A Warlock won the $100,000 WoW Forever duel tournament — and the player he beat in the grand final was also a Warlock. Warlockguy, the 20th seed, beat fellow Warlock Neepzen 3–1 in the best-of-five grand final of The Forever Open late on October 18, taking the $50,000 champion's prize and the "Death's Duelist" title. Within an hour, r/classicwow had a winner thread with 600+ upvotes and "nerf Warlock" and "who else is rerolling Warlock" threads running side by side.
We pulled every finals match from the Raider.IO finals bracket to answer the question those threads are really asking: was this a Warlock problem, or a level-30 dueling problem — and should it change the class you reserve a name for on October 27?
Quick answer: Warlocks won 26 of their 33 finals duels against other classes (79%) and took 1st and 2nd. Shamans finished 3rd and 4th. Mages went 2–8 in series and were the worst class of the final day. But this was a level-30, Horde-only, 1v1 duel event on the beta — not a Battleground or level-60 balance test. Blizzard has posted no Warlock change since the tournament. Warlock is a very strong PvP pick for launch; it is not a guaranteed "win button" at 60.
What happened in the WoW Forever $100K duel tournament?
The Forever Open is a community event, not a Blizzard esport. It was organized by Tips Out and hosted on Twitch by Esfand and Xaryu, with TimTheTatman doubling the prize pool from $50,000 to $100,000. The format, published on Raider.IO:
- Who: brand-new Horde characters on the PvP ruleset, level 30 (the beta cap), surname "Foreverpvp".
- October 17 — qualifiers: six Swiss rounds. 1,380 players checked in, per the Raider.IO standings as summarized by wowforever.be. Warcraft Tavern's day-one report noted Hunters and Shamans had the most entrants, while Paladins and Warlocks were the most dominant.
- October 18 — finals: the top four players of each class (36 total) in a double-elimination bracket. Upper-bracket matches were best of three, lower-bracket matches single duels (except the lower final, which was best of three), and the grand final best of five.
- Prizes: $50,000 to the champion, $5,555 to the best-placed player of each of the nine classes.
Blizzard supported the event — the Forever team built a dueling arena in Hyjal Crater for finals day, as Senior Game Designer Josh "Aggrend" Greenfield said on episode 4 of the official WoW: Forever Podcast — but it did not run or balance the tournament.
Who won the Forever Open? Full finals results
Here is the top eight, reconstructed from the Raider.IO double-elimination bracket (race from each player's Raider.IO profile data):
| Place | Player | Class | Race | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Warlockguy | Warlock | Undead | 20 |
| 2nd | Neepzen | Warlock | Undead | 27 |
| 3rd | Cdewx | Shaman | Orc | 10 |
| 4th | Oddwaffletv | Shaman | Orc | 31 |
| 5th–6th | Minpojke | Druid | Tauren | 24 |
| 5th–6th | Azzu | Paladin | Undead | 18 |
| 7th–8th | Jázggz | Warlock | Undead | 5 |
| 7th–8th | Lamelol | Paladin | Undead | 4 |
How the final played out:
- Neepzen won the upper bracket, beating Warlockguy 2–1 in the upper final.
- Warlockguy dropped to the lower bracket and beat Cdewx (Shaman) 2–0 in the best-of-three lower final to earn a rematch.
- In the grand final, Warlockguy won 3–1. With no bracket reset, that was the title.
Two results stand out. Oddwaffletv came in as the 31st seed, had to win the play-in round, and still finished 4th. And the top seed, Korleone — also a Warlock — went out in 9th–12th, beaten by a Druid in the upper bracket and a Shaman in the lower. At a 1v1 duel event, seeds were a weak predictor here — matchups mattered more.
Is Warlock overpowered in WoW Forever? What the finals data says
We counted every completed finals duel between two different classes (mirror matches removed, so a Warlock-vs-Warlock grand final doesn't inflate the number):
| Class | Duels won vs other classes | Win rate | Series record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warlock | 26 / 33 | 79% | 13–3 |
| Shaman | 19 / 30 | 63% | 14–6 |
| Paladin | 16 / 29 | 55% | 9–7 |
| Druid | 12 / 26 | 46% | 7–8 |
| Priest | 9 / 21 | 43% | 6–8 |
| Hunter | 7 / 18 | 39% | 4–7 |
| Rogue | 5 / 16 | 31% | 3–7 |
| Warrior | 4 / 15 | 27% | 3–7 |
| Mage | 4 / 16 | 25% | 2–8 |
Three honest takeaways:
- Warlock was the best duelist at level 30, clearly. A 79% win rate against the other eight classes across 33 duels is a strong signal for this event, and all four Warlock finalists went 6–0 in the qualifiers — but it comes from a small, hand-picked group of 36 finalists.
- The qualifier picture was different. Paladins put four undefeated players into the final too, and a community tally of the qualifier duels shared on r/classicwow (not official data) had Paladin at about 63% and Warlock at about 60%, with Warrior near 39%. On finals day Paladins slid to 55%.
- Mages were the surprise loser. After a week of forum complaints that Mages needed nerfs before the event, all four Mage finalists were eliminated in lower-bracket round three (Teleporter won his first lower-bracket duel against Kyroo, then fell to Chopmaster). Pre-event hype about a class is not the same as results in a final.
Sample sizes are small — nine classes, 36 players, one day. Use this as evidence about level-30 duels, not as a final ranking.
Why are Warlocks so strong at level 30 in WoW Forever?
The answer sits in Blizzard's own Rogue and Warlock class deep dive. Blizzard summed up the Warlock goal as: "For Warlocks, the focus is on opening new ways to command Shadow, Fire, and demonic power." In practice, three Forever changes line up perfectly for a 1v1 duel at 30:
- Soul Link arrives 10 levels early. In Forever, Soul Link is now the 21-point gold medal talent instead of the 31-point one. That puts it inside the level-30 talent budget. The talent strings Raider.IO logged for the finals show all four Warlock finalists with 21 points in Demonology — the tank-pet, damage-sharing build that made them so hard to kill.
- Pets scale with the Warlock. Blizzard's deep dive confirms that "pets scale with their master's stats" in Forever, so a geared Warlock's Voidwalker or Felhunter is no longer a throwaway.
- Draining got stronger across the class. Blizzard also added Affliction talents such as Improved Drains (up to 20% more from Drain Life, Drain Soul and Wrack) and Pandemic. The finalists put only a handful of points into Affliction, so treat this as a sign of where the class is heading at 60, not as the reason these four won.
Race mattered too. 17 of the 36 finalists were Undead, including all four Warlocks — Will of the Forsaken breaks Fear, Charm and Sleep, which is decisive against Warlock Fear. Note the October 15 beta build made Will of the Forsaken unusable under Scatter Shot; see our racial changes breakdown for every race's new kit.
Does the tournament prove Warlock will dominate at level 60?
The most useful reply in the "nerf Warlocks" threads came from players pointing out what a level-30 duel removes. Paraphrasing the strongest arguments made on r/classicwow:
- Fewer answers to Fear. Players argue that at 60, trinkets (including crafted items that protect against Fear), talents and honor gear give most classes tools they simply did not have at 30.
- Damage outscales health later. At 60, burst classes can kill through Drain Life healing; at 30, attrition wins.
- Duels force the fight. In Battlegrounds and world PvP, a low-mobility Warlock cannot chase anyone. In a duel ring, opponents can't leave.
- Consumables skewed tanky. Heavy use of food, potions and bandages helps survival far more than damage, which favors self-healing classes.
As of October 19, Blizzard had said nothing about tuning to this event. Its latest posted beta notes are the October 15 Development Notes, and the deep dive itself warns: "Please note that class abilities and talents may continue to evolve throughout the beta test and are subject to additional changes." Treat any "Warlock nerf incoming" claim as speculation until it appears in Blizzard's notes.
Also remember what Forever PvP actually is at launch: Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley and the new 15v15 Darkspear Islands, plus a 14-rank honor ladder — no arena or rated 1v1 mode has been announced. Our PvP and Darkspear Islands guide covers how ranking works.
Should you reroll Warlock for WoW Forever launch?
Pick Warlock if you want a class that wins 1v1 fights in the open world and stays tanky while you learn — the tournament is real evidence of that at level 30, and Soul Link coming at 21 points means you feel it early while levelling. Do not pick it only because of a $100K headline. Here is the short decision tree:
- You mostly want world PvP and duels: Warlock is a top pick. Undead is the Horde race; check the Alliance options in our best race for each class guide.
- You want Battleground rank: Warlock is still strong, but Shaman, Paladin and Druid utility matter more in 15v15 and 40v40. Our best PvP class tier list weighs group PvP, not duels.
- You are new and want the easiest ride: see the best class for solo players and beginners.
- You want to raid on December 9: class value in raids is a different question; read what the final beta patch did to class value.
Whatever you choose, lock it in on time. Early name reservation for eligible pre-purchase owners runs October 27 to November 3 (name reservation guide), October 21 is the last full day of the beta (what happens when beta ends), and WoW Forever launches November 4, 2026. If you are not in the beta, Blizzard's free, open Stress Test on October 21 is your last chance to try a Warlock first — our stress test guide has the steps.
What comes next for WoW Forever dueling?
Organizer Tips Out has floated a level-60 tournament on live servers as the next step, according to community coverage of the event, and the Horde-only beta format left room for an Alliance event later. Nothing about a date, prize pool or ruleset has been announced. When it happens, gear, trinkets and 30 more levels of talents will reshuffle this chart. If you followed the Classic+ rumors before BlizzCon, our earlier Classic+ vs Season of Discovery vs Classic Era piece shows how far the Forever design has moved from 2019 Classic PvP.
Planning to climb the PvP ranks on day one? timesaver.gg can handle the grind while you play the parts you enjoy.
- WoW Forever PvP Rank Boost — Honor and Rank Points earned in Battlegrounds on US or EU, at your pace.
- WoW Forever Power Leveling to 60 — reach the level cap so you can queue for endgame PvP sooner.
- All WoW Forever boosting services — gold, leveling, raids and carries for the fresh-realm launch.
Boosting is against Blizzard's terms of use, so any boosted account carries a risk of action; read our gold buying and ban risk explainer before you decide.
FAQ
Who won the WoW Forever $100K duel tournament? Warlockguy, an Undead Warlock and the 20th seed, won The Forever Open on October 18, 2026, beating fellow Warlock Neepzen 3–1 in the best-of-five grand final. He takes the $50,000 champion's prize and the "Death's Duelist" title.
How much did the Forever Open winner get? The champion's prize was $50,000. The rest of the $100,000 pool pays $5,555 to the best-placed player of each of the nine classes, with ties split evenly.
Is Warlock the best PvP class in WoW Forever? At level 30 in 1v1 duels, yes — Warlocks won 79% of their finals duels against other classes. At level 60 and in Battlegrounds, trinkets, gear and group play change matchups, so treat Warlock as a top-tier pick rather than a guaranteed best.
Will Blizzard nerf Warlocks before WoW Forever launches? As of October 19, Blizzard has not announced any Warlock change since the tournament. Its latest beta notes are dated October 15, and the class deep dive says abilities "may continue to evolve throughout the beta test". Anything else is speculation until it appears in Blizzard's notes.
Was the Forever Open an official Blizzard tournament? No. It was a community tournament run by Tips Out and streamed by Esfand and Xaryu, with registration on Raider.IO. Blizzard supported it with a custom dueling arena in Hyjal Crater for finals day.
Which class did worst in the Forever Open finals? Mage, with 4 wins in 16 duels against other classes (25%) and a 2–8 series record. Warriors were close behind at 27% and were the only class with no undefeated finalist.
