Grandmaster: a Blizzard term usually used to describe the top 200 players in a game. In Hearthstone, it’s used to describe the top competitors of all time.
World champions and contenders, top competitors and even popular streamers comprise Hearthstone Grandmasters.
The system mimics weekly leagues like League of Legends Championship Series and Overwatch League. The idea is simple: have a set time every week where the main attraction on Twitch’s Hearthstone section is Blizzard-sponsored competition.
This idea isn’t novel and Blizzard has sponsored and streamed Hearthstone tournaments before through organizations like DreamHack and WESG, but now competitions have largely been consolidated into Hearthstone Masters and Grandmasters.
For viewers, this isn’t much of a problem and is actually beneficial. Now viewers can see their favorite players compete on a weekly basis instead of hoping they’ll be featured in a LAN tournament. Also, Grandmasters get to compete in the comfort of their home.
However, with the implementation of Grandmasters, many tournaments like the Hearthstone Grand Prix ran by DreamHack, have been discontinued.
For big streamers and sponsored players, this is irrelevant if not beneficial. But this is catastrophic for players looking to get their moment in the sun. Other than the 48 players in Grandmasters, players now essentially have three competitions a year to make an impact.
Players who’ve hit rank one, who’ve won prestigious online tournaments, and even amateurs who want to test their skills have fewer ways to compete and potentially win money.
Now, this is a very, very small subset of Hearthstone players. Players who are willing to travel across the country and sometimes the world to compete. Players who not only have the willingness but the talent to secure sponsors who are willing to fly them out to competitions.
But this small minority of players feel betrayed when they play their hearts out in online and LAN tournaments and see players who’ve only won four, and in one case three, matches in 14 being celebrated.
To these players whose tournament lives depend on tiebreakers at six wins and two losses, to those who’re expected to win seven out of eight matches and then another two in a row to qualify for LAN tournaments, seeing players with a 30-percent winrate return to Hearthstone Grandmasters for three months is demoralizing.
The Masters Qualifiers are now single elimination, meaning players can be expected to win nine matches in a row, fly out to a LAN tournament, then win about another 14 matches out of about 19 to qualify for Hearthstone Grandmasters.
However, Blizzard announced they are taking steps to remedy this situation. On July 30, Blizzard teased an important announcement within the changes happening to Masters and Grandmasters.
They said relegations are happening in Season 2 and may be more common in 2020.
“We did not have relegation for Season 1 and set the maximum relegation to two players per region for Season 2,” Blizzard said in a news release. “For Grandmasters in 2020, we will look to change relegation further to increase the maximum number of relegation/promotion spots per season.”
Relegations mean players essentially drop from a league and other players replace them.
Imagine if the top 48 spots in legend were a separate division on ladder. If you lose too many games, you can demote to rank 49 legend, and the player who was previously rank 49 would take your spot.
I think relegations are a fantastic idea. It incentivizes all players, not just those who’re competing for the top three spots, to play their best.
At the start of the season, everyone fights to qualify for the next rounds of competition. Eventually, it becomes mathematically impossible for some players to finish in a top spot and have little incentive to continue competing in a league-based system.
With relegations in place, even lower-seated players have to compete at their best.
When players have their backs against the wall, when they’re on a loss-streak and are one match away from being relegated, when they’re tempted to try a new deck or strategy, that’s where I think we’ll see some really exciting and innovative gameplay. That’ll make every game worth watching.
Despite relegations being excellent for viewers, it can be hell for players, and not just those facing relegation.
Obviously, it can be stressful when you’re lagging behind the pack and have the threat of losing your spot looming overhead, but the mere existence of a relegation system generally leads to less money for all participants.
Like most competitions, the majority of player revenue doesn’t come from prize earnings but from sponsorships.
With sponsors, one of the largest entry barriers to esports is uncertainty, and what’s more uncertain than the possibility of being dropped from a competition?
Not only do relegations make it harder for players to find sponsors, generally sponsors will sign for shorter periods of time and for less money than to entities competing in a stable league. This is one of the reasons franchising, or essentially permanent spots, is rising in popularity and why there’s a prevalence of short-term contracts in Hearthstone.
I don’t envy Blizzard’s position. Having to balance the desires of viewers, competitors and advertisers feels like an impossible challenge. They seem to be going in the right direction in terms of Hearthstone Grandmasters and have received a ton of feedback for Masters Qualifiers.
I’d personally love to see a few more Blizzard-sponsored LAN tournaments, but as a viewer, this is possibly the best it’s ever been. I think Hearthstone will keep improving for those who’re interested in watching and learning from competitions.
However, I imagine living in a world where every night you can tune into Twitch and see someone you know competing and being cast. I want a world where Hearthstone is a true meritocracy and the best surface to the top. As they say: Saturdays are for the streamers, but the rest of the week is for the competitors.
