Sebastian Engwall · @Ostkaka
1st May 2019 from TwitLonger
quick post about GM/Vegas invite from my perspective.
So there were 16 grandmasters selected per region for the 2019 and onwards league. Beyond this there were a few reserves/extras selected in case people declined or they hadn't decided. Those players received invites to the Vegas tournament as they were "in consideration for GM". Blizzard didn't want them playing in qualifiers and beating other players before the final 16 was decided so they just invited them directly.
In February I received these two emails https://i.imgur.com/x7XxkXI.png which basically just say they want to discuss their plans, even in the reminder they didn't add anything to make it seem more important than just an informational call.
The NDA they are talking about was signed in January at EU Playoffs, as far as I could tell all the players at my venue signed one (around 80 total including other venues).
I assumed at least all the playoff players received this email and I had already heard a lot of rumors/leaks about the 2019 format so I didn't think the call was worth the time.
It turns out the people who received the email were in consideration for GM. I found out about this a few days ago when I talked to other players at worlds. For the past 2 months I played in qualifiers for the Vegas tournament and didn't win one. I finally asked Blizzard about the email and Vegas yesterday and their response was that because they didn't hear from me AND I played in qualifiers they can't retroactively give me an invite.
I'm really not too upset about the outcome so don't feel bad for me. It seems like there was a lot of confusion around me not getting an invite and so I'm clearing that up. The only real bad part was the communication from Blizzard, if for example Thijs hadn't responded to the email I'm sure they would reach out in other ways and not just assume he wasn't interested. I know at least Fr0zen and Firebat also didn't respond to the email initially but were reminded to do so on discord/in person.
Only Blizzard knows if I would be in the league and what spot I was in contention for but I at least had a secured spot at Vegas if I responded.