ESL Masters Winter will conclude this weekend (December 15-17) in DreamHack Atlanta, with the top StarCraft II competitors in the world competing for the championship.
Read our regionals recap for more information about how the seeded players obtained their spots.
Schedule and Format
The main event format of ESL Masters has been slightly revised since the summer season, but the overall structure remains the same.
Players begin by competing in the Winners Stage (16 players) or Open Stage (32 players), depending on whether or not they obtained a high seed from the regionals (see player list above). Winners Stage and Open Stage results decide which players advance to the final knockout + playoff bracket, and what position they begin in (while separated in name, the knockout and playoff brackets are essential part of a single, long, elimination bracket*).
The 8 players that advance from the Open Stage start at the very bottom rung of the knockout + playoff bracket. All 16 players from the Winners Stage advance to the knockout + playoff bracket, but their starting positions differ depending on their performance in the Winners Stage.
*Technically, the entire tournament can be drawn as one enormous bracket that combines single-elim, double-elim, and gauntlet elements.
It's a complicated format, so we've provided a detailed explainer below. Also, try checking out the official ESL explanation video, or taking a look at our all-in one megachart—whatever one helps you understand the tournament best.
Day 1 (June 15): Winners Stage + Open Stage
Start time: 15:00 GMT (+00:00)
Winners (Seeding) Stage
16 players: Top players from regional qualifiers + EPT point standings
2x eight-player double elimination brackets
Top two players from each bracket (four total) qualify directly for the RO8 playoffs
3rd-8th place players (12 total) are seeded into the knockout bracket according to their placement
Winners Stage bracket #1
Winners Stage bracket #2
Open Stage
32 players: From open sign-ups (selected in order of EPT points)
4x eight-player double elimination brackets
Top two players from each bracket (eight total) advance to the knockout bracket (seeded into lowest round of knockout bracket)
Open Stage bracket #1
Open Stage bracket #2
Open Stage bracket #3
Open Stage bracket #4
Day 2 (December 16): Knockout Stage + Playoffs RO8
Start time: 15:00 GMT (+00:00)
Knockout Stage
20 players: 12 from the Seeding Stage + 8 from the Open Stage
4x King of the hill/gauntlet style brackets
Winner of each gauntlet bracket (four total) advances to the playoffs
Gauntlet brackets seeded according to the results from day 1, with open stage winners starting at the bottom of the bracket
Throwing the Protoss asides its 4 top Terran vs 4 top Zerg. Depending on how you look at it, Zerg is pretty favorable not because of just Serral. Dark and Solar is favored against Cure and Gumiho, while Reynor might be on peak form (unlikely) and beat Clem/Maru.
Again not a fan of this year's format, where it only takes two Bo3 wins to get to quaterfinal playoff from winner's bracket but three Bo3 plus four Bo5 wins to get to the same spot from open bracket.
I think the system isnt too bad, but i dont like that the top 20 players (knock-out bracket and quarterfinalists) just have to lose one bo-5 and are out of the tournament. I would have loved, if there would have been a loser-bracket. I know that it would result in more games, which couldnt all be broadcasted. But on the other hand we dont lose a top player because just bad bracket luck (for example byun vs maru in the round 3, cuz byun had to play dark and serral before; in this szenario byun wouldnt even place top 8 beside beeing [maybe] the 4th best player; just an "fast" example, which isnt perfect, but i hope u get my point).
On December 15 2023 21:01 DarkGamer wrote: I think the system isnt too bad, but i dont like that the top 20 players (knock-out bracket and quarterfinalists) just have to lose one bo-5 and are out of the tournament. I would have loved, if there would have been a loser-bracket. I know that it would result in more games, which couldnt all be broadcasted. But on the other hand we dont lose a top player because just bad bracket luck (for example byun vs maru in the round 3, cuz byun had to play dark and serral before; in this szenario byun wouldnt even place top 8 beside beeing [maybe] the 4th best player; just an "fast" example, which isnt perfect, but i hope u get my point).
Well there are second chances in the first phase. There are always many opinions on this. I for one do like the thrill of having a real Knockout/ end of tournament kinda game. A lot more on the line that way.
On December 15 2023 22:16 Harris1st wrote: With like 10 games starting simultaneously, is there some sort of streaming chart? Is it winners stream A, Open bracket B?
Stream A and B will both cast the Winner Stage, I dont think there is any casting on the Open Bracket, but they might let us know of the updated result during the stream.
On December 15 2023 22:16 Harris1st wrote: With like 10 games starting simultaneously, is there some sort of streaming chart? Is it winners stream A, Open bracket B?
Stream A and B will both cast the Winner Stage, I dont think there is any casting on the Open Bracket, but they might let us know of the updated result during the stream.
EPT![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/winterplayers.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/seedingbracket1_1.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/seedingbracket2_1.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/openbracket1_1.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/openbracket2_1.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/openbracket3_1.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/winter2023/openbracket4_1.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/summer2023/knockoutbracket_blank.png)
![[image loading]](/staff/Waxangel/EPT/summer2023/ro8bracket_blank.png)
