Its a new year, and that can mean only one thing if you are a fan of HiRez Studio’s third person action MOBA SMITE: The Smite World Championships start today. In fact, through the magic of the internet this post should be going live just about the time the opening ceremonies start. Teams from all around the world have fought through their own regional seasons and HiRez has brought the winners of each league to Atlanta, GA to fight for the title of World Champion.

The first day of competition will be the placing round. Only two teams have earned a bye on this round, Cloud9 G2A and Paradigm. The rest of the competitors will have to fight their way into the Quarterfinals via a Best of 1 format. Once the contenders for the Quarterfinals have been decided, the tournament will switch to a Best of 3 format, with the grand finals being a Best of 5.

You can expect some very tense matches over the first day of competition leading into the quarterfinals. The Australian, Chinese and Latin American teams have a lot to prove as they step onto the world stage, most of them for the first time. North America and Europe will look to defend their dominance in the Smite competitive scene. Cloud9 G2A in particular looks to repeat as world champions.

Also on display will be Xbox One Smite, with four invitational leagues. It promises to be a great weekend for you if you love SMITE. And if you are there, send us some tweets from the show floor!