Only one week remains before the Grandmasters Season 1 Playoffs will begin. With the season only lasting 14 games, we have some of the tightest playoff races in esports. Let’s see who can make the final push in the Hearthstone Grandmasters 2019 Week 6 standings.
Asia-Pacific Race
In Asia-Pacific Division A, all three playoff spots are still up for grabs. First and second place are Yashima “Alutemu” Nozomi and Kim “Surrender” Jung-soo at 8-4 each. Alutemu lost both of his matches this week leaving him in a vulnerable position while Surrender won both of his matches. Both players just need to win one game next week and they will clinch a spot in the playoffs.
There are four players sitting in third and beyond at 6-6. Dylan “FroStee” O’Mallon, Cho “Flurry” Hyun Soo, Euneil “Staz” Javiñas, and Dasol “Ryvius” Sim all have a shot to qualify. Staz has won four games in a row to improve from 2-6 to 6-6 and with two more wins might put him through to the playoffs.
Over in Division B, Liu “Shaxy” Wei-Chieh is a lock for the playoffs at 10-2. He has had an excellent year so far and won both of his games this week with a pure Control Warrior. Jang “Dawn” Hyun is in second place at 8-4 and a win next week will clinch him a spot in the playoffs.
The third spot for playoffs is heavily contested. Kenta “glory” Sato currently occupies the position at 7-5 but must win both matches next week to guaranteed advance to playoffs. Both Wu “BloodTrail” Zong-Chang and Tyler “Tyler” Hoang Nguyen can take that third place position with two wins themselves. It could very well come down to the final match of the season between glory and BloodTrail.
Europe Race
The race in Europes Division A is much less competitive and only a couple players are jockeying for the top three. Chris “Fenomeno” Tsakopoulos is a lock at 10-2 after only losing his second match of the season this week. Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh is currently in second place at 8-4 and controls his own destiny.
Kolento will face off against Torben “Viper” Wahl in their last matches of the season which could decide who makes it to the playoffs. Viper will have to win his next match before that one if he does want that chance since he is currently 7-5. The third player in the mix is Raphael “Bunnyhoppor” Peltzer who is also 7-5. If Bunnyhoppor wins out, he is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.
Over in Division B, the race is about as close as it gets. No one is safe and seven players still have a shot at making the playoffs. The ones with the easiest route to playoffs are Casper “Hunterace” Notto and Linh “Seiko” Nguyen at 8-4 each. They only need to win one game next week and they will both advance.
Every other one of the remaining players has to win out to secure a spot in the playoffs. Even then, some players will need some additional help to make it. Jon “Orange” Westberg controls his own destiny at 7-5, needing to win the remaining two games to clinch a playoff spot. Radu “Rdu” Dima, Joffrey “Swidz” Cunat, Jaromír “Jarla” Vyskočil and Kevin “Casie” Eberlein all need to win their remaining two games, hope other players lose and have better tiebreakers. This is all very possible though.
Americas Race
In Division B, the race is between four remaining players. Jerome “Monsanto” Faucher is in a very solid spot at 9-3, as he would have to lose both games next week and have worse tiebreakers in order to not make the playoffs.
David “Dog” Caero, Lucas “Rase” Guerra and Ryan “Purple” Murphy-Root are all in contention for a playoff spot as well and only one of them will not make it. It could very well come down to the final showdown of the season between Rase and Purple in their Game 14.
Over in Division A, only one spot is left for playoffs. Eddie “Eddie” Lui and Frank “Fr0zen” Zhang are through to the playoffs. Cong “StrifeCro” Shu and Francisco “PNC” Leimontas will have a difficult time filling that third slot as they have to take on the top dogs in their last matches in order to advance.
The matches to watch out for in the final week in the Americas region will be Rase versus Purple, Monsanto versus Dog, PNC versus Fr0zen and Fr0zen versus StrifeCro.
The matches to watch during the last week in Europe will be Orange versus Swidz, Hunterace versus Rdu, Casie versus Seiko, Seiko versus Orange and Viper versus Kolento.
Lastly the matches to watch in the Asia-Pacific region will be Tyler versus Shaxy, Surrender versus Flurry, BloodTrail versus Dawn and blitzchung versus Tyler.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website and the PlayHearthstone Twitch channel.
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