[2019] Welcome to Season 1 of WCS Challenger

The World Championship Series (WCS) Challenger tournament is a crucial piece of the puzzle for aspiring and professional StarCraft II players alike. In addition to seeking the title of regional champion in the European and North American events, players can win prize money and those all-important WCS points, which count toward qualifying for the WCS Global Finals.

Here are all the details for Season 1 of the 2019 WCS Challenger tournament. 16 players in North America and another 16 in Europe will qualify for this season of WCS Challenger.

In each region:

• Four will qualify from their standings in the WCS Circuit after the WCS Winter Round of 8
• Four players will qualify from their rank in the Season 1 Ladder Race
• Eight players will qualify from the online open qualifiers

Requirements for Open Qualifiers

To compete in WCS Challenger Europe or North America Season 1, you must have achieved at least Master League in the appropriate Blizzard Battle.net region (Americas or Europe) during this, or the previous, Ladder Season. You also must meet all eligibility requirements outlined in the WCS Rules.

The slate of open qualifiers for Challenger Season 1 will take place on April 13–14 for both the EU and NA regions. Each day is a separate qualifier for each region, and four players from each day will qualify for Challenger from each region. Players may sign up for both days of open qualifiers, but a player who qualifies on the first day will be unable to compete on the second day.

For more information on WCS Challenger, check out the complete rules here.

Open Qualifiers Schedule 

Note: Signups will open on March 19 and will close two hours before the day’s tournament begins.

• April 13: EU Qualifiers Day 1 - Sign-up here
  • First match starts at 16:00 CEST
• April 14: EU Qualifiers Day 2 - Sign-up here
  • First match starts at 16:00 CEST
• April 13: NA Qualifiers Day 1 - Sign-up here
  • First match starts at 16:00 PDT
• April 14: NA Qualifiers Day 2 - Sign-up here
  • First match starts at 16:00 PDT

Ladder Race

The top four qualifying players from the EU and NA ladders will automatically receive an invite to WCS Challenger.

• The cut-off will be based on MMR and will take place on March 31, 23:59 CEST (for EU) or 23:59 EDT (for NA).
• Players must complete 15 ladder games each day between Grandmaster League promotion windows (21:00 EDT, 21:00 CEST) starting in the Thursday–Friday window and continuing through Sunday.
• Starting at the Thursday promotion window, players will be required to play under the name they wish to use during the WCS Circuit event. Please contact [email protected] if you require a free character name change to compete.

EU Ladder

• Thursday, March 28, 21:00 CET—Promotion window 1
• Friday, March 29, 21:00 CET—Promotion window 2
• Saturday, March 30, 21:00 CET—Promotion window 3
• Sunday, March 31, 21:00 CEST—Promotion window 4
• Sunday, March 31, 23:59 CEST—Grandmaster League cut-off based on MMR

NA Ladder

• Thursday, March 28, 21:00 EDT—Promotion window 1
• Friday, March 29, 21:00 EDT—Promotion window 2
• Saturday, March 30, 21:00 EDT—Promotion window 3
• Sunday, March 31, 21:00 EDT—Promotion window 4
• Sunday, March 31, 23:59 EDT—Grandmaster League cut-off based on MMR

Ready for Battle

Four players will be invited to the first season of WCS Challenger in 2019 based on the WCS Circuit standings after the conclusion of the WCS Winter Round of 8.

For more information on WCS Challenger, check out the complete rules.

Challenger Schedule

The main WCS Challenger tournament will begin April 20, with the first half of each broadcast day dedicated to Europe and the second half focused on North America.

In both Europe and North America Challenger, there will be a group stage featuring four groups of four players each. The “dual tournament” format will see the first player to win two matches in a group advance to the knockout phase, while the first to lose two matches is eliminated. The remaining two players will battle for the group’s last spot in the single-elimination playoff. The full tournament breaks down as follows:

April 20: From 7 a.m. PDT (4 p.m. CEST)
April 21: From 7 a.m. PDT (4 p.m. CEST)
April 27: From 7 a.m. PDT (4 p.m. CEST)
April 28: From 7 a.m. PDT (4 p.m. CEST)
May 4 (EU Finals): From 2 p.m. CEST (5 a.m. PDT)
May 5 (NA Finals): From 11 a.m. PDT (8 p.m. CEST)

Prizing

The top four WCS Challenger players in both North America and Europe will receive invites to the Group Stage 3 at WCS Spring. Based on their performances in this season of WCS Challenger, the field of players receive cash prizes and WCS Points as follows:

1st	200 WCS points	USD $1,600
2nd	140 WCS points	USD $1,200
3rd-4th	90 WCS points	USD $800
5th-8th	60 WCS points	USD $600
9th-16th	30 WCS points	USD $400

Join us as the first season of WCS Challenger 2019 begins!