Introducing Hearthstone betting

Introducing Hearthstone betting

By Jack Ratcliffe Oct 30, 2013

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Blizzard is well known in the eSports community for creating exciting player vs. player games, specifically Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft. The publishers are aiming to continue the trend with Heathstone, a new online CCG game. Despite still being in beta, the Warcraft-inspired CCG is already having its first official tournament – and Pinnacle Sports has the odds.

Heathstone’s beta launched in mid-August, which means that the players have had just 10 weeks to get to grips with their virtual decks before being thrust into the spotlight. Like fellow CCG game Magic: the Gathering, there are undoubtedly thousands of nuanced strategies waiting to be discovered, which means anything could happen come November 11th. So how will the competition work, and what factors could help in Hearthstone Innkeeper’s Invitational betting?

About the Innkeeper’s Invitational

Blizzard has invited eight high-profile players to compete live at their BlizzCon event. Each match is a best of five, with the winners progressing through to the next round. After the cards have settled, just one man will remain standing, proud champion of the first official Hearthstone competition.

Player 1

Odds

v

Player 2

Odds

Day9

3.660*

Reckful

1.292*

Hafu

2.430*

Kripparrian

1.571*

Trump

1.182*

Husky

4.990*

Noxious

1.752*

Artosis

2.100*

The competitors, however, are not the best players on the circuit. It’s no secret that the Innkeeper invited high-profile players based on their ability to help publicise the currently un-released game, rather than their skill.

In fact, according to Blizzard, only Trump ranks in the US Top 50 – at position number 48. Monitoring these tables will be useful for following the players’ forms going into the competition. (Click here to see the top 50 players)

The lack of dominance by the competitors means that there could be a lot of variability in their performances nearing the day of the competition. Unlike other eSports games, none of these men base their livelihood on how well they perform at the competition, so the impetus could be lacking. However, exposure and fame await the winner – so maybe there’s a greater incentive for the less popular competitors.

How to gain an edge in Hearthstone betting

One way to monitor this incentive is to follow the competitor’s Twitter feeds and live streams. Chances are, if one player is talking more about Heathstone than anyone else, he’s more likely to be putting in the effort to prepare for the competition – and therefore should be more prepared.

Another aspect to examine is their previous CCG experience. Trump, for example, used to play MtG to a high level, and was also quite competitive at Starcraft. Earlier this year he became the first Hearthstone player to be sponsored.

As the competition will be played at BlizzCon, all equipment will be standardised, although competing in a physical location means that jet lag and other travel-related issues could also provide an impact. Who has the furthest to travel? Who will be least accustomed to the event’s atmosphere? These factors could all play a part.

Moving towards the later stages be wary of disproportionately close-run games in the first round. The format of the Innkeeper’s Invitational means that rounds could have a propensity to end 3-2. This is because when a player’s deck is defeated, they have to choose another deck to play, while the winning player is forced to continue with their existing deck. This gives the defeated player an advantage, as he knows the player’s cards and technique with that deck, and will be able to tailor his response accordingly.

Click here for the latest Hearthstone Innkeeper’s Invitational odds.

*Odds subject to change

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