Hearthstone Esports Is Changing In 2019
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated points were required for invite-only events. This is not true and has been corrected.
Blizzard has outlined their plans for Hearthstone Esports for the next year which includes more than 4 million dollars in prizing. More details below!
- There will be hundreds of qualifier tournaments next year. No region locks.
- Three invite-only events will take place with invites going out to players who have won qualifier events.
- Top players will compete in "premier" events. Seasonal, round-robin online competition with regional divisions.
- Transition rewards for Hearthstone Competitive Point-earners so work this year is rewarded.
- 2018/2019 Transition Period - Official Competition Rules (PDF)
Quote from Blizzard2018 was a great year for Hearthstone Esports. Earlier this month Team China upset tournament favorite Brazil in the Grand Finals of the Hearthstone Global Games at BlizzCon. We’ve crowned two seasonal champions at our Summer and Fall Championships. We’ve seen more than 200,000 players attend 25 Tour Stops and other major events across the globe. And by the end of the Year of the Raven we’ll have awarded more than $2.8 million in prize money—our largest amount ever.
Along the way, we’ve gathered feedback from players and fans. We’ve learned that many of you feel the HCT system can be challenging to follow, not as accessible to new players as it could be, and unsustainable for pros. Today we are excited to share with you a preview of our plan for continuing to make Hearthstone esports the best it can be for viewers and competitors alike.
Next Year—and Beyond
The Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) as we know it will go out with a bang this coming spring with the HCT World Championship, where the best Hearthstone players in the world will duke it out for $1,000,000 in prizing.
After our World Championship, a new three-tiered competitive system will begin in earnest, consisting of qualifiers, live global tournaments, and an exclusive top tier, with more than $4 million in prizing up for grabs across the ecosystem in 2019. Here’s how it works:
Qualifiers
Throughout the year, in conjunction with a third-party platform partner, Hearthstone Esports will run hundreds of qualifier tournaments, primarily online. The first of these will start in the spring, and they will not be region-locked: anyone from anywhere will be able to compete at a time that works for them. Winning a qualifier grants you entry to the next tier of competition.
Live Global Tournaments
In 2019, we will hold three invite-only tournaments around the world, with more planned for 2020. These live events will see our best and brightest Hearthstone players—from household names to aspiring pros who spiked their first tourney—compete for $250,000 per event. Best of all, success here will open the door to the ultimate level of competition.
Premier Play
The top tier is a seasonal round-robin online competition, split into regional divisions, featuring the best and most compelling Hearthstone players in the world. It will begin after the HCT World Championship and climax with an epic finale at year’s end. Players who participate in this competition receive performance-based bonuses, as well as automatic invites to all the live global events in the previous tier. We look forward to sharing more details soon about this level of play, including how players will join the competition in its inaugural year.
Format
Our goals are for Hearthstone esports to be sustainable, entertaining, and accessible for all. As part of this, we will retire the Conquest format in 2019. Fundamentally, we want Hearthstone esports to better reflect the in-game experience, as well as be easier to grasp for new viewers. This new format, to be unveiled in the coming months, will be played across the ecosystem.
Hearthstone Masters and the Transitional Season
This year, the Hearthstone Masters System was created to recognize top players based on the consistency of their performance, with rewards pegged to Competitive Point totals from the previous three seasons. Many of you have been working toward these achievements—and so, while Hearthstone esports will change significantly in 2019, we will ensure that those who would have achieved Masters status earn rewards of equal or greater value.Additionally, points earned during 2018 Season 1 will not expire on Dec. 1. From then until March 31, 2019, players will have a bonus “transitional” season to rack up even more points toward benefits next year:
During this period players can earn points at Tour Stops, the HCT Winter Playoffs, and the HCT Winter Championship, but not on ladder. See the rules for full details.
Vision
Thank you for reading! We look forward to hearing your feedback about the broad outlines of this new system. And, rest assured: in the coming months we will meet with players to answer questions and address concerns. We want everyone to be accounted for in this long-term vision, from casual fans to the most dedicated pros. This is the next evolution of our promise to make Hearthstone esports sustainable—and enjoyable!—to all those who enter the tavern.
Is World Championship going to be at Blizzcon again like all other franchises?
Exactly this. It's so luck-based and random that somehow the same exact 50 people (out of millions of players) are always the ones at the top. Hmm. I guess they have super, mega, consistent luck!! OR (which makes a lot more sense) the game actually DOES require a lot of skill and thought, and those 50 or so players are the best at both.
1. Please, wild torney.
2. Why now playing ladder?
Just think about it. You playing chess against yourself. You are the ONLY player so there is no skill difference. Who will win the game? Well... actually... White has an advantage but it's not overwhelming. It's more to do with how well each "side" takes advantage of the positions created by the other. Which can be said about Hearthstone too.
Nice, Artifact gonna be rekt (as expected).
we need wild tournament !
plz held wild tournament frequently
I like the idea of open availability to everyone... but I am wondering how that will be regulated.
Tournament that are open to "ANYONE" ..... "WHEREVER THEY LIVE"...... well, im from Bosnia so i guess im "NO ONE" and im not even alive for blizzard. Cmon guys, is it that hard to allow us to play?? I played numerous Konami sponsored yugioh european championships without any problems.... I hope this will get to you guys...
Consider me intrigued and I want to know more. Top questions:
Is it only the winner of the qualifier tournaments that can make it to the Live Global Tournaments? If a player is regularly placing in the top 3 or top 10 of these qualifier tournaments, do they earn any kind of points or recognition? (There's no way this will be me, but it's fun to fantasize, and it would entice me to play in a couple if I have the time). Generally, I want as many details about the qualifier competitions as possible since that's the point of entry for casual players who might then actually follow the live tournaments.
Format? Format? Format? No Conquest? Format?
For Live Events and especially Premier Play: Better website landing pages? Spoiler free landing pages? Links to VODS instead of an active Twitch stream? Here's the website from Dreamhack Atlanta: https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/esports/tournament/hct-dreamhack-atlanta-2018/
This just needs to be better. There's a reason so many of us read sites like teamliquid or hearthpwn. They do a better job of organizing tournament details than Blizzard does. Back when I watched a lot more SC2, liquid would just do an amazing job with spoiler-free VODs. Not everyone can watch a tournament live. Especially if we're talking about keeping up with a weekly TV show like Premier Play. We should be able to timeshift easily, just like we do with Hulu, Netflix, and other tv shows we watch in a given week. I can't believe Blizzard hasn't made this a priority over the years.
report whatever idc, i'm pretty sure that i know this game waaaay better than you (multiple times legend in more than one server, i play on high legend almost every month since i can remember) , you call yourself a 'pro' with multiple tops 100 or whatever and you still say that the whole game is a coin-flip ???? something is wrong here because if you play on high legend you know that even a little mistake means a lost game, but whatever i gave you a response before, im not a fanboy of anything i just don't like when people without the knowledge talk about something they don't know, you're dumb af.
The acting(reading) skills for the redhead were super distracting. I thought someone was forcing him to say things he didnt want to; he did not even blink once. I lost my focus after thinking of what would scare him so and decided to look for the threat in the reflection of his glasses. I think I saw tentacles in the back... Could it be that the next expansion will see the return of our beloved N'zoth...?
It's pretty funny how everyone here scream: UGH MORE MONEY FOR A COINFLIP GAME ERMAGEHRD!!1!11
You have nothing left in your life? You should be happy for the players who invest much time in the game and get a change to take a even bigger reward for that. I read so much hate here in hearthpwn...when you just don't like the game stop playing and reach something in your life.
Have a good day :)
Can someone tl:dr it to me, please?
Did Blizzard change the rule that all players can participate for the points or just players from few countrys can ?
The Premier League thing looks pretty exciting. It sounds like something I suggested about 6 months ago* that should keep top level play financially sustainable while increasing coverage of what viewers want to see - top well-known players playing against each other in meaningful competition.
(* Not that I'm claiming any ownership of the idea or anything, there are only so many ideas and it is a format that has worked well in other sports)
Gotta love round robin!
No points for ladder anymore? Finally I can watch my favorite streamers without delay, because there won't be as many try hards at legend...
I think they only refer to the stage between December 1 and March 31, I suppose that afterwards they will continue to award points for Ladder, I do not know maybe I'm wrong but I think they refer to that.
Yes they do. But I highly doubt they will return those points. Because all pros were complaining how unmanageable it is to grind every end of month