WCA to change format, possibly to re-seed groups

Following feedback from players, the $190,000 WCA Hearthstone competition will undergo changes to its format and possibly to how participants are positioned in the groups.

The original format of the World Cyber Arena Hearthstone competition had the 36 players split into eight groups of four or five people who were then supposed to play a Bo2 round robin format. Players would choose and lock the two decks they want to play in any group stage match and would be awarded three points for a win and one point for a draw.

According to GosuGamers sources, the blind pick Bo2 rounds will now be changed to a standard Bo3 with one class ban, akin to how the majority of Hearthstone competitions are held. There's no information whether the playoff rules - and more particularly the two-class-ban with deck rebuilding between series - will be adjusted.

Additionally, WCA might consider moving the players around to create better seeded groups as the current distribution sees very uneven pools, featuring two predominantly Chinese groups (A and H), the all-foreign Group B and the Group of Death G, featuring Gnimsh, TidesofTime, Rdu, StrifeCro and Amaz.

Official announcement from WCA is said to be coming out soon, so we'll keep you updated as the story develops.

WCA will be held between October 2-5 with a $190,000 prize pool for HEarthstone, $97,000 of which banked by the champion.

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