Hearthpwn

With two action packed weeks in the books, Week 3 is set to begin tomorrow. The tournament features a drastically revamped format that we've recapped below. Week 3 marks the beginning of two weeks of Specialist Format. 48 players are competing -- 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 23-25
• Format: Specialist - Click HERE for a format summary.
• Casters:
• Americas: Dan "Frodan" Chou & TJ "Azumo" Sanders
• Asia-Pacific: Jia Dee & Darroch Brown
• Europe: Alexander "Raven" Baguley & Simon "Sottle" Welch
• Prize Pool: $500,000 USD
• Stream Times: Broadcasts begin at 2AM PT/5AM ET/11AM CEST w/ the Asia-Pacific Region.

Top 5 Moments - Week 2

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) **Promotion has expired.**
• 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.

Week 3 Format

Standings

With 9 points Europe's Thijs leads all competitors. He won the Week 1 tournament and was eliminated in the finals of Week 2. NoHandsGamer, Warma, and GivePLZ are all close behind having tallied 8 points through the opening two weeks.