Blizzard Entertainment
The first WoW Arena World Cup of 2018 starts this weekend with the European Qualifier cup #1 and will be broadcast live on Twitch beginning at 9:00 a.m. PST Saturday, February 3 and Sunday, February 4. Casters Rich Campbell, Adrian “Healingstat” Archer-Lock, Elliott “Venruki” Venczel, and Mohammed “Ziqo” Beshir will be on hand to keep you on top of all the exciting 3v3 arena action.
- Competitors will engage in 3v3 Arena Tournaments on live realms.
- Sign-ups are open to all interested parties and no arena rating is required.
- Top point earners from North America & Europe will be invited to compete at the Spring Finals in March for their share of $100,000.
- Team rosters consist of up to 4-players, but teams can sign-up with 3.
- Tournament Mode is required; all gear is normalized while Honor Talents and Artifact Power are maxed.
Prize Pool
- 1st place: $5,000, 180 points
- 2nd place: $2,800, 120 points
- 3rd place: $1,600, 80 points
- 4th place: $600, 60 points
- 5th and 6th places: 40 points each
- 7th and 8th places: 20 points each
- 9th – 12th places: 12 points each
Caster and esport personality Mohammed “Ziqo” Beshir has the inside scoop on which teams make his top 5 to watch as we kick off this WoW Arena World Championship.
#1
Team Name: XRB to the Moon
Roster: Zeepeye, Loony, Wallirik, Blizzon
Blizo joins from Method: Triforce where, in his rookie season, he came in 3rd at BlizzCon 2017. Considered MvP of the team by analysts, he is a big pick up for XRB to the moon, who are formally known as Enjoy Legion. XRB have been performing very well on the ladder with the lock (warlock), shaman, druid composition, and Loony currently has an 89% win rate on his highest rated character (2845, Europe #8). So, Ziqo ranks them as the favorites for the year.
#2
Team Name: NRG
Roster: Raiku, Whaazz, Chas, Swapxy
If Whaazz was allowed to hand pick his roster, this was probably what he’d have come up with. NRG had a disappointing 2017 being eliminated before BlizzCon, but have brought in two-time World Champions Swapxy & Chas to bring more diversity to their compositions. This will be the first time Swapxy has ever competed without Boetar. The two of them have played together since leveling days in Burning Crusade.
#3
Team Name: ABC
Roster: Alec, Niksi, Cara, Minpojke
Minpojke has a point to prove this year after parting ways with NRG. He joins defending world champions ABC and will look to outperform his former teammates on NRG. Ziqo thinks the roster could even be an improvement from last year, with Minpojke gelling well with the experience of Alec, and his hunger to complete his repertoire by winning the World Championship. The fact this roster isn’t #1 on Ziqo’s list shows how strong this year’s teams are.
#4
Team Name: 85%
Roster: Drainer, Jaime, Feddx, Fabss
With Swapxy leaving Method, Fabio has also followed, and he joins fellow 2017 BlizzCon competitor Jaime for this year. Jaime finished 5th last year on Rockets: Eclipse. Alongside three-time BlizzCon Champion Fabss, this will be a team to watch.
#5
Team Name: Rockets Esports
Roster: Ratapai, Tsx, Vilaye, Akrololz
Ratapai finished first on points in 2017, top of Europe for online qualification. He’s brought in Vilaye from Making a Movie this year, alongside Tsx and Akrololz to round out his patterned aggressive Rogue Mage play style. Vilaye will bring more experience to the roster having reached the BlizzCon final in 2015.
Where to Watch:
English Stream – https://www.twitch.tv/warcraft
German Stream – https://www.twitch.tv/rexz
Russian Stream – http://twitch.tv/Fritterus
Watch live video from Warcraft on www.twitch.tv