The second Grandmasters season of 2021 continued with Week 6 last weekend as 48 players continued their quest of gathering enough points to avoid the relegations and reach the Playoffs. You can re-live the action with our spoiler-free post below.
Finalists' Decklists
These were the players that reached the final in each region and the decks they brought for this week.
VoDs
Here are the links to individual match VoDs in spoilers below.
Day 1 - Initial Group Decider Matches
———- Asia-Pacific ———-
- Group A Decider - posesi vs Shaxy: VoD
- Group B Decider - blitzchung vs Alutemu: VoD
- Group C Decider - trahison vs TIZS: VoD
- Group D Decider - che0nsu vs DawN: VoD
———- Europe ———-
- Group A Decider - Rdu vs Leta: VoD
- Group B Decider - xBlyzes vs Viper: VoD
- Group C Decider - Bunnyhoppor vs Thijs: VoD
- Group D Decider - Seiko vs J4YOU: VoD
———- Americas ———-
Day 2 - Quarterfinals
The spoiler below uses results from Day 1 games in naming matchups, so watch those first if you want no spoilers!
———- Asia-Pacific ———-
- Quarterfinal 1 - grr vs Alutemu: VoD
- Quarterfinal 2 - GivePLZ vs che0nsu: VoD
- Quarterfinal 3 - lambyseries vs Shaxy: VoD
- Quarterfinal 4 - AlanC86 vs trahison: VoD
———- Europe ———-
- Quarterfinal 1 - Frenetic vs Leta: VoD
- Quarterfinal 2 - Casie vs Seiko: VoD
- Quarterfinal 3 - Jarla vs Viper: VoD
- Quarterfinal 4 - Gaby vs Thijs: VoD
———- Americas ———-
Day 3 - Semifinals and Finals
Results
The results in full, including the preceding off-stream games, can be found here.
Discussion
The nerfs to Illucia and the Warlock Questline certainly affected the tournament meta this week. Priest was essentially gone with only three lists brought, while the amount of Warlocks ranged from Europe's 3 to APAC's 8. Rogue and Demon Hunter were accompanied by Druid as the new top 3 picks, each reaching 10+ picks in all regions. While Warrior's Pirates got a triple buff, no Questline Warriors were brought; the class still reached a respectable 15 picks overall, spread between Control and Big Warriors. The Mage buffs encouraged muzzy to bring a Hero Power Mage while every other Mage player kept trusting the Questline variant. Europeans still did not bring Paladins while APAC saw four of them brought. In Americas all 10 classes saw play for the first time since the opening week of the season.
Congratulations are in order for the winners of the week, but the main focus will be in the relegation battle.
The winners of Week 6.
APAC is on course for a nail-biter of a relegation battle. DawN would need a miracle to survive after getting reverse-swept in his vital Decider match by the fellow Korean struggler che0nsu. The retiring blitzchung would also need a lot of help from other players, so the true battle will likely be held between Bankyugi and the five 8-pointers. Only some very specific outcomes can knock Shaxy out whereas the 11-pointers should only realistically worry about if they can hold onto their Playoffs spots.
In Europe the top 6 players have all but guaranteed their Playoffs spots while Gaby and Frenetic can be equally sure to take the top 2 seeds in the Playoffs bracket. And just like in APAC, the relegation battle will be one to look for. Rdu can feel relatively safe but everyone else will have to continue fighting for their spot.
In Americas the finalist duo Rami94 and Fr0zen were deep in the relegation struggles, but their good performance this week got them out of the immediate danger. Fr0zen's victory has most likely guaranteed his safety but everyone below him will have to hope for a good Week 7 or risk getting relegated.
| APAC | Points | Europe | Points | Americas | Points |
| posesi* | 19 | Gaby | 19 | Monsanto | 19 |
| GivePLZ | 18 | Frenetic* | 18 | Nalguidan* | 16 |
| Alutemu | 16 | xBlyzes | 14 | DreadEye | 15 |
| Surrender | 13 | Bunnyhoppor | 14 | languagehacker | 13 |
| AlanC86 | 11 | Seiko | 13 | McBanterFace | 12 |
| okasinnsuke | 11 | Jarla | 13 | NoHandsGamer | 12 |
| grr | 11 | Rdu | 10 | muzzy** | 11 |
| Shaxy | 10 | Viper | 9 | Fled | 11 |
| TIZS** | 8 | Leta | 9 | Fr0zen | 10 |
| che0nsu | 8 | Felkeine | 8 | DimitriKazov | 9 |
| glory | 8 | Casie | 8 | lunaloveee | 8 |
| lambyseries | 8 | Floki | 7 | Rami94 | 7 |
| trahison | 8 | J4YOU | 7 | CaelesLuna | 7 |
| Bankyugi | 7 | Thijs | 7 | Eggowaffle | 6 |
| blitzchung** | 6 | Warma | 6 | killinallday | 6 |
| DawN | 5 | Bozzzton | 5 | Eddie** | 5 |
*The winners of Season 1 start with extra 5 points this season. **Retiring at the end of the season.
You can also find the full standings on the official tournament site.
Next week in Hearthstone Grandmasters will be the final one before Playoffs. Don't forget to tune in!
Comments
Is it me or is APAC just more fun to watch?
How does it work with the retired players: will where be less players relegated or more players promoted?
More players promoted (should a retiring player finish outside relegation spots, that is).