In a year that has been anything but normal, the annual tradition of crowning a Hearthstone World Champion will continue as Blizzard Entertainment announced details for the upcoming online event on Thursday morning.

Taking place from December 12 and 13, eight of the games top players from around the world will compete for their share of a $500,000 prize pool, bragging rights and immortality in the form of a card named or designed in their honor.

Thus far, four competitors have punched their ticket to the event:

- Brian "Bloodyface"" Eason
- Sato "glory" Kenta
- Vladislav "SilverName" Sinotov
- Fan "iG.Syf" Yilun 

The remaining four seats will be filled by players still competing in Season 2 of the Hearthstone Grandmasters professional circuit which concludes on October 11. Last year's World Champion, Xiaomeng "VKLiooon" Li has yet to qualify so a new champion could be on the horizon.