The format remained the same as the first Grand Slam event of the season, the
Masters, where teams were put into four pots based on their rankings, with teams then drafted into four pools of four teams. Each team plays the three other teams in their pool, with the Tier 1 teams also playing a cross over game. Crossover games were pre-determined based on the world rankings as of Sept. 29. Teams ranked No. 1–4 will play their crossover game against teams ranked No. 9–12 in the opposite pool. Teams ranked No. 5–8 will play their crossover game against teams ranked No. 13–16 in the opposite pool. • Thinking time has been tightened to 30 minutes per team per game • Games tied after eight ends go to a draw-to-the-button shootout rather than extra ends. • Games will be worth three points in the standings, with three points being awarded to "regulation wins", two points for a shootout win, and one point for a shootout loss. • For Tier 1 Games, teams are allowed to blank only one end per game. If a team blanks a second time at any point of the game, they will lose the hammer for the following end. This rule was set in order to "discourage teams from blanking multiple ends...and generate offence". Following pool play, for Tier 1, the top 8 teams with the most points overall qualify for the playoffs. In the U25 event, the top two teams with the most points in each pool advance to the playoffs. If two teams are tied for a playoff spot in points, placement will be decided by head-to-head results. ==Men==