:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45228616/ss1-full.0.0.jpg)
The Hearthstone World Championship is starting up once more: so how can you be named one of the best Hearthstone players in the world?
Starting this month, Hearthstone players can collect points for every match played and earn a spot in this year's championship. Taking to the official Battle.net forums, community manager Zeriyah writes points can be accumulated through Ranked Play, Fireside Gatherings and tournaments.
This point structure works like this:
Over the course of the next few months, players can obtain "qualifier points" based on performance, with better results awarding more points. To start with, select Fireside Gathering events will host officially-sanctioned Hearthstone tournaments, the winners of which will be entered into the Fireside Gathering Championship. The eventual Grand Champion is guaranteed a spot in their Regional Qualifier.
There are a few caveats, however. Any player that receives at least two points by the end of July is eligible for the regional Last Call tournament, which is followed by Regional Qualifiers.
The Hearthstone World Championship starts this fall
Likewise, Blizzard offers a caveat for high-ranking players across each region, however. "The 23 players per region with the highest point totals will receive advanced seeding in their Regional Qualifier and do not need to play in the Last Call Tournament in order to qualify," writes Zeriyah.
Hearthstone's Regional Qualifier takes place this fall, just before Regional Championships, and will include players from North America, Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Each region will feature 40-player double-elimination tournaments, with the top eight players confirmed a spot in the Regional Championships.
After this comes the Hearthstone Regional Championships which will feature eight players per respective region, competing for four representative spots at the Hearthstone World Championship and decide the 16 players total who will attend.
No firm date has been announced for this year's World Championship, but a Fall window is expected.
Previous Hearthstone tournaments have been held during Blizzard's annual BlizzCon in Anaheim, Calif. in November. Last year, Blizzard offered up $100,000 to the top-placing player, while second place received $50,000 and both Third and fourth place took home $15,000 each. Polygon has reached out to Blizzard for details of this year's prize pool.
