Hearthstone Championship Tour Americas Summer Playoffs | Event Overview

The first season of the Americas 2018 HCT series will be kicking off in just a few days, on the 12th of May. The tournament will last a short two days and end on the 13th of May.

Where can you watch the Hearthstone Championship Tour?

Blizzard will be streaming the 2018 HCT Season 1 Americas event on Twitch and YouTube on the tournament dates between the 12th and 13th of May.

Who are the Organizers of the event?

Blizzard are the official organizers for this tournament series. This is because the results in the HCT tournaments offer players an opportunity to enter the Hearthstone World Championships later in the year!

How many participants are there?

Initially, the event will be starting with a total of seventy two participants. Sixty six of these are the top players currently on the ladder, while eight were invited as a result of getting into the previous challenger finals. Major Hearthstone gaming force Tempo Storm has three players in the HCT 2018 Season 1 Americas event. Following, Team Run’N Gun, Team Liquid, Kyoto eSports and Gamers Origin who each have two players representing them.

HCT tournament and match Format

The tournament will start with the usual ‘best of five’ conquest format, where each player gets to choose a single class to ban for their opponent. Players will have to submit some of their decks prior to the event, but reserve their right to submit new decks before a new stage in the event.

As usual, in the best of five, players have to win three games in order to advance, with all wins having to be of a different class. Players are told the classes their opponents have chosen, however, the order of play is reserved in the right of the player.

HCT Prize pool

It is unclear the exact amount of cash prize each player will receive, however, the prize pool is likely to hover around $150,000. Players ranking; 17th – 32nd will receive 6 HCT points, 9th – 16th will receive 7 HCT points, 8th getting eight, 7th getting nine, 6th getting ten and 5th getting eleven HCT points. Players ranking in the top four will directly advance to the Summer Championship.