Players and committees Each qualified region had three representatives form that region's Competition Committee. Blizzard chose a shortlist of candidates for each nation, in which the players and viewers of their respective nations voted from April 30 to May 5 on to become their nations committee. The committee members of each nation were announced on May 8. They players representing each country were selected by their National Competition Committee.
Qualification The top 32 countries/regions based on the average skill rating of the top 100 players from that particular country/region qualified for the tournament. Qualification began on March 29, and the qualified countries were announced on April 25. The top 32 national teams were seeded into eight groups spread across four different regions:
Shanghai,
Sydney,
Katowice and
Santa Monica, California. Each group played a
round-robin schedule of matches. The top two teams in each group advanced to a single-elimination, one-game playoff bracket to qualify for the final tournament at
BlizzCon. ;Qualified by skill rating (32) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • == Venues ==