Tavern Tales hits Hearthstone’s summer esports circuit in July — and it’s an open event

Aspiring Hearthstone pros: The Pro Gaming League’s Tavern Tales is prepping its summer edition, and all it takes to qualify for one of the 32 open spots is to do well in an online qualifier.

The esports league announced its summer event today, with $25,000 prize pool and 43 Hearthstone Championship Tour points (earn enough of these and you qualifier for the seasonal and end-of-year tourneys). It takes place July 29 to July 31 in Bucharest, Romania. It will feature a field of 32 competitors, with a top prize of $8,000 and 15 HCT points. Esports (a $463 million market) continues to grow in 2016, with market analyst Newzoo estimating that by the end of the year, 1 billion people worldwide will be aware of competitive gaming. And it’s tournaments such as Tavern Tales that keep the interest rolling in between major events such as Dreamhack and the Hearthstone seasonal championships.

The event will stream on Twitch for those interested in watching.

Last year’s Tavern Tales didn’t have a summer edition, though in the spring, noted pro StanCifka won the $10,000 event.

The format splits between a Swiss stage (read The Daily Dot’s excellent explainer on this style) and a single-elimination bracket for the top 16. All matches are best of five in Conquest, with every player bringing four heroes. They can ban one of their opponent’s heroes each match.