Dear GWENT players,





Open #7 is now concluded. With it, all of the GWENT Masters events we have planned for this year. As we’re approaching the launch of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, big changes are on the horizon for GWENT Masters. In this post, we’d like to touch upon some of them. Interested? Read on!





The Future of Pro Ladder





Pro Ladder was designed to promote versatility and faction diversity at the top level of play. Since its introduction in 2017, it was a connecting link between the best Ranked players and professional gamers. With the conclusion of GWENT Masters events for this year, we decided to modify some of the aspects of Pro Ladder. These community-suggested modifications include a changed number of matches required to rise to the top, as well as address situations where a player would reach rank 21, qualifying for the next season of Pro Ladder, yet still had to wait another month before joining it.





Starting October 23rd, as soon as the Homecoming update goes live, Pro Ladder as we know it will cease to exist. It will be replaced by “Pro Rank” — the pinnacle of new Ranked in GWENT. Matchmaking in Pro Rank will still be based on fMRR and, just as before, players will need to perform well with multiple factions. However, the number of “placement” matches was significantly decreased — instead of completing 100 matches per faction to unlock 100% fMMR, players will just need to play 40 matches with each faction.













This change goes hand in hand with the decreased length of Pro season. The new system is synchronized with Ranked, with Pro Rank being its natural extension, so each season will last for 1 month and reset at the end. The top 500 Pro Rank players will retain their top positions, while other players will be demoted to rank 5, but will still be able to climb back next season and join the race immediately. That’s right! Players reaching the top Rank during a season in progress will now able to play Pro Rank immediately (however, any excessive fMMR will be capped at the default value of 2400).





Another positive effect of these changes is the fact that all Ranked players will be eligible for seasonal rewards, meaning pros will no longer have to balance different game modes.





Crown Points for top 200 Pro Rank placements will be distributed monthly, and end-season values will be adjusted accordingly. For the purpose of qualifying for GWENT Masters, tournament cumulative CP scores of 2 (for Opens) and 4 (for Challengers) seasons will be used.













Schedule





Pro Rank becomes active immediately after the Homecoming update goes live. All GOG players eligible to play in Pro Ladder will be automatically transferred to Pro Rank on October 23rd. However, until all eligible PS4/Xbox One players join Pro Rank on December 4th, playing Pro Rank in October and November won’t get players any Crown Points. Cut-offs won’t be applied at the end of seasons before the beginning of the December season.





Starting December 4th, GWENT Masters will make its big return. Based on cumulative performance in 2 seasons prior to the tournament, top players will qualify for Open #8 and Open Online qualifier tournament. The first Open tournament after the off-season break will take place in March 2019. It will be followed by Challenger #5 and the grand finale of the inaugural season of the series — World Masters — later the same year!





We’re excited to bring these changes to competitive GWENT and sincerely hope that a new system will be more rewarding for existing pros, and give aspiring players more incentives to get to the top. Please let us know what you think about the new format and ask any questions you may have!

Sincerely yours,

GWENT Masters Team