Hearthstone’s World Series of Sealed returns next week

One of the most innovative and out of the box formats in all of Hearthstone is making a comeback.

Esports Arena’s World Series of Sealed, which combines games of Hearthstone with poker-style betting, returns next week.

The event will see eight players compete in games using Tempo Storm’s sealed deck building tool. The deck is a virtual pack opening and deck building tool, following the template of sealed formats from Magic: the Gathering.

The first event, which was held in April, was successful—though some found the complex rules hard to follow.

Players will each start with $1,000 at the beginning of each day, and can place bets on their games. In a new addition for the second event, the other players can also place side bets on the outcomes of matches and any other propositions they can think of.

At the end of the two days, the chip leader will be crowned the champion. According to Tempo Storm founder Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk, who will take part in the event, that champion will also be invited back for the already-planned third event.

The champion of the first event, Cong “StrifeCro” Shu, David “Dog” Caero and Paul “Zalae” Nemeth, and top streamers Jeffrey “Trump” Shih and Sebastian “Forsen” Fors have already been announced as participating in the event.

The timing for the World Series of Sealed to return could be perfect. The Hearthstone community is very interested in innovative formats right now, with the somewhat stale competitive meta not holding fans’ interests.