What to Expect from Hearthstone in World Cyber Games 2019

World Cyber Games, the “Olympics of Esports”, had announced that Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone is one of the official game titles in the upcoming WCG 2019 in Xi’an, China. The inclusion of Blizzard’s hit card game comes to a surprise as it is the first digital card game in the history of World Cyber Games. What should we expect in Hearthstone in the World Cyber Games’ comeback this year?

Season 2019: Year of the Dragon

Hearthstone’s Season 2019 will be called the Year of the Dragon. The turn of the season means that new set of cards are scheduled for release this year and that cards from the Year of the Mammoth (Season 2017) cannot be used in Standard Play anymore.

Some cards will also be moved to the Hall of Fame, which also removes them from Standard Play. Most of these new cards added to the Hall of Fame are prominently used in Odd/Even-based decks such as Baku the Mooneater and Genn Greymane.

WCG 2019 will be held during the Year of the Dragon, and the upcoming reveal of the season’s first expansion will bring significant changes to the meta. What kind of playstyle will the Hearthstone competitors use in this year’s World Cyber Games?

New Tournament Format: Specialist

In addition to the new features in the Year of the Dragon, Hearthstone will now use a new esports tournament format: the Specialist format. Unlike the Last Hero Standing and Conquest format, the Specialist format lets the player use three decks of the same class. These three decks must have at least five cards different from each other.

This new tournament format applies the idea of sideboarding (or side deck building) which enables the player to replace a certain number of cards from his/her main deck.

More details about the Specialist format can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/80JF8x6n3jc

Players to Watch

At this time of writing, the registration for the WCG 2019 National Qualifiers for Hearthstone is still ongoing. Therefore, we still do not have a confirmed list of Hearthstone players who will appear in WCG 2019. But that doesn’t mean we can’t say who we want to see compete in this year’s World Cyber Games!

Many Hearthstone Esports fans are rooting for Thijs to make an appearance in the WCG stage. Considering that he is one of the top-ranking players in Hearthstone Esports worldwide, many players are hoping that he’ll prove his greatness in the game once more in WCG 2019.

Another favorite pick is Ike who recently competed in the HCT Winter Championship 2019. Although he wasn’t able to reach the finals, he would still become a qualifier in the HCT World Championship 2019. Ike is one of the most respected Hearthstone players in the esports scene and everybody would love to see him compete in WCG 2019.

Last, but not definitely not the least, is Muzzy who is currently the top-ranking player in Hearthstone Esports worldwide. He had consistently been the best Hearthstone player since 2016 and an appearance in WCG 2019 might pose a huge threat to other competitors.

Who are you expecting to see in the World Cyber Games 2019?

Registration Open

Registration for WCG 2019 National Qualifiers for Hearthstone is now open. Interested Hearthstone players who are aged 16 and above may join the world-class esports competition.

Register now using this link: https://battlefy.com/wcg