The last spot for APAC into the World Finals will be given out today. Tune in, watch and follow our coverage here.
Where to watch
Twitch.tv/playhearthstone cast by: Frodan, Azumoqt, Raven, Firebat, Sottle, Savjz
Brackets:
Format + Prize pool: 1x Blizzcon seed
- Best of 7, Conquest, 1-ban
- Single Elimination Bracket
Main storylines
How good is ANZ?
In many ways, Australia and New Zealand is the most under-televised and under-researched region in esports. In Hearthstone, it’s a darker area even when compared to the mysterious China or the small but diverse Southeast Asia. What happens “down under” remains more or less unknown to the wide public.
Yet, the region regularly produces top contenders who are consistent in the HCT points race. At the final stretch, the last mile, the burden to represent his country is on the shoulders of Alex “NaviOOT” Ridley. A Twitch streamer with a devout following, NaviOOT barely finished in the top eight for the APAC Last Call, but that’s all that matters for the Australian at this point. Coming into his region’s most contested tournament, NaviOOT is to carry ANZ’s flag into battle, aiming for an ANZ debut into Blizzcon.
Aaron and the pride of SEA
Southeast Asia is a region constantly underestimated by the wide Hearthstone population, which only shows how little information about its talents there is out there. Casting out the obscurity of 2014, SEA has been breeding fierce card-slingers for two years now and has grown to be a sub-region comparable in strength to the other major countries in APAC like Taiwan and South Korea. Players like Lan “Neilyo” Tran, who represented Vietnam at Blizzcon 2015, Dustin “WaningMoon” Mangulabnan, who is a record holder in GosuCup SEA victories and the player in question Aaron “Aaron” Koh are just a few of SEA’s most exemplary warriors.
Now that APAC is down to its last spot, it’s on Aaron to edge out Taiwan, ANZ and Japan in favor of Southeast Asia and join APAC’s kings of South Korea and Hong Kong’s Yulsic at Blizzcon. And being an expert on SEA Hearthstone believe me when I say this: The World Finals will greatly benefit from Aaron’s presence.
Tom60299 and the elite club of repeat finalists
Only two players in Hearthstone has had repeat Blizzcon appearances so far: Hak-Jun “Kranich” Baek and Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk. As he readies his decks for the October 10 tournament, Wei Lin “Tom60229” Chen could become the third.
For the longest time, Tom has been the single most recognized Hearthstone player from his country. Even though his name might not come up often when talking about Asia’s best players – at least not in the times of Handsomeguy’s reign – Tom is perhaps the easterner with the most successes abroad, second only to China’s godfather Xieyu “TiddlerCelestial” Wang. Triumphs over Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh and Harald “Powder” Gimre in the August of 2015 brought him back-to-back major golds at Assembly Summer and ONOG Summer Finals, followed by a silver at Celestial Invitational later in the year.
If you’re looking for someone to root for next week but don’t know anyone from the APAC region, Tom is your safe bet.
Schedule, October 10 (all times are European time):
06:00 - Shaxy vs ??
07:30 - Tom60229 vs NaviOOT
09:00 - Cheonsu vs Aaron
10:30 - Tansoku vs Gogongsing
12:00 - Semi Final #1
13:30 - Semi Final #2
15:00 - Grand Final
