WoW Esports 2018 Announcement Stream

Blizzard Posted 2018/01/12 at 12:44 PM by perculia

Mythic+ combat resurrections are now on a 10 minute charge timerinterview with Forbes about the MDI

It’s a new year, and we’ve got another epic year of WoW esports lined up for 2018. Join us live on Twitch.tv/Warcraft Friday, January 12, at 11:00 a.m. PST (7:00 PM GMT), as we sit down with WoW esports manager Jeramy McIntyre who will be sharing what esports fans and participants can look forward to this year. We’ll be covering all the exciting plans and changes to the WoW Arena World Championship and the Mythic Dungeon Invitational.

Watch 2018 WoW Esports Announcement from Warcraft on www.twitch.tvLiveblogWoW Arena Esports

The EU cup is starting on February 3rd and 4th and will be running for 4 weeks straight.

The NA cup is starting on February 10th and 11th

Sign ups will open up today.

Last year, there was 5 cups per region and this year they're increasing it to 9 cups per region.

The Prize Pool for each cup is also increasing from $6,000 to $10,000.

Earning enough points in each Season will qualify players from both NA and EU in their Season finals.

This allows the NA and EU teams to clash more often than once a year.

There will be three Seasons (that do not correlate to the in-game seasons) this year

The Spring and Summer season winners will automatically qualify for the Arena World Championship.

The top 6 teams during the Fall season will also qualify for the Arena World Championship.

Mythic Dungeon Invitational

They've heard your feedback and they're changing the proving grounds stage of the tournament.

Instead, they'll be presenting a challenge, a difficult challenge, and all players who complete the challenge will be invited to the tournament realms. The hope is that they get more than 40 people on the tournament realms.

Then, they'll present an new challenge called the Time Trials, that isn't so binary. It's going to matter how fast you complete the Time Trials as only the top 8 teams will move out of the Time Trial stage.

The Time Trials will take place on the Tournament realm which will eliminate gear, legendaries and other differences and hopefully make skill the only factor.

This means that there will be an additional day of broadcast.

There will also be a $25,000 to each regional final.

The Global finals will take the top 2 teams from each Region and will be a LAN finals

Blizzard Summary

Blizzard

The 2018 WoW Arena World Championship (AWC)

The biggest event in WoW esports will be supported by a full calendar of tournaments around the world, ensuring only the most battle-tested and proven teams have a shot at the 2018 WoW Arena World Championship. At the championship tournament itself, teams will be fighting for their share of a $280,000 prize pool and WoW Arena glory.

We'll be back later in the year to discuss how teams from China, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific make their way to the 2018 Arena World Championship.

Introducing Seasonal Finals for North America and Europe

*drum roll* We are delighted to announce TWO seasonal finals where the best North American and European Teams will clash for the first time ever outside of the World Championship. The first season finals will be decided in March at a live event.

Each event will feature eight teams: The top four teams from Europe and the top four teams from North America.
Both events in 2018 will offer $100,000 prize pools—that’s two opportunities for players in Europe and North America to land a share of $100k before the World Championship is even on the horizon.
The eight teams will also be competing for a spot in the WoW Arena World Championship, rewarded to the winners at each of the two events.

You won’t want to miss either of these milestone events where your favorite players and teams will fight for regional pride, a spot in the WoW Arena World Championship, and a share of $100,000. Dates and additional details on these events to come.

Multiple Seasons of Arena Cups in North America & Europe

We are starting early this year with the first Arena Cups just around the corner. Arena Cups will be spread across the entire year and will offer not only a cash prize but also AWC Points.

Teams with the most points from each season will be invited to compete at that season’s Finals event, while the top overall teams of the year from each region will be invited to the Arena World Championship.

The first of three Arena Cup seasons starts Jan 31
There will be nine (up from five) Arena Cups in each region (18 total) over the course of the year
A $10,000 (up from $6,000) prize pool will be available for each of the 18 cups
The top 12 (up from six) teams at an Arena Cup event will earn points
New point distribution system will reward consistency
Teams in 2018 will follow the same guidelines and rules regarding roster changes as last year—

please refer to the official rules for additional information (coming soon)

The Mythic Dungeon Invitational Returns!

In 2017, we took our first foray into the world of competitive Dungeon Races with our Mythic Dungeon Invitational (MDI). Teams from around the world battled against each other with Australia’s ‘Free Marsy’ standing head and shoulders above the rest to become the inaugural champions.

The excitement and passion we saw from fans meant we couldn’t wait to kick it up a notch. So today we’re truly excited to announce a second season of the MDI.

What Is Changing for the MDI?

More teams from the Proving Grounds! All eligible teams that complete the Mythic Keystone dungeon challenge (details still to come) during the Proving Ground stage will be invited to the Time Trials in the tournament realm.
In Time Trials, all teams will compete on specific dungeons and post their best times over one week. The top eight teams will advance to the regional playoffs.
The regional playoffs will be broadcast like last year, but with a few key changes:

Each region (Asia Pacific, Americas, China, Europe) will have their own weekend of broadcasts.
The format will be double elimination, giving teams a chance to regroup after a loss and bounce right back.
The Mythic Keystone level will change over the course of the tournament, rewarding teams who can quickly crush easier dungeons and survive tougher ones.
Just like 2017, the top two teams will advance to the Global Finals.
The Global Finals will feature the top eight global teams, who will compete head-to-head and on stage at a live event.

For all updates, announcement, fixtures, and news, check out the WoW Arena World Championship hub for all the details—and see you on the stream!

Comment by RakkCortalYeah new Mythic+ stuff ..... oh wait just arena. Boring!Comment by Oixiohow to fix broken PvP? oh i know, lets make even more tourneys no one care about, because you know, damn PvP is still broken!
bury your head in the sand seems like a preferable strategy for BlizzardComment by BromacusiIt'd be neat to have 1 MDI per raid tier, imo a good way to space them and keep people from getting burned out from watching.Comment by Shahaman95Good luck with that. Looking forward!Comment by ColdleoAll these comments filled with Deeprock Salt I need for leveling my Leatherworking.Comment by FeilaaniDoes this mean Battle for Azeroth comes out 2019? or in late november/december? If the championships and mythic invitationals are for legion and will be going on all year and ending in november 2018 blizzcon the next xpac wont be till after or else the next xpacs changes on classes talents ect will alter the battles of the esports mid esport..... won't be adding BFA dungeon mythics to it since its LEGION esports still all year.....Comment by dumencDoes this mean Battle for Azeroth comes out 2019? or in late november/december? If the championships and mythic invitationals are for legion and will be going on all year and ending in november 2018 blizzcon the next xpac wont be till after or else the next xpacs changes on classes talents ect will alter the battles of the esports mid esport..... won't be adding BFA dungeon mythics to it since its LEGION esports still all year.....Comment by Mightylorddkhow to fix broken PvP? oh i know, lets make even more tourneys no one care about, because you know, damn PvP is still broken!
bury your head in the sand seems like a preferable strategy for BlizzardComment by Swordart21THESE 1K rated heroes in comments LULComment by xAldoo@perculia look at this

"The next MDI is falling in the first half in the first half of the year."Comment by Oixiohow to fix broken PvP? oh i know, lets make even more tourneys no one care about, because you know, damn PvP is still broken!
bury your head in the sand seems like a preferable strategy for BlizzardComment by MykDeezyAll these comments filled with Deeprock Salt I need for leveling my Leatherworking.Comment by KulrulkMDI is awesome keep it coming.

People complaining about PvP balance. It has never been balanced nor will it ever be, same goes for pve, raiding and M+ there is always a meta.
Accept it or move on.Comment by kellorionbut is Sloot coming back?