In a news update the Hearthstone team calls upon enthusiasts worldwide to decide who gets to play on the big stage.
After Blizzard pre-selected a handful of players per country, it is now up to the citizens to decide who will represent their nation. Players from fourty-seven countries (China is having its votes separately) are displayed with a quote that should convince voters to select them, hoping they make it to the top three. That top three will play in the Global Games alongside their country's 'anchor' player, which is the player who collected the largest amount of HCT points between November and the end of January.
To help players find their way to the voting page, a pack of Whispers of the Old Gods will be rewarded to those who voted. The voting closes at March 14 00:00 PST, so be sure to select the player you want to represent your country!
The Hearthstone Global Games use the following format:
Format
- All three phases will use a best-of-five, class vs. class format with nine unique classes per team.
- Each player on the team will have two classes they are able to play.
- The ninth class will be designated as the “Ace Deck” and may be used for game five instead of previously un-selected decks of the “Ace Player”.
Phase 1
- The 48 participating teams will be seeded and placed into one of eight groups based on their country’s total Hearthstone Competitive Points for the Winter Season.
- Each group of six teams will compete online against each other with each team playing each other once (Round Robin).
- The top three teams from each group will advance to Phase 2.
Phase 2
- The 24 remaining teams will be seeded and placed into one of six groups based on their country’s total Hearthstone Competitive Points for the Spring Season.
- Each group of four teams will again compete against each other in a Round Robin.
- The top two teams from each group, and the four highest 3rd place teams based on tie-breakers will advance to Phase 3.
Phase 3
- The remaining 16 teams will then be seeded into a single elimination bracket.
- The top four teams will advance to the live Global Games Finals.
Global Games Finals
- The finals will use a best-of-nine, class vs. class format similar to the qualification period.
- The final four teams will be seeded into a single elimination bracket.