Dune: Imperium – Uprising Pre-Release Invitational…the Rise of MrBeast?!

October 9, 2023

This past weekend, a select few high-achieving Dune: Imperium players from around the world gathered at a secret location in Raleigh, North Carolina for an invitational pre-release tournament celebrating Dune: Imperium – Uprising, our latest board game inspired by Legendary Entertainment and Denis Villeneuve’s film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi masterpiece. A whopping $20,000 in cash prizes was up for grabs…and we didn’t tell anyone about it.

Why the secrecy? (No, we’re not auditioning for the Bene Gesserit.) The exclusive event was co-hosted by Dune: Imperium super-fan and occasional YouTuber MrBeast!

The competitive field featured some heavy-hitters from previous Dune: Imperium tournaments, including the 2022 and 2023 North American Champions, and the 2023 French Champion, along with over two-dozen highly-competitive players from the online community. Dune: Imperium designer Paul Dennen even entered the fray to put his Solari where his mouth is and defend Dire Wolf’s honor. Special guests included friends from Legendary Entertainment, Nerdist, and The Dice Tower …and of course the MrBeast crew!

Participants came away with some fun swag, including commemorative t-shirts and tote bags, and the first copies of a brand-new promo card: The Beast’s Spoils!

(These will be more widely available in the future – keep an eye out!)

Additionally, there were side events featuring the new Uprising six-player mode, with Muad’Dib and allies squaring off against the Emperor and his lieutenants, and a first chance for players to get hands on with Dune: Imperium Digital, coming this year to Steam Early Access!

With the stakes of the conflict set, there was nothing left but to shuffle up and play some Uprising!

The Invitational Tournament played out in a series of three rounds leading to a Top 16 Semifinal cut. When the spice settled, four players were left…well, technically sitting, but you get the idea. Having survived four tense games along the way, they were just 10 Conflicts away from the trophy, a MrBeast-sized giant check, and the right to call themselves champion!

The Finals

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us for the event! There were some great games played along the way, but it was time to step to the side and let our four Finalists take center stage!

Rob Simpson (imrobvoice) playing Muad’Dib
Musa Kalkan (Sneaker) playing Gurney Halleck
Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) playing Lady Margot Fenring
Frank Friis Bækmand (UGotFranked) playing Lady Amber Metulli

SPOILERS AHEAD! We’ll be releasing the full video of the finals soon, for those of you who would rather watch the replay with fresh blue eyes. If you’d rather glimpse the future to know what prescience feels like, read on below!

It was an incredibly tight game by four amazing players who had already battled through a strong field to reach the final table, with an early target painted on Rob’s Muad’Dib as the other players sought to constrain the power of sandworms and a steady flow of Intrigue cards.

Sneaker fought back with an early reveal in round one to acquire Stilgar, who would later help accelerate to buy the first The Spice Must Flow later in the game. Frank’s Lady Amber Metulli demonstrated combat flexibility throughout the game and was the first to unlock the overwhelming strength of the Heighliner.

The game settled into a tense stalemate as no one wanted to risk blowing the Shield Wall and letting their opponents worms into the Conflict, while also offering tactical counterplay to Frank’s looming threat of the tricky Guild Spy.

But in round eight MrBeast crushed all opposition with a combination of Heighliner and worms for a 3 Victory Point conflict that took home the game. When the final Intrigue cards were revealed and Victory Points tallied, MrBeast emerged victorious and made a strong case as the best Dune: Imperium player in the world!

“No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero.” – Frank Herbert, Dune

True to form, our new champion graciously left his winnings on the table…and up for grabs in the next Dune: Imperium Invitational, for an even bigger prize pool!

A huge thank you goes out to all of our competitors, Legendary Entertainment, and especially to MrBeast and the gang for their support.

It was an amazing weekend full of great games played by some fantastic competitors, but now we need to get back to keeping the spice flowing. Uprising pre-orders are underway (shipping starting late this month), and will be hitting your FLGS in November!

Long live the fighters!