Hearthstone esports is back with a more open system designed to give you more opportunities to enjoy competitive Hearthstone!

Hearthstone Esports in 2025

Hearthstone esports looks a little different in the Year of the Raptor. Our three premier broadcast events—2 Masters Tour Championships and the World Championship—will still make up the backbone of the Hearthstone competitive system. But our focus this year is to open up new paths for more players to participate in these premier events. We want to invest in the competitive Hearthstone community, so our improvements this year are primarily designed to make the system wider instead of taller—and we hope to see more grassroots Hearthstone events to go along with our official system.

Whether you’re a top ladder grinder, a tournament specialist, a new competitor, or an esports superfan, we have something for you!

Three Qualification Periods

The competitive year will be split into 3 Qualifying Periods: Spring (March/April), Summer (June/July), and Last Chance (September/October). Top performers in each qualifying period will earn invitations to the World Championships, and performance during the first two qualification periods will feed into the Last Chance period so there’s more to play for all year round!

Two Paths to Qualification

Play Ranked for Competitive Points

The Ranked Hearthstone ladder will continue to be the main feeder into Hearthstone esports. Climb the Hearthstone ladder and get a top 100 finish during any Qualifying Period month to earn Competitive Points. Those Competitive Points totals will determine invitations to tournament events, as outlined below.

New: Open Qualifier Events

Each month during the Qualifying Periods, there will be 3 Open Qualifiers (one per regional server). Finishing Top 4 in any Open Qualifier will seed players directly into a new Masters Tour Playoffs event, which will let players earn an invitation to the Masters Tour Championship outside of the Competitive Points system. Save the date: the first of these Open Qualifiers will take place March 21-23!*

* Exact dates and times will vary by region; more details and sign-up links will be shared in the coming weeks.

More Chances to Compete

New: Masters Tour Playoffs

There will be 3 Masters Tour Playoffs events per Masters Tour Championship (one per region). Each event will consist of the Top 50 eligible Competitive Point earners for that region, plus any eligible players who finished in the Top 4 of an Open Qualifier, during the Qualification Period. The Top 2 finishers in the Masters Tour Playoffs will move on to that period’s Masters Tour Championship.

As we develop and evaluate the program this year, there may be opportunities to expand invitation lists to Masters Tour Playoffs. Keep an eye out for event dates and any other program announcements.

Masters Tour Championships

There will be two Masters Tour Championships this year. The Masters Tour Championships will consist of 16 top players that Qualification Period: 6 from Masters Tour Playoffs (Top 2 in each of the 3 regions) and 10 from Competitive Points (Top 2 per region, and the 4 highest remaining points earners across all three regions). The Top 4 in each Masters Tour Championship will earn invitations to the World Championships at the end of the year; the other 12 competitors will earn another chance at Worlds at the Last Chance Qualifier!

Last Chance Qualifier

After the two Masters Tour Championships there will be one last chance at glory! The Last Chance Qualifier event will be a single, global tournament that combines the top performers throughout the year and in the final Qualification Period. Invitations will be awarded to:

• The Top 50 combined Competitive Points earners globally, across all 3 Qualifying Periods;
• All Top 4 finishers from Open Qualifiers during the Last Chance Qualifying Period;
• All players who competed in a Masters Tour Championship and have not already earned a spot at Worlds

Competition will be especially fierce, as only the first place finisher at the Last Chance Qualifier will earn a spot at the World Championship!

One Amazing World Championship

The World Championship will consist of 16 top players throughout the year:

• The Top 4 players from each Masters Tour Championship (8 players)
• The Top 4 players from the Chinese-region competitive esports system (4 players)
• The Top 3 Competitive Points earners globally, across all Qualification Periods combined (3 players)
• The winner of the Last Chance Qualifier tournament (1 player)

Those top competitors will be playing for their share of $500,000 (USD) in prizing and the title of Hearthstone World Champion!

The first qualifying period begins in March. See the Official Rules for more details and make sure to follow the official Hearthstone social media channels for upcoming event dates and program announcements. We’ll see you in the Tavern and on the road to the World Championship!