on the best, there’s still time to get your rank up before the ladder resets on May 1st. The journey will be long, but at the end awaits Hearthstone immortality!