Tickets for the BlizzCon Hearthstone qualifier in NYC are free

The Road to BlizzCon passes through New York City on October 5 and 6, when some of the best Hearthstone and World of Warcraft players in North America will gather to slug it out in the regional finals. Free tickets are now being offered at Eventbrite, and yes, you would be correct to point out that attendance is free for all anyway. But an RSVP will also net you some goodies, if you're near enough to the front of the line.

The first 1500 people to register to attend the qualifier on either Sunday or Monday will be given three free Hearthstone card packs, while the first 500 to register specifically for Sunday will also get a Warlords of Draenor beta key. The difference comes thanks to the action on stage: The Blizzcon qualifier will see both Hearthstone and World of Warcraft action on Sunday, while Monday will be reserved exclusively for the Hearthstone throwdown.

The North American qualifier will feature the top 16 Hearthstone players from North America, including StrifeCro, Hyped and Tarei, and the top eight World of Warcraft teams. The top four Hearthstone players, and the top three WoW teams, will make it to the finals at Blizzcon 2014, running November 7 and 8 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The EU Regionals, meanwhile, are already underway: The first day of competition ended yesterday with upset losses for both Reynad and Lifecoach, but hot favourite Kolento progressing 3-0.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.