KARDS Esports: Upcoming Changes

Hello, commanders!

As we march towards a brand new year, we are excited to share with you details of the upcoming year in KARDS esports.

The year 2023 was an exciting one for KARDS Esports, as we explored different tournament types, including evolving the OCC into a quarterly format, where participation in one month earned points towards qualification in a bigger quarterly event. This year saw us experiment with various formats to showcase the best of KARDS gameplay, diverse prize pools, and alternative tournament structures. Our commitment to fostering community tournaments has also grown, providing a vibrant platform for enthusiasts to host their unique, format-diverse events.

Monthly OCC Tournaments

Moving forward, we are altering the OCC format once more to move back to a monthly format. We will be retiring the OCC: Ultimate for the time being, with the possibility of this quarterly tournament returning in the same, or a different form, in the future. As we make this change, we simultaneously alter the prize pool, so that every month features a 1500 USD prize pool for the OCC: Clash tournaments!

The prize pool for OCC: Clash tournaments will now be as follows:

• 1st: 750 USD
• 2nd: 450 USD
• 3rd: 300 USD
• 4th: 750 Diamonds
• 5th - 8th: 500 Diamonds

Additionally, the winner of an OCC tournament earns the coveted KARDS Champion cardback.

Format Changes

In addition to the return to monthly format, we are also altering the qualification for the monthly OCC tournament. Here’s the breakdown:

• The top 2 players on the monthly in-game leaderboard will automatically qualify for the top 8 of that month.
• The next 32 players on the in-game leaderboard will battle for the remaining 6 spots through Swiss rounds.
• Each player submits 3 decks from 3 different main nations and plays in a best-of-three conquest format through 5 Swiss rounds.
• There will be no changes to format in the top 8: Players will fight in a single elimination bracket live on stream. Each player brings 3 decks from different main nations, with every game being a best-of-three series, except the grand finals and 3rd place matchup which are best-of-five. Conquest (you cannot reuse a deck you have already won with, but you can reuse a deck you have lost with).

Through this alternative mode of qualification, we hope to provide more dedicated players with the opportunity to prove their skills through the qualifiers and make it to an exciting finals with very lucrative prizes at the top.

Note that the lines marking the top 38 players on the in-game leaderboard will change later this month, alongside the release of the Winter War expansion. The new lines will correctly reflect that the top 2 players will automatically qualify for the OCC, and that the next 32 players (down to the 34th player) will qualify for the play-ins. These format changes affect the November ladder, and will first be seen in action in the December OCC.

That sums up the changes for esports coming up ahead. We will continue to support the community in various tournament events, including support through prizes, streaming, and giveaways. If you’d like to participate in a community tournament we encourage you to join the KARDS Discord server to stay up-to-date with all the latest tournaments upcoming and ongoing in the community.

We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield, commanders!