Blizzard Entertainment just announced the details of its 2021 Hearthstone Masters Tour.
This year’s first Hearthstone Masters Tour event will return with improvements in terms of player qualifications. In each season, a total of 120 individual Qualifier tournaments will occur. According to Blizzard, this will be part of its efforts to expand the opportunities among players who want an invitation to the esports event.
Another way that Blizzard will do this is by lowering the number of top eight finishes. After reviewing the placements in past Qualifier matches, it was found that players who made it to the top eight four times already have the skills required to get the fifth top eight placement.
A final implementation that would expand invitation opportunities will pertain to the top 32 players getting an invitation to a following Hearthstone Masters Tour. This will apply to players who don’t already have an invitation to the next event.
The qualification paths for Hearthstone Masters Tour 2021. Image provided by Blizzard Entertainment.
“This small change will reward high-level players while also opening up more invitations from Qualifiers that those competitors would have been competing for,” Blizzard noted in a press release and announcement.
Due to the worldwide pandemic, the 2021 Hearthstone Masters Tour events will also be happening exclusively online. A total of six Masters Tour tournaments will be held, and players will get to duke it out against each other for a share of the $250,000 USD prize pool. This amount would be divided among the top 200 players based on the final standings, according to the press release.
The first of the six events will be Hearthstone Masters Tour Ironforge. It will start on March 12 this year.
Dates and locations for all six Hearthstone Masters Tour 2021 events. Image provided by Blizzard Entertainment.
In terms of getting a Hearthstone Masters Tour Ironforge invitations, players must win one of the 120 Qualifier tournaments that will occur between Jan. 28 and Feb. 28. The full schedule can be found over at Battlefy.
Players who also achieve a record of 7-2 at either Masters Tour Online: Madrid or Masters Tour Online: Montreal will also get an invitation. Those who place in the top 8 of the Qualifier events for Hearthstone Masters Tour Ironforge four times will also get one. Of course, invitations will extend to individuals who place in the top 32 within the Legend rank in January.
Details of the rules and policies for this can be found over on the Hearthstone esports website. Players who are already a Hearthstone Grandmaster may also receive an invitation.
The Hearthstone Masters Tour 2021 points system. Image provided by Blizzard Entertainment.
Interested competitors and esports enthusiasts should take note of the new points system as well. Thanks to feedback, players will now earn points based on their number of wins at Masters Tour events. More points will be rewarded within each top eight. Individuals who earn the most points within each region for the six Masters Tour events can get invited to the second season of Hearthstone Grandmasters 2021.
Esports fans would be able to catch all the card action over at the official Hearthstone YouTube channel.
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