Just before the launch of Hearthstone’s new Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion, Blizzard introduced the new Duels mode. And now, the company is going all-in on Duels with its first tournament, Darkmoon Duel-Fest, on Nov. 24.
The new Duels tournament will include 24 recognizable players from across the Hearthstone community. Familiar faces include names like Octavian “Kripp” Morrison, Brian Kibler, Alexandra “Alliestrasza” Macpherson, and Hearthstone legend James “Firebat” Kostesich. Those invited to the event will be competing for a $200,000 prize pool.
For this tournament, Blizzard came up with a unique format it calls Last Duelist Standing. “Competitors play through three closed-circuit Duels runs until either one player remains, or one or more players reach 12 wins,” according to Blizzard’s post announcing the new format. “Players are awarded 10 points for game win, and once a player loses three times they are out for that run. After the three full runs are completed, individual scores from each run are combined to make a player’s final score.”
A player’s final score will be what determines the results of the event, as well as their chunk of the prize pool. Blizzard also said the players who are the “last duelist standing” in each run will have the chance to earn additional prizing.
If you’re unfamiliar with Hearthstone Duels, the new format may sound confusing. Duels is completely different from Standard Hearthstone. In Duels, players piece together their deck by first choosing a Hero, a Hero Power, and a Treasure, similar to a solo adventure run. Instead of playing against the computer, however, the Duels mode allows you to compete against other players.
You can catch the Darkmoon Duel-Fest on Nov. 24 starting at 12pm CT on Hearthstone’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.
