The HCT is going to China for its next major event.
On the beaches of the Bahamas, Alexey “ShtanUdachi” Barsukov became the first HCT champion of the new year after beating Frank “Fr0zen” Zhang in seven games. Now, the circuit will travel overseas to another exotic location: Shanghai, China.
Once again, a total of 16 players—four from each major region—will vie to split a $250,000 prize pool and grab the next four seeds into the World Championship and join ShtanUdachi and Fr0zen, but also Samuel “SamuelTsao” Tsao from Taiwan and Julien “DocPwn” Bachand from Canada.
The qualification process and format remains the same as the Winter Championship. Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific will each hold their own Spring Playoffs, comprising of a swiss stage and a single elimination bracket, to determine their representatives. China’s quartet will be formed by the top performers in the region’s major LAN circuit Gold Series.
The dates for the EU, AM and APAC playoffs are, as follows:
- Europe – May 20 and 21
- Americas – May 27 and 28
- Asia-Pacific – June 3 and 4
Once all 16 players have been determined, they will be flown to Shanghai’s Expo Center Silver Hall and the championship battle will commence July 7.
With China and the Bahamas already explored as locations, it could be speculated that Europe—Hearthstone’s current dominant region—will host the HCT Summer Championship, with North America left to host the World Championship close to Blizzard’s home.
