The ARH Destiny community is several weeks into the Awaiting Fate meta and the time has come for the inaugural Destiny World Cup! Read on for a preview of first round matchups, prizing, and a chance to participate in a free “Choose Your Champion” competition.

Group Stage – Round 1 Pairings

Modeled on the FIFA World Cup, ARH’s event includes two stages: a 5 round group stage, followed by a top cut semifinal featuring the top 2 teams from each group. See HERE for details on tournament format and HERE for an earlier preview of the groups & players.

The first round of the group stage kicks off this weekend and features some compelling storylines.

In Group A, Poland, Scotland, and Canada’s “Outer Rim” squad (featuring players from the Maritime and Prairie provinces plus a British “cousin” from across the pond) each include players who have reached the pinnacle of the Destiny competitive scene but have spent recent months away from the game.

How will former ARH champions like Chimaera, Hipo, and Vika and their teammates shake off the rust for these early matchups against US and UK players who are relatively more familiar with the current card pool?

Members of the American “Mid Rim” squad regularly play together in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and come into the Cup with great momentum: Rando Mando won the recent Awaiting Fate release party while teammate Stubby won 7 straight games before dropping a tough semifinal match in the same event.

No one knows the game better than the Echobase crew that forms the southern contingent from England, while the youthful exuberance of the USA-East team promises for some exciting matches. Both squads are poised to make waves in the Cup.

Group B is also poised to start off with a bang, with a first round clash of the titans between the “World” squad and “USA-Missourado” – a group of players from St. Louis and Colorado also known as “Beers & Blanks.” Djclero has won multiple ARH events over the past year and teams with Echobase regulars who bring a deep knowledge of the game, while NuteShunsRey and Norman seem to have made a permanent home for themselves in the Hall of Fame for ARH’s monthly league.

Other round 1 matchups promise to be just as tight. Will Brazil continue its penchant for yellow villain and sneaky mill against the Midlands squad from England and its traditional red/blue villain love? With LiquidSnake (2023 US Grand Champion) in the lead, Canada’s squad from Toronto will be a tough match-up for any opponent, but Fablewick, Rebel Traitor, and their Nationwide USA teammates are sure to be ready for the barrage of shield walls and bounty hunter shenanigans.

World Cup Prizing

Although galactic glory and an opportunity to play Destiny with competitors from around the globe is reward enough, the ARH team is excited to recognize World Cup competitors with event-exclusive prizes.

To begin with, all participants will receive paper, full art copies of Tides of Battle (with original art from Pistachios) and IB-94 Blaster Pistol, an upgrade that’s more relevant than ever given Awaiting Fate’s heavy focus on the “exhaust an upgrade” mechanic. Although we’re not ready to share it yet, our Organized Play team expects to add one more piece of loot for participants so stay tuned!

Although the World Cup is designed to celebrate all players coming together, it’s also focused on crowning a champion, so our prizing approach has something special for the teams who progress furthest in the event.

Members of each finalist team will receive a World Cup-exclusive Enfys Nest spot gloss card. Semifinalists: we’ve got something in store for you as well and look forward to previewing it as soon as art department finishes polishing!

When the dust eventually settles, only one team will reign supreme and for this group of players, we’re delighted to award a championship playmat with original art from Darth Vienneau!

“Choose Your Champion”

Whether you’re competing or not, the entire ARH Destiny community can get in on the World Cup action by participating in the FREE “Choose Your Champion” event by predicting the results of the Cup! 

Submit your predictions HERE by 11:59pm ET on Saturday, May 25.  

The winner wins 2 professionally printed copies of the Dicey Companions draft kit from Dice Commando, while the runner-up wins 1 copy. If there is a tie, we’ll award multiple prizes!

In the spirit of international fellowship, our friends at SWDBR (Star Wars Destiny Brazil) will award a gorgeous “Rey – Todos Os Jedi” promo card to anyone who correctly predicts the entire bracket (i.e. group rankings, champion, and runner-up).

“Choose Your Champion” scoring is outlined below.

Correctly predict winner or runner-up for each group	2 points per correct prediction
Correctly predict semifinalist but in incorrect spot (i.e. picked Bespin to finish 1st in Group B, but they finished 2nd)	1 point per correct prediction
Correctly predict World Cup runner-up	2 points
Correctly predict World Cup champion	3 points
Tiebreaker: Closest prediction to total # of “player wins” earned by the World Cup winner across *all rounds* on their path to the championship. Predictions over and under actual number will be considered equally “close.”