If you love competitive Hearthstone, then you’ve probably had a great month.
The action continues tomorrow when Hearthstone Grandmasters season two returns with a different format. You can think of Hearthstone Grandmasters as the game’s version of the NBA or NFL. Throughout the year, players who have been awarded the title of Grandmaster compete against each other in a number of matches across a variety of platforms.
During Hearthstone Grandmasters season one, the competition followed the Specialist format. This format wasn’t very well received and for good reason. The Specialist format allowed a player to bring three decks, a Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary deck. All three decks had to be the same class and needed to have at least 25 cards in common. Players were also required to play the first game with their primary lists.
The appeal to the Conquest format, when compared to Specialist, is the freedom it gives players to strategize. With the Conquest format that’s being introduced to Grandmasters for season two, players will bring four decks from different classes. This new version of Conquest will start with a shield phase that allows players to protect one of their decks from being banned. After shielding, a player will get to ban one of their opponent’s non-shielded decks.
After the ban phase, players will select one of their remaining three decks to begin the game with. The match will be a best-of-three series. If you win with a deck, you can’t use that deck again in the same series. In the event of a 1-1 tie after two games, players can use their third deck or a deck they’ve already played and lost with.
The reversion back to the Conquest format comes after the Hearthstone community at large spoke out against the Specialist format. Perhaps the Conquest format will make this season of Hearthstone Grandmasters more entertaining than the last.
