OTK Hearthstone Invitational Skirmish Plans To Make Viewers Into Winners

Global eSports live streaming provider Azubu is sponsoring the OTK Hearthstone Invitational Skirmish on March 17 and 19, 2015. HungryApp and gaming commentator Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski are also co-sponsoring the event. Invited competitors will face-off to win a $2,500 USD prize, while viewers at home can tune in on Azubu to win product giveaways.

According to the announcements made thus far, the product giveaways are courtesy of Razer. To win, players must use the Razer Comms voice chat, join the “Azubu” group, watch the event and listen in for the chance to win.

Although the OTK, which stands for “One Turn Kill,” is an invitation-only competition, Artosis said in an official press release that a positive turnout and viewership could lead to more Hearthstone opportunities like it.

“I look at the OTK Invitational as our love letter to the Hearthstone community. I have been wanting to make this invitational happen for a long time, and I’m excited to finally launch it with the help of Azubu and HungryApp. With the insane line-up we have brought to the table, we hope that viewers tune in and respond positively to the event, so that we can bring much more Hearthstone content to Azubu.”

Viewers may have more to win by watching than free stuff. By watching tournaments like these, players of trading card games of all kinds often glean interesting deck building strategies and watch experienced players closely to witness their in-game tactics.

The Hearthstone competition will feature an eight-person bracket consisting of Jason “Amaz” Chan (@archonamazhs), Jan “ek0p” Palys (@ekop1337), James “FireBat” Kostesich (@archon_firebat), Aleksandar “Kolento” Malsh (@kolento), Dima “Rdu” Radu (@rduhearthstone), Cong “StrifeCro” Shu (@strifecro), Thijis “Thijs” Molendijk (@thijshs) and Andrew “TidesOfTime” Bessener (@tidestv). The first place prize is $1,500, with second place and third place each receiving $750 and $250, respectively. Artosis will serve as an official commentator of the event, along with Nicolas “Tasteless” Plott.

The OTK Invitational features its own unique rules and begins on Tuesday, March 17 at 5:00 p.m., and then picks up again on Thursday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. Each game is scheduled to be a best-of-five matches. The finals and 3rd place match will be a best-of-seven. The winning deck always remains, while other decks can be switched between matches.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft celebrated its first birthday (one year since launch) on March 11, 2015. The game is available on PC, Mac, iPad, Android tablets and Windows 8 touchscreen devices. The first DLC expansion, Blackrock Mountain, is scheduled for release on March 19.

[Image courtesy of Azubu]