Hearthstone Esports 2025: General Rules, System, Phases, More

Images courtesy of Blizzard

So, you heard Hearthstone Esports is back for 2025, and you’re probably wondering what this whole new system means, right? Well, you’re in luck, because this year’s competitive is open for pretty much everyone, from hardcore grinders to tournament newbies. And it actually might be the first time in a while where everyone is pretty happy with the changes.

That said, let’s jump straight in and see what’s new, how you qualify, and what you need to do to climb your way up to that sweet $500,000 Hearthstone World Championship!

What’s New in Hearthstone Esports 2025? — General Rules

Hearthstone‘s 2025 Esports will be all about three major events:

• Two Master Tour Championships (Spring and Summer)
• One World Championship with a prize pool of $500,000

Blizzard‘s main goal for Hearthstone Esports this year is to give more people a shot at top-level competition. Previously, it was reserved only for ladder grinders, but now it’s going to be slightly more tournament oriented, with the introduction of monthly Open Qualifiers and Master Tour Playoffs.

Hearthstone‘s 2025 competitive season splits into three qualification periods:

• Spring Qualifying Period (March-April)
• Summer Qualifying Period (June-July)
• Last Chance Qualifying Period (September-October)

Each qualifying period has two main paths to make it into the Masters Tour Championships: playing Ranked or competing in Open Qualifiers.

Phase 1: Ladder Grinding (Competitive Points)

Let’s be honest — grinding Hearthstone’s ranked system isn’t for everyone. However, if you have a strong MMR, the mental resilience to play numerous BO1 matches, and the consistency to reach at least the top 100 Legend during a qualifying month, you can earn some Competitive Points.

The points breakdown is pretty straightforward and similar to what we’ve seen before:

At the end of each qualification period, the top 50 point earners from each region (Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific) automatically qualify for their respective Masters Tour Playoffs. As a reminder, Competitive Points are global; you can earn them on any region’s ladder. But remember, your invite to tournaments depends on your actual region of residence, not where you played.

So if you live in Europe but finish Rank 10 Legend on the Americas ladder, you’ll still get the points, but your tournament invite remains tied to Europe.

• Important: You only get points from your single highest ladder finish each month, even if you hit the top 100 Legend on multiple servers. For example, if you achieve Rank 1 Legend on Europe and Rank 10 on Asia-Pacific, you’ll receive points just for your highest finish (Rank 1), and no extra points from other regions.

Alternative Phase 1: Open Qualifiers (New Path!)

If you’re not really feeling ladder grinding, you can still fight your way in through Open Qualifiers. Every qualifying month, each region hosts an online Open Qualifier tournament. Finish in the Top 4 there, and boom — you’re straight into the Masters Tour Playoffs, no Competitive Points required.

The Open Qualifiers follow a Swiss format consisting of six rounds, with the top four finishers advancing further. Exact dates will be determined on an ongoing basis, likely depending on game updates, as it clearly wouldn’t be ideal to launch a tournament on the same day that a new Hearthstone expansion is released, right?

Phase 2: Region-Oriented Masters Tour Playoffs

Okay, so if you’ve collected enough Competitive Points or placed in the Top 4 of an Open Qualifier, it’s time for the next big step: Masters Tour Playoffs.

Each region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific) hosts its own Masters Tour Playoffs once per qualification period, and well, they’re a pretty big deal. The Playoffs bring together the region’s top 50 Competitive Points earners, plus anyone who made it through the Open Qualifiers. In total, this makes between 50 and 128 players per region. 

These Playoffs run using a Swiss tournament format, which basically means:

• You play six rounds of Hearthstone
• Each round, you face someone with a similar record (for example, if you’re 2-0, you’ll meet another 2-0 player)
• No rematches; you’ll always get paired with someone new
• After six rounds, the eight best players advance to the next stage, known as the “Round of Eight”

So if you lose a game or two early, don’t tilt; there’s some room for a comeback story. Especially if you follow my guide on how to prepare for a Hearthstone tournament, of course.

Phase 3: Masters Tour Championship — Your Road to Worlds

Survive the Masters Tour Playoffs, finish in the Top 2 of your region, and you’re officially on your way to one of the two big events: the Masters Tour Championships. Each Championship gathers the best of the best – 16 total players from all around the globe, including:

• Top 2 players from each region’s Playoffs (six total)
• Top 2 Competitive Point earners from each region (six more)
• Four extra global Competitive Point earners to round out the group

Do well here (meaning finish in the top four), and congrats — you’ve made it to Hearthstone World Championship. Yup, that’s it.

Last Chance Qualifier

Missed your chance during Spring or Summer? No worries, you have one more shot at the LCQ, but this will literally be your last opportunity of the year to qualify for Worlds.

The LCQ is an intense, global event, and you can qualify for it through:

• Finishing among the top 50 global Competitive Point earners for the entire year
• Placing Top 4 in an Open Qualifier during the Last Chance Qualifying Period (September-October)
• Competing in any Masters Tour Championships without already securing a Worlds spot

The LCQ give out only one spot. Yup, the first-place finisher earns their way into the Hearthstone World Championship, and that’s basically it. 

Final Phase: Hearthstone World Championship

Finally, all roads lead here — Hearthstone World Championship, featuring:

• 8 players from both Master Tour Championships (Top 4 from each)
• 4 top players from the separate Chinese competitive system
• 3 top global Competitive Points earners across the entire year
• 1 winner from the Last Chance Qualifier

The prize pool for Hearthstone’s World Championship in 2025 is $500,000. However, if this Esports season gains enough popularity, Blizzard may once again turn to crowdfunding to increase the total.

That’s what Hearthstone’s Esports in 2025 is all about! Keep in mind keep in mind that not all countries are eligible to participate, so first check Blizzard’s official tournament rules before you grind too hard, just to avoid disappointment.