Major changes are coming to the competitive Hearthstone scene in China, sources have confirmed to Inven Global. There were already rumours floating around of a team league being organized, and earlier today the Japanese site BeerBrick posted additional leaks -- albeit with the note that the information was highly unreliable. Sinn Tann, former manager of Chinese Hearthstone team Celestial, added on Twitter that he had heard similar rumours.

It has been confirmed to Inven Global by multiple sources that China’s Hearthstone distributor NetEase will introduce a team league. Akin to the Overwatch League, teams can buy into the league (for Chinese teams this will likely be ¥2 million) in order to participate.

It hasn’t been confirmed whether this will exist parallel to the existing competitive system in China, or if it will replace it entirely. What seems to be certain, at least, is that the team league will be the most prestigious competition in the region -- a low bar to reach, as China’s HCT system has gained notoriety for its woes.

Several Chinese teams had shown interest in participating in the team league a couple of weeks ago: Lucky Future, LP, Jingdong, RNG, WE, Bilibili (who also own the Hangzhou Spark Overwatch League team), Titanar and Suning. The latter two of those organizations may ring a bell, as they have organized large invitational tournaments in the past. It has not been confirmed yet which of the teams have ended up buying into the league.

Two days per week participating teams will clash, sources further confirm. Matches in the team league will be played in a new format. Players bring one deck, and engage in a best-of-three battle. Akin to competitive Magic: The Gathering’s side-board, players have the option to swap to variations of their main deck in-between games. The variations of the deck may not differ from the original list by more than six cards.

More news is expected to arrive coming Friday. Blizzard/NetEase has invited potential teams - organizations with a big budget - to a private two-day event, during which more information will be provided.

Although it has not been confirmed, there are strong hints that the team league format will be adopted by other regions too. Recently, veteran Hearthstone players Jon “Orange” Westberg, Chris “Fenomeno” Tsako and George “BoarControl” Webb hinted at signing contracts with Overwatch League team Philadelphia Fusion - a tweet cited by the team itself.

If the other rumours are true, and the team league format will indeed be the focus of competitive Hearthstone in all regions, it would be a huge swing by Blizzard. Just this year the Master Tier system was introduced, which succeeded in highlighting the consistency the best Hearthstone players have. If the established names will essentially be bought into the highest competitive level, it remains to be seen if Hearthstone esports can remain its previous philosophy of being accessible to anyone.