Hearthstone announced that seven new players have been promoted to Grandmaster. The news comes just as the Grandmasters 2020 Season 1 is set to be launched. For these new players, it not only means a promotion, but also a chance to be part of the Hearthstone World Championship, scheduled for the fall of this year.
So who are these new Grandmasters? Today we get to know a little more about them.
Let’s start in the Americas all the way north in Canada with Mihai “Lnguagehackr” Dragalin. Lnguagehackr started his Hearthstone career back in 2016. However, since he was studying at the time, he couldn’t commit to playing full-time. He managed to put himself in front of everyone’s eyes when he won the 2018 HCT Fall Championship. While he only managed to reach the Quarterfinals during the 2019 Hearthstone World Championship, his performance on the Masters Tours have been consistent so far.
Going down we have Jason “PapaJason” Meller of the US. PapaJason joined the Hearthstone competitive scene during the 2018 HCT and reached 10th place during HCT Philadelphia. He managed to take part in all Masters Tour of 2019 and even finished 12th during the Las Vegas leg.
The third on our list is Guillermo “Empanizado” Tolosa from Mexico. It was during the 2017 Hearthstone Global Games when he first entered the scene as part of Team Mexico. Tolosa went on to join many tournaments and even reached the Top 8 at the HCT Summer Championship. While he did qualify for the 2019 Masters Tour Seoul, he had issues with travel expenses. Thankfully for him, the community helped with a fundraiser to cover his costs. He managed to finish in 11th place and also qualified for the Bucharest leg where he finished in the top 32.
Moving to Europe, well just one country actually, as the two promoted players both hail from France. Let’s begin with Theo “Felkeine” Dumont. What makes Felkeine stand out is that he won a Masters Tour in 2019 without being a Grandmaster. Though he started his career in 2017, it was his win during the Masters Tour Seoul that set the scene for what would be French domination of the Hearthstone esports scene. Since winning at Seoul, he has so far been performing well, even getting a Top 4 finish at Arlington. You can read about Felkeine’s win at Seoul here.
The other player is Martin “Zhym” Prete. If Felkeine didn’t win Seoul, it probably would have been Zhym, who finished that competition as the runner-up. He made his start during the HCT 2018 Season 1 European Playoffs and had a strong year during the 2019 season.
Finally, we head on over to Asia and learn more about Wataru “posesi” Ishibashi of Japan. Considered to be relatively new to the competitive scene, Ishibashi managed to turn heads by placing third during the 2018 World Electronic Sports games. It was in 2019 when he officially set himself up for a possible invite to Grandmaster when he placed fourth at the Masters Tour Las Vegas. While he was elimited early on at Seoul, he finished 21st at Bucharest, enough to earn the Grandmasters spot.
Last, but definitely not the least, is Lo Tsz “Kin0531” Kin of Hong Kong. Kin0531 started strong at the Hearthstone competitive scene by getting a Top 8 finish during the SEA Majors 2016. He made a name for himself in the Asia-Pacific region with Top 20 finishes during the 2018 Hearthstone Championship Tour. He is also a gold medalist, winning the Hearthstone portion of the 2018 Asian Games. He may have finished at 19th in Las Vegas but his second place in Bucharest more than guaranteed his place in the Asia-Pacific Grandmasters.
Think you have what it takes to be a Hearthstone Grandmaster?
