THE FOREVER OPEN
GENERAL INFO AND REGISTRATION
- GENERAL INFORMATION
- Date Information:
- September 27th - Registration opens: https://rio.gg/foreveropen
- October 2nd 10:00 A.M. PT - Registration closes
- October 17th - TFO Online Check-in and Qualifying Stage
- October 18th - TFO Finals
- Server Information: The TFO will take place on the PVP RULESET.
- Faction Information: The TFO will be an exclusively HORDE tournament.
- Prize Pool Information: The total prize pool for the Event is one hundred thousand U.S. dollars ($100,000) allocated as follows: fifty thousand U.S. dollars ($50,000) shall be awarded to the Champion, and the remaining fifty thousand U.S. dollars ($50,000) shall be divided evenly among the top-placing Competitor of each of the nine (9) classes, resulting in an award of approximately five thousand five hundred fifty-five U.S. dollars and fifty-six cents ($5,555.56) to each such class, with any residual amount retained by the TFO. The Champion is not eligible to receive a class award in addition to the Champion prize; if the Champion is also the top-placing Competitor of their class, that class award shall instead be awarded to the next highest-placing Competitor of that class. In the event of a tie within any class, the prize money allocated to that class shall be divided evenly among the tied Competitors.
- Broadcast Information: The TFO Qualifiers and Finals will be streamed primarily on www.twitch.tv/esfandtv and www.twitch.tv/xaryu. All streamers are welcome to co-stream the event provided they abide by the Blizzard and streaming platform ToS, as well as the TFO Rules, Regulations, and Code of Conduct.
- REGISTRATION
The TFO Registration Form will be available on September 27th, 11am PT / 1pm CT / 8pm CEST on Raider.IO Forever: https://rio.gg/foreveropen
In order to Register for the TFO, you will need to follow these steps:
- Create a brand new HORDE Character on the PVP RULESET on the WoW: Forever Beta server.
- Characters created PRIOR to 11am PT / 1pm CT / 8pm CEST will be deemed ineligible for TFO participation
- Ensure your character has the last name “Foreverpvp” (this is REQUIRED)
- Register for TFO and input your character information on Raider.IO Forever: https://rio.gg/foreveropen
- Log into your TFO Character and request an invite to the guild <The Forever Open IV> from Deadmin Foreverpvp, Theboogy Foreverpvp, Admin Prestigex, Admin Hulathree, Musashii Admin, Ashley Heeheehaha, Magenta Admintwo
- Start leveling! Registration closes on October 2nd at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 8pm CEST.
Subsequently made Characters will need to be Registered individually as they are created, and may only be created within the Registration period. Only one character may be selected and played during the tournament. Registration closes October 2nd.
For all event-related questions, please head on over to the <Forever PvP> Discord. If any questions arise regarding the Registration process specifically, please ping the RaiderIO role in the <Forever PvP> Discord: https://discord.gg/YdvQnxADwP
THE FOREVER OPEN
FORMAT AND SCHEDULE
- STAGES
The TFO will consist of three separate stages: the Leveling Stage (“Leveling”), the Qualifying Stage (“Qualifiers”), and the TFO Finals (“Finals”).
- LEVELING STAGE
- On September 27th, 2026, all participants will be able to create their characters and register them on the Raider.IO website (refer to REGISTRATION info above).
- From September 27th-October 17th, participants will be required to level their new characters to level 30 and prepare for the dueling tournament to the best of their ability.
- On the morning of October 17th, participants will be required to check-in on the Raider.IO. website prior to the tournament start, to ensure a spot in the tournament.
- QUALIFIERS
- On October 17th, registered and checked-in participants who have reached level 30 and paid the 15g entry fee will compete in the Qualifying Stage to determine who advances to the TFO Finals.
- Qualifiers Format and Ruleset have been released below.
- Winners of the Qualifiers will advance to the TFO Finals.
- TFO FINALS
- On October 18th, the top 4 placing members of each class of the qualifiers will advance to the TFO Finals bracket and compete in a best-of-3 / best-of-5 duel series for the win.
- The bracket finalist will be crowned Death’s Duelist and be awarded with the lion’s share of the prize pool.
THE FOREVER OPEN
CHECK IN AND QUALIFIERS
- QUALIFIERS STAGE - Detailed Information on the Qualifiers can be found in the TFO Competition Format Rules document (TFOCFR). In the event of a conflict between the below qualifier information and the TFOCFR, the TFOCFR takes precedence.
- CHECK IN
- Check In will begin on October 17th, 2026 at 7:00 A.M. PT/9:00 A.M. CT and CLOSE at 8:00 A.M. PT/10:00 A.M. CT. Failure to check in during the check in window may result in disqualification.
- To complete check-in, a competitor must:
- access the TFO Event Hub while logged into the correct Raider.IO account;
- select exactly one registered Tournament Character;
- submit the Qualifier talent build through the check-in process;
- complete the required character-and-build confirmation;
- pay the 15g entry fee in-game to an official tournament administrator (names will be announced on Check In day) using the selected Tournament Character;
- complete any remaining check-in confirmations before the deadline.
Once confirmed, a character or talent build may not be changed, so submit carefully. Late Check-In is not permitted. A competitor who has not completed all required check-in procedures by 10:00 AM Central Time (CT) will not be included in the eligible Qualifier field. - QUALIFIERS
- The Forever Open Qualifiers will begin on October 17th at 10:00 A.M. PT/12:00 P.M. CT.
- Checked-in competitors must remain available for Tournament communications and be prepared to report to their assigned Pod and Tournament Admin as directed before gameplay begins.
- The two-hour period after check-in closes may be used to finalize the eligible field, confirm in-game gold entry-fee records, assign Pods, organize in-game groups, generate opening pairings, and complete other Tournament administration.
- Upon completion of Check-In, Competitors will be assigned to Swiss Pods targeted at thirty-six (36) competitors. The associated in-game raid or group may use remaining available slots for Tournament Officials, referees, observers, camera operators, or other authorized event personnel.
- Pod assignments will be generated with the goal of creating reasonably balanced competitive fields. Class distribution within each Pod will, to the extent reasonably practicable, reflect the overall class distribution of the checked-in field.
- Once Pods have been assigned and Tournament Officials are ready to proceed, Competitors will be ported to their respective duel locations to commence the Qualifiers.
- QUALIFIER FORMAT & POINT SYSTEM
- The Qualifier consists of six (6) Swiss rounds played entirely within each competitor’s assigned Pod, followed where necessary by Round 6.5 replacement Duels and same-class qualification tiebreaks.
- Each active competitor will receive one scheduled Match opportunity in each of Rounds 1–6 (total of 6 duels).
- Qualifier standings and Swiss score groups are based on Match Points. A played Duel awards three (3) Match Points for a Win, one (1) Match Point to each competitor for a Tie, and zero (0) Match Points for a Loss. A maximum of 18 points will be awarded to 6-0 players.
- Competitors are ranked globally within their class across all Pods first by total Match Points and then by total scored Wins. A competitor with more Match Points ranks above a competitor with fewer Match Points; among equal Match Points, the competitor with more scored Wins ranks higher.
- Four (4) competitors from each of the nine eligible classes advance from the Qualifier Stage, for thirty-six (36) advancing competitors in total.
- In the event of a tie for the top 4 representatives of a class, the players who faced competitors with higher scores win the tie breaker (Buchholz). If more than 4 players remain tied after a Buchholz tiebreaker, players will advance to a mirror-match tiebreak format determined at the discretion of the Tournament officials
- If more than four competitors in a class have achieved the maximum match wins (6-0) and are tied for the highest ranking, Buchholz will not be used to eliminate competitors from that highest-ranked group. Those tied competitors will proceed to a mirror-match tiebreak format determined at the discretion of the Tournament officials.
Upon completion of the mirror-match tiebreakers (if necessary), the top 4 competitors of each class, totaling 36 players, will be drawn into the Finals bracket. The Finals bracket will be a best of 3 double elimination bracket, with the lower bracket being a best of 1 and the grand finals being a best of 5.
THE FOREVER OPEN
RULES
- GENERAL RULES
- Competitors may not leave a designated dueling location for any reason (including hearthstoning to repair). If a competitor must log offline for any reason, a maximum of 3 minutes of total offline time will be permitted. After the 3 minute mark, the competitor will automatically forfeit their current match and may be disqualified at the Tournament Official’s discretion. Disqualification will result in forfeit of any potential prize money. The only exception are Warlocks, who will be required to check in with an admin before they leave to get shards, and they can only leave once. Warlocks cannot interact with other characters, banks, vendors, etc. when they leave to get shards.
- Players will have a maximum of 1 minute downtime between duels for classes to heal, buff, and mana-up. Players who attempt to extend this downtime may be disqualified at the behest of the supervising administrator or tournament staff.
- Competitors must be aware that due to a variety of circumstances, dueling locations may be changed by TFO administrators at any time.
- Players must maintain 1 talent build (each) for the Qualifier Stage and the TFO Finals. Qualifier talent submissions will occur at Qualifier Check-In. Finals talent submissions must be submitted by finals competitors by 1:00 A.M. CT on October 18th.
- Duelists may only compete with 1 character for the entirety of the dueling stages.
- Legacy points are permitted.
- Transmog must be disabled during the tournament.
- Competitors shall be required to stream their perspective of play during the Qualifiers and TFO finals, which includes their dueling matchups and any bag or talent inspections, as well as preserve their VoD for review to be accessed by TFO administrators. Failure to stream TFO matches or preserve a VoD for review may result in forfeiture of all matches and prize money. Streams must take place on Twitch, Youtube, or Kick. No other streaming platforms are permitted.
- Competitors are responsible for reading and understanding all of the rules, regulations, and policies dictated in this document.
- DELAY OF GAME
- No intentional delays shall be permitted (i.e., rogues intentionally stealthing for minutes to reset CDs). Any non-strategic acts whose sole purpose is to delay a duel will result in the forfeit of the duel by the delayer. Inactivity of 60 seconds or more during a duel will result in an immediate delay of game penalty and potential disqualification.
- Intentionally fleeing from a duel may result in a rematch, an assigned win or loss, a disqualification, and/or forfeiture of all prize money by the fleeing player determined at the discretion of Tournament Officials. If a player is intentionally force-fled by another player (i.e., intentionally chain fearing a player on the rim of the duel line), the exploiting player triggering the force-flee may be assigned a loss, a disqualification, and/or forfeiture of all prize money determined at the discretion of Tournament Officials.Competitors should be mindful that ambiguous flee situations may arise, and those will be called into review and judgment at the discretion of the TFO organizers.
- In the event of a Duel Timeout during the Qualifiers, a tie will be granted. Finals timeouts will be replayed, but with a cap on food and water set to only 3 for the remaining duels of that matchup.
- INTERFERENCE
- In the event of an external interference during a duel that is deemed by TFO administrators and referees to affect the outcome of a duel, the duel shall be timed out and redone later in the round. If an interference is found to be intentional and/or coordinated by one of the competitors, that competitor may be immediately disqualified from the tournament and forfeit any/all prize money.
- ITEMS, BUFFS, AND CONSUMABLES
- All consumable items, unless otherwise specified in these rules, are permitted, except for the below mentioned items:
- All non-equippable pet summon items (e.g. Spider Swarm, Compact Harvester Reaper Kit, etc.) are banned. Equipable pet summon items and trinkets(e.g. Dog Whistle) are permitted.
- Student Fodder is banned.
- Flash Bomb is banned.
- Magic Dust and Slumber Sand are banned.
- Furbolg medicine pouch is banned.
- Truthseeker's Bow is banned.
- Green Whelp Armor is banned.
- Goblin Sapper Charge is banned.
- Fire, Nature, Frost, Arcane, Holy, and Shadow protection potions are banned.
- All Holiday Event related buffs (e.g. Wickerman buff) and consumables (e.g. Candy corn) are banned.
- Camp fire buffs are banned.
- All ‘world buffs’ or temporary buffs received from completing open world objectives and/or quests are banned (i.e., Blood Shard buffs, shaman air totem quest buff, etc).
- Only Class self-buffs are permitted for each player. Players may buff themselves with items and consumables before a duel has begun, provided they are not from other classes and do not violate any other rules.
An item that is classified as “banned” may not be equipped in a match nor available in a competitor’s bags during a bag inspection. Any violation of the rules stated above may result in an immediate disqualification, forfeiture of prize money, and ban from all future events, as determined at the discretion of Tournament Officials. As WoW:Forever is still an unsolved game, item/consumable bans may be modified at any time.
- CLASS SPECIFIC RULES
- Shaman may have up to 4 totems down at the start of a duel. Totems that would interrupt an uncontested opener (Stealth class or Warrior) are not permitted at the start of a Duel and may only be dropped after the opener when dueling a Stealth class or Warrior.
- Stealth Classes will always get the uncontested opener in a duel. An uncontested opener is defined as the first offensive action cast, which includes ability-use such as Cheap Shot, Blood Fury, or trinket use such as Barov’s Peasant Caller. Opponents must stand still until the uncontested opener has been initiated (do not spin your character around, hunters cannot place traps, etc). A player may pre-activate abilities such as Intimidate, but they may not disrupt the Stealth Classes' opener.
- Classes with assigned openers will forfeit their right to an uncontested opener if they wait more than 25 seconds between the duel commencing (the moment the opponent becomes hostile) and their opener taking place. Opponents delaying a stealth class’s opener through other means does not count against the 25 second grace period.
- Druids shall be classified as a “Stealth Class” for the purpose of openers. If a Druid opens with an ability such as Entangling Roots or Starfire, the beginning of said ability’s cast will mark the end of the uncontested opener grace period.
- Warriors will always get an uncontested opener (except against stealth classes, whose opener takes priority). An uncontested opener is defined as the first offensive action cast, which includes ability-use such as Charge or item use such as Grenade and trinket usage such as Barov’s Peasant Caller. Classes with assigned openers will forfeit their right to an uncontested opener if they wait more than 25 seconds between the duel commencing (the moment the opponent becomes hostile) and their opener taking place. In the event of a Warrior vs. Warrior matchup, neither player will receive an uncontested opener.
- In Stealth vs. Stealth matchups, both players will have to seek one another out, with none being granted the opener.
- Pre-Hotting (applying Heal over Time spells before a duel begins) is banned. Applying Power Word: Shield before a duel begins is permitted.
- Hunters pre-trapping (placing a trap before a duel begins) is banned. Hunter traps may only be placed after the duel has counted down to 0 and the opponent has become hostile.
- Warlock ‘pre-saccing’ (sacrificing demon before the duel begins) is banned.
- OPENERS
- Prior to a duel commencing, participants will be situated at the dueling area designated by the TFO Referees and Administrators.
- Competitors may not mount up prior to opening a duel.
- Duelists must maintain 20 yards of distance from one another at the start of a duel. To guarantee this distance is accurate, duelers shall stand on the duel flag at the initiation of a duel before moving 10 yards directly opposite of one another. Once the duelers have reached the 20 yard range, no additional movement will be permitted prior to the duel commencing and the enemy turning hostile, unless a character is in stealth, in which case the stealthed character can move freely.
- Once the duelists are positioned, the TFO administrators will give a 10 second countdown timer before directing the competitors to accept and begin the duel. Failure to comply with the TFO administrators’ directive may result in disqualification and forfeiture of prize money.
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