The Forever Open Duel Tournament in WoW Forever

Three weeks before WoW Forever launches, its beta gets a $100,000 duel tournament. The Forever Open is a community event run by Tips Out, EsfandTV and Xaryu, not by Blizzard: thousands of players level a fresh Horde character to 30, fight through qualifiers on October 17, and the best reach a bracket on October 18. Half the money goes to the champion, the other half to the best player of each class. Below, we cover how the event runs, the duel rules and banned items, the prize split, which classes look strongest at level 30, and where to watch.

The Forever Open at a Glance

The key facts about the tournament, from the hosts to the broadcast, fit in one table.

It's the second big community duel event after the Hardcore Mak'gora tournament three years ago, hosted by the same people.

Forever Open Format and Schedule

The event runs in three stages, and only one character per player makes it through all of them.

1. Leveling (Sept 27 – Oct 17). Create a brand-new Horde character on the PvP ruleset with the last name "Foreverpvp", register it on Raider.IO, join the guild and level to 30.
2. Qualifiers (Oct 17). Check in on Raider.IO that morning, be level 30 and pay a 15 gold entry fee. The qualifier format is due at least a week before the event.
3. Finals (Oct 18). The top 4 of each class from the qualifiers enter one bracket and play best-of-3 / best-of-5 duel series. The winner is crowned Death's Duelist.

How a Duel Works in the Forever Open

Admins run every duel the same way, and most of the rules exist to stop stalling and cheap tricks.

• Duelists stand on the duel flag, walk 10 yards directly apart (20 yards total) and stop. Only a stealthed character may move after that. No mounts.
• An admin counts down 10 seconds, then both accept the duel.
• 1 minute maximum between duels to heal, buff and drink; stretching it can get you disqualified.
• 60 seconds of inactivity mid-duel is a delay-of-game penalty. Stealthing for minutes to reset cooldowns counts.
• A duel that times out has no winner: it's replayed, and each player gets only 3 food or water items for the rest of that matchup.
• Fleeing the duel area on purpose, or chain-fearing someone out of it, means disqualification.
• One talent build per stage, submitted 24 hours ahead. You can change it between qualifiers and finals, not during.
• Legacy points are allowed. Transmog must be off.
• Every competitor streams their own view on Twitch, YouTube or Kick and keeps the VOD. Referees can inspect bags and talents on stream.
• Warlocks may leave the dueling area once, after telling an admin, to farm soul shards.

Banned Items in the Forever Open

All consumables are allowed unless listed below. A banned item in your bags during an inspection means instant disqualification, so leave them in the bank.

Rule Changes Since Registration Opened

The organizers have tightened the rules several times since sign-ups began, mostly around openers and buffs. These are the additions so far.

• Buffs: only your own class's self-buffs; consumable buffs only if they don't come from another class.
• Openers: rogues and druids always get an uncontested opener - the opponent stands still and doesn't turn. Warriors get one too, except against a stealth class. Stealth vs. stealth: nobody does.
• What counts as an opener: your first offensive action - an ability, a racial like Blood Fury, an item or a trinket. A druid opening with a cast (Entangling Roots, Starfire) frees the opponent when the cast starts.
• 25-second limit: wait longer than that after your opponent turns hostile and you lose the opener.
• Shamans: may start with up to four totems down.
• Before the duel: no pre-HoTs, no Hunter pre-trapping, no Warlock pre-sacrifice. Power Word: Shield before the duel is fine.
• Gold buying: explicitly banned, after the real-money-trading controversy around the beta.

The organizers have hinted at a change to Legacy rules so players don't feel forced to grind Legacy Points; it isn't in the rules yet. Bans can change at any time because, in the rules' words, Forever is still an unsolved game.

Forever Open Prize Pool

Half the pool goes to the champion; the other half rewards the best player of every class, so a strong player on a weaker class can still get paid.

If the champion is also the best of their class, that class's $5,555 goes to the class's second-best finisher. Ties within a class split the money evenly. Winners invoice the organizers before payment.

Best Classes for Level 30 Duels

Discipline Priest is the consensus favourite at level 30: Penance, shields, Mana Burn, Psychic Scream and a free-to-use wand let it grind anyone down. Hunters and Enhancement Shamans are the main threats; Warriors and Rogues struggle.

Duelist Supatease ranked every spec after his own beta duels on October 6. Treat it as a snapshot of the early beta rather than a final verdict.

A few things explain why the list looks the way it does.

• No PvP trinket at 30. Racials are often the only way out of crowd control. Undead's Will of the Forsaken answers the Priest's fear, which makes it a popular pick.
• Penance looks overtuned at 30 with twinked healing gear, Sodapoppin argued - but Blizzard is unlikely to balance around a level-30 event.
• Consumables decide close matchups. Free Action Potions are the Warrior's lifeline; the banned list above already removed the cheesiest items.
• The class prize changes the math. With $5,555 for the best of each class and four finals spots per class, a strong player on a weaker class has an easier route to the money.

Tuning changes every beta build, so treat this as a snapshot from early October.

How to Watch the Forever Open

The qualifiers (October 17) and finals (October 18) stream on twitch.tv/esfandtv and twitch.tv/xaryu. Every competitor also streams their own view, so you can follow a favourite player directly. Start times and the qualifier format are still to be announced; event questions go to the Forever PvP Discord linked from the rules.

More WoW Forever PvP Guides

The tournament runs on the beta. These guides explain how PvP will work once the game launches on November 4.