Meet the Top Hearthstone Players of 2015

2015 has surely been an exciting year for Hearthstone! We had a ton of tournaments, a new expansion, a new adventure, and lots of thrilling moments. New talent always emerges and will definitely contest for a spot in next year’s article, but today we will review the top Hearthstone players of 2015.

Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh can not be left off of this list, as he is well decorated and one of the most consistent players in the scene. Although he didn’t make it to Blizzcon or the two DreamHack events, he still won almost every other tournament he competed in, with the highest paying one being CN vs EU Season 2 where he cashed out at almost $23,000. Some other notable tours that he won were the Kinguin Pro League 2015 Season 1 and the WCA 2015 – Europe Pro Qualifier. Kolento plays under Cloud 9 and his total winnings in 2015 were about $91,650.

James “Firebat” Kostesich, player for Team Archon, was the 2014 Hearthstone World Champion. He made sure to prove that he was not a one-hit wonder and kept delivering high performances in 2015. His consistency awarded him with a world-first: becoming a defending LAN Hearthstone champion with back-to-back Gfinity wins. Another great run was at the CN vs NA Challenge where he earned $16,000 and of course his second place finish at the World Cyber Arena 2015 where he earned about $62,680. His total earnings for 2015 were about $101,000.

Adrian “Lifecoach” Koy, player for G2 eSports, was undoubtedly one of the best players in the world in the first quarter of 2015. Although, his performance dropped a bit as the year went on, he still remained one of the world’s top players and managed to stash another big win after his Viagame House Cup #3 triumph in May with the recently won Celestial Invitational. Also of note is his win as a part of the Nihilum roster at the Archon Team League Championship. His total earnings for 2015 were around $87,000.

Sebastian “Ostkaka” Engwall, currently playing for Natus Vincere, would have missed this list if he hadn’t been crowned the 2015 Hearthstone World Champion. This is due to the fact that, apart from that immense triumph, he didn’t win another title in 2015. This could be because he did not receive many tournament invites this year, as he was not a big name before the HWC. His total earnings for 2015 were $103,900.

Ryan “Purple” Root, currently playing for GamersOrigin, much like Ostkaka, wasn’t very active as a player in tournaments throughout 2015 until the last quarter. However, he was not unknown as he has coached the Archon roster to many successes, including Firebat’s 2014 World Champion title. He managed to win himself the HWC Americas Qualifier and was considered one of the favorites for the HWC title. Another big win came at DreamHack Winter 2015, where he earned $12,500. His total earnings for 2015 were at $28,250.

This list would never be complete without Thijs “ThijNL” Molendijk. The young player, currently competing for G2 eSports, is the epitome of consistency. He is widely considered to be the top Hearthstone player in the world. He managed to win the 2015 HWC European Championship and he could have easily been the world champion for 2015 had it not been for a close loss to Ostkaka. He was also a part of the winning Nihilum roster in the Archon Team League Championship. His total earnings for 2015 were around $84,750.

Which of these players was your favorite in 2015 and why? Would you pick someone else to be on this list? Let us know in the comments below.