Posted in: Blizzard, eSports, Games, Hearthstone, Video Games | Tagged: blizzard, eSports, Grandmasters Tour, Hearthstone, Masters Tour
The "Hearthstone" Masters Tour Expands Dates For 2020
Blizzard Entertainment announced today that they will be expanding the Heathstone Masters Tour by adding more dates in 2020. We now know those dates will expand from three major tournaments to six, and will be including more European dates as they have confirmed Sweden and Spain as major tournament locations. All six Masters Tours in 2020 will have at least $250k in prizes, with crowdfunding initiatives expected to make them higher over time. What's more, Hearthstone Esports will be teaming up with ESL and DreamHack as the trusted vendor for the Hearthstone Masters Tour events next year. We also have more info on how the Grandmasters will be held in 2020 below.
Grandmasters & Relegation
Grandmasters will be back in 2020 for two more epic seasons, with the first season starting in April and the second in August. Each season will consist of eight weeks of play, but with a new structure. For the first four weeks, the format will rotate with all 16 players in each of the three regions (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific) competing against each other, earning points based on placements. These points will be used to determine two divisions in each region.
Weeks five, six and seven will consist of round-robin play within the two divisions, much like the previous seasons of Grandmasters. This leads into the Playoffs taking place in week eight, which will qualify one player from each 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 Season 3, with the top three prize money earners from the first three Masters Tours of 2020 moving up to Grandmasters to replace them.