WoW Midnight RWF: Contenders, Schedules, and How to Watch

The WoW Midnight Race to World First (RWF) is officially here, and the stakes have never been higher. As we begin the first season of the Midnight expansion, the world’s elite guilds are descending upon the Sunwell and the Void-warped spires of Quel’Thalas to see who can claim the ultimate title.

With the release of Midnight Season 1, Blizzard has introduced a unique staggered raid launch. While The Voidspire (6 bosses) and The Dreamrift (1 boss) open the gates first, the true finish line lies within March on Quel’Danas (2 bosses). Guilds must conquer all 9 bosses across these three instances, culminating in a final battle against Midnight Falls to secure the World First trophy.

WoW Midnight RWF: The Contenders

Team Liquid (NA)

Coming off a dominant clean sweep in The War Within expansion, where they took the World First title in every single tier, Team Liquid enters Midnight as the heavy favourites.

Max and his roster have refined their “split-raid” efficiency to a science, looking to extend their winning streak to four tiers in a row. After years in the shadows, Team Liquid has taken the RWF title to North America, and there it has firmly stayed.

Echo (EU)

After a heartbreakingly close finish in the final raid of The War Within (losing by less than 30 minutes after a 0.3% wipe), Echo is hungry for redemption. The European powerhouse remains the most consistent threat to Liquid’s throne, often showing superior mechanical execution in the final “wall” bosses.

The dominance of North America has continued to raise questions about the “advantage” they get by starting early; however, the downside is that they also reveal tactics for everyone else. The downside really is we don’t get to see the tactical strength of Echo or Method.

Echo, in particular, has always looked very tactically savvy or WoW midnight RWF. In the last tier raid, Echo admitted to using Team Liquid tactics in favour of their own, because once you know it works, why risk trying something else?

Method (EU)

Method firmly reclaimed its “Big Three” status last year and is no longer just a “Top 10” guild. Real competitiors in WoW esportswww.hotspawn.com/world-of-warcraft.

With a revamped roster and a more aggressive scouting program, Method is the primary candidate to play spoiler if Liquid or Echo stumble on the complex mechanics of the Crown of the Cosmos. Method is the historic name in the RWF, following on from other guilds such as Paragon, Nihilium and Ensidia.

Method first started to appear in the leaderboards during Cataclysm, securing a few World Firsts in the Blackwing Descent raid. Method would remain in the hunt during the expansion, but it was Pandaria where the guild would claim their first-ever end raid win in Mogu’shan Vaults.

They continued to trade with Blood Legion (US) for the expansion, but having won 4 of the 5 raid tiers, Method had firmly joined the party. That dominance would continue until Shadowlands, where the guild split into two parts, forming what is now Echo. Since then, however, the guild has risen from the ashes of that past success, and in the World Soul Saga, they have become a true contender once again.

The Global Wildcards

• Asia (Huoguo Hero & Jitianhong): The Asian scene has seen a massive resurgence. Huoguo Hero secured a World 4th in the last tier and remains the strongest contender to break the NA/EU duopoly. The biggest issue for Asia is that they get the patch two days after NA, which always puts them on the back foot. However, the region has pushed harder every tier, so it only feels like a matter of time before they claim a top 3. NetEase reportedly has a bounty that stands at nearly $200,000 if any Chinese guild claims RWF. The rumour is that this rises by around $20,000 per tier.

• Europe (FatSharkYes): Always a fan favourite, FSY consistently punches above their weight class. After securing 5th place in Manaforge Omega, FSY will once again be looking to challenge for the top 3.

• North America (Instant Dollars): Now solidified as the #2 in NA, Instant Dollars has shown they can keep pace with the elite, recently securing a World 7th. Instant Dollars made a name as an “early pusher”, securing a lot of the early Mythic first kills. However, they’ve turned that into a consistent run in recent raid tiers.

Race to World First Streams

Note: Team Liquid and Echo are fully streaming Heroic week; however, guilds such as Method are not starting fully until March 24th/25th when Mythic opens.

North America – Team Liquid Main Stream – Raid Leader Stream

North America – Instant Dollars Raider POV

Europe – Echo – Echo Team

Europe – Method – Method Team

Europe – FatSharkYes

Asia – Huoguo Hero (Douyi link)