Esports Arena to host unconventional Sealed Hearthstone tournament with $6k in prizes

After the success of the first “Sealed” format Hearthstone tournament in February, the format will be given a second outing next week.

Esports Arena will host the unconventional tournament, with some of the biggest names in the game competing for $6000.

Sealed incorporates much of the elements from a similar format in Magic: the Gathering. Players are given a random assortment of cards from each set and are required to build three decks. Emphasizing the “physical” feel of traditional card games, each copy of a card can only be used in one deck. The format is played using an online tool, developed by Tempo Storm.

The Esports Arena World Series of Sealed also takes elements from poker, allowing players to bet on their games.

Six players will play in a round robin tournament, drafting new sealed decks each match. They can place bets before the draft and after every game of the best of five series. Players start with $1000, and can drop out once they are left with $250 or less. When four players are eliminated, an all or nothing match between the final two will declare a winner. That winner will take 75 percent of the pot from that final match.

With one player left to be announced, the lineup certainly is star studded. Top streamers Jeffrey “Trump” Shih and Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk will join 2014 world champion James “Firebat” Kostesich, veteran Cong “StrifeCro” Shu and rising star Victor “Vlps” Lopez.

With the metagame as stale it has ever been and Standard still a few weeks away, this tournament is a welcome breath of fresh air to the tournament scene.