No game has made a quicker ascent up the eSports ladder than Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The collectible card game (CCG) was released by Blizzard earlier this year and has already been making huge waves. You know your game has arrived when people are playing it at the legendary Hammerstein ballroom here in New York City.
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The BlizzCon Qualifier will be holding the second phase of its Americas tournament this weekend, on both Sunday October 5 and Monday October 6. The top 16 most skilled combatants will be fighting not only for the thrill of victory, but for four spots for the 2014 BlizzCon Hearthstone tournament where they will compete against the best in the world for legendary status and a $250,000 pot.
The Hammerstein Ballroom may only fit about 2000 people (with seating), but don't think that limited supply means high prices. If you would like to attend the Qualifier this weekend, you can grab a ticket in advance for free. Head on over to the Eventbrite page to get yourself a pass, which comes in 2 day, Sunday or Monday packages.
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If you get there early and are one of the first 1,500 people to arrive each day, you can receive three free Hearthstone booster packs. Alas, you can only redeem five of those card packs per battle.net account. Additionally, if you are among the first 500 attendees on Sunday only, you will receive an access key to the Warlords of Draenor beta. I think it's safe to say that the overlap between Hearthstone players and World of Warcraft players is quite high.
GameNGuide will be on hand covering the second day of the event. Stay tuned for more. You can download Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft for free for PC and iOS tablets.
If you're not in town yet (because let's face it, you are coming to town for NYCC happening on Thursday), don't worry "all of the fun will be available for your viewing pleasure live on the official PlayHearthstone Twitch channel."
