World of Warcraft lends itself to a good number of esports, both in PvE elements and in the PvP world. Mythic+ keystone dungeons take the endgame content to another level, adding a massive amount of difficulty and needed skill to the game. These Mythic+ dungeons have been an esport of their own for a while, but the Keystone Masters tournament is here to elevate things!
Over 750 participants were allowed to try out of the tournament on the exclusive realm. Keystone Masters was able to hold a Time Trials format similar to Blizzard’s MDI, with nearly 50 teams participating in the event. Only eight prevailed, and those eight are here to vie for dominance once again.
The eight teams that made it through are as follows:
- Method EU
- Method NA
- Gromnak Waiting Room (formerly Abrakeydabra)
- The Boys
- Inertia (formerly Learn to Fly)
- Paint for Fem
- Account Wide Essences
- Depleto Gang Gang
The rules are decently simple. Keystone Masters is a community event, not associated with MDI in any way and considered a separate tournament (though there are many similarities). They test their own different and unique rules, but have done their best to create an MDI-influenced tournament with some twists that the community seemed interested in.
- Teams can have a sixth player, if they would like, instead of the five of their core team. This allows them to bring a sub-in for flexibility and strategic advantage.
- Teams are limited to only one player of each spec to prevent the issues of triple Rogue or double Deathknight comps that we see in competitive plays. Teams can have three rogues if they’d like, but they have to all be a different spec, for example.
- Dungeons and set affixes will be revealed ahead of time so that competitors know what they’re getting into and can practice accordingly. This stops needless practice and brings just a little bit of the pressure off to allow for a higher level of play.
Keystone masters are also including a one-time use of what they’re calling The Coin. This can only be used once per tournament, but will allow a team to swap the maps either for themselves or another team. This can be used offensively to force another team to play a map they might struggle with, or defensively to avoid playing a map that you have issues with.
All in all, it’s shaping up to be a wonderful tournament. Catch the second day of the tournament tomorrow on Twitch, starting at 11:00 PST/19:00 CET!
