This spring, A Renewed Hope is thrilled to be hosting players from across the galaxy for the inaugural Destiny World Cup! In this team event, trios of players will compete for regional pride and a new wave of ARH prizes. Read on to learn more about the tournament format and how you can apply (HERE) to enter the field.

Tournament Format

Modeled on the FIFA World Cup, ARH’s event includes two stages: a round robin group stage and then a top cut elimination round.

Groups will be drawn randomly, with the number of groups and group size determined by the total number of teams.

The elimination stage will start with the semifinals (or quarterfinals if 16 teams are competing), with the number of teams advancing from each group determined by the total number of teams.

Each team will be comprised of 3 players, identified at the beginning of the tournament as player A, player B and player C.

In each round, corresponding players (i.e. team 1’s player A vs. team 2’s player A , player 1B vs. player 2B, etc.) compete in a best-of-three match. In this example, Endor wins the round with 2 wins compared to Bespin’s 1 win.

Rankings in the group stage are based on each team’s won/loss record, with head-to-head results serving as the first tie-breaker and total “player wins” across best-of-three matches as the second tie-breaker. In this example, Endor scored 5 “player wins” compared to Bespin’s 3. If teams are still tied in the rankings, a playoff match will be scheduled.

ARH Standard decklists must be submitted before each match and players stay with the same deck for the entire best-of-three match. Players on the same team are not required to play the same list.

Players are expected to complete each round within a 1 week period. In cases where players are struggling with scheduling, the tournament organizer will help resolve, offering extensions or declaring forfeits as necessary.

The Cup will begin in April. A specific round-by-round schedule will be announced once qualifying is complete and a date for the ARH8 release party has been finalized.

Qualifying

Forming Regional Teams – Now Through February 7th

The first step in finalizing World Cup rosters involves deciding which geographies are represented by each team (i.e. a team for “Poland-only,” a team for “Eastern US,” and a team for “Belgium/Germany”) and for that we need your help!

Players from across the Destiny community are invited to express interest via a 60 second survey (HERE) by Wednesday, February 7. In addition to confirming their readiness to compete in any qualifying activities (mid-Feb through early March) and in the Cup itself, players will share their home-base region, as well as any alternate regions that they might represent (i.e. a Dutch citizen living in the UK might choose either region).

Based on the distribution of player interest and the strength of regional in-person and online engagement over the past several months, the ARH Admin team will announce a slate of teams using the following guiding principles:

1. Team representation should match engagement rates as much as possible (i.e. if Brazil has twice as much player engagement as Germany, we would expect 2 Brazil teams and 1 German team).
2. We will prioritize single-nation teams wherever we believe a minimum of 3 qualified players are interested/available.
3. A single nation will be represented by no more than 3 teams. When there are multiple teams from a single nation, we will use regional groupings (i.e. the Greater Toronto area may serve as the hub for one Canadian team while another might draw players from the Canadian Maritimes or Prairies).

Player Qualifying – Mid February through Early March

Once teams are defined, ARH will support regions in selecting individual players. In most cases, this will involve small “qualifying tournaments” (online, Swiss format) to identify the top 3 players from the total potential pool of interested/available players in that region.

The goal is to create an opportunity for players from the widest possible range of regions to participate in the Cup. Even if someone is not aware of any other active players in their region, we strongly encourage them to apply so they can have an opportunity to pursue qualifying with players from a nearby region.

Prizing and Coverage

The ARH website will offer ongoing coverage throughout the Cup, including roster announcements during the qualifying phase and round recaps throughout the event itself. We will also work to to stream as many matches as possible and include a bracket where the community can predict winners.

As always, ARH will support the event with prizes that players can use to upgrade their collection. Specific prizing will be announced closer to the launch of the tournament, but will include promotional cards for all participants, additional exclusive prizes for semifinalists and the ultimate champion, and even a special reward for the most prescient community member in the “Pick the Winner” bracket challenge.

We hope you’re as excited as we are about this new opportunity to experience the game in a team format and we look forward to announcing the regional assignments in mid-February. #DestinyForever