The first broadcast of the Arena World Championship summer season begins this weekend with the European Cup Qualifier #1. We’ve got all the information you need on where to watch and which teams to keep an eye on this weekend.

Ziqo’s Top 5 Teams to Watch

At the start of the Spring season we asked lead analyst Ziqo to give us his top picks for the year. With the Summer season looming, we asked him to revisit his leaderboard and update us on who he thought were the big European rosters to watch.

1) – Method Black

For Spring, Ziqo put XRB at #1 based on XRB always finding a way to defeat the top Rogue Mage teams. However, with Summer just around the corner Ziqo notes that Whaazz on the Outlaw Rogue is a force even XRB can’t deal with, and he is the reason Ziqo puts Method Black in the top spot.

2) – XRB to the Moon
Still an incredible competitor. In Ziqo’s words “They’re a tough opponent no matter what composition you pick”. No matter what they play, they are such a solid team defensively that they are such a brick wall to defeat. Zeepeye and Loony are “the glue that keep the team together”,  Ziqo states you could pair anyone with them and they’d do well.

3) – Reformed
A newcomer to Ziqo’s top 5, the Spring Final champions took everyone by storm, and are clearly second to none as a Jungle Cleave team. Relzah with consistent outplays using his premonition on multiple Blind’s in high pressure situations, the raw damage from their team, and the high energy when they play, means this is a monster roster to play against. They are the most aggressive team in Europe, and if they can ride the momentum from Season 1 will be a strong contender for the top spot.

4) – Ascendant
If Ascendant played Jungle Cleave, they’d be Reformed. This all-aggressive Rogue Mage Priest team has devastated teams throughout Spring and look promising to do the same in Summer. Ziqo states the only reason he’d rate this team below Skill Capped Black is their need to prove themselves as a diverse roster incorporating Vilaye into more compositions.

5) – Tempo Storm
Tempo Storm had a disappointing first season. The defending World Champions from BlizzCon 2017 narrowly missed out on Spring Finals qualification, to many analyst’s surprise. However, Ziqo believes firmly in this roster and thinks they are capable of a similar learning curve to the US roster “The Rejects”. They’ve added Jaime in for Summer, so it’ll be interesting to see what compositions they run with him; but Ziqo’s big criteria for this team to succeed is working on their Rogue Mage Priest and incorporating Minpojke and Jaime firmly into the squad.

Tournament Information

• Anyone can sign up, and no Arena rating is required! Click here to Sign up to the next Cup!
• Team rosters can have up to four players, but teams can also sign-up with three.
• Each online Cup has a $10,000 Prize Pool, and there are AWC points up for grabs.
• Top point earners from North America and Europe will be invited to compete at the Summer Finals in July to compete for their share of $100,000!
• Tournament Mode is required; which normalizes item level, and Honor talents and Artifact Power are maximized to ensure an equal playing field
• All Arena Cups are now taking place on the Tournament realms which allows competitors to make any max level class to compete on.

Learn more about the tournament including sign-up deadlines and official rules in our WoW Arena World Championships: Summer Season 2018 Reveal.

Tournament Schedule

Where to Watch

You can catch the first European Cup live on Twitch, on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th of May from 9 a.m. PDT.