Hearthstone Invitational Tournament at BlizzCon
by JR Cook - 11 years ago show comments
Today Hearthstone has announced a special exhibition tournament that will be happening at BlizzCon called “The Innkeeper’s Invitational”. Blizzard invited 8 different personalities that are popular for streaming or their Youtube videos. Those invited are Day[9], Reckful, Hafu, Kripparian, Trump, Husky, Noxious, and Artosis.
Of course we’re a little bit bummed we didn’t get invited, especially since I’m 3-0 against Day[9] and ZenStyle pretty much owns face when it comes to the game and recently won one of the ManaGrind tournaments. However, we do understand that they probably didn’t want someone to completely dominate the tournament since it’s just an exhibition đ
Needless to say though, this will be really exciting to see. Not only is this the first “official” tournament Blizzard is holding but this will be our first look at Hearthstone in the official competitive scene. Just imagine once they start getting more eSports oriented features in the game like Spectator Mode and maybe BlizzCon 2014 ZenStyle and I will be playing in the first real make BlizzCon tournament for real prizes. We’ll see!
The other thing I am excited for this is the format they are doing the tournament in. Each player has 3 decks they have made in a best of 5. If one of your decks loses, it’s out and you have to play a new one. Great way to show off a bunch of different decks and overall I think it’s a great format to show off how well you can play different decks in different situations.
If you’d like to see the streams of those who got invited they are linked here:
You can read about the full details of the tournament here
BlizzCon draws ever-closer, and we have an exciting Hearthstone announcement to share with you all today!
Some dedicated members of the Hearthstone community have been bestowed the honor of showing you just a taste of what competitive card-slinging is all about in our featured one-time Hearthstone BlizzCon exhibition tournament: The Innkeeperâs Invitational!
The idea behind the Invitational is simple: Take some of Hearthstoneâs most passionate players and pit them against each other in a no-holds-barred deathmatch . . . er, pit them against each other live on stage at BlizzCon with three of their best constructed decks at their side. Each player must bring three decks with three different classes and they will battle each other in a set of best-of-five matches. If one of their chosen decks loses, it’s out for good! The losing player will then have to choose one of their remaining decks to battle with, and if they run out of decks, that’s the end of their run: Time to pay your tab and don’t forget to tip the innkeeper.
As our invitees duel down to the last card and bounce each other out the doors of the tavern (more formally called âbeing eliminatedâ) in this tournament, only one player will remain standing and be named “Grandmaster of the Hearth“, receiving a fitting trophy for their impressive efforts.
Who have we chosen to step into the tavern? Open the doors yourself and take look!
Top Bracket
Day[9] Vs. Reckful
Hafu Vs. Kripparrian
Bottom Bracket
Trump Vs. Husky
Noxious Vs. Artosis
This is a great opportunity to see some of your favorite Hearthstone players in action and to watch a few fun, casual, and friendly games of Hearthstone, live at BlizzCon! Not heading to BlizzCon this year? Don’t miss any of the action from the comfort of your own home by watching the semi-finals and finals via http://www.blizzcon.com or our World of Warcraft Twitch channel.
Don’t want miss a second of all the exciting BlizzCon action? Watch the full event, which includes exciting Blizzard developer panels and other featurettes, by purchasing a Virtual Ticket today. Sign up now and youâll also receive a Mystery Minion to add to your Hearthstone collection!
This makes me think that some form of spectator mode will be available by then, so that commentating will be easier. Also for reference, I’ve included links to videos explaining this format. I’m sure I can’t be the only one with some questions about this style of play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzOramJqfbk&list=PLQtDinkEUDE-d3zbG5qS5fkAQ3bfcOF_I&index=1
Thanks for sharing, I think it’s a pretty cool format.
This makes me think that some form of spectator mode will be available by then, so that commentating will be easier. Also for reference, I’ve included links to videos explaining this format. I’m sure I can’t be the only one with some questions about this style of play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzOramJqfbk&list=PLQtDinkEUDE-d3zbG5qS5fkAQ3bfcOF_I&index=1
Thanks for sharing, I think it’s a pretty cool format.
The format is very nice for spectators.
Only problem is you need _THREE_ competitive decks. So more time/money to spend if you wanna play competitively.
Other than that it sounds great and I am really excited. Finally another use for my virtual ticket other than the Mystery Minion đ
The format is very nice for spectators.
Only problem is you need _THREE_ competitive decks. So more time/money to spend if you wanna play competitively.
Other than that it sounds great and I am really excited. Finally another use for my virtual ticket other than the Mystery Minion đ
Always fun seeing these charismatic characters go at it. I definitely suspect a spectating mode and most likely replay functionality will make it in eventually. A lot of these features (or at least smaller components/quality of life aspects of these features) made their way into SC2 slowly over time. Most likely they are focusing on bug fixing, network efficiency and stability now and additional features will trickle in.
I remember seeing a dev diary on SC2 where they said it was built from the ground up to function as an eSport (competitive, challenging without a visible skill ceiling, and most importantly fun to WATCH as well as play). Given Hearthstone’s competitive nature I wouldn’t be surprised if they are shooting for some similar aspects (balancing them with casual-friendly mechanics to draw a large crowd of course). They did a very good job of elegantly choosing mechanics with Hearthstone. Focus is taken away from less exciting elements such as resources (while still indirectly present through some abilities), and instead all of the interesting minions and spells get the spotlight. Lack of mana screw also makes it more fun to play and watch.
And the voice overs and effects are brilliant from what I’ve watched so far.
Always fun seeing these charismatic characters go at it. I definitely suspect a spectating mode and most likely replay functionality will make it in eventually. A lot of these features (or at least smaller components/quality of life aspects of these features) made their way into SC2 slowly over time. Most likely they are focusing on bug fixing, network efficiency and stability now and additional features will trickle in.
I remember seeing a dev diary on SC2 where they said it was built from the ground up to function as an eSport (competitive, challenging without a visible skill ceiling, and most importantly fun to WATCH as well as play). Given Hearthstone’s competitive nature I wouldn’t be surprised if they are shooting for some similar aspects (balancing them with casual-friendly mechanics to draw a large crowd of course). They did a very good job of elegantly choosing mechanics with Hearthstone. Focus is taken away from less exciting elements such as resources (while still indirectly present through some abilities), and instead all of the interesting minions and spells get the spotlight. Lack of mana screw also makes it more fun to play and watch.
And the voice overs and effects are brilliant from what I’ve watched so far.
Where can i find the tournament?
Where can i find the tournament?