Hearthstone Announces 2020 Masters System
by hsdecktech - 4 years ago show comments
This morning, Hearthstone announced that there would be some changes to the 2020 Masters system, and provided additional details about the system as a whole. The announcement covers an expansion of the tour stop system (there will now be six!), the dates and locations to several of those stops (including the return of Dreamhack events), and some updates to Grandmasters event structure and relegation (Grandmasters will now be in two phases per season and there will now be three relegations instead of two).
This is coming shortly after the updated rules were published, which also outlined changes to prize structures–including minimum prizing for anybody who even participates in the Masters Tours! This seems to have been a change based on complaints last year that many of the Tour Stops were negative value for the average player, due to the cost of travel and lodging. Hopefully, this means that more players will have a chance to play in the upcoming system, and maybe even take down one of those Grandmasters spots.
Check out the official announcement for more details.
In 2019, we had three incredible Masters Tour events in Las Vegas, Seoul, and Bucharest. Thousands of you participated in Masters Qualifiers for your chance to play in these events, and we’re excited to announce there will be even more Masters Tours to play for in the months to come…six to be precise!
Yes, we’re doubling the number of Masters Tour stops in 2020—with USD $250,000 in base prizing guaranteed for each! Like last year, a crowdfunding initiative will bolster the prize pool of the Masters Tours beyond that. These events have yielded some of the most exciting and fun moments in Hearthstone, mixing the top tier of players with the up and comers. We’ve seen consistency from relatively unknown competitors, and witnessed a few usurpers topple veteran Grandmasters on stream.
We’re excited to share that ESL/DreamHack will be the trusted vendor for Hearthstone Master Tour events next year. Here are the locations and dates for most of the Masters Tour events in 2020:
- Masters Tour #1 – Arlington, Texas – 1/31 – 2/2
- Qualifying Period: 10/3 – 11/24
- Masters Tour #2 – Bali, Indonesia – 3/20 – 3/22
- Qualifying Period: 12/12 – 1/26
- Masters Tour #3 – Jönköping, Sweden – 6/12 – 6/14
- Qualifying Period: 2/6 – 3/29
- Masters Tour #4 – TBD Asia-Pacific Location (July/August)
- Qualifying Period: 4/2– 5/24
- Masters Tour #5 – Montreal, Canada – 9/11 – 9/13
- Qualifying Period: 6/4 – 7/26
- Masters Tour #6 – Spain – (December)
- Qualifying Period: 8/6 – 9/27
Grandmasters & Relegation
Grandmasters will be back in 2020 for two more epic seasons, with the first starting in April and the second in August! It will still be eight weeks of play, but with a different structure. For the initial weeks the format will rotate and all 16 players in each of our three regions (Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific) will compete against each other, earning points based on their placements. These points will be used to determine two divisions in each region.
Subsequent weeks will consist of round-robin play within the divisions, much like the previous seasons of Grandmasters. This leads into the Week 8 Playoffs, which will qualify one player per region to the World Championship at the end of the year.
Regarding promotion and relegation—three players per region will be relegated at the end of Grandmasters 2020 Season 1, with the three top prize money earners from the first three Masters Tours of 2020 replacing them.
We hope these changes will make Hearthstone Grandmasters fun and engaging for viewers and our pros alike. We’re excited for the new year and hope to see you at an upcoming Masters Tour!
