The second Chinese Grandmasters season of 2021 concluded with Playoffs this week, and we now know the eight players that we'll see in the World Championship next month. You can re-live the action with our spoiler-free post below.


Decklists

These were the decklists used in the Playoffs tournament by the eight competitors.


jiuqianyu

Leaoh

Melody

msbc

Murphy

Tianming

XiaoT

Yuansu

jiuqianyu's Decks

Leaoh's Decks

Melody's Decks

msbc's Decks

Murphy's Decks

Tianming's Decks

XiaoT's Decks

Yuansu's Decks


Results

You can find the results of the matches within the spoiler below.

China's Grandmasters 2021 Season 2 Playoffs Results

Group Phase

  • Initial Match #1: jiuqianyu vs XiaoT  1-3
  • Initial Match #2: msbc vs Tianming  2-3
  • Initial Match #3: Melody vs Leaoh  3-2
  • Initial Match #4: Yuansu vs Murphy  3-2
  • Winners' Match #1: Yuansu vs XiaoT  3-0
  • Winners' Match #2: Tianming vs Melody  3-1
  • Losers' Match #1: Murphy vs jiuqianyu  3-0
  • Losers' Match #2: Leaoh vs msbc  3-1
  • Decider Match #1: XiaoT vs Murphy  1-3
  • Decider Match #2: Melody vs Leaoh  1-3

Semifinals

  • Yuansu vs Leaoh  1-3
  • Tianming vs Murphy  3-2

Final

  • Tianming vs Leaoh  3-1


Discussion

Warrior, Warlock, and Demon Hunter were the most trusted classes for the important tournament, just like in Masters Tour Undercity last weekend. The competition came very close to featuring all 10 classes but in the end nobody decided to bring Shaman. XiaoT saw no need to make major changes to his victorious Undercity lineup whereas Tianming, who finished in top 4 after losing to the aforementioned, completely swapped three of his four lists and brought the only Priest of the tournament.

Result-based Discussion

Whereas XiaoT's lineup didn't work as well as in Undercity, Tianming's lineup shake-up paid off big time as he went unbeaten through the tournament and succeeded in grabbing the coveted World Championship spot on his 4th attempt. The tournament was far from easy though as he had no 3-0 sweeps but two 3-2 nailbiters. His final opponent Leaoh dropped to the losers bracket right away after a 3-2 loss to Melody, but worked his way to the grand final with three consecutive 3-1 victories (including a rematch against Melody in the Decider of the group) before getting 3-1'd himself in the hands of Tianming.

The competitors of World Championship 2021.