Grandmasters Season 2 begins this weekend and we're pumped! Specialist is out, Shielded Conquest is in, and there are 48 players ready to pray to Yogg!
Do note that there are not any free packs associated with the Grandmasters events right now.
Grandmasters Shielded Conquest Format
New for season 2, the Hearthstone Grandmasters has moved away from the Specialist format and has introduced a new version of the beloved conquest. Here's how it works!
- Matches are Best of 3. (Old version it was Bo5)
- Players bring 4 decks.
- Before each match starts, each player chooses a deck to shield. This deck cannot be banned.
- After the shielded deck is chosen, each player bans a deck of their opponent.
- Winning a game with your deck means it cannot be played again in that match.
- The player that loses a game can choose to keep their current deck or switch to a different one.
- Players are told what classes their opponent has remaining but not which one that has been selected.
You can read more about why the format changed in Blizzard's post on it. Our own mrgn0me recently did an analysis on the format and how players may choose to build their lineups.
Stream Schedule
Games are taking place Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We're starting with the Asia-Pacific region followed by Europe and finally the Americas.
- Asia-Pacific starts at 6 AM EDT (12 PM CEST, 3 AM PDT)
- Europe starts at 10 AM EDT (4 PM CEST, 7 AM PDT)
- Americas starts at 2 PM EDT (8 PM CEST, 11 AM PDT)
Matchups and Standings
The official Hearthstone site has you covered!
Asia-Pacific Grandmasters
Alutemu
BloodTrail
Che0nsu
DawN
Flurry
FroStee
Pathra
Ryvius
SamuelTsao
Shaxy
Staz
Surrender
Tom60229
Tyler
blitzchung
glory
European Grandmasters
BoarControl
Bozzzton
Bunnyhoppor
Casie
Feno
Jarla
Kolento
Orange
Pavel
Rdu
Seiko
SilverName
Swidz
Viper
Americas Grandmasters
Amnesiac
ETC
Eddie
Firebat
Fr0zen
Gallon
Justsaiyan
Monsanto
Muzzy
Nalguidan
PNC
Purple
Rase
StrifeCro
Zalae
Watch Live
You can watch all the action on the official Hearthstone Twitch channel.
Comments
Conquest is how it always should have been. This new shielded format is a nice twist. I'd be willing to bet a sizable preorder for the December set that viewership will improve dramatically compared to Season 1.
I saw almost all of season 1 from Americas and Europe, will sure tune in this season as well.
Is Sintolol still playing profesional HS?
Based on his Twitter, yes.
What happened to Dog?
He quit grandmasters at the end of season one. It affected when he could profitably stream. Gallon was given his slot.
Dog said he would still play Hearthstone when the new expansions drop, but I think we'll see him playing HS a lot less.
Wow, 1 female only?
There is no physical reason why they can't compete, so it is either lack of will or lack of skill.
Or, if you want a sjw excuse, oppression by white men.
Wow. Literally nobody said that. Simmer down, incel.
Triggered much? You take things way too seriously. Especially just a joke about current identity politics.
There's actually a core of truth in my statement, but I suspect you are too daft to understand it. Women have an equal opportunity to compete in Hearthstone. For sports they are often at a disadvantage due to physical reasons, but those don't apply to eSport. So if there's only 1 female competitor, it means the other women are either not good enough, or not interested in participating.
I had to google your insult, by the way. Nobody ever called me that (I'm married and got a kid), so I didn't even know what it meant.
Sure dude. You made a sexist joke and threw SJW into the mix, but you're too highbrow for me to understand. Omega LUL
Was Staz the only GM to get to the top 8 of Seoul? Good for him, his dominance in the last half of the first season shows that he belongs in the big leagues.
European Grandmasters has to be the most stacked imo.
Also glad to see the new Shielded Conquest format!
I am looking forward to the new format. I think it will be interesting.
I am glad that Blizz is willing to change things up. I was worried that they would decide to keep everything the same for the whole year. That, in and of itself is a good sign.
Me too! They've shown a huge improvement in how nimbly they respond to community desires balanced with their own intentions. Same goes for nerfs, buffs, and HoF. It's not perfect, but their willingness to change things up in a relatively short amount of time is going to pay off in dividends for them.
I might actually set time aside to watch the stream, rewards or not.
"Do note that there are not any free packs associated with the Grandmasters events right now." understandable have a nice day.