Even with the threat of a virus, Hearthstone managed to find a way to proceed with the Masters Tour Los Angeles and it did not disappoint. For one, fans were treated to not only seeing Zakarya “xBlyzes” Hail win, but also become the first to win more than one Masters Tour. The win lets xBlyzes take home $32,500 and earn a European spot for the Grandmasters Season 2.
Just to give a short recap of the event itself, it was originally scheduled to be held in Indonesia before a decision was made to move it to Los Angeles due to concerns over the coronavirus. You can read more about that story here. However the health emergency caused by the virus continued to expand, resulting in many esports tournaments being cancelled. This led to the Masters Tour Los Angeles being made a pure online event, and you can read more about that here.
So what happened with the tournament? Well, after two days of Swiss Rounds, the top eight players that were now going to fight for the trophy were considered one of the most competitive groups ever. These were:
- Facundo “Nalguidan” Pruzzo
- Thijs “Thijs” Molendijk
- Zakarya “xBlyzes” Hail
- Kevin “Casie” Eberlein
- Xiaomeng “Liooon” Li
- Luke “NoHandsGamer” Kooken
- Poramet “Bankyugi” Putchakan
- Wan “TNCAnswer” Maozhi
Despite this strong lineup, it was still xBlyzes that was considered by many as the player to beat.
Eventually, the Grand Finals came down to xBlyzes taking on TNCAnswer. Once the match started, TNCAnswer didn't waste any time and took the lead in the series 2-0. However, in the third game xBlyzes made good use of his mastery of Rogue in order to hold off TNCAnswer's Paladin. After that, xBlyzes would do a reverse-sweep and win the next two games to claim the championship.
The win doesn't just make xBlyzes a two-time Master Tour champion, it also means xBlyzes did so with back-to-back wins after being crowned the Master Tour Arlington champion back in February. This win also puts him in the upper ranks of Hearthstone players.
There are three more Masters Tour events coming this year with Jönköping this June, Montreal in September, and Madrid by December. There are currently no updates yet if these tournaments are going to be held online, or if they're going to be cancelled.
