by JR Cook - 4 weeks ago     show comments

This is it, the final push for BlizzCon qualification. On July 19, over 150 of Hearthstone’s best players will duke it out in the Summer Playoffs, with only the top performers from each region earning their ticket to the Summer Championship (and ultimately, a shot at BlizzCon). If you’ve been following the competitive scene this season, this is the event you don’t want to miss.

The format is 4-deck Best-of-5 Conquest with one ban, which means we’ll see a ton of strategic depth as players try to outmaneuver each other across multiple decks. Friday and Saturday will run Swiss rounds for all three regions (not broadcast), and Sunday’s broadcast kicks off at 12:00 a.m. PDT with the Top 8 from each region battling it out live. The top 4 finishers from each region punch their tickets to the Summer Championship in late July or August.

How to Watch and Earn Drops

The Sunday broadcast goes live at 12:00 a.m. PDT (9:00 a.m. CEST, 4:00 p.m. KST) on both Twitch and YouTube. If you watch for an hour on Twitch, you’ll snag an Escape from Violet Hold Pack as a drop reward, so might as well keep that stream running while you’re watching the action unfold.

The casting lineup includes Edelweiss, Lorinda, PocketTrain, Raven, and Sottle, all familiar voices who know how to break down high-level plays. And if you’re a streamer yourself, Blizzard is accepting co-streaming applications, so you can watch along with your own community if you get approved.

Who’s Competing

Each region’s roster is stacked with the top 50 Competitive Point earners from the May to June season, plus the top 4 players from each Summer Open Qualifier and every Summer Blitz Weekend winner. That’s a massive talent pool, and with BlizzCon qualification closing after this event, expect everyone to bring their absolute best.

If you’re serious about watching competitive Hearthstone (or thinking about competing yourself someday), the Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed headset is a solid pick — it’s the same pro-grade wireless gear you’ll see at major esports events, built for long tournament days with crystal-clear comms and zero lag.

Source: Hearthstone Official Site