EPT Winter/Atlanta: Main Event – Info + Live Discussion

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.

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

Knockout Stage seeding example

Playoffs Round-of-8

• 8 players: 4 Seeding Stage winners + 4 Knockout Stage winners
• Eight-player single elimination tournament
• RO8 & RO4 are best-of-5
• Finals are best-of-7

Playoff Seeding Example

Day 3 (December 17): Playoffs RO4 and Finals

*Start time: 19:30 GMT (+00:00)

Prior to the RO4 and finals, there will be a Stormgate showmatch featuring featuring TLO, MaNa, and Moon on a separate ESL channel.

Streams

ESL StarCraft II Main Stream – Twitch
ESL StarCraft II Main Stream- YouTube

ESL StarCraft II B Stream – Twitch
ESL StarCraft II B Stream- YouTube