After three days of play with some of the biggest names in Hearthstone, 19-year-old Christopher “PHONETAP” Huynh took home the title at the ESL Legendary Series Season 2 finals.
Huynh defeated Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk in the final 3-1, with his Shaman, Druid and Hunter combination proving too strong for the Tempo Storm owner.
Huynh’s lineup choices raised some eyebrows, as he didn’t bring the very strong Patron Warrior or Warlock decks. But even his Mech Shaman deck served him well in the final—despite being something of a liability in previous match-ups.
Huynh had a relatively hard-fought route to the final, advancing out of the groups with a pair of 3-2 victories over Season 1 champion Austin “SilentStorm” Li and defeating the in-form Shengyuan “Roger” Luo in the quarter finals in five games. The final was Huynh’s only match that didn’t go the distance.
Huynh only recently joined Team Hearthlytics, and the win is the first major victory for that organization. For his victory, Huynh took home $10,000 and 100 Hearthstone World Championship points, which will move him into third place in the North American standings.