2016 On-line Championships for HearthStone, and StarCraft II - 13 August 2016

Nathan Anderson in gaming mode

The MSSA is proud to announce that the 2016 On-line Championships for HearthStone, and StarCraft II will be held on 13 August 2016.

The online championships for StarCraft II has run since 2011. It should be noted that Robert Botha and Nathan Anderson both represented South Africa in the Protea eSports Team. Both performed admirably, and Nathan so far has more caps than any South African for eSports (10). The winners over  the years are:

	MEN			WOMEN
Year	Name	Club		Name	Club
2011	Robert ‘PandaTank’ Botha	Knights Mind Sports Club
2012	Nathan “StatiC” Anderson	PolarFluke		Gabriela “Gabybear” Isaacs	SAHETI
2013	Radhe ‘Illidian’ Stringer	Deviation Gaming		Yolande ‘ANANKE’ Williams	Deviation Gaming
2014	Nathan “StatiC” Anderson	Deviation Gaming		Yolande ‘ANANKE’ Williams	Deviation Gaming
2015	Edwin ‘Draga’ Williams	Way2Casual		Cornelia ‘lia’ Booysen	Tuks

HearthStone was only run by MSSA from 2014. Barry West, the first winner, found himself called up for duty in the Protea eSports Team that participated in the IeSF's 6th World Championships - Baku. MSSA is very proud of the players who have represented South Africa at World Championship level, as they have all done so with distinction. The previous winners are:

	MEN
Year	Name	Club
2014	Barry 'Trend' West	Tuks
2015	Francois Mouton	Tuks

The championship may be used by gamers to qualify for eligibility to compete in the 2017 National Team Trials should the MSSA need to choose a team for any of the above-named titles.

Tournament Structure:

As per the MSSA's rules, being:

• If less than six players, the championship shall be a Round Robin Championship
• If 6 to 10 players the championship shall be four rounds as played to the Swiss System
• If 11 to 30 players the championship shall be five rounds as played to the Swiss System

Eligibility:

• Any player/team who is a Registered Player affiliated to a MSSA member club may enter.

Entry fee:

• Entry is free to all full-paid-up Registered Players.
• Only fully-paid-up Registered Players may participate in this event.

Entry date:

• Entries need to be submitted by no later than Monday, 10 August 2016.

Registration:

• To register, a completed registration form must be either faxed to 086 672 1911 or sent as a pdf to mindsportssa@iafrica.com

Medals:

Medals shall be awarded to the first three gamers for both men and women in the following categories:

• PREMIER: The top three places (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd).
• UNIVERSITY:Medals shall be awarded to gamers the first three gamers that have not won a Premier medal and who are students currently registered at any officially recognised University.
• SCHOLARS: Medals shall be awarded to the first three learners currently registered at any officially recognised school, or home schooled, provided they have not received any Premier medals. 

Colours:

• Protea Colours: Only Players that are selected to represent South Africa in International Championships may earn National Colours if the Protea Colours Board's criteria are met.
• National Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a National Championship will earn National Colours.
• Provincial Colours: All Players that win all of their Matches at a Provincial Championship will earn Provincial Colours. All Players who score within the top 50% in a specific Period at a Provincial Championship, and who also score within the top 50% at a National Championship in the same period and in the same year, will earn Provincial Colours.

When and Where:

• 13 August 2016

• The first round will start at 10H00. Players shall be given 60 minutes to complete each round. 
• Players must all be on-line at 9H00.

The championship is accredited as being of the same status as a provincial championship. This means that the championship shall be used for the following:

• The awarding of provincial colours;
• The awarding of medals for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in Premier, Under 24, and School categories;
• The ability to qualify for National Team Trials. 

As usual Trials shall be done at a LAN venue, and the team that can best represent South Africa shall then be selected.

Shout casting:

• The MSSA shall decide who may shout-cast the games.
• Anybody wishing to be appointed as a Shout-Caster must apply in writing to mindsportssa@iafrica.com