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Having seen much competition over the last year since Ostkaka took the title of World Champion at BlizzCon 2015, the eight remaining players still in competition for the title met on stage at BlizzCon 2016 to see which of them would be making it to the semi-finals played the next day.
Still in the running for the title, all four world groups were still represented. The Americas region had the most players still in the competition with 3 players (Amnesiac, HotMEOWTH and Cydonia), both Europe (Pavel and DrHippi) and China (Hamster and JasonZhou) had 2 players remaining, which left the one remaining spot to be filled by the only player from Asia-Pacific to make it through, che0nsu.
The first quarter-final was between both the China players, with Hamster being known for trying out new decks (such as his C’Thun/Anyfin Paladin) that he hoped would catch on while JasonZhou tended towards some of the most typical decks considered to be good in the current meta (such as Zoo Warlock and Dragon Warrior). Although they were both sad to be drawn against each other in the first bracket, they were glad that China would at least be able to make it to the semi-finals because of it. The matches started with Hamster pulling off a nice win using a Token Druid deck, but then JasonZhou went on a rampage, taking 3 games with a Shaman, Zoolock and Malygos Druid in sequence. Hamster managed to claw back a second win using his C’Thun/Anyfin Paladin but he was still in trouble of elimination and the sixth match saw JasonZhou take the forth victory needed to proceed in the competition to the semi-finals.
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The second quarter-final would determine his opponent and was a showdown between America and Europe, with Amnesiac taking on Pavel, who had won an amazing 3-4 comeback victory to make it here. Amnesiac started off the set in fantastic fashion with a Mid-Range Hunter, with the deciding turn coming down to a one in three chance of a lucky RNG shot, which he made taking game one. The Americas player than went on take two more games using first a Tempo Mage, then Zoolock, to place Pavel in the same position he had found himself before, 3-0 down. The question on everyone’s lips was could Pavel perform the same comeback again? The answer turned out to be yes, as the Russian first gained a foothold by taking game 4 with a C’Thun Warrior, then utilised his Druid and own Tempo Mage to draw level. He then took the final game with a Rogue deck, pushing the quarter-final to a full seven game set and going on to face JasonZhou the next day.
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After a short break for Challengestone exhibition matches, the third quarter-final started with che0nsu carrying the last hope of the Asia-Pacific region against the second American player on-stage, Cydonia. Both players showed great skills at reading possible plays by their opponent, with the first match being especially close and ending up being taken by Cydonia with a strong showing of his Control Warrior deck. Che0nsu answered in game two with his Zoolock deck that let him take the game verses Cydonia’s Tempo Mage. Cydonia then used his Secrets Hunter for the rest of the games, but each time found himself no match for che0nsu’s decks of Tempo Mage, Arcane Giant Druid and finally Dragon Warrior, meaning the Asia-Pacific player took the round 4-1 and eliminated the second American from the tournament.
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The final quarter-final match-up of the day was between the remaining two players, another Europe vs Americas match as DrHippi took on HotMEOWTH for the final spot to face che0nsu the next day. A lot was riding on HotMEOWTH as the final American player still in the running for the title, and especially because the player ran with a Patron Blood Warrior deck modified after both the Warsong Commander and Execute changes and wanted to prove the deck was still relevant in the current meta. DrHippi took the first two games against him and his Warrior deck, leaving him with ground to make up. The third match DrHippi’s Shaman was up against the Patron Blood Warrior deck and HotMEOWTH came within one turn of being able to flip the tables on his opponent, just losing out because DrHippi had the amount of damage needed. 3-0 down the Americans player couldn’t make the up ground and DrHippi took the match-up in a clean 4-0 sweep, putting both European players into the semis and finishing off America’s hopes of getting the World Championship title this year.
So the semi-finals will be as follows – JasonZhou against Pavel and che0nsu against DrHippi with the winner of each going on to face each other in the grand final match to see who will take the title this year. Could either Pavel or DrHippi let Europe retain the title, or will China or Asia-Pacific take the championship title home with them? Tune in to the BlizzCon livestream feed today from 10:30am PDT/ 5:30pm GMT to discover who it will be!
Diablo is celebrating its 20th Anniversary and Blizzard is sharing more details on the festivities.
Darkening of Tristram Event
Originally was just going to be original music tracks added; but now Blizzard is adding all 16 dungeons, all 4 bosses.
The audio is tinny, the movement is jerky so we’re trying to get back to 1997 with the style of this event.
Recreated old monsters, but new AI.
Retro UI will be there, and D3 combat but D1 looks.
Event will be triggered by a pentagram by the Old Ruins.
Lots of easter eggs.
Rewards and Loot: Portraits based on original health and mana, Butcher Pet, Transmog is a Soulstone in your Skull! Also gives you an legendary gem for your helm.
Butcher’s Cleaver and Wirt’s Leg for your transmog as well. You can finally dual wield Wirt’s Legs
Bosses: Fighting D1-style Butcher
Patch 2.4.3 will have the anniversary event but also new Items.
Every January the Darkening of Tristram will be back.
Diablo Armory
You’ll be able to save “Loadouts” – 2017 future patch. 5 loadouts per character – passives, gear, Cube powers, talents, gems.
Instant equip loadout with 1 button.
Gem unsocketing cost will be gone, including legendary gems.
This is for PC and console.
Necromancer
Reimagining the Necromancer from D2.
Went through brainstorming phase with an art team – started with ideas like “the King of the Dead,” then the fearsome hunter who wears the trophies of the dead.
Also thought of the Cryptkeeper
This lead to the Commander of the Dead – somewhat like a Rockstar with Legions of (dead) fans.
They thought this was a good way to update the Necromancer for Diablo 3.
Also got to introduce a female necromancer for the first time.
Themes of Classic, Aristocratic, Reanimation or “Bone Saint”, Blood, Bone – the production process included ideas about armor with all of these.
Classic armor set matches the D2 Necromancer, they wanted to get that right.
Necromancer gameplay basics: Pet and Ranged Magic class, darkly themed, “darkest class ever” – they are commanders of the dead!
Includes army of skeletons, dead things, mostly dead things, magic.
Magic includes blood, bone, reanimation and curses – a personal wish you case on your enemies.
Difference from the Witch Doctor: themes are different – WD is more light hearted, more about creepy crawlies, etc. Think of the exploding chicken!
Compared to the necromancer – much darker themes, more blood and bone than disease. They are deadly series, not light hearted.
Big difference in pets – pets in WD are passive, Necromancer are more Active Passive (i.e. like monk mantras.) Short term active benefit even though your pets also exist passively.
Activating the Seal commands pets to attack targets and you have a damage buff. Much easier to lead them around as well.
Resource differences – WD has mana, Necromancer has essence. Essence doesn’t regen over time, it requires action.
Necromancer has two resources! The other is corpses. Corpses power some of your skills.
Corpse explosion will be back. Up to 10 at a time per click
Bone Spear is back.
Decrepify is a way to keep monsters grouped together. This is a curse.
Pychic Blood is a life/essence steal.
Blood Rush is a teleport type skill
Blood Golem – a very gross pet. Also with an active passive type function.
Army of the Dead – 100+ skeletons RUSH onto an enemy.
“Rise of the Necromancer Pack” is 2 character slots, 2 stash tabs, cosmetics, pets, and the Necromancer!
This is coming in 2017!
The Darkening of Tristram will be in January with the Rise of the Necromancer Pack to follow.
So Blizzcon has begun and with it came announcements, all quickly made during the Opening Ceremony of the event. One such announcement was that of Hearthstone’s next expansion, and as was teased it does have to do with Gadgetzan, although not in the way many seemed to be expecting.
Gadgetzan is now a large neutral outpost town, and with growing population and wealth comes the growth of something else much more unsavoury – crime. The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan focuses on the three main gang families who rule the seedy underbelly of Gadgetzan; the Grimy Goons, who are enforcer-types who operate with force and protection rackets; the Jade Lotus, who keep themselves to the shadows and are stealthy assassins; and the Kabal, a group of mages and alchemists who have grouped up after having been expelled from more reputable magical organisations for questionable practices.
The new thing for this expansion is the addition of tri-class cards, cards that can be added to the decks of 3 different heroes depending on which crime family they come under. The Goons tri-class cards focus on Hunter, Paladin and Warrior; the Lotus for Rogue, Druid and Shaman; and the Kabal have Mage, Warlock and Priest. I can see these cards helping players bridge the gaps between a class they are comfortable playing and one they’re not as familiar with.
With 130+ new cards coming, Blizzard have announced that The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan will be releasing some time in early December. Obviously, as with the last expansions there is an option for pre-ordering a number of packs before release.
And of course, during the announcement and the panel some of those new cards were revealed to the public. Check them out below:
Those cards with a crest underneath their mana cost are the tri-class cards I mentioned earlier. The crest shows which ‘family’ each card belongs to and therefore which three classes will allow you to use that card. It’ll be interesting to see where they fit into the collection book. There’s also one tri-class card which has an effect to craft custom spell cards – Kazakus.
One thing’s for certain, with this new expansion a lot of fun is about to be had.
Rainbow Six: Siege has one more DLC confirmed to come yet, and from tweets over at Twitter, it looks like it could be taking part in Japan.
The previous three DLC were released fairly evenly spaced, with around three months between each one’s being made available for purchase. The most recent one, Operation Skull Rain, came out on August 2nd so if the schedule keeps on going we can probably expect to hear a lot more official information soon about the forth.
The official Rainbow Six Siege Twitter tweeted out a teaser yesterday though, an image with Japanese text underneath:
Translations vary. Bing suggests “Come, ye and” while Google goes for “time is, come Tareri”. Ubisoft themselves though, publishers of the games, have said that it translates to “Time has come” which we can guess is meant to be the official message of the tweet. Other places have found leaked footage of destructible walls in a map meant to be added in the “Season 4” expansion – all with a distinctly Japanese themed building.
For more official information though, we’ll just have to wait.
Welcome to your catch up on what’s cool in the list of newly added Kickstarters for games.
To do a little recap on previously covered campaigns though, out of those covered a few weeks back Goblins of Elderstone is the only successful story there out of those that hadn’t already reached target when I covered them. They have recently bypassed their goal of $40,000 with 11 more days to go. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of Queer Quest and Creekside Creep Invasion, both of which are going to fall far short of their goals.
First up (and appropriate for the date) is a survival horror game set in Hell.
Agony sees you play as a lost soul, unsure about who you are and with the ability to take control of other souls and some simpler-minded demons as you try your best to make it through the harsh conditions you find yourself in. The game’s campaign page is full of a load of different quotes from different media outlets such as Kotaku, Destructoid and the Daily Dot – so you can tell that the game’s had a lot of people looking at it already.
If you’re interested, Agony has a target of $66,666 CAD (yes, really) and has made $2,862 with 39 days to go.
A puzzle-platformer, this game puts you in the driving seat of Cat City’s best detective as you try to track down who is responsible for the loss of the city’s plans. With areas ranging from the glittering high end areas to the seedy underbelly, you jump, puzzle and solve your way along through the story, as well as collecting items to help you along your way and meeting up with characters who can be talked to, befriended and in some cases romanced too.
PURRKINS has 27 days to go to make its £8,000 goal of which it has raised £26 so far.
Next up we have a card game where co-operation is needed to progress and build.
The Bird Told Me To Do It is a labour of love from Polish developers in which you build up a tree house for different types of birds by adding ‘twigs’ to the tree. Plumage cards are needed for scoring, and each twig placed will have an action you need to do – hence the title of the game.
The Bird Told Me To Do It has made £2, 897 of its £4,000 target so far, with 29 days still to go.
Lastly we have a space MMO game, that will be a free-to-play upon launch.
Space Wars will have many different ships with a load of customisation options as you would expect from a game of this genre. You can also customise crews as well, to best tailor your ships’ working to your playstyle. The game is a turn-based tactical strategy, with four different factions you can join – each with its own strengths. Venture forth and battle, conquer to gain experience to unlock better ships and upgrades.
Space Wars: Interstellar Empires has 25 days to go to make its $40,000 target. It has raised $5,646.
