How is Season 5 different from Season 4?

Season 5 will consist of the same three invitational ladders as Season 4 (one each for the Americas, Europe, and Asia). It will differ in the final composition of the ladders and in the number of competitors who reach both the offline regional qualifiers and the offline global finals.

What is different between the invitational ladders and the standard regional ladders?

There are no restrictions on who can play whom. This means the top-ranked player could play the bottom-ranked player. Additionally, top performers in the invitational ladder are eligible to compete in offline regional qualifiers and potentially in the global finals.

Who will play on these invitational ladders?

• Last year, Blizzard invited 25 of the top players from each region and combined them with the top-100-ranked players from their respective ladders, which resulted in 125 players per ladder.
• This year, we will be removing the bottom-30-ranked players from each Season 4 invitational ladder and replacing them with the current top-30-ranked players from each regional ladder. The top 15 in each of the Lordaeron and Azeroth realms will comprise the 30 ranked ladder players from the Americas.
• This will again result in 125 total players per ladder.

What if a player is in the bottom 30 of the invitational ladder, but also in the top 30 of his or her regional ladder?

In this case, the player will keep his or her spot in the invitational ladder.

How did Blizzard choose the invited players last year?

Players were chosen based on previous tournament performance.

How long will the invitational ladder season run?

The season is scheduled to run for one month. There will then be one offline regional qualifier event for each region, which will all feed into the global finals.

Will there be a ladder reset for Season 5?

Yes. We will be resetting the ladders in preparation for Season 5, as well as resetting the invitational ladder at the start of Season 5.

How do I play a Season 5 game?

Log into Battle.net with your account and click the Play Game button. In the Game Type dropdown menu, there will be a Season 5 game type. Choose that and play.

Who will go to the regional qualifiers?

The top-six-ranked players from each region’s invitational ladder will be invited to their respective regional qualifier event. They will combine with the top two performers from Season 4 for each region. This will result in a total of eight players for the regional qualifier. If the same player was in the top two last season and also reaches the top six in the current season, additional invitations will be extended until a total of eight players is reached.

Who will go to the global finals?

The top two players from the Americas and the top three players each from Europe and Asia will be invited to the global finals. This will result in a total of eight players for the global finals.

Why does the Americas region only get two representatives for the global finals?

The resulting representation of players with this formula best reflects the current global landscape of competitive Warcraft III players.

When and where will the regional qualifiers and global finals be held?

More information about the regional qualifiers and global finals will be announced at a later date.