Every World Championship Blizzard have hosted over recent years has included qualifiers in regions like America, Asia, Europe, and even Australia/New Zealand. Basically, everywhere but Africa.
I’ve always found it rather annoying that we in South Africa in particular get left out. Even though we don’t have the biggest gaming community, we have one, and one filled with talented gamers at that. Besides, how can something be dubbed a World Championship if an entire continent isn’t even given the chance to compete in the first place?
The situation has swung around though it seems. Yesterday, an email found its way into my inbox from a local Hearthstone player, Francois Mouton. He told me how since the very inception of Blizzard’s card game, local tournaments have been taking place with the hope of getting somebody from South Africa qualified for the World Championships. This in itself was a difficult task, especially without official backing from Blizzard.
But it looks like all the hard work by our local Hearthstone community over the past few years has finally paid off. Wei Yue, the Associate Program Manager for Hearthstone – somebody directly employed by Blizzard – recently joined the South African Hearthstone Facebook page. He saw that we were hosting small tavern hero tournaments in attempt to get somebody qualified. Subsequently, he has brought two organisers on board, and essentially invited us into the international scene.
What this means, ladies and gentlemen, is that South Africa has finally been recognised. We are finally getting our very own Hearthstone Spring Preliminary! Here are all the details…
We have the absolute pleasure in announcing that for the first time in the history of South African eSports, Blizzard in association with Weekly Level Up and SYOS, will be hosting a Spring Tavern Hero Tournament and Preliminary alongside 30 other European regions. This will be held on the weekend of the 13 – 15 May 2016 in the beautiful city of Cape Town.
If you’re a local Hearthstone player, I urge you to find your way to a local fireside gathering, which serves as a qualifier for the Cape Town preliminary above. There are two happening in Gauteng this weekend – one in Johannesburg, and one in Pretoria. Then, on the 30th of April, there will be events happening in Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth too.
This is a massive opportunity, and one I’m sure our local Hearthstone community are incredibly grateful for. Hell, I’m not even the most competitive player, and I’m over the moon with this news. Thanks Blizzard!
[Thanks to Francois Mouton for the tip]Like esports?
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Last Updated: April 20, 2016
Admiral Chief in New York
April 20, 2016 at 09:11
Nice one Francois!
Loftus
April 20, 2016 at 09:15
So both Heartstone players in SA are going to compete in this?
*runs
hairyknees
April 20, 2016 at 09:18
Hey we have a big community here 😛
Kromas untamed
April 20, 2016 at 09:19
All the MTG players who can’t afford booster packs anymore. 🙂
Loftus
April 20, 2016 at 09:29
just teasing you Matt buddy 😛
hairyknees
April 20, 2016 at 09:32
YOU’RE SO MEAN!
Also, when are you playing Hearthstone so we can ramp that player count from 2 to 3? 😛
Loftus
April 20, 2016 at 09:34
I tried it once, but yelling snap and trying to take all the cards didn’t work….
VampyreSquirrel
April 20, 2016 at 09:38
HAHAHA! Go fish with your murloc!
hairyknees
April 20, 2016 at 10:19
LOL xD
Ottokie
April 20, 2016 at 09:47
I will add you tonight 😛
Pre ordered the new Wispers of the old gods, so busy theory crafting decks for Standard mode
Fafa
April 20, 2016 at 09:53
We actually have quite a big community and I would say we have about ~20 – 30 top level players. You can find the community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hearthstonesouthafrica/
Ottokie
April 20, 2016 at 10:00
I will bookmark this to keep an eye on some of the events.
But I do not own a Facebook account, so I will just be lurking 😛
Francois Mouton
April 20, 2016 at 10:03
Due to the large hype of the upcoming event, CPT, DBN and PE are hosting another event on the 30th April. I have requested that the organisers of these events come and post links to them 🙂
Ottokie
April 20, 2016 at 10:07
I have seen on the main site last weekend on the 16th a Fireside for “WLU League Hearthstone Tavern Hero Qualifier”. Was this organised by one your members?
Francois Mouton
April 20, 2016 at 10:10
Yeh, this was one of the events organised by the community. At this event Dylan ‘d1b’ Brown took first place (out of 25 participants) and has subsequently qualified for the Tavern Heroes Tournament on the 15th of May in CPT.
His road to victory can be seen in the brackets here: http://weeklylevelup.challonge.com/WLUTavernHeroQ
Ottokie
April 20, 2016 at 10:13
Thanks for the info 🙂
And good luck to you all, I am still to much of a casual to start any competitive play.
hairyknees
April 20, 2016 at 10:18
Oooooh! Will update the article accordingly 🙂
Thank you so much for the heads up on this news by the way <3
Francois Mouton
April 20, 2016 at 10:25
I quickly got the links for you, so you can add it to the article 🙂 Sorry, these events were not announced by the time I sent you the e-mail yesterday :).
All these events are scheduled for 30 April:
Durban: https://www.facebook.com/events/167252557002637/
Cape Town: https://www.facebook.com/events/1569577670007932/
Port Elizabeth: Event must still be created.
hairyknees
April 20, 2016 at 10:26
Thanks! Will throw in those two and PE once I have it
Francois Mouton
April 20, 2016 at 10:38
Here is the link to the PE event: https://www.facebook.com/events/975265065923527/
VampyreSquirrel
April 20, 2016 at 10:03
Creepy bastard
Ottokie
April 20, 2016 at 10:04
*Now with facecam included!
Lara Ayerst
April 20, 2016 at 10:15
Durban will be having their second qualifier for the region on the 30 April 2016. For details, please visit the Hearthstone South Africa Facebook
PenguinZA
April 20, 2016 at 11:12
AND HERE IS THE PE EVENT!!! https://www.facebook.com/events/975265065923527/?active_tab=highlights
SORRY NOT SORRY FOR CAPS!!!
Notice us senpais of Hearthstone in PE!
hairyknees
April 20, 2016 at 11:21
Thank you! Will update article accordingly 🙂
Niieru
April 20, 2016 at 13:53
For those looking for a last chance to qualify for this, here’s the link to the Cape Town event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1569577670007932/