The European BGA World Championship Qualifier is fast approaching! This article contains information on how to register, event structure, prizing, and broadcast information for our competitors.

• The upcoming European BGA WCQ will take place on August 16th, 2025 - 3:00 PM (UTC+2) for the 10 Swiss rounds, while our single-elimination bracketed Top 32 will take place the following day on August 17th, 2025 - 3:00 PM (UTC+2).
• Registration will go live on Board Game Arena on August 6th, 2025 - 7:00 PM (UTC+2) so that players based in Europe will be able to register outside of traditional working hours.
• Players participating in the event will need to be in the A.W.O.L. Discord Server so that they can receive all tournament announcements throughout the event.

Our previous BGA for the Whispers from the Maze Demo Decks event hit the 512 capacity in under 5 minutes, so we’re pleased to announce that we’ve quadrupled that capacity and can fit 2048 players for this event. We hope that this will allow even more dedicated Altered players to register and participate! This event will be structured slightly differently than other events you may be used to, so read ahead for all additional tournament structure information.

• Players participating in this event must use the exact same deck for the entirety of the event. Any players breaking this rule will be disqualified from the event and will not be part of the final standings or Top Cut.
• Players participating in the event will be randomly paired into 4 separate groups to play their 10 Swiss rounds within. All matchmaking is done automatically through BGA, and it is the player’s responsibility to be present and ready to play when the next round begins. At the end of the 10 Swiss rounds, the Top Cut players will be determined. Top Cut will NOT play out on the same day, and the tournament function creating the Top 32 bracket will not count towards the final standings of the event.
• Top Cut for this event will contain the 31 players with the best records during the Group Stage, regardless of which group they participated in. This means that the Top 8 from each group may not be the exact standings for our Top 32. The results will be finalized as soon as possible upon completion of the Swiss rounds.
• The final and 32nd spot will go to a player from the Essen WCQ who did not have the ability to participate in the Top Cut of that event due to a Tournament rules misapplication.
• All participants must agree to the Board Game Arena Terms of Service. They should also be aware that any in-game issues that occur during the tournament will not be compensated.

Prizing for the event will be distributed to our Top 8 competitors. The prizing is as follows:

1st & 2nd place:

• 1x Qualifying slot for the World Championship Finals in Paris
• 1x World Championship Qualifier Medal
• 1x World Championship Qualifier Top 8 Playmat
• 9x Whispers from the Maze Organized Play boosters

3rd to 8th place:

• 1x World Championship Qualifier Top 8 Playmat
• 9x Whispers from the Maze Organized Play boosters

Faction Champion:

• 1x Faction Champion card

The event will be broadcast in English on the official A.W.O.L. YouTube channel. Feel free to broadcast your tournament or comment on the online qualifier. If you have any questions regarding the stream, please reach out to the A.W.O.L. Administration Team to set up those discussions. Thank you all in advance for your continued patience regarding these events. This is a new opportunity for all members of our playerbase, and we are excited to share these opportunities with you!