Before this year’s Road to Blizzcon for the European Qualifiers in Prague had started, rarely anyone in the Hearthstone scene had ever heard of Gerardo “Gera89” Di Pietro. However, as more and more players fell in the battle for a seeding spot, Gera89 stood out as the surprise of Europe. He made it all the way through the Last Call Qualifiers and European Qualifier, leaving renowned players such as Gaara, Cipher and Maverick defeated. Despite the incredible performance he still remained unseen, as during the qualifiers in Prague he was not given a spot on stage. We were curious who was the man behind the enigma, and interviewed him briefly whilst in Prague.
This interview was conducted by Radoslav “Nydra” Kolev and Tom “Matthieist” Matthiesen.
Greetings, Gera. Not many people know you yet, so let’s start off by telling something about yourself.
Well, when I started playing games more a while ago, I soon found out that I like strategy-games the most. So then I picked up card games, mainly Magic the Gathering. Eventually Hearthstone came along, and I really liked the game. When I got into the beta I set a goal for myself: to become a professional player in this game. I was able to get to the top legendary ranks consistently, which gave me more motivation to pursue my goal. I started playing more and more tournaments, both local and online. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to the top 23. So then I had to enter the Last Call Qualifiers, then the round of 40 and to my joy I made it to the European Qualifiers.
You had a pretty impressive run, and it’s safe to say that not many people expected you to come this far. Considering that Europe is an extremely strong region, if not the strongest, what kind of mentality do you need to make it all the way through?
Well I practiced a lot with my team, which gave me confidence about two of my decks. The only class I was a bit insecure about was my Hunter, but in the end I had tuned it as fine as possible in my opinion. I think this was my main strategy. Select 3 classes you think are strong, and focus solely on them. The conquest format is perfect for that strategy. Then, as I said, practice a lot with team mates and try different combinations that work out well.
Sadly enough you have been eliminated from the tournament. What will we see from you in the future?
This was only my first experience with a tournament of this size, but I definitely want more of it. My career as a pro player has only just begun, and from now on I aim to play in as many tournaments as I can. Then I will come even more prepared, so that I can improve my results!
You are one of the few professional Italian Hearthstone players. Why aren’t there more Italians in the pro scene?
I see this as my job, but that is not the mentality many Italians tend to have towards this. They think it costs too much effort and time to get up high. This is not the mentality I and a few others have, but it’s the reason why you see so few Italian pro players.
During this tournament, you allegedly played a game against Lifecoach which lasted more than two hours. What do you experience during such a game?
Well, Lifecoach is one of the players I admire a lot. Strangely enough I was very calm when I faced him, which felt very good. During that two hours, I didn’t make any misplays. This kept me level-headed, and was definitely was a big support during the match.
Last year Kaor, also an Italian player, made it to the EU qualifiers. His motivation to play the game was quite remarkable: he wanted to open a bookstore with his girlfriend and support his family. Do you have a special personal motivation?
Besides my goal to be one of the big guys on stage one day, I hope I can open the doors more for eSports in Italy. My hope is that I can set an example for people, so that they will acknowledge eSports as an actual profession. Hopefully one day more Italians will see that it is actually a branch of sports as well.
Big tournaments used to only invite famous streamers, or other well known players. Do you think that this has changed during last year?
As a pro player who wants invites to tournaments, you need to be as visible to others as you can. It’s why I try my best to be in as many competitions as possible; that way you will be noticed eventually. The community plays a big role in this as well. You can be a very strong player, but as long as the community doesn’t see you, almost no big tournaments will invite you.