Hello, Summoners!

Splinterlands and ZenSports have come a long way in the past months, both independently and through our jointly-hosted tournaments. 

In the Splinterlands, more players are joining the fray every day than ever before, card values are at an all-time high, and more than 2,000,000 battles are being created per day.

At ZenSports, the company received our Nevada Gaming License, an unrivaled achievement in the crypto-betting space, setting the stage for continued growth and expansion. 

Together, we have hosted a slew of epic bracket-style tournaments and have given away a ton of Splinterlands cards on our Discord server. 

While these achievements are impressive, they are just the start. So what’s next?

Announcing the Stache Classic on Theta.tv | October 16th, 11 AM EST!

ZenSports is proud to be partnering with CryptoStache and Theta.tv on our upcoming Splinterlands tournament, the Stache Classic on Theta.tv.

The month-long event will culminate in a 32 player, double-elimination tournament for up to $25,000 in crypto prizes, streamed to ZenSports’ Channel on Theta.tv.

CryptoStache himself will be joining us himself for the tournament finale – it will be an event to stache’ in your memory forever!

So, without further ado, how is it going to work?

Event Information – Rules and Format

Instead of focusing on a single division of play (such as silver), the Stache Classic will focus on finding the best Splinterlander, regardless of how much power in their deck. 

To ensure we find that player, the Stache Classic will feature eight players from each skill level: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond – thirty-two total.

Qualifications will be division-specific. Once a player qualifies at a certain level, they cannot be eligible again at another level – so choose which qualifiers you want to play in wisely!

During the Stache Classic, players will play their head-to-head matches at the skill division of the lower-rated player. This system will ensure that neither player is at a significant disadvantage in terms of card power. 

How To Qualify

Players will qualify for the Stache Classic by competing in preliminary qualifiers and weekend qualifiers. If you are skilled enough to qualify for a weekend qualifier and place in the top 8, you will lock in a spot in The Stache Classic on Theta.tv on October 16th. 

Here is the schedule for preliminary and weekend qualifier tournaments for the Stache Classic:

Week 1: Gold League Qualifiers 

Gold Weekend Qualifier  – Saturday, September 11th, 11:00 AM EST (Application Form)

Weekend Qualifiers will be a bracket-style, double-elimination tournament. The top 8 finishers will earn a Gold League spot in the Stache Classic on October 16th. 

View results here, top 8 qualified for the Stache Classic as a Gold League Contestant. 

Week 2: Diamond League Qualifiers  

Diamond Weekend Qualifier  – Saturday, September 18th, 11:00 AM EST (Application Form)

Weekend Qualifiers will be a bracket-style, double-elimination tournament. The top 8 finishers will earn a Diamond League spot in the Stache Classic on October 16th. 

View results here, top 8 qualified for the Stache Classic as a Diamond League Contestant. 

Week 3: Silver League Qualifiers 

Silver Weekend Qualifier  – Saturday, September 25th, 11:00 AM EST (Application Form)

Weekend Qualifiers will be a bracket-style, double-elimination tournament. The top 8 finishers will earn a Silver League spot in the Stache Classic on October 16th. 

View results here, top 8 qualified for the Stache Classic as a Silver League Contestant.

Week 4: Bronze League Qualifiers

Bronze Weekend Qualifier 4 – Saturday, October 2nd, 11:00 AM EST (Application Form) 

Weekend Qualifiers will be a bracket-style, double-elimination tournament. The top 8 finishers will earn a Bronze League spot in the Stache Classic on October 16th.

View results here, top 8 qualified for the Stache Classic as a Bronze League Contestant.

Tournament Prizes

NFT Trophy

Our friends at NFT Horizon, the sponsors of the Cerberus Cup, will create yet another epic NFT Trophy for the winner of the Stache Classic on Theta.tv.

The trophy will be revealed next week on Twitter! 

NFT Horizon is a fantastic media partner of both ZenSports and Splinterlands – we are super excited to see what they create for the winner!

Bracket Prediction Contest

Once the bracket is populated, we will begin the Bracket Prediction Contest, allowing you to win free Splinterlands prizes for predicting the results of the Stache Classic on October 16th.

The Bracket Prediction Contest for the Stache Classic will feature THIRTY Beta Packs, more than 2,000,000 SPORTS Utility Tokens, and Mega & Small Packs from NFT Horizon in prizes!! in prizes! Top 25 will receive five Beta Packs and 1,000,000 SPORTS!

The ONLY WAY to make a bracket prediction is via our Discord Server, located in the official-announcements channel.

Player Payouts and KYC Verification

Players who finish in the top 16 will be eligible to win their crypto prize in their currency of choice: SPORTS, USDT, BTC, or ICX. 

Immediately after the tournament is over, ZenSports will credit players’ accounts with their tournament winnings, but players must complete KYC before they are allowed to withdraw. 

If you want to win even more money from playing in our tournaments, make sure to check out our SPORTS Staking Rewards Program. The program rewards you for simply holding SPORTS tokens in your ZenSports account and playing in tournaments!

We understand that KYC is a hassle, but it is required. ZenSports is a money servicing business and faces many of the same regulatory hurdles as banks do!

For now, players should look to get verified using either PrimeTrust on the ZenSports app itself or through a third-party service: Yoti. 

Please read the following rules and restrictions:

• All prizes will be paid as credits to customers’ ZenSports accounts (in USD, Bitcoin, ICX, or SPORTS).
• All withdrawal requests must be submitted directly within the ZenSports app, and all customers must go through KYC/AML verification and meet ZenSports’ Terms & Conditions for submitting withdrawal requests.
• ZenSports does NOT offer third-party payment options such as PayPal, Venmo, etc.
• Players located in the following countries are ineligible for winning prize money.

How to Watch and Support and WIN. 

As usual, every event in the Stache Classic will feature giveaways. These may take the form of cards, packs, NFTs from sponsors, and SPORTS utility tokens!

The Stache Classic will be streamed to the ZenSports Theta and Twitch channels.

For every follow on our Theta.tv channel leading up to the Stache Classic, we will add 10 SPORTS tokens to the winner’s prize pool!

Learn more about $SPS, the governance token of the Splinterlands.

Learn more about the SPORTS Staking Rewards Program, where you get paid in SPORTS for winning our tournaments!