A new esports mechanic was tested at the WARPOINT ARENA VR tournament in Yekaterinburg.

On November 24, the first VR tournament of the Ural WARPOINT ARENA season took place in Yekaterinburg.

Eight teams from Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Miass, and Kirov competed for a prize pool of 100,000 rubles. Before the matches, teams selected their preferred maps using WARPOINT's newly introduced "map veto" mechanic.

What is the "map veto" mechanic?
This feature allows team captains to choose maps for the match and block those they find disadvantageous. It raises the level of competition, as opposing teams can strategically create favorable matchups even before the game begins.

How it works:

• Captains decide the map pool by flipping a coin.
• At the start, teams alternately block one map each, starting with the coin toss winner.
• Teams then alternately pick one map each, again starting with the winner. Selected maps cannot be blocked.
• Finally, the winner of the coin toss can block one more map, leaving the last map to be played as the third in the sequence.
• Maps are played in the order chosen by the captains.

Player preferences for maps during the tournament:
Most popular maps:

• Cargo Docks (selected 13 times)
• Shooting Range (9 times)
• Alcatraz (9 times)

Least popular maps:

• Paintball (blocked 12 times)
• Rooftop (10 times)
• Bunker (8 times)

The tournament featured a lower-bracket system, giving teams a second chance after a loss.

Results:

• 🥇 First place: Tyumen's team "Vanilla Bunny" won 50,000 rubles.
• 🥈 Second place: "Sociopaths" from Tyumen earned 30,000 rubles.
• 🥉 Third place: "Hit-or-Miss" from Kirov took home 20,000 rubles.

All match results were recorded in the WARPOINT BATTLE ranking system, officially tracking team progress throughout the tournament season.

This VR tournament kicked off the Ural games series, which will continue throughout 2025.