For the Horde! For Alliance! For BlizzCon!
It’s been one legendary show so far for 2017 with two HUGE announcements including the brand new expansion and just as exciting.. World of Warcraft – Classic is coming! Yes, vanilla Warcraft is on the way. REJOICE! We also have all the Esports news for the WoW Arena World Championship.
Let’s get into it fam.
The big one.
The battle against the Legion has left the world broken—but the shattered trust between the Alliance and the Horde could prove the hardest wound to mend. Blizzard Entertainment today unveiled plans for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, a new expansion to the company’s acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that will test players’ resolve as they champion their faction’s cause in a devastating new war.
In Battle for Azeroth, the fall of the Burning Legion has set off a series of disastrous incidents that reignites the furious rivalry between the noble Alliance and the mighty Horde. As a new age of warfare begins, Azeroth’s heroes must set out on a harrowing journey in search of new allies, race to claim the world’s mightiest resources to turn the tides of war, and fight on several fronts to determine which side will lead Azeroth into its uncertain future.
From the mighty mouth of Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment.
Conflict is at the heart of the Warcraft saga, and in Battle for Azeroth, tensions that have been simmering for a long time escalate into all-out war, World of Warcraft players are incredibly passionate about the characters and factions they identify with in the game, and this expansion will make them prouder than ever to declare their allegiance to the Horde or to the Alliance.
World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth includes new features and content that will put heroes’ dedication and fortitude to the test. In this expansion, players will be called upon to:
- Explore Two Fabled Kingdoms: As a champion of the Horde, travel to the Zandalar empire to persuade the trolls to lend their naval might. As a defender of the Alliance, venture to the seafaring kingdom of Kul Tiras, home of Jaina Proudmoore, and rally its inhabitants to fight for your cause.
- Recruit Allied Races: Take a new form for your adventures as several new playable Allied Races, each with unique racial abilities. Earn the favour of the Highmountain tauren, Void elves, Dark Iron dwarves, and others to create a new character of that race and add their strength to your faction.
- Plunder the Islands of the Great Sea: Scour Azeroth’s myriad uncharted Islands and conquer an ever-changing array of enemies, environments, and objectives. Battle in groups of three as you race against cunning rival intruders—or enemy players—to collect each island’s resources and fuel the war effort.
- Charge Into the Warfronts: Fight on the battlefields of a large-scale, 20-player cooperative Warfront to claim a key strategic location. Capture resources to build your faction’s forces, lead the charge as your troops lay siege to objectives, and fight the enemy commander to claim victory in this new PvE mode inspired by classic Warcraft RTS battles.
- Infuse Your Armour with Titanic Might: Seek out Azerite, an invaluable new resource that has emerged in the Legion’s wake. Imbue the Heart of Azeroth—a legendary neck piece entrusted to each hero by Magni Bronzebeard—with Azerite to customise your armour with new powers and traits.
- Battle to Level 120: Trace the corruption of the Blood God to the Underrot, unearth the secrets of a lost titan vault, escape from the Drust Realm of the Dead, and more as you quest through 10 new levels—then continue to grow in power through new World Quests, raids, dungeons, and more.
- Instantly Boost to Level 110: Enter the raging conflict between the Horde and the Alliance prepared to survive on the front lines of a vicious new war.
- Connect Through Communities: Join up with WoW® players who share common interests in persistent cross-realm Communities. Share strategies with members of your class, fraternise with auction house magnates, talk shop with fellow tailors, and expand your social circles.
To learn more about World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, visit the expansion’s official website at www.worldofwarcraft.com/battleforazeroth.
World of Warcraft Classic
In addition to a new expansion, Blizzard also announced early plans to develop a gameplay experience that recaptures players’ first journeys into the original World of Warcraft.
This news is HUGE. Like, holy shit.
Players have been rallying for vanilla styled WoW for what feels like forever and the Blizzy crew are going to make history all over again with this one.
WoW Esports
In the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship, teams from across the globe battle their way through their respective regions to prove themselves worthy on the field of battle. The top 12 teams meet at BlizzCon to compete for their share of the $280,000 USD prize pool and to see who takes home the title of Arena World Champion.
In 2017, Blizzard expanded the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship to give players more opportunities, more events, and more prizes. The new point structure for North America and Europe, plus new opportunities for other regions, has led to more large-scale events. Overall, this year featured the largest global prize pool in the history of World of Warcraft esports.
Highlights Include:
More Teams, More Action
- All quarterfinals (Top 8) are live broadcasts, giving teams the chance to show off their skills and the audience at home an opportunity to cheer on their favourite teams.
- North America and Europe each have five qualifier events with a point system.
- In North America and Europe, teams are granted one “free” roster swap throughout qualifiers. Each subsequent roster swap costs teams 50% of their remaining points.
Larger Regional Events
- North America and Europe each have 12 teams qualify for their respective regional events.
- All regional events are live events with teams competing in-person.
- Each of the regional events offer $100,000 USD prize pools.
World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Finals at BlizzCon
- Twelve teams qualify for the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Finals.
- The World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Finals now feature a dedicated slot for a Latin American team and two dedicated slots for Chinese teams.
- The World of Warcraft Arena World Championship Finals boasts a prize pool of $280,000 USD.
2017 Key Tournaments, Prize Pools, and Winners:
- 29–30 July: Asia Pacific Championship Finals in Taipei
- Total Prize Pool: $40,000 USD
- 1st Place: Team Rock
- 11–13 Aug: Chinese Championship Finals in Shanghai
- 1st Place Prize: Airfare to BlizzCon
- 1st Place: Put pen to paper flowers fade
- 23–26 Aug: European Championship Finals in Cologne, Germany
- Total Prize Pool: $100,000 USD
- 1st Place: Method Triforce
- 26 Aug: Latin American Finals in São Paulo, Brazil
- Total Prize Pool: $11,000 USD
- 1st Place: Unitas Black
- 7–10 Sept: North American Championship Finals in Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Total Prize Pool: $100,000 USD
- 1st Place: Method Synergy
- 30 Oct and 3–4 Nov: Arena World Championship Finals in Anaheim, California, USA
- Total Prize Pool: $280,000 USD
World of Warcraft esports is expanding into the fast-paced and highly competitive world of Mythic Keystone dungeons with the Mythic Dungeon Invitational. In a first-of-its-kind global PvE competitive format, players from the Americas, Europe, China, and Asia-Pacific can group up to prove they are the true masters of Mythic dungeons and earn their share of a $100,000 USD prize pool.
Highlights Include: The Proving Grounds
- Players run a string of Mythic Keystone dungeons over a two-week period, increasing their Keystone Levels as much as possible. Performance is evaluated across the five dungeons in which the team achieves the highest Keystone Level.
- No sign-ups required: all players are welcome to form a five-player group and compete during the Proving Grounds period.
- At the end of the two-week Proving Grounds period, players submit their top score.
- Based on scores from the Proving Grounds period, 32 teams are invited to the playoffs: eight each from the Americas, Europe, China, and Asia-Pacific.
The Regional Playoffs
- The Regional Playoffs take place over two weekends, with each region having its own single-day broadcast streamed on the Warcraft Twitch channel.
- In the head-to-head competition, teams execute a dungeon speed run; the first to finish will be declared the winner. All Keystones and affixes are determined by Blizzard at the start of the match.
- The top eight teams from the regions battle in a single-elimination bracket until two are left standing to represent their region in the Big Showdown.
The Big Showdown
- Global Bracket: The top eight teams from the Regional Playoffs advance to the final weekend of competition.
- Teams compete in a head-to-head single elimination bracket.
- All eight teams will earn their share of the $100,000 USD prize pool.
2017 Key Tournaments, Prize Pools, and Winners:
- 16–17 Sept: China and Asia-Pacific Regionals
- 1st Place in China: Team MPE
- 1st Place in Asia-Pacific: Honestly
- 23–24 Sept: Europe and Americas Regionals
- 1st Place in Europe: Raider.IO
- 1st Place in Americas: Premonition
- 30 Sept–1 Oct: Global Top 8, Semi-Finals, and Finals
- Total Prize Pool: $100,000 USD
- 1st Place: Free Marsy ($50,000 USD)
- 2nd Place: Honestly ($20,000 USD)
- 3rd & 4th Place: Premonition and Raider.IO ($10,000 USD each)
- 5th–8th Place: Friends With Affixes, Team Bigpull, Team MMT, Team MPE ($2,500 USD each)
And finally! .. Shadow The Fox
A plushy version of the previously released in-game charity pet will be available for purchase starting later this month. Sales of the plush will benefit both American Red Cross Disaster Relief and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Disaster Relief Emergency Fund.
Stay tuned to DYEGB for all the latest WoW news and esports!
Although he has been gaming since the Sega Mega Drive launched in 1990, he still sucks at most games. When not being trash he watches French horror films, drinks herbal tea and secretly loves the music of Taylor Swift.
