Esports to watch at BlizzCon 2017

Are you ready for the most hype of the year? BlizzCon 2017 is almost here! Remember, you can watch all the esports action without a virtual ticket, either on blizzcon.com/watch or each game’s separate Twitch channel. Here are all the times you need to tune in for your favorites.

Heroes of the Storm

• Heroes Global Championships Friday 2 p.m. – 10 p.m. CDT, Saturday 12 p.m. – 11 p.m. CDT, Official Twitch.

After a tumultuous first week, the final bracket is shored up and available to view on the official site. All three North American and European teams made it through, as did two Korean teams. China and the rest of the world sits this one out. Roll 20 Esports delighted — and surprised just a little — by knocking out third seed Korean team Tempest to punch their ticket to BlizzCon. Their Cinderella story is on shaky ground though, as they face reigning Korean champions Ballistix first in round one.

StarCraft

• World Championship Series Friday 2 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday 2:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. CDT, Official Twitch.

It was a surprising opening week for StarCraft. Neeb was sent packing by Rogue, which wasn’t entirely unexpected, but Neeb is one of the few non-Korean players making waves so he tends to be entertaining to watch. Another Western player Elazer got the better of one of the titans of the game, eliminating Dark from contention. Dark and Stats are the only two Korean players who didn’t make it through to the championship bracket.

World of Warcraft

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• Arena World Championship Friday 2:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. CDT, Saturday 2:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. CDT

We’re still a bit away from a finals bracket in the Arena World Championship. Only one team from each bracket — Pen and Paper, and Imagine PvP — have been eliminated from contention. The top three teams from each group move on, but nobody has clinched a berth so far. The bracket will be set by Friday evening, and the finals will play out Saturday.

Overwatch

• Overwatch World Cup Friday 2 p.m. – 10 p.m., CDT Saturday 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. CDT

This bracket has been set for a while, but you can see it on the site if you need a refresher. Expect France and Canada to hit the ground running, but whoever wins the USA vs South Korea matchup is the favorite to win it all. South Korea’s stated goal this season was to not drop a single map, which they very nearly accomplished in the earlier stages. The improvements made to the spectator UI look amazing. I’m especially excited about the team colors being skinned onto each individual hero! Besides getting top fashion marks, this will make it a lot easier to follow which team is doing what.

Hearthstone

• Hearthstone Inn-vitational Friday 3 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. CDT
• Tavern vs Tavern Saturday 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. CDT

Hearthstone is a bit of an oddball here. All the other esports are the culmination of a season worth of competition, while Hearthstone has a couple lighthearted star-studded events. After everything else going on, I’m totally cool with that. The Inn-vitational pits some of the biggest personalities in Hearthstone against each other. Firebat and Kripparian are teaming up, but can they defeat Alliestrasza and Disguised Toast? We’ll also see Tavern vs Tavern, which pits the players from some of the most successful Fireside venues around the world against each other.

It’s going to be an amazing weekend.