The 2018 Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) is coming to an end in April in Taipei, but Blizzard is already gearing up for the next big thing for the competitive card game. Hearthstone Masters is set to bring a multi-tiered competitive circuit to the community that will feature at least a $250,000 prize pool across numerous tournaments where anyone can qualify.

The Hearthstone Masters system was announced on February 21, 2019 via the Hearthstone website and Hearthstone Esports social media. The system is set up so that anyone willing and able can try their hand at the base level, which is the Hearthstone Masters Qualifier. Hosted through Battlefy, Blizzard will run 30 tournaments through the Masters season, the first of which will begin on March 5. Registration for the first tournaments in most regions is already open on Battlefy. The regions are Americas, Asia-Pacific, and European for the time being. Contenders can sign-up for any region tournament, but must have card decks in that region to play.

Get ready to start YOUR competitive journey with #HearthstoneMasters!

Sign up now for the online Masters Qualifiers and learn more about the 2019 program, the new Specialist format, and our first Masters Tour showdown in Vegas: https://t.co/RTNylZz0H0 pic.twitter.com/1iruhhVnlI

— Hearthstone Esports (@HSesports) February 21, 2019

A winner in a Masters Qualifier will score Hearthstone card packs and entry to the Masters Tour of the region in which the player wins. The second tier of Hearthstone Masters is the Masters Tour, which will feature a stop in Las Vegas at the LINQ Hotel for a major competition July 14-16, 2019. Not only can one get in through the qualifiers, but there are several other ways to qualify for the Masters Tour as well, including finishing Top Four in a Ranked Ladder Qualifier, finishing Year of the Raven with 250 Ranked Competitive points and more. The $250,000 prize pool will be on the line during these events, but some in-game purchasable items coming to Hearthstone will contribute sales to grow the prize pool even further.

Winning in the Hearthstone Masters Tour will also bump players up to the final tier at Hearthstone Grandmasters. Details on Grandmasters are scarce right now as Blizzard is not ready to announce them at this time, but they will be coming soon as the action commences.

The format of all competition throughout Hearthstone Masters will be a new setup called Specialist, the details of which can be seen on the Hearthstone website and below as well.

• Players submit three decks from the same class.
• Players designate one deck as a primary deck, then the other two as secondary and tertiary.
• Secondary and tertiary decks may have up to 5 cards different from the primary deck. For the purposes of this modification, two duplicate cards in the primary deck list count as two cards.
• Players must play game one of each match with their primary deck.
• At the beginning of game two and onward, players may decide to keep playing their primary deck, or switch to their secondary or tertiary decks.
• Deck decisions for games two and three, if necessary, are performed at the start of each game simultaneously and in secret from the opposing player.
• All Masters Qualifier and Ranked Ladder Qualifier matches will be best-of-three. All matches at Masters Tour events will be best-of-three as well, with the exception of a best-of-five finals.

A video can also be seen below which explains Specialist Format in further detail.

Are you good enough to rise to the challenge of Hearthstone Masters, take your place among the greats, and score a piece of the prize pool? Then it’s time to sign up on Battlefy, build your decks to their best, and show it.