Hearthstone’s 15-year-old prodigy wins Americans Winter Championship

After months of qualification tournaments and a 128 player finals, only one player was left standing as the Hearthstone Americas Winter champion.

William “Amnesiac” Barton, Team Archon’s 15-year-old prodigy, bested seven other players in the live finals to win the $25,000 first prize and the first spot in the 2016 World Championship—meaning just 15 other players stand between him and the lion’s share of $1 million.

Barton had a tough road through the tournament, starting in what was undoubtedly the harder of the two groups. After defeating “Talion” 3-2 in a close match, Barton lost to eventual group winner “Nostam”. Barton had to win a second five game series over “Talion” to make it into the top four.

Once there both Barton and “Nostam” defeated their counterparts from the second group to set up a rematch in the grand finals.

Getting a quick win with his Druid in game one, Barton’s mastery of the Rogue class shone through as he picked up a win in a very unfavored matchup against Control Warrior. After dropping a game to Nostam’s Druid, Barton sealed the match with his own Warrior deck to claim the title.

Barton will now go on to the World Championship in November, meaning he can sit back and relax for eight months while every other player in the world still fights to qualify.