Asia-Pacific dominates the final eight at the Hearthstone World Championship

Last year it was an American, James "Firebat" Kostesich, who walked away as Hearthstone world champion

Last year it was an American, James “Firebat” Kostesich, who walked away as Hearthstone world champion. But fast forward 12 months and no Americans are in the running for the title.

Recommended Videos

Though Europe was widely predicted to be the strongest region in the tournament, in the end Asia-Pacific will have the biggest representation, as three of that region’s players—Hakjun “Kranich” Baek, Ho “Pinpingho” Kow-Ping and “Kno”—have made it out of their groups.

Adrian “Lifecoach” Koy, despite being one of 2015’s top performing players, failed to defeat Baek in two attempts and finished outside the qualification spots. His G2 teammate Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk managed to top Group A, and will face Baek in the top eight on Friday. Sebastian “Ostkaka” Engwall also topped his group.

China took the other two top spots, with the Team Celestial pair of Hong “Zoro” Yijie and Guo “DieMeng” Zihao winning Groups B and D respectively.

In the final day of group play APAC dominated, with only Lan “Neilyo” Tran failing to win his group decider. He was defeated by Canadian Dylan “Hotform” Mullins, who will be the only Americas player in the top eight. Fellow Canadian and tournament favourite Ryan “Purple” Murphy-Root lost to Pingpingho in his decider.

All four decider matches were rematches from the first group play matches, with all the results the same on the second attempt—meaning that four players dropping out due to not being able to beat just one other player.

If you thought the double elimination groups were cruel, the single elimination playoffs are even more so. The eight remaining players are now just three matches away from $100,000, but one loss will bring their campaign to an end.

Image via Blizzard

Check out our two-part interview with Hearthstone heart throb Trump.



Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Cloud9 continues to shed talent as they exit further esports
Cloud9 logo
Read Article Hearthstone patch changes hint towards future Steam release
Mercenaries
Read Article Hearthstone Battlegrounds is getting a co-op mode
Hearthstone Battlegrounds announcement at BlizzCon 2023, on November 3, 2023. (Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)
Related Content
Read Article Cloud9 continues to shed talent as they exit further esports
Cloud9 logo
Read Article Hearthstone patch changes hint towards future Steam release
Mercenaries
Read Article Hearthstone Battlegrounds is getting a co-op mode
Hearthstone Battlegrounds announcement at BlizzCon 2023, on November 3, 2023. (Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)
Author
Callum Leslie
Weekend Editor, Dot Esports.