Guide · October 23, 2026

The Forever Open: WoW Forever's Dueling Tournament Explained

The Forever Open was WoW Forever's first big dueling tournament, a 1v1 event played on October 17 and 18, 2026 in the beta, with a $100,000 prize pool and a Warlock champion. It is over, but it showed how PvP duels work at the beta's level 30 cap, and the organizers have hinted at more. This guide covers what the sources say, and marks what is official and what is reported.

Quick answer: Level 30 Horde characters on the PvP ruleset, created after September 27. Saturday was six Swiss rounds in pods; the top four of each of the nine classes reached Sunday's double-elimination finals. Warlockguy, a Warlock, won $50,000 and beat fellow Warlock Neepzen in the final.

How the Forever Open worked — Format as reported by Kami Labs and Warcraft Tavern. Rules changed during the event run-up.

What it was

The tournament was announced on September 25 by the streamer Tips (TipsOut), who has run earlier Classic dueling events. Esfand and Xaryu were named as commentators, and the prize started at $50,000. On September 28 TimTheTatman added another $50,000, which Icy Veins reports as bringing the total to $100,000. Warcraft Tavern notes that the Raider.io listing it cited still showed the earlier $50,000 figure.

Warcraft Tavern names Tips Out, Esfand and Xaryu as the hosts, with partners including Starforge Systems and RestedXP. The reporting we found comes from Icy Veins, Warcraft Tavern and Kami Labs, so treat details as reported rather than officially published rules.

Who could enter

Per Icy Veins and Warcraft Tavern, the rules for entering were:

Level: 30, the beta cap
Faction and ruleset: Horde side, on the beta's PvP ruleset
Access: Beta access, from opting in on the official WoW Forever site or pre-purchasing the Epic Pack or Forever Collection on the Battle.net shop
Characters: brand new. Kami Labs says they had to be created after September 27 and kept for the whole event, with one talent build per stage
Registration: on the Raider.io event page. The first announcements mentioned the event's Discord server, and the registration deadline was reported as both October 2 at 10:00 a.m. PT (Icy Veins) and October 4 (Warcraft Tavern)

Icy Veins reported that organizers hit 4,000 sign-ups, which they said was the limit their staff could manage during qualifiers. Kami Labs, summarizing a community recap, reported more than 6,000 by October 15. Treat sign-up numbers as unconfirmed.

How it worked

Kami Labs gave this format, citing Raider.io as the official reference:

Saturday, October 17: players were split into pods of about 36 with mixed classes and played six Swiss rounds. A win was worth three points, a tie one and a loss none. Players were ranked within their class.
Cut to the finals: the top four in each of the nine classes, 36 players in all.
Sunday, October 18: one double-elimination bracket. Winners' bracket matches were best of three, losers' bracket matches single duels and the grand final best of five.
Duels: every participant streamed their own duels and kept recordings for referees, and referees checked talents and bags on stream.

The main broadcast ran on Twitch, with Esfand and Xaryu commentating.

Rules and banned items

Kami Labs says transmog had to be off and that banned items included world buffs, buffs from other players, Healthstones you did not make yourself, Deviate Fish, and quest or dungeon gear above item level 45. It notes the banned list changed several times before the event, so the final list may differ. We have not read the organizers' own rules document, so treat these details as secondhand.

The Hyjal arena

Warcraft Tavern reported on October 15 that the WoW: Forever Podcast confirmed a secluded, separate arena for day two. It sits in an off-limits part of Hyjal, has vendors including a Soul Shard vendor, and possibly a cooldown reset trigger. Players could not reach it themselves: a game master had to teleport them. Warcraft Tavern said it would likely not be accessible on live servers, at least at first.

The results

Warcraft Tavern reported on October 19 that Warlockguy won the $50,000 grand prize, with Neepzen as runner-up in a best-of-five final. Kami Labs had listed the title Death's Duelist for the champion. Both finalists were Warlocks, and Neepzen also took the Warlock class prize. Each class winner earned $5,555:

Druid: Minpojke
Hunter: Fvp
Mage: a four-way tie between Allyana, Teleporter, Venruk and Yonezka
Paladin: Azzu
Priest: Nieze
Rogue: Justwoo
Shaman: Cdew
Warlock: Neepzen
Warrior: Mag

Full results are on the Raider.io tournament page. Because the beta is still being tuned, class balance in these duels may not carry over to launch.

What might come next

The September 25 announcement from Icy Veins mentioned a level 60 dueling tournament after Forever launches, another Hardcore Mak'gora tournament and a possible tournament with a $1,000,000 prize pool. None had details when we checked. If you want to prepare, read the Warlock guide and the rulesets explained to see what PvP means in Forever, and the talents explained for builds.

Frequently asked questions

What was the Forever Open?

A community-run 1v1 dueling tournament in the WoW Forever beta on October 17 and 18, 2026, with a $100,000 prize pool.

Who won the Forever Open?

Warlockguy, a Warlock, took the $50,000 prize. Neepzen, also a Warlock, was runner-up.

What level and faction were the duels?

Level 30, the beta cap, on the Horde side of the PvP ruleset.

Is there a level 60 tournament?

Icy Veins reported that one was mentioned for after launch. No date or rules had been published when we checked.

Can I watch the Forever Open?

It ran live on Twitch with Esfand and Xaryu. Check the Raider.io tournament page and the streamers' channels for any replays.

Sources

Reviewed October 23, 2026. Based on news reports and community summaries; the tournament was a community event, not a Blizzard announcement. Lore Forever is fan-made and is not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.