Hearthstone: Collegiate Champs Fall 2018

The Hearthstone Collegiate Champs Fall 2018 is the largest Hearthstone tournament that will occur all year, in terms of number of teams participating. With over 800 colleges across North America entering, the Hearthstone Collegiate Champs are a chance to see decks of all types get played at a decent competitive level.

Fun over Fierce

With the sheer volume of entrants, and only the top 16 teams earning any type of prize, one would think it unlikely to go very far without a lot of luck. You won’t be seeing professional level of play from these kids, and they like to bring Twitch memes to life.

There is a nice prize, however, for those who do finish among the best. First place earns themselves $3,500 in scholarships for each player on the team. That amount descends down to the 9th-16th positions earning $500 in scholarships per player.

The first thing you will see is a lot of misplays, busy college students may not have the time nor experience for the most optimal lines of play. Another thing you will see is a lot of off-meta decks. Whether competitive or not, many teams are simply there to have fun.

Having fun is especially apparent for the teams who get stream time. You will see the players engage in shenanigans on their webcams mid-match, and in their post-game interviews. The teams have also chosen unique names, despite them not being displayed on the streams. Only the college names are shown for obvious reasons, as their chosen names are not too professional.

A Good Team Format

The format for the tournament is a Swiss, followed by a single elimination playoff. The matches themselves are like the standard Hearthstone Championship Tour rules, four classes with one ban.

The games play in a way that makes sense. A single player is not responsible for each game, as all players are together to do any action within the game. This was a slight issue with professional team tournaments. College students have the convenience of being on the same campus as one another and can be in the same place at the same time.

The competition is well under way, and a few teams are still undefeated. In the West Region, University of Utah and Claremeont McKenna College are 6-0.

Then in the South Region, University of Texas – Austin, University of North Carolina – Charlotte, and Rice University are 6-0.

For the East Region, Colby College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and MCPHS University – Boston Campus are 6-0.

Lastly, for the North Region, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Miami University of Ohio, University of Iowa, Queen’s University, and University of Michigan are 6-0.

If you would like to watch, a handful of Hearthstone Collegiate games are being streamed weekly on the PlayHearthstone Twitch channel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.

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