2017 HCT Winter Championship Location Announced!

Save the date for the 2017 Hearthstone Championship Tour's Winter Championship Event!
What better way to spend your time at the Winter Championship than to stroll on a sandy beach, bask in the warm island sun, and dip your toes in crystal clear waters between exciting Hearthstone matches?
To cap off the 2017 Winter Season, the Hearthstone Championship Tour will be heading to the Bahamas! The Winter Championship is a live event open to the public and we'd love for you to join us. Check out additional details below.

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Where

The Winter Championship will be held at the Melia Nassau Beach All-Inclusive. We will have more details regarding booking options as we get closer to the event.

When

The Winter Championship is a four-day event taking place from Thursday, March 23, 2017 to Sunday March 26, 2017. Group stage games will be played on the first two days, after which the competition will switch to a bracket format to determine which four players qualify for the World Championship.

Qualification and Format

The top four players from each region’s Winter Playoffs will qualify for a spot in the Winter Championship. These sixteen players will duke it out in the group stage and determine which two from each group will advance to the single-elimination bracket. The tournament format will be best-of-seven Conquest with one ban. For full tournament details, please refer to the Official Rules.

Prize Pool

The overall prize pool for the event will be $250,000 USD.

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Enjoy some Hearthstone fun in the sun with us in the Bahamas! We’ll have more details available about the event soon. Let us know what you think about our first tour stop on Twitter and Facebook using #HCT.

Unravel the Secrets of the Dark Wanderer!

The Dark Wanderer has ventured into the Tavern with mysterious purpose and presence. There’s much at stake in this week’s all-new Tavern Brawl — do you have the cunning and guile to unveil the Dark Wanderer’s secrets?

Unravel the secrets surrounding the Dark Wanderer in this week’s Tavern Brawl!

Defeat the Dark Wanderer and you’ll receive a special card back commemorating 20 years of Diablo!

Hearthstone January 2017 Ranked Play Season – Grimestreet’s Back!

The January Ranked Play Season is now live—and we’re unveiling a new card back you can add to your collection!

Calling all Goons! The streets of Gadgetzan are up for grabs, and we're gonna ring in the new year right by carving out some turf for the family. Add the Grimy Goons card back—it’s a nice little chunk of Grimestreet—to your collection by playing Hearthstone during the month of January.

These card backs replace the art decorating the reverse side of your cards and are a great way to show off your Hearthstone accomplishments. Add the Grimy Goons card back to your collection by hitting Rank 20 in either Standard or Wild Ranked Play modes. You’ll receive the Grimy Goons card back at the end of January’s Ranked Play Season in your Ranked Play reward chest.

You earn Ranked Play reward chests based on your highest earned rank over the course of a Ranked Play season. Reward chests may contain seasonal card backs, Arcane Dust, and golden cards, and can be obtained by playing in either Standard or Wild Ranked Play modes. You’ll be awarded one chest per Ranked Play season based on your highest rank between the two modes.

Don’t forget—the further you move up the Ranked Play ladder, the more bonus stars you’ll receive next season. In Ranked Play, you’ll receive bonus stars based on your performance from the previous season—one bonus star per rank you attained. Please note that even if bonus stars from the previous season get you directly to Rank 20 or above, you still have to log in at least once each Ranked Season to qualify for the card back reward.

Everybody! Get out there and prove that Grimestreet’s back in January’s Ranked Play Season, alright?

So You Think You Can Cast: Hearthstone Edition 2017

While cards fly and the stakes rise, Hearthstone casters look on from the desk and tell the tales of those doing battle within the tavern. With a keen analytical mind, masterful speaking skills, and a healthy helping of wit, casters bring the action to life for viewers, both on-stream and in-person!

Think you have what it takes to cast a heated Hearthstone match? We’re looking for a dynamic duo to bolster our casting ranks for Tespa’s 2017 Collegiate Hearthstone Championship Tour, and there’s no place better place to turn to than the Hearthstone community! From now until January 13, we invite you to download the video below and try your hand at casting the match.

In order to download the video, right click here and select “Save Link As”.

We’ve gone ahead and created some fanfiction background for this sample match that you can choose to make use of while casting!

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The sample match is game five of a best-of-five series between North American competitors Iksar and Puffin at the 2017 Winter Championship. The winner advances to the Grand Finals!

Puffin just recently won the Innkeeper’s Showdown tournament, and looks to continue his winning ways. Iksar, once thought to be a dominant force in the Hearthstone competitive scene, hasn’t had a high finish in over a year, and is looking to turn things around with a decisive win. The players brought the following decks:

Iksar: Dragon Priest, Pirate Shaman, Aggro Warrior.

Puffin: Jade Druid, Miracle Rogue, Reno Warlock.

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Grab a partner, download the video, and record yourselves casting the game! When you’re ready to submit, upload your video to YouTube and tweet @PlayHearthstone with a link to it using the hashtag #HScast2017. In the YouTube description, please have a public email listed for both participants that Blizzard can use to contact you. Starting January 13, we’ll review your work and reach out to promising casters with further instructions.

Please Note: Members of the HCT casting team may not participate as part of the submitting caster duo.

Whether you’re an amateur, an expert, or somewhere in between, we look forward to seeing your submission!

Hearthstone November 2016 Standard Ranked Play Season Final Rankings

The final rankings from Standard Ranked Play Season 32: Over the Halfhill for EU region are in! These players have gone the extra mile and worked their way up the current ladder system to become some of the top ranked Hearthstone competitors.

The players listed below have each earned points toward the 2017 Hearthstone Championship Tour.

Pull up a chair and join us in recognizing the top ranked Standard Hearthstone players in EU region!

Battle Tag	Rank	Battle Tag	Rank
Kalashnik	1	Borland	101
Rezakoman	2	ThuFull	102
August17	3	LoloBalo	103
xBlyzes	4	Pavllen	104
Juristis	5	Asuna	105
eilic	6	Meliador	106
RENMEN	7	Hatul	107
erikbeck	8	Oleg	108
Noregrets	9	Otant	109
Tyler	10	turbogash	110
SaNtaMaNgA	11	INCOGNITO	111
RayCN	12	MephisToshka	112
iThomas	13	TurboMeow	113
TrickyHunter	14	Odemian	114
unwi2	15	DossPierRoll	115
Tchoumi	16	Tacticalzz	116
zridex	17	Wampie	117
ThijsNL	18	Artisto	118
muzzy	19	Mekciss	119
Django	20	espumito	120
BALU	21	Antropophag	121
Torlk	22	AzagthothGR	122
Nozfirma	23	Extazy12	123
Glaser	24	Altrach	124
蔡小紅	25	slenderman	125
JRV	26	Xixo	126
Neves	27	ASAP	127
elApache	28	PenhaDani	128
prodigy	29	panicT	129
Lifecoach	30	Senfglas	130
Noire	31	skdm	131
Likeaßawse	32	Promil	132
Rase	33	YETi	133
Fenomeno	34	fearsyndrome	134
Allad	35	worka	135
Acudaz	36	pelle5k	136
StanCifka	37	Kidd	137
Crane333	38	Musen	138
Maverick	39	Dalesom	139
BoarControl	40	profajz	140
BlackStar	41	Multisamurai	141
Leomane	42	Coobras	142
murray	43	gambit	143
YellowDeath	44	kRISTAX	144
Yogg	45	DiegoDias	145
Fr0zen	46	Skolim	146
Hawkeye	47	chmielu	147
OrcMalade	48	Hyha	148
ШтанУдачи	49	Kyps	149
Kalas	50	Hazarder	150
Lucky	51	s8ris	151
kolmari	52	Bunnyhoppor	152
Janetzky	53	Narra	153
Yoshi	54	DokLex	154
Furyhunter	55	NafBen	155
Grandmeister	56	thadcastle	156
ImagineAName	57	BailaMorena	157
Qkn	58	svetlyachok	158
OpexAlex	59	TicTac	159
Dantist	60	PHONETAP	160
hunterace	61	XennFoo	161
Stilinski	62	fzmushko	162
JDart	63	Hoej	163
Aequorin	64	Xzirez	164
Casie	65	Mayweather	165
NeuroFunk	66	darkdeno	166
BiccOs	67	Thund3r	167
noSalvati0n	68	Emesy	168
outterest	69	TimTheFin	169
FunkyWeed	70	Smaug	170
cowboys367	71	Cominou	171
levski1991	72	Pain	172
Tepadzija	73	Swaggermeist	173
SkyPCFree	74	Noctis	174
Ziggý	75	Cagey	175
candide63100	76	inseq	176
Balorix	77	HAVAJSMURf	177
Tuttek	78	Illu	178
RoL	79	Tomas	179
Ginger	80	Letu	180
SashaKrasiv	81	stavi	181
iNpG	82	Tvist	182
Spaiikz	83	Paraksizm	183
Sorren	84	Yondaime	184
NoRage	85	Blackhole	185
MTNJ3W	86	Cipher	186
Vardu	87	Yckee	187
MorgaMagnum	88	Noblesse	188
Kjeks	89	RingZero	189
Zavada	90	Leroy	190
Valenash	91	YouKnowWP	191
smoklin	92	superlubo	192
anniuusivirt	93	GeLo	193
Pagg	94	SecreTz	194
Freezelight	95	Panakas7	195
SirVILGAUDAS	96	JJPasak	196
Wichmaster	97	fishou	197
Dizdemon	98	QuickBen	198
AlxJan7	99	Yolifik	199
Artass11	100	Loukay	200

The Gadgetzan Gazette Vol. 32 #11

Click For Big Image

Crime Wave Sweeps City!

Here’s today’s breakdown of who’s controlling Gadgetzan! Turf is determined by number of matches played by the classes affiliated with each crime family.

GOONS TURF

The Grimy Goons Exposed

Is the contraband moving through Gadgetzan linked to the gang known as the Grimy Goons? Our sources say, “Yes!” From small-time buccaneers to big-time racketeers, the Grimy Goons have their fingers in every pot. Their brand of disorganized crime caters to ruffians, bruisers, and brawlers; pugilistic tendencies seem to be highly valued among the Grimy Goons.

KABAL TURF

A Closer Look at the Shady Dealings of the Kabal

Hardly a day goes by without yet another magical incident. Our contacts within the constabulary confirm this spike in thaumaturgic mayhem is connected to a secretive organization known as the Kabal. The Kabal have secured a slice of Gadgetzan’s underworld through cunning, trickery, and arcane machinations that would make the boldest blastmage blush.

JADE LOTUS TURF

The Jade Lotus: Honorable Businessmen, or Criminal Masterminds?

The only thing more mysterious than the Jade Lotus is the shadowy figure pulling the strings behind the scenes. What are they after? Who is directing their operations? Why have they come to our city? Only one thing is certain: anyone who crosses this organization of thieves, assassins, and masters of martial arts better watch their back. Indefinitely.