Hearthstone

HCT 2018: Everything You Need to Know About Seasonal Playoffs

HCT 2018: Everything You Need to Know About Seasonal Playoffs

The Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) 2018’s Season 1 is almost at an end! This first point-earning season of 2018 culminates in the Summer Playoffs, which lead into the first seasonal championship of the year—the Summer Championship.

If you’ve been gunning to qualify for a Seasonal Playoff this year, we’ve got you covered. Iron out your dates and plan your travel with more information about HCT 2018’s Playoff locations!

Format

HCT 2018 will utilize the Swiss format. Players can expect to compete in seven rounds of Swiss, which will progress into a dual-tournament top eight playoffs. The top two players from each group will move on to play in the Seasonal Championship. The semifinals and finals will not be played.

Matches will be best-of-five with one ban in the Conquest format, and make use of only cards in Standard rotation.

Schedule

Europe Americas Asia-Pacific
Summer Playoffs

Playoffs:

May 5 and 6

Deck Submissions:

May 1

Playoffs:

May 12 and 13

Deck Submissions:

May 8

Playoffs:

May 19 and 20

Deck Submissions:

May 15

Fall Playoffs

Playoffs:

Sep. 1 and 2

Deck Submissions:

Aug. 28

Playoffs:

Sep. 15 and 16

Deck Submissions:

Sep. 11

Playoffs:

Sep. 8 and 9

Deck Submissions:

Sep. 4

Winter Playoffs

Playoffs:

Jan. 12 and 13, 2019

Deck Submissions:

Jan. 8, 2019

Playoffs:

Jan. 19 and 20, 2019

Deck Submissions:

Jan. 15, 2019

Playoffs:

Jan. 26 and 27, 2019

Deck Submissions:

Jan. 22, 2019

All seasonal playoffs will take place in local timezones.

The HCT Summer Championship will run from June 28 to July 1, while the HCT Fall Championship will take place from Oct. 11 to 14. The HCT Winter Championship will be held in Winter 2019, from Feb. 28 to March 3.

All Seasonal Championships for HCT 2018 will be held in the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, California.

Venues

Our commitment to 2018 was to maintain the accessible, distributed model for HCT Playoffs, while increasing on-site staffing and infrastructure support for playoff venues. This means we will have fewer playoffs venues per region, but each venue will be built for competitive play, with stable internet connections and a more controlled competitive environment.

Several venues in 2017 had Fireside Gatherings attached to them that also granted the Power Core card back. To keep venue environments competitive, we will be scaling back on official Fireside Gathering activities at playoff venues. If you are interested in spectating Playoffs in-person, please keep an eye out for notice of which venues will have Fireside Gatherings.


Summer Playoffs Locations

Locations
Venue
Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands

Esports Game Arena

Raadhuisstraat 134

2406 AJ Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

Kiev, Ukraine

Cybersport Arena

Vadyma Hetmana St, 13, Kyiv

Ukraine, 02000
Milan, Italy

Samsung Arena

Via Mike Bongiorno, 9, 20124

Milano MI, Italy
Moscow, Russia

CyberSpace

Avtozavodskaya ylitsa, 18, Moskva, Russia, 115280
Prague, Czech Republic

Kavarna Majak

Jankovcova 1060/10, 17000 Praha 7-Holešovice, Czechia
Locations
Venue
Auckland, New Zealand

Megaweb

f1/51 Hobson St, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
Bangkok, Thailand

INI3 Digital PLC

8th Floor, Room 8/1-8/2, Galaxy Place Building

149 Nonsee Road, Chongnonsee, Yannawa

Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Melbourne, Australia

Zen Gaming Lounge

280 City Rd, Southbank VIC 3006
Seoul, South Korea

WDG PC Bang

B2 View Building, Bongeunsaro 107

Gangnamgu, Seoul
Sydney, Australia

WangYu Cyber Café

Level 1, 382 Sussex St

Sydney, Australia, 2000

Taipei, Taiwan

Blizzard Arena Taipei

106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo School of Anime, Kita Kasai Building

4-10-1, Kita Kasai, Edogawaku, Tokyo, Japan
Locations
Venue
Austin, Texas

Mothership Books and Games

2121 West Parmer Lane Suite 119, Austin TX 78727
Buenos Aires, Argentina

LocalHost S.A.

Av. Fondo de la Legua 631 Boulogne, Buenos Aires :: Argentina
Curitiba, Brazil

Cooldown E-Sports n’ Burgers

Av. Silva jardim, 1145 (6,294.57 mi)
Curitiba, Brazil 80230-000
Fairfax, Virginia

The Cave

10621 Braddock Rd
Fairfax, Virginia 22032
Lima, Peru Jirón Gral José Ramón Pizarro 619
Pueblo Libre 15084
Santa Ana, California

Esports Arena

120 W. 5TH ST 
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Thornhill, Ontario

Zanzone eSport Club

505 Highway 7 East, Suite P1-10 (2,164.55 mi)
Thornhill, Ontario L3T 7T1

Fall Playoffs Locations

Locations
Venue
Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands

Esports Game Arena

Raadhuisstraat 134

2406 AJ Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

Bergamo, Italy

Esports Palace

Via Giosuè Carducci, 4, 24127 Bergamo BG, Italy

Kiev, Ukraine

Cybersport Arena

Vadyma Hetmana St, 13, Kyiv

Ukraine, 02000

Moscow, Russia

CyberSpace

Avtozavodskaya ylitsa, 18, Moskva, Russia, 115280
Prague, Czech Republic

Kavarna Majak

Jankovcova 1060/10, 17000 Praha 7-Holešovice, Czechia
Locations
Venue
Auckland, New Zealand

Megaweb

f1/51 Hobson St, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
Bangkok, Thailand

INI3 Digital PLC

8th Floor, Room 8/1-8/2, Galaxy Place Building

149 Nonsee Road, Chongnonsee, Yannawa

Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Melbourne, Australia

Zen Gaming Lounge

280 City Rd, Southbank VIC 3006
Osaka, Japan

Osaka Communication Art School

2-4-6 Kita Horie, Nishiku, Osaka City, Osaka, Japan
Seoul, South Korea

WDG PC Bang

B2 View Building, Bongeunsaro 107

Gangnamgu, Seoul
Sydney, Australia

WangYu Cyber Café

Level 1, 382 Sussex St

Sydney, Australia, 2000

Taipei, Taiwan

Blizzard Arena Taipei

106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District
Locations
Venue
Austin, Texas

Mothership Books and Games

2121 West Parmer Lane Suite 119, Austin TX 78727
Buenos Aires, Argentina

LocalHost S.A.

Av. Fondo de la Legua 631 Boulogne, Buenos Aires :: Argentina
Curitiba, Brazil

Cooldown E-Sports n’ Burgers

Av. Silva jardim, 1145 (6,294.57 mi)
Curitiba, Brazil 80230-000
Fairfax, Virginia

The Cave

10621 Braddock Rd
Fairfax, Virginia 22032
Lima, Peru Jirón Gral José Ramón Pizarro 619
Pueblo Libre 15084
Santa Ana, California

Esports Arena

120 W. 5TH ST 
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Thornhill, Ontario

Zanzone eSport Club

505 Highway 7 East, Suite P1-10 (2,164.55 mi)
Thornhill, Ontario L3T 7T1

Winter Playoffs Locations

Locations
Venue
Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands

Esports Game Arena

Raadhuisstraat 134

2406 AJ Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands

Bergamo, Italy

Esports Palace

Via Giosuè Carducci, 4, 24127 Bergamo BG, Italy

Kiev, Ukraine

Cybersport Arena

Vadyma Hetmana St, 13, Kyiv

Ukraine, 02000

Moscow, Russia

CyberSpace

Avtozavodskaya ylitsa, 18, Moskva, Russia, 115280
Prague, Czech Republic

Marova Letni Zahradka

Havlíčkovy sady 59/2, 120 00 Praha 2-Vinohrady, Czech Republic 
Asia-Pacific-map_Inline.jpg
Locations
Venue
Melbourne, Australia

Zen Gaming Lounge

280 City Rd, Southbank VIC 3006
Seoul, South Korea

WDG PC Bang

B2 View Building, Bongeunsaro 107

Gangnamgu, Seoul
Sydney, Australia

WangYu Cyber Café

Level 1, 382 Sussex St

Sydney, Australia, 2000

Taipei, Taiwan

Blizzard Arena Taipei

106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo School of Anime, Kita Kasai Building

4-10-1, Kita Kasai, Edogawaku, Tokyo, Japan
Americas-map_Inline.jpg
Locations
Venue
Buenos Aires, Argentina

LocalHost S.A.

Av. Fondo de la Legua 631 Boulogne, Buenos Aires :: Argentina
Curitiba, Brazil

Cooldown E-Sports n’ Burgers

Av. Silva jardim, 1145 (6,294.57 mi)
Curitiba, Brazil 80230-000
Fairfax, Virginia

The Cave

10621 Braddock Rd
Fairfax, Virginia 22032
Lima, Peru Jirón Gral José Ramón Pizarro 619
Pueblo Libre 15084
Santa Ana, California

Esports Arena

120 W. 5TH ST 
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Thornhill, Ontario

Zanzone eSport Club

505 Highway 7 East, Suite P1-10 (2,164.55 mi)
Thornhill, Ontario L3T 7T1

Please note that venues and locations are subject to change.

Competing in Playoffs

If you’re new to competitive Hearthstone, there are several ways you can qualify for Seasonal Playoffs. You can play on the Ranked ladder or compete at Tour Stops to earn Hearthstone Competitive Points. If you earn enough of these points in a season, you’ll be able to qualify for the Hearthstone Masters program and Seasonal Playoffs.

If ladder climbing and travelling the world aren’t for you, you can also choose to compete in Challenger Cups and at Tavern Hero Qualifiers. Challenger Cups are online cups that progress you into the Challenger Finals, while Tavern Hero Qualifiers are offline events in your local Hearthstone community (hosted at approved Fireside Gatherings). Winning one of those also gets you into the Challenger Finals. From there, the top eight players of the Challenger Finals will move on to compete in the Seasonal Playoffs.

Interested in starting your journey into competitive Hearthstone? Learn more by clicking the buttons below!

HCT Challengers

HCT 2018 Overview

Next Article

  1. Hotfixes: March 27, 2024
    World of Warcraft
    15h

    Hotfixes: March 27, 2024

    Here you will find a list of hotfixes that address various issues related to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Wrath of the Lich King Classic, Burning Crusade Classic, Season of Discovery, and WoW Classic.

Featured News