Due to tremendous popular demand, Championship Gaming Series has expanded registration to the general public for the 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament. The competition starts next week with an online qualifier, running from Monday, June 9th until Sunday June 22nd. Competitors must be 18 or older to qualify, and must be residents of one of the following countries: The United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Belgium or United Kingdom. The top two eligible teams from Europe and the top two teams from North America will be flown out to Los Angeles to compete live on July 19th for a prize purse of US$50,000.

It’s free to sign-up, but all competitors must register by June 8th.

To proceed, click one of the following:
North America Registration
Europe Registration

Official Tournament Rules
Tournament FAQ

Official Link

With a short qualification round of 2 weeks, people will most likely focus on the CGS tournament over ATR round 2 (which just started a couple days ago). Hopefully this one will be more known and played by all the players. Last year, half the players didn’t even know about the CGS tournament till it was too late.

Tags: PvP · News

I just got this in the email today:

Congratulations on your performance in the 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament. You and the rest of your teammates have qualified for a seat in the 2008 CGS World of Warcraft Arena Championship. This tournament will culminate in a live event held in Los Angeles, California on July 19, 2008 where the two top teams from North America will face off against the two top European teams for a prize purse totaling $50,000 cash.

To qualify for the CGS World of Warcraft Arena Championship, you must be 18 years old and a legal resident of one of the following countries: United States of America, Canada, France, Germany, Spain or The United Kingdom.

The first part of the tournament will run online between June 9, 2008 and June 22, 2008. The rankings will freeze on the 22^nd, and the top two qualifying teams from each region will be flown out to Los Angeles for the Finals on July 19, 2008. Proof of eligibility will be required to progress to the Finals, and teams unable to prove their eligibility will be disqualified.

To register for the 2008 CGS World of Warcraft Arena Championship, click here.

More information can be found at www.thecgs.com and any inquiries can be directed to the CGS at warcraft@thecgs.com.

*Please note that the CGS tournament is independent of the Blizzard 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament.

Links:
Tournament FAQ
Official Tournament Rules
Email: warcraft@thecgs.com

not sure what these invitationals are based on since I have had the chance to play much lately. If anyone knows please drop me a line.

Tags: PvP · News

Taken from our forums, here is the official link. My understanding is that if you didn’t get an email by now, you’re not invited. Correct me if I’m wrong.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMING SERIES ANNOUNCES 2008 CGS WORLD OF WARCRAFT® ARENA CHAMPIONSHIP

- Top 1,000 World of Warcraft Arena teams from North America and Europe will compete June 9-22;
- Top two teams from each region will travel to the CGS World Final in Los Angeles July 19 to compete for US$50,000

LOS ANGELES – May 21, 2008 – Championship Gaming Series™ (CGS), the only worldwide professional video gaming league, announced its second annual World of Warcraft® Arena Championship, an invitational Arena tournament that will feature the top 1,000 Arena teams from North America and Europe in independent open-ladder competition from June 9 to June 22, 2008. The two highest-ranked teams from each region will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to battle against each other to determine the top team from Europe and North America and fight for their share of $50,000 in prize money. The final match between the North American champion team and the European champion team will be streamed live from Los Angeles, Saturday, July 19 at thecgs.com. The top finisher will be crowned CGS World of Warcraft Arena Champion and receive US$25,000.

The CGS World of Warcraft Arena Tournament will follow the same 3v3 rule set and competition structure used in Blizzard Entertainment®’s 2008 Arena Tournament. The top 1,000 eligible teams participating in that tournament will be invited to register for the 2008 CGS World of Warcraft Arena Championship. All players will be provided with tournament-specific accounts which allow access to the CGS Tournament Realm, created specifically for the competition. Players will have access to the same gear and configuration options used for the Blizzard Entertainment 2008 Arena Tournament.

Ranking information will be updated daily on thecgs.com.

2008 CGS WORLD OF WARCRAFT ARENA CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZING
1st place team: $25,000
2nd place team: $12,500
3rd place team: $6,250
4th place team: $6,250

About Championship Gaming Series
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the Championship Gaming Series™ (CGS) is the only worldwide professional video gaming league. Launched in 2007, and a joint venture among BSkyB, DIRECTV and STAR, CGS features teams of the world’s best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The league distributes entertainment content to more than 400 million viewers worldwide via DIRECTV in North America and Latin America, BSkyB in the UK, Eurosport in Europe, and STAR in Asia and Australia. CGS sponsors include Mountain Dew, Creative, Xbox 360 and Dell XPS.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

Tags: PvP · News

Tuesday, The 1st qualifier of the arena tournament ended. Leaving “Dude I Got It on Fraps” in 1st place by 1 point in front of “Duelists going for glad” in 2nd place and leaving “Frag Dominant” in 3rd by 3 points from 1st. So far the competition is still strong and no winner is certain as of yet. Now that the 2nd Qualifier round has opened teams have a short amount of time to get some nice R&R in before queuing up again.

The second round of qualification for the 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament has now begun registration. Here is a schedule for this qualifier and details on what each of the phases entails.

Registration Dates

• Registration for Qualifier 2 Opens: May 20, 2008
• Registration for Qualifier 2 Closed: July 1, 2008

Second Qualification Round Schedule for North America:

• Phase 1 begins: June 3, 2008
• Phase 1 ends and Phase 2 begins: July 17, 2008
• Phase 2 ends and Phase 3 begins: July 1, 2008
• Phase 3 and the second Qualifier ends: July 15, 2008

Phase 1 - The Practice Phase – Active from June 3, 2008 to June 17, 2008

• There is no penalty for changing your team and you are free to move teams around.
• At the end of this phase all arena team ratings will be reset to 1500 during maintenance.

Phase 2 - The Competition Phase - Active from June 17, 2008 to July 1, 2008

• Every team will be reset to a 1500 rating and official rankings begin.
• There will be a 150 team rating penalty for any player added to an arena team.
• At the end of this phase all arena teams will be locked down and players will not be able to switch characters from arena teams.
• Registration will also close at the end of this phase.

Phase 3 – The Final Phase – Active from July 1, 2008 to July 15, 2008

• Registration is closed for this phase of qualification.
• Players are no longer allowed to switch arena teams during this phase.
• At the end of the phase, the top 4 rated teams from the Battlegroup will be invited to the regional qualifier if they meet all eligibility requirements.
• Eligible teams must have played a minimum of 200 games during Phases 2 and 3 to be able to qualify to advance to the regional qualifier.
• Each team member must have participated in 30% of their team’s games to be eligible to qualify.

Sources: 1 , 2

On a side note, Kil’Jaeden’s gate is now open so some of the top guilds will be able to have a crack at him before S4 comes out, and with his impressive loot table, some lucky warriors will be able to run around arenas with the best 2H sword and torture some unexpecting foes, think Cataclysm’s Edge in S2.

Tags: PvP · News

While blizzards tournament is entering the final phase, MLG announced they are going to be hosting a new PC Circuit starting in June. Naturally the reason im even talking about this is because the Circuits feature game will be, you guessed it, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Prizes will be $22,500 per event and the entire Circuit will be played on HP’s new Blackbird 002.

Information is as follows:

By blandestk @ www.mlgpro.com
* Kick-off event: MLG San Diego, June 13-15th
* Other stops: MLG Orlando, July 11th-13th and MLG Dallas, October 3-5.
* Official PC Circuit game: World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade®
* Format: 3-vs-3 - more details on rules and the official format will be released on May 15th.
* Total spots available: 32 teams
* Prizes: $22,500 per event

They will be posting more information on there website as the time nears and we will be keeping you up to date on any new information as well.

With more and more mainstream steps being taking to making WoW a pro e-sport I guess we will see what really comes of it this next year.

Tags: PvP · News