The last week of the first phase of Grandmasters is upon us, and after last weekend's matches the points situation is wide open. 16 players from each region started with Swiss on Wednesday hoping to secure their place in Division A, but only 8 players will have made it at the end of the week. You can find everything you need to know below.


This Week's Format

This week will continue in a similar fashion than in previous weeks.

  • The usual Conquest format has returned with a twist - 10 decks with 6 bans!
  • 7 Swiss rounds will be played off-stream on Wednesday and Thursday with top 8 of each region advancing.
  • Top 8 will be divided to two groups, which play through a double elimination bracket, top 2 from each group advances.
  • Top 4 play through a single elimination bracket to decide the winner.

Players will be gaining points based on their performance, and at the end of next week Grandmasters will be divided to Division A and B based on these points. You can check the current point standings here.

For the entire competition format, check out the spoiler below.

Competition Format

Quote From Blizzard

Weeks 1-3: Swiss into Group Stage

During weeks 1-3, players will compete in matches in a Swiss format on each Wednesday and Thursday to earn placement in the weekend Group Stage. Points from these weekend rounds will be used to determine two Divisions in each region for round-robin weeks. Different gameplay format each week.

  • The 16 players in each region will compete against each other off broadcast in 7 Swiss rounds during the week. 
  • On Thursday, after Swiss play has completed, the field is cut in half based on standings and the Top 8 per region will play in a dual tournament format live on YouTube across Friday and Saturday, with the top-4 finals played out on Sunday.
  • Gameplay format changes every week:
    • Week 1: Conquest with 1 Ban
    • Week 2: Four Deck Last Hero Standing with 1 Ban
    • Week 3: Ten Deck Conquest with 6 Bans
Weeks 4 - 7: Round Robin

Weeks 4 –7 will consist of round-robin group play within the two divisions in each region—much like the previous seasons of Grandmasters. 

  • Following weeks 1-3, players will be sorted into two divisions based on their points standings. Division A is comprised of the top-8 point-earning players, and Division B will be point total ranks 9-16.
  • The two divisions compete in round-robin group play over four weeks. The standings at the of conclusion of these weeks will determine who will go on to compete in Playoffs, and who will be relegated from Season 1.
  • The format will stay consistent during round-robin weeks:
    • Bo5 Conquest (4 decks, 1 ban)
Week 8: Season 1 Playoffs

Round-robin weeks lead into Week 8 Playoffs, which will qualify one player per region to the World Championship at the end of the year, while three players from each region will be relegated.

  • Top 6 from Division A automatically make it into Playoffs.
  • Top 4 from Division B compete in a play-in round to determine who will join the top 6 from Division A in a dual tournament bracket for Playoffs.
  • The 7th- and 8th-placed players in Division B at the close of round robin are automatically relegated from Season 1 of Grandmasters.
  • Final relegation will be determined via a 3-match Play-In involving the 7th- and 8th-placed from Division A, and 5th- and 6th-placed from Division B.
  • The winner of Playoffs from each region will qualify to the Hearthstone World Championships later this year.


Stream Schedule

If they're keeping the schedule from last week, the stream should begin as follows:

 

West Coast

PDT (UTC-7)

East Coast

EDT (UTC-4)

Europe

CEST (UTC+2)

Korea

KST (UTC+9)

May 12:005:0011:0018:00
May 22:005:0011:0018:00
May 34:007:0013:0020:00

Please note that there might be some downtime between regions depending on how the matches progress.

You can find all the matches, results, and decklists on the official tournament site.


Asia-Pacific Grandmasters


Europe Grandmasters


Americas Grandmasters


Watch Live

You can watch all the action on the official Hearthstone Esports Youtube channel. If you want more Grandmasters content, check out the shorter videos about last week's matches made by the casters.

Day 1 Stream

Day 2 Stream

Day 3 Stream

Caster Videos

Recap of the weekend with Raven.

Top 5 moments with Darroch.

Mulligan decisions with Jia.

Hot Takes with TJ and Sottle.