The 2016 World of Warcraft Arena World Championship is about to kick off—and for teams across North America, the battle begins in just a few weeks.

This year, we’re pleased to announce that we’re partnering with Major League Gaming to produce the entire North American Road to BlizzCon, including all three qualifier cups. Over the years, MLG has played a major role in World of Warcraft’s development as an esport, and it’s exciting to be working with them once again.

Additionally, the fine folks from GCDTV will be joining us again, working behind the scenes with MLG to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

North America Online Qualifiers & Sign-ups

The battle begins with three online qualifier cups, starting in mid-June, each with their own $6000 prize pool (see our previous announcement for more details). You’ll be able to catch them all live on Twitch.tv/Warcraft and MLG.tv beginning with the Round of 8, with the following schedule:

• Cup 1: June 18
• Cup 2: July 2
• Cup 3: July 16

Sign-ups for the qualifiers are now open! If you’re interested in competing, head over to the official MLG website.

Note to competitors: games played prior to the Round of 8 will be played in the days leading up to the broadcast.

Americas Regionals

The top two teams from each qualifier cup (six teams in total) will move on to the Americas Regionals, where they’ll be joined by two other teams: one from Latin America, and one from Australia and New Zealand. This year’s Regionals will be held at the MLG Arena in Columbus, Ohio on October 8 and 9. Once again, our eight competitors will be fighting for their share of a $100,000 prize pool and one of three coveted spots in the Arena World Championship finals at BlizzCon 2016.

Rules Update

We’ve heard a ton of community feedback on the 2016 changes to the Road to BlizzCon rules we laid out in our previous blog. We’ve been listening to your feedback and have decided to change a rule:  Teams who qualify for a Regional will no longer be eligible from participating in additional qualifiers.  This is consistent with previous years rules and will open up additional slots to competition.

The complete official rules are available here — for even more information on this year’s rules, read our forum update.

We can’t wait to see what path this year’s Road to BlizzCon takes, and hope you’ll join us when the qualifiers begin in June!