The first Grandmasters season of 2021 continued with Week 3 last weekend as 48 players battled in the Specialist format to gather some all-important points to reach the Playoffs. You can re-live the action with our spoiler-free post below.
Top 4 Decklists
These were the players that reached the final day in each region and the decks they brought this week.
VoDs
Here are the links to individual match VoDs in spoilers below.
Day 1 - Initial Group Decider Matches
———- Asia-Pacific ———-
- Group A Decider - Surrender vs TIZS: VoD
- Group B Decider - che0nsu vs Alan870806: VoD
- Group C Decider - glory vs Shaxy: VoD
- Group D Decider - Hi3 vs DawN: VoD
———- Europe ———-
- Group A Decider - Zhym vs Felkeine: VoD
- Group B Decider - Swidz vs Seiko: VoD
- Group C Decider - Bozzzton vs Casie: VoD
- Group D Decider - AyRoK vs Frenetic: VoD
———- Americas ———-
Day 2 - Quarterfinals
The spoiler below uses results from Day 1 games in naming matchups, so watch those first if you want no spoilers!
———- Asia-Pacific ———-
- Quarterfinal 1 - blitzchung vs Alan870806: VoD
- Quarterfinal 2 - Bankyugi vs DawN: VoD
- Quarterfinal 3 - Alutemu vs Surrender: VoD
- Quarterfinal 4 - tom60229 vs Shaxy: VoD
———- Europe ———-
- Quarterfinal 1 - Rdu vs Swidz: VoD
- Quarterfinal 2 - Jarla vs Felkeine: VoD
- Quarterfinal 3 - xBlyzes vs Frenetic: VoD
- Quarterfinal 4 - Leta vs Casie: VoD
———- Americas ———-
Day 3 - Semifinals and Finals
Results
The results in full, including the preceding off-stream games, can be found here.
Discussion
Mage was the players' overwhelming favourite to bring for this week (14/48), followed by Rogue (8). Shaman was (unsurprisingly) brought by no one, and Rami94 and Briarthorn were responsible for the only Hunter and Paladin decks of the week, respectively. There were clear regional distinctions in the tournament meta as well: APAC players brought 5/6 of the Demon Hunters and the only two Druids of the week, leaving Mage with only two picks. Europeans brought only 4 different classes (with half of them bringing Mage) whereas Americas had the biggest variety of classes represented (7) thanks to the aforementioned duo. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, changes for the second week of Specialist.
APAC (and possibly other regions too) might see a lot more Druids next time as blitzchung piloted the only Token Druid of the week to a comfortable victory, losing only a single match during the entire week. In Europe, Swidz was able to overcome the Mage infestation as well as a gruelingly long Control Priest mirror to take home the 5 points which got him out of the relegation zone. In the Americas, Rami94 faced against all 4 players who brought Mage and beat them with his Face Hunter; another deck that might see more play next time if Mage is expected to be as popular as now.
The winners of Week 3.
We're almost halfway into this season, so here's take a quick look at the top and bottom of the points standings. The most important part at this moment are the players that are starting to fall behind, as the bottom 4 from each region (except Americas) will be automatically relegated.
| APAC | Points | Europe | Points | Americas | Points |
| Alutemu | 9 | Thijs & Jarla | 9 | NoHandsGamer | 12 |
| GivePLZ & blitzchung | 8 | Warma | 8 | Eddie | 8 |
| TIZS & Surrender | 7 | Leta | 7 | Rami & luna & Fr0zen | 7 |
| … | … | … | … | … | … |
| DawN | 3 | Bunnyhoppor | 3 | muzzy | 4 |
| lambyseries | 3 | Frenetic | 3 | Fled | 3 |
| che0nsu | 3 | Seiko | 3 | killinallday | 3 |
| posesi | 2 | AyRoK | 1 | Briarthorn | 2 |
| tyler | 1 | Zhym | 1 | Impact | 1 |
You can find the full standings on the official tournament site (not yet updated with Week 3 results at the time of writing).
Grandmasters will continue in two weeks with another round of Specialist, but before that - Masters Tour Orgrimmar. Don't forget to tune in!
Comments
NoHands is doing some work.
Rami SMOrcing his way to top 1, you love to see it!
My fellow Argentinians are having a good tournament so far, I hope they can keep it up. Despite my country, my heart is with NHG!
The Svidz vs Seiko match is the reason I don't play Priest on the ladder: I don't want to play a mirror match.