This Week in Warcraft: The Great Push Returns in Season 4
Dragonflight Season 4 brought back The Great Push Mythic+ tournament for a $260,000 prize, plus the Trials short story and a restoration freeze.
By:
John Langan
Key Takeaways
- The Great Push returned for Dragonflight Season 4, the event's second full season, and it ran during the final season of Dragonflight with a $260,000 total prize pool.
- Six elite teams competed across two group-stage weekends, each playing 15 hours of Mythic+ keystone pushing (five hours a day, including a required 20-minute break).
- The schedule ran Group A on July 5-7, Group B on July 12-14, and the Global Finals on July 19-21, 2024, every stage starting at 10:00 am PDT (7:00 pm CEST).
- Broadcasts streamed on Twitch.tv/Warcraft and YouTube.com/Warcraft, with co-streams from each team's point of view.
- Author Jonathan Maberry released the Warcraft short story "Trials," a quiet reflection on Thrall, the om'gora rites, and Orgrimmar's balance of combat and wisdom.
- Blizzard paused character restoration ahead of the War Within pre-patch, tied to the new Warbands system, and the service returned on October 3, 2024.
With those headlines covered, here is how that week in Dragonflight Season 4 played out.
The Great Push Returns for Dragonflight Season 4
Dragonflight Season 4 marked the return of The Great Push, the tournament where the best groups in the world race to clear the highest possible Mythic+ keystone. It was the second full season of the event, and it landed during the final season of Dragonflight. Where the Mythic Dungeon International races for the fastest clear times, The Great Push instead rewards the highest key a team can finish before the clock runs out.
Event structure
Each group-stage weekend gave six elite teams 15 hours of tournament play, split into five hours a day across three days, including 20 minutes of required break time. Every weekend rotated through different dungeons and affix setups, so no two stages looked the same and teams had to adapt their routes on the fly.
Qualification and rewards
The squads that pushed the highest keys across the group stage advanced to the Global Finals and competed for a share of the $260,000 total prize pool. The Global Finals carried a $200,000 slice of that total, which settled the earlier confusion over the headline number: $260,000 was the full season pool, not the finals alone.
Schedule and how fans watched
Broadcasts went out on Twitch.tv/Warcraft and YouTube.com/Warcraft, and viewers could follow individual squads through team-perspective co-streams. The group stages and finals ran on these weekends, all starting at 10:00 am PDT (7:00 pm CEST).
| Date | Stage | Start time |
|---|---|---|
| July 5-7 | Group A | 10:00 am PDT |
| July 12-14 | Group B | 10:00 am PDT |
| July 19-21 | Global Finals | 10:00 am PDT |
Watching the world's best dungeon teams is great motivation to push your own keys. If you want help climbing past a wall on the ladder, you can browse our Mythic+ dungeon carries for a higher key level.
Warcraft Short Story: "Trials"
Away from the competition, Blizzard published a new Warcraft short story called "Trials," written by author Jonathan Maberry. The story follows Thrall in the wake of a tragic accident during the om'gora rites, the orcish trials of adulthood. As he walks through Orgrimmar, Thrall weighs whether his people lean too hard on combat prowess and not enough on wisdom, and he considers what lessons to pass to his son and the next generation. It is a character-driven piece rather than a battle story, and a good read for anyone invested in the Horde's culture.
Character Restoration Paused for the War Within Pre-Patch
Blizzard also warned players to handle any pending character undeletes early. Character restoration was temporarily disabled with the War Within pre-patch, which went live on July 23, 2024, because the new Warbands system changed how character data is stored across an account. Anyone who wanted to recover a deleted character was advised to do it before the pre-patch landed. The service came back on October 3, 2024, with a short delay required between each restoration.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was The Great Push in Dragonflight Season 4?
The Great Push was Blizzard's Mythic+ keystone-push tournament, where six top teams competed to clear the highest possible key. Dragonflight Season 4 hosted its second full season, with a $260,000 total prize pool settled at the Global Finals.
When did The Great Push Season 4 take place?
Group A played July 5-7, Group B played July 12-14, and the Global Finals ran July 19-21, 2024. Every stage started at 10:00 am PDT, which is 7:00 pm CEST for European viewers.
How is The Great Push different from the MDI?
The Mythic Dungeon International races for the fastest clear times on a set key level. The Great Push instead rewards the highest Mythic+ keystone a team can finish in the time allowed, so route planning and survivability matter as much as raw speed.
Who wrote the Warcraft short story "Trials"?
"Trials" was written by Jonathan Maberry and published on July 1, 2024. It centers on Thrall reflecting on the om'gora rites and the balance between strength and wisdom in orc culture.
Why was character restoration disabled in 2024?
Blizzard paused character restoration during the War Within pre-patch on July 23, 2024, because the new Warbands system reworked account-wide character storage. The service returned on October 3, 2024.
What patch did Dragonflight Season 4 run on?
Dragonflight Season 4 ran on Patch 10.2.7 "Dark Heart," which released on May 7, 2024. It was the final content season before the War Within expansion.
Last reviewed 2026-06-22 against Patch 10.2.7 Dark Heart. Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.