wow The $100k Mythic Dungeon Invitational Is Coming!

[Starym 3,777]

 

A great PvE esports initiative, open to all, that will hopefully bring many more events like it.

It's time for some PvE esports action for WoW as Blizzard announce the first truly big PvE tournament - $100,000 big, in fact!

It's time for some PvE esports action for WoW as Blizzard announce the first truly big PvE tournament - $100,000 big, in fact. It's amazing to see some attention headed to the PvE side of things, and the hopefully first of many such events is the Mythic Dungeon Invitational! Open to any and everyone, this tournament will see the top teams from each region (the Americas, Europe, China, Asia-Pacific) battle it out for the grand prize. After the great strides the PvP esports part of WoW has made recently, it's good to see the other side of the gameplay coin get represented as well.

So, how will all this work? Well, first off there's the open stage aka the Proving Grounds where any group can submit 5 of their highest Mythic Keystone runs to Blizzard from which they'll choose the top 8 teams for each region. Then we'll have the Regional Playoffs, where the 8 teams will play each other until only 2 remain, with each region getting their own stream day. And to conclude the tournament, we'll see the grand finals where the top 2 from each region will battle it out for that $100,000 prize money.

The top raiding guilds will definitely get into this competition as well, possibly even forming multiple teams for a better chance of getting to the regionals, but as the event is open to all there should be plenty of space for less established teams to come thorough. In any case, this is a great initiative, especially since it includes opportunities for both established 5 man teams and guilds, as well as newly formed ones. Let's just hope it becomes huge and leads to many more such events in the future.

Check out all the details and, more importantly, exact dates in the official post below:

Blizzard (source)

World of Warcraft esports is expanding into the fast-paced, highly competitive world of Mythic Keystone dungeons with the Mythic Dungeon Invitational. We’re looking for the best of the best from around the world to battle it out for a share of $100,000.
 

Great Expectations, Great Rewards

We’re looking for the best players in the world, but first you need to show us you have the right stuff to compete. Teams aspiring to battle on the global stage must first push themselves through a gauntlet of Mythic Keystone dungeons, taking on increasingly difficult Mythic Keystones and earning the best scores on the Proving Grounds.
Top scoring contenders will be invited to join as one of 32 outstanding teams from around the world, competing for a share of the $100,000 prize pool—and ultimately claiming bragging rights of the #1 spot. Once chosen, 8 teams from the Americas, 8 from Europe, 8 from China, and 8 from Asia-Pacific will be tapped to face the challenge, proving they have what it takes to go all the way to the finals.

The Proving Grounds [July 25–August 8]

From July 25 to August 8 , teams aiming to secure an invitation to the top 32 will be challenged to push their way through Mythic Keystone dungeons to achieve their best scores. At the end of the two weeks, they’ll need to submit their top score using this form.

Remember, to be truly competitive among the World of Warcraft elite, your team must master multiple dungeons. We’ll be judging performance across the 5 dungeons in which the team achieves the highest Keystone Level during those two weeks.

 

The Big Showdown

Beginning in September, the invited contenders will compete in the Mythic Keystone Dungeon Invitational for their share of the prize pool. Each region’s contenders will be a part of a single-day broadcast in which they will face a series of elimination rounds until just 2 are left standing to represent their region on the global stage. The Regional Playoffs will take place over two weekends, with each region having its own single-day broadcast streamed on the Warcraft Twitch channel:

• September 16: China
• September 17: Asia-Pacific
• September 23: Europe
• September 24: Americas

In the head-to-head competition, teams will execute a dungeon speed run; the first to finish will be declared the winner. All Keystones and affixes will be determined by Blizzard at the start of the match.

Global Bracket: The top eight teams from the Regional Playoffs will advance to the final weekend of competition taking place on September 30 and October 1. Teams will continue to compete in a head-to-head single elimination bracket, only this time the battles will be cross-region. The top eight teams will earn their share of the $100,000 (USD) prize pool, broken down as follows:

• 1st – $50,000
• 2nd – $20,000
• 3rd & 4th – $10,000
• 5th – 8th – $2,500

Rules of Engagement

• Keystone levels and affixes will be determined by Blizzard
• The first match of each series will take place in a dungeon pre-determined by Blizzard.
• Once the final 8 regional teams have been determined, they’ll move on to a single-elimination bracket where they’ll go head-to-head.
   

Where to Watch

If you’re an esports fan, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. You can catch the action on the Warcraft Twitch channel. Keep an eye on here or on the official World of Warcraft Esports site for more details!

The race for glory starts here. Are you and your crew skilled enough to take on the rest of the world?

So, what do you guys think of this initiative? Are you looking forward to the event and maybe even want to take a stab at the competition yourself?

[Eukray 5]

I think this is a wonderful idea ! It's a bit like the raid competition that we always wanted to see but without the fear of usebug, and the "who can test more on PTR" thing, since the dungeons where already here for a while. Maybe it'll also help and show us some "route" that we wouldn't have taken :o

[Seksi 208]

Decidedly hyped for this, don't think I will participate at this time but who knows in the future, hope it takes off, it will be great fun to watch!

[DeathsDesign 92]

Curious to see the comps these groups run.  I know the last time Blizzard did this we saw the standard 1/1/3 comp, but we also saw the 1/0/4 comp which would be interesting again.  Also i'm curious what affixes they are going to choose for these dungeons.

[Darkjester79 47]

It's Nice to see Blizzard finally give some attention to the PvE side of WoW.  I am super excited for this even if I don't get in on it.

[Valks 2,373]

On 12/07/2017 at 8:20 PM, DeathsDesign said:

Curious to see the comps these groups run.  I know the last time Blizzard did this we saw the standard 1/1/3 comp, but we also saw the 1/0/4 comp which would be interesting again.  Also i'm curious what affixes they are going to choose for these dungeons.

I'm praying it doesn't end up like some of the arena tournaments did with perfectly mirrored comps.

[DeathsDesign 92]

1 minute ago, Blainie said:

I'm praying it doesn't end up like some of the arena tournaments did with perfectly mirrored comps.

I completely agree with this.  A lot of the entertainment value comes from diversity.

[Valks 2,373]

23 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

I completely agree with this.  A lot of the entertainment value comes from diversity.

Yep. Watching mirror RMD is incredibly dull and, given how certain classes simply are better in M+ than others, I have a horrible feeling we might see the "perfect" comp being constructed very quickly.

[DeathsDesign 92]

15 hours ago, Blainie said:

Yep. Watching mirror RMD is incredibly dull and, given how certain classes simply are better in M+ than others, I have a horrible feeling we might see the "perfect" comp being constructed very quickly.

Yep totally agree again, also I'm sure people are looking at finding a way to "legally cheese" the strats.

I can honestly say though that i would like to see them put Grievous in as one of the affixes.  I know it would force healer comps but I think it would be interesting to see what healers they bring out for different dungeons.  

[Valks 2,373]

29 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

Yep totally agree again, also I'm sure people are looking at finding a way to "legally cheese" the strats.

I can honestly say though that i would like to see them put Grievous in as one of the affixes.  I know it would force healer comps but I think it would be interesting to see what healers they bring out for different dungeons.  

There will definitely be plenty of "clever use" of items, I'm sure. 

[DeathsDesign 92]

1 hour ago, Blainie said:

There will definitely be plenty of "clever use" of items, I'm sure. 

I could see "absorb strats" going into this, Prydaz with pally bubbles/cenarion wards, disc priests etc...  Also this weeks affixes kinda gave me an idea.  Put bursting in the affix rotation.  See how these top teir players deal with that affix, one that forces people to manage time and progress.  I don't think Blizzard will because it would mean that people can't just blaze through it to get the fastest time, but it adds a difficulty element that I think would work good for what Blizzard is doing.  Sure you can't just pull EVERYTHING and kill it, but the team that manages the bursting debuff the best would move forward the fastest.

[Valks 2,373]

29 minutes ago, DeathsDesign said:

I could see "absorb strats" going into this, Prydaz with pally bubbles/cenarion wards, disc priests etc...  Also this weeks affixes kinda gave me an idea.  Put bursting in the affix rotation.  See how these top teir players deal with that affix, one that forces people to manage time and progress.  I don't think Blizzard will because it would mean that people can't just blaze through it to get the fastest time, but it adds a difficulty element that I think would work good for what Blizzard is doing.  Sure you can't just pull EVERYTHING and kill it, but the team that manages the bursting debuff the best would move forward the fastest.

I guess this is where Blizzard has to make a decision on the type of contest they want to host. If they want to see the runs completed in a few minutes by skipping as much as possible, they should tailor it to that. If they want to see which team works perfectly together, they can include things like needing to kill every mob in the instance, certain affixes to make them move slower etc. and rank it by deaths & time, rather than just time.

[DeathsDesign 92]

1 hour ago, Blainie said:

I guess this is where Blizzard has to make a decision on the type of contest they want to host. If they want to see the runs completed in a few minutes by skipping as much as possible, they should tailor it to that. If they want to see which team works perfectly together, they can include things like needing to kill every mob in the instance, certain affixes to make them move slower etc. and rank it by deaths & time, rather than just time.

I agree, and I think this is one of those situations where Blizzard needs to decide how THEY want the contest to play out instead of letting the community decide for them.  As a company and game developer there are many situations where the feedback of the community can dictate the direction taken, however, I feel in some aspects the developer needs to say this is our game, this is the way we want you to play it, because this is the end experience you are supposed to have.

Don't get me wrong though, community feedback for the M+ race is fine, just you can't have the format wholly dictated by the community.

[Valks 2,373]

21 hours ago, DeathsDesign said:

Don't get me wrong though, community feedback for the M+ race is fine, just you can't have the format wholly dictated by the community.

Yeah, we don't need a Twitter poll deciding what the affixes are. We need them to come together with their team and think up a cohesive set that will provide a solid, interesting challenge.