WoW Forever Tournament: What the $100K Duels Showed

The Forever Open, Tips Out’s $100,000 WoW Forever duel tournament, ended in an Undead Warlock mirror. WarlockGuy beat Neepzen 3-1 in the best-of-five grand final on October 18, after losing to him in the upper semifinal (the final). It was played at level 30 on the beta, Horde only, build 1.60.1.70450.

We transcribed both days of Xaryu’s broadcast, 19 hours in all, and checked what the casters and players said against the game files. Of the 602 statements, 166 were confirmed by the files. The rest were opinions, results, or numbers we corrected below. Each link opens the broadcast at the moment it was said.

The WoW Forever PvP tier list the tournament drew

After day one’s six rounds, the casters’ count was 14 Paladins and 13 Warlocks unbeaten at 6-0, and no Warrior. Day two’s finals bore it out: both finalists were Warlocks.

Standing at level 30	Classes
Strongest	Warlock, Paladin
Strong	Priest, Hunter, Shaman
Swingy	Mage, Druid
Weakest	Rogue, Warrior

This is level 30 dueling on one beta build. Dungeons, raids and battlegrounds at 60 are a different game.

Warlock: Fear, Curses and the pet

Curse of the Elements at level 30 cuts every magic resistance by 45, so it cancels the Shadow resistance gear players wore against Warlocks (the casters on it).
Curse of Agony is now Bane of Agony, in a slot of its own, so a Warlock stacks Agony and Curse of Tongues on one target. The casters believed Tongues also slows the global cooldown; the spell is unchanged from Classic Era in the files, so that needs a test in game.
The Felhunter purged heals over time, and Fear decided many duels.

Paladin: the 21st talent point

Forever moves big talents within reach at level 30, and Paladins gained the most.

Repentance and Holy Shock need only the 21st talent point, where Classic put them at 31 (Holy Shock on stream). Most Paladins played deep Retribution with Repentance.
Lay on Hands has a 20-minute cooldown instead of 60, so Paladins used it in nearly every duel (the casters).
Judgement no longer uses up the Seal, so a Paladin can Repent, judge and strike without recasting it.
The bubble at level 30 is Divine Protection. Divine Shield comes at level 34, though the casters often called it that.

Priest: two damage-over-time spells and Penance

Devouring Plague went from a 60-second to a 24-second cooldown in build 70425, and every race can learn it now (on stream).
Penance is the Discipline talent on the 21st point, on a 12-second cooldown.
Priests won long duels with Fear, the wand and Mana Burn. Psychic Scream reaches 8 yards, not the 20 the casters said.

Hunter: hawks, traps and two stuns

Strider Kick is real: a new Survival talent, not a misheard name (on stream).
The “owls” were Summon Hawk, a new talent with up to two hawks for 18 seconds. With the pet, they push back casts.
Traps can now be placed in combat, a Fire and a Frost one at once.

Shaman: Enhancement with a new two-hander

Stormstrike has an 8-second cooldown (20 in Classic) and costs 8% of base mana since build 70425.
Water Shield now returns mana when the Shaman’s own spells crit.
Enhancement played a new level 30 two-hander from a class quest, and beat Priests and Mages with Purge.

Mage and Druid: strong, but swingy

Mage: Frost Blast is a real new Frost spell from level 24, added in build 70425 and trimmed by a hotfix in 70450. Frost Mages cast it to fish for procs. No level 30 Mage has enough points for Fingers of Frost and Cold Snap together.
Druid: Restoration Druids fought in Cat Form and outlasted opponents. Swiftmend no longer uses up the heal it draws on, and Faerie Fire stops a Rogue stealthing for 40 seconds. Naturalist adds at most 5% damage, not the 10% guessed on stream.

Rogue and Warrior: the hard road

Rogue: no Blind until level 34 and no Cloak of Shadows, so a Rogue had to win in the opener. Preparation has a 10-minute cooldown.
Warrior: the fewest sign-ups and no 6-0 records on day one. Retaliation and Shield Wall no longer share a cooldown, and Death Wish makes you immune to Fear, but a Warlock’s Seduction still lands through it (on stream). Protection Warriors still can’t Charge in combat.

Engineering, potions and racials decided duels too

The Goblin Sapper Charge does 450 to 750 Fire to nearby enemies, with damage back to the user, on a 5-minute cooldown.
The Gnomish Cloaking Device gives 10 seconds of invisibility, not the 2 or 3 the casters thought.
The Free Action Potion makes you immune to stuns and slows for 30 seconds (on stream).
Rapid Regeneration, the new Troll racial, heals half your health over 6 seconds.
The Legacy perk Talented starts your talent points up to five levels early, so every duelist had five extra points at 30. That’s on the Legacy planner.

Where to read more

Every class’s talents are in the WoW Forever talent calculators, and each class’s full set of changes on its page, such as WoW Forever Paladin and WoW Forever Warlock. The dueling arena itself, Hyjal Crater, was in Blizzard’s PvP podcast.

Questions

Who won the WoW Forever tournament?

WarlockGuy, an Undead Warlock, won the Forever Open, Tips Out's $100,000 WoW Forever duel tournament, beating fellow Undead Warlock Neepzen 3-1 in the best-of-five grand final on October 18, 2026.

What is the best PvP class in WoW Forever at level 30?

In the Forever Open, Warlocks and Paladins led: after day one's qualifiers, 13 Warlocks and 14 Paladins were unbeaten at 6-0, and both finalists were Warlocks. Warriors did worst, with no 6-0 records. This is level 30 dueling on beta build 70450, not raids or battlegrounds.

What was the Forever Open?

A level 30 Horde duel tournament on the WoW Forever beta, run by Tips Out and cast by Xaryu and Esfand on October 17 and 18, 2026. About 1,700 players entered; 36 reached a double-elimination final. The champion won $50,000, and the top player of each class $5,555.

Why are Paladins strong in WoW Forever?

At level 30, Forever's Paladins reach Repentance and Holy Shock with their 21st talent point, both 31-point talents in Classic. Lay on Hands has a 20-minute cooldown instead of 60, and Judgement no longer uses up the Seal. Build 1.60.1.70450, beta.

The Forever Open: what the $100K WoW Forever duel tournament showed about every class