Hearthstone fans are in for a treat as for the first time, a World Showdown of Esports Champion will return to defend their title. Dubbed WSOE 5: Hearthstone – The Return of Jia, the event features four invited players fighting for the chance to play against WSOE 2 Champion Jia Aquino "Jia" Dee.
Jia made heads turn when she first participated in Hearthstone tournaments, as she had previously beeen a caster before playing professionally. She was one of the players that received a direct invite to WSOE 2: The Hearthstone Showdown.
In the finals, Jia faced off against Cora “Songbird” Georgiou. Despite facing possible elimination in Game 4, Jia was able to get a win despite a bad draw. With momentum on her side, Jia marched on to win the match and claim the championship. She would take home $15,000, the largest single prize to be won by a player in WSOE history.
THIS is the winning moment that made @jiadee_ our #WSOE 2 CHAMPION! She takes home $15,000 dollars for 1st place and asserts herself as a top #Hearthstone commentator AND player! Congratulations! ? pic.twitter.com/HdkcdDZW7O
— WSOE (@WSOE) December 22, 2018
In the upcoming competition, Jia will get the chance to cement her legacy if she manages to successfully defend her championship. The first day of competiton has the players competing in double-elimination matches using the Last Hero Standing tournament format. The winner of these matches earns a chance to challenge Jia on Day 2. Aside from the Main Event, Day 2 features a preliminary card of one-on-one fights between the competitors and players invited for the event. The winner of each match gets $2,500. For the main event, the top player will fight it out with Jia for $15,000 and the WSOE Champion title.
Making the tournament even more exciting are the changes to the standard card pool with the release of Year of the Dragon. The rules were modified and decklist submission cannot include this year's Hall of Fame entries which are Baku the Mooneater, Black Cat, Divine Favor, Doomguard, Genn Greymane, Glitter Moth, Gloom Stag, Murkspark Eel, and Naturalize.
The tournament will have Lauren Jbara reporting, with Nathan "ThatsAdmirable" Zamora and Dan “Frodan” Chou calling the plays. The event can be viewed on the official WSOE Twitch Channel. The stream starts on 12:30 p.m. EST on both March 30 and March 31.
