Season One of this year's Grandmasters starts tomorrow. The tournament features a drastically revamped format that we've recapped below. 48 players will compete -- including some newly crowned Grandmasters for a total of eight weeks. Prizing for the Season includes $500,000 and of course the right to compete at the World Championship later this year. All the competition can be viewed over on the Hearthstone YouTube Channel.
- Venue: Online
- Stream: the Hearthstone YouTube Channel.
- Dates: Friday, Saturday, Sunday - April 9th - June 6th
- Casters:
- Americas: Not Known At Time of Posting.
- Asia-Pacific: Not Known At Time of Posting.
- Europe: Not Known At Time of Posting.
- Prize Pool: $500,000 USD
- Stream Times: Broadcasts begin at 2AM PT/5AM ET/11AM CEST w/ the Asia-Pacific Region.
EDIT: Added Blizzard's statement that America's GM Zalae is now suspended.
Free Packs
Drops will be returning for Grandmasters Season 1. Viewers can earn up to six free packs just for watching the action live on YouTube. They will be awarded as follows for watching two hours of the stream. Viewers are required to link their Blizzard and YouTube accounts to claim packs -- directions can be found here.
- Week 1 - Year of the Phoenix (max 2 packs)
- Weeks 2-7 - Year of the Phoenix (max 2 packs)
- Playoffs - Forged in the Barrens (max 2 packs)
Format
As we mentioned earlier, the format for this year's competition has been revamped. The first seven weeks consist of a rotating format. Players will compete in a weekly Dual Tournament format, beginning each Thursday, to earn placement in the weekend's top-8 tournament. Points will be awarded based on number of wins. Points totals will determine the final standings before the playoffs in Week 8.
- Thursday - Each region competes in an off-broadcast group play tournament.
- Friday - The 4 decider matches are played to determine who makes the Top-8, per region.
- Saturday - Day 1 of the Top-8 single elimination tournament.
- Sunday - The final 4 advance to complete the tournament.
- Rotating Formats:
- Week 1 - Conquest
- Week 2 - Conquest
- Week 3 - Specialist
- Week 4 - Specialist
- Week 5 - Last Hero Standing
- Week 6 - Last Hero Standing
- Week 7 - Conquest
The Playoffs - Week 8
The first 7 weeks lead up to the playoffs -- which will qualify one player from each region to compete at the World Championship.
- The top 8 players advance to the playoffs.
- Players 9-12 are eliminated from tournament play, but safe from relegation.
- The bottom 4 players from each region are automatically relegated from the Grandmasters.
- The winner from each region is invited to the World Championship. If an invited player from Season 1 is relegated in Season 2, their invitation is rescinded and given to the next highest finisher.
The Grandmasters
16 players from each of the three regions will compete. Three will advance to the World Championship, while four from each region face relegation.
— Hearthstone Esports (@HSesports) April 8, 2021
Americas
Europe
Asia-Pacific
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Posted Apr 11, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)So we are now 48hrs after the 1st 2 hours stream on Friday, anyone got any packs yet cause i still havent even though i watched most of Friday's GM from the start and the youtube page says my account is connected.
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Posted Apr 11, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Just checked on Hearthstone Rules:
Section 5 of Part A of the document specify:
So we will have to wait for the end of the third day of the US broadcast before to get the Packs.
Section 2 of Part A of the document provide the schedule of Broadcasts per period:
The “Opening Week Period” will take place during the following periods:
The “Regular Season Period” will take place during the following periods:
The “Playoffs Period” will take place during the following periods:
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Posted Apr 12, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)It clearly writes "Within 48 hours of the conclusion of each applicable Broadcast" so after conclusion of each single separate broadcast and within 48h we should get packs and I personally didn't get it yet.
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Posted Apr 10, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Ive watched for more than 4 hours
where are the packs?
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)There seems to be no way of knowing for how long we've watched the stream ... and there's no notification of winning a pack either !!
In addition, the packs can take up to 48 hours to be delivered ...
My God, how do we know then if we have already met the requirements to receive the packs? Are we supposed to have faith that YouTube has counted our watching hours correctly and pray that in a couple of days we get something by chance?
I honestly prefer Twitch to YouTube ...
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)The problem is that it is not possible to know if YouTube has correctly counted the hours we have been watching ...
For example, I have been watching the streaming for 6 hours ... however, I don't know if YouTube has taken note of that time or not.
Also, is it possible for YouTube to know if we are actually watching the streaming in person? We can not trust ... because maybe if we have the streaming in a background window, YouTube is not counting any watching time at all ...
Another danger is what happened to me this morning: streaming suffered a micro cut for a moment due to a problem with my connection and, without my realizing it, the streaming automatically went from playing it "live" to "recorded/delayed" (so that I would not have any interruption during the course of the game and I would not miss anything), obviously not computing any time from that moment on (since if we are not watching the streaming on live, YouTube do not register any watching time)
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)No packs and no way to know how long I have watched...
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)I was wondering about the same thing. Why I still have no notification of winning a pack, and I just noticed 2 things:
/!\ So be sure you're watching live, and you can see that you have the notice that your account is linked to battle.net in the video setting.
Furthermore, according the same source, you cannot get drops from on embedded players, the YouTube Smart TV app or via casting!
Thank you Epic Games for sharing this source in your description of your page "GET FREE REWARDS WITH YOUTUBE DROPS".
Blizzard is missing the link or the explanations from his News. :(
Source: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9024948?hl=en-GB#zippy=,ive-connected-my-accounts-and-im-watching-an-eligible-live-stream-why-am-i-not-winning-anything
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)I have the stream open for 4+ hours now, still 0 drops.
edit: according to the folks on reddit it can take 48 hours for youtube drops to appear in-game. Also, you don't get any message that you got a drop and there's nowhere to check how long you've already watched so you better track that yourself.
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Same, linked the accounts and watched all ~4hrs of the Asian GM stream and no packs, the page even says its connected. (have the EU stream on now).
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)you guys also dont have any packs from YT drops?
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)So you assume Blizz are sexist cause only men made it to GM this Season?
Myabe it's just because this is not a beauty contest, but either a skilled (somewhat Rng game, yep, i know)
I fine your questsion very sexist towards men and accusing :)
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Posted Apr 12, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Bloodyface (Luna) is a transgender woman.
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Posted Apr 8, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)2 years away and much has changed, specially bloodyface...
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Posted Apr 8, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Very pleased to see Zalae suspended, after very credible allegations that he engaged in domestic abuse.
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)disagree a decision like this should only be made by court not companies (or companies following a decision of a court)
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Let's do that when court finally deal properly with domestic abuses, for the time being, let's not!
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Posted Apr 9, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Missing both sides of the story, dont jump a gun like that.
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Posted Apr 8, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Glad to see Zalae on the roster, he has only put out 1 video in the last 2 months!
Only plays Duels...
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Posted Apr 8, 2021 (Forged in the Barrens)Oh no...