March has just begun, but the fire of the community keeps fanning the embers and turning up the heat! Already, two MAJOR events have been announced with even MORE still in store—both ongoing and new! With all this content, the Age of Empires esports scene is sure to find something that tickles your fancy! Read on, tune in, and come play!
Current and Upcoming Tournaments
This month kicked off with a ton of news from the esports arena: Hidden Cup 4 announced some exciting new updates to the fan-favorite tournament you do NOT want to miss; some major new event announcements dropped from some of the top community leaders around the world; and brand-new plans are in the works for the next major professional event!
Read on to find out what’s coming soon to the Age of Empires world.
Hidden Cup 4 ⭐
| REGISTRATION | EVENT | ELO | WATCH |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLOSED | FEB. 15 – MAR. 21 | ANY | twitch.tv/T90Official |
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ RULES & SETTINGS ♦ REGISTRATION | |||
The Hidden Cup 4 Qualifiers are entering their final weekend, and eight players will soon join DauT, dogao, Hera, Liereyy, MbL, Mr_Yo, TaToH, and TheViper in the Hidden Finals later this month. Who will earn a top spot and their shot at the crown? Tune in this weekend, March 5-7,and prepare yourselves for an epic tournament full of action!
Make sure you mark Hidden Cup 4 on your calendar, you won’t want to miss the Grand Finals, which will be broadcast live from March 18-21.
Which of the hidden heroes will YOU be cheering for in the weeks to come?
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Queen's Clash ⭐
| REGISTRATION | EVENT | ELO | WATCH |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN | MAR. 13 – MAR. 14 | ANY | twitch.tv/AgeofQueens |
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ BRACKET | |||
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2021, the Age of Queens community is organizing an Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition event spanning the entire weekend! Tune in to support the 44 participants and check out some of the awesome women content creators broadcasting the event!
Age of Queens is a community of ~100 (and growing) women who play Age of Empires II together: ranging from casual players to some of the most competitive players in the game. You can catch members playing in tournaments, show matches, and casual team games on a regular basis.
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Two Pools 2 ⭐
| REGISTRATION | EVENT | ELO | WATCH |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN | MAR. 22 – APR. 25 | ALL | twitch.tv/LidaKor |
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ BRACKET ♦ RULES & SETTINGS | |||
After countless memorable moments from the original Two Pools Tournament in 2019, this exciting format is making its debut in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition—this time with a prize pool of $10,000!
In this 2v2 format, each team will draft civilizations for both themselves and their opponents; then, in each match, they’ll select one civilization from each pool. This creates distinct gameplay where often-underused civilizations get a chance to shine if teams can leverage their strengths effectively!
Eight teams consisting of the world’s top players have already been invited, and others will join them following a round of qualifiers:
- TheViper and TaToH
- Liereyy and Hera
- MbL and Nicov
- Mr. Yo and Lyx
- DauT and slam
- TheMax and Villese
- miguel and dogao
- ACCM and saymyname
Make sure to tune in following the conclusion of Hidden Cup 4 to see how the second Two Pools Tournament plays out!
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Snow Fort Masters
| REGISTRATION | EVENT | ELO | WATCH |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLOSED | MAR. 01 – APR. 18 | ALL | twitch.tv/kilgore_trout_aoe |
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ RULES & SETTINGS ♦ DISCORD | |||
Snow Fort Masters is a 4v4, Arabia-only tournament open to the entire Age of Empires II community. Players will be split between four different skill brackets to ensure that every team has fun playing games with (or against) their friends.
If you are looking for friendly, tournament-level play, make sure you join the Trout City discord; they’re regularly scheduling new events that anyone can join, and there are plenty of awesome people to meet while you’re there!
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Deep Waters Gaming League
| REGISTRATION | EVENT | ELO | WATCH |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLOSED | MAR. 01 – MAY. 31 | ALL | twitch.tv/deepwatersgaming |
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ BRACKETS ♦ RULES & SETTINGS ♦ DISCORD | |||
This is the most ambitious event organized by Deep Waters Gaming! With more than 120 players split into eight divisions, players will compete in an accelerated version of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Every match will begin in the Dark Age with nine villagers instead of the standard three, allowing combatants to jump-start their normal strategies and take to the battlefield!
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Tournament Wrap-up
March (and beyond) promises to be full of mysterious and exciting events, but let’s also take a look back at some of the events that concluded this past month!
ESOC Challenge Cup
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ RULES & SETTINGS ♦ BRACKET ♦ DISCORD |
After a month of grueling and action-packed matches, we have the final results! The 16 highest rated Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition players entered. Four progressed to the finals, but only one could be crowned the ESOC Challenge Cup champion!
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Master of Socotra
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ FINALS BRACKET |
While Arena is generally considered the ‘Clown Map’ of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Socotra is the younger, crazier sibling. Socotra is such a small enclosed map that players are faced with a difficult choice: to lame their opponent or be lamed, themselves. It’s such an important consideration that one player resigned from the tournament out of frustration, while another surrendered out of their matches during the finals!
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German Championship
| TOURNAMENT DETAILS ♦ BRACKET ♦ RULES & SETTINGS |
German fans flocked to see who would be crowned the German champion, and they were not disappointed! An action-packed weekend full of matches highlighted the skills of the existing—and upcoming—German professionals!
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