In Hearthstone , the first woman won a BlizzCon tournament in 2019. The 23-year-old Chinese player Xiaomeng “VKLiooon” Li was an underdog. She says men doubted her because she is a girl. At the award ceremony as the “Hearthstone Global Finals Champion,” she broke down in tears.
What makes this special: The Chinese woman made history in two ways:
- In August, she became the first woman to win a Hearthstone major – Blizzard subsequently introduced her as the “new superstar in China” (via playhearthstone)
- Now at BlizzCon 2019, she became the first woman to win the “Hearthstone Global Finals,” making her the best Hearthstone player.
She achieved this as a relatively unknown player. Because China does not focus on Blizzard’s “Grandmaster” program. Therefore, the Chinese woman is not one of the 48 “star players” that Blizzard specifically promotes and who are popular in the eSports scene.
Underdog had to go through extensive qualification
Who is she? The 23-year-old caught attention in early October because she was the first woman to qualify for the “Hearthstone Global Finals.”
She won the “Gold Open Tianjin Master Group,” which is an extensive tournament series in China. This secured her ticket to BlizzCon, where she competed against the best players in the world.
Eight players participated in the finals leading to BlizzCon:
- 6 of them came from the 48 Grandmasters from Europe, America, and Asia-Pacific, who played two 8-week seasons against each other to determine the 6 best players
- The other 2 finalists had to fight their way through qualifying in China – VKLiooon prevailed in a field of 64 “elite players”.
This is what VKLiooon said before the tournament: In an interview with Blizzard, she said in August after her qualification that now she had the chance to make a name for herself worldwide as a representative of China. That would be the best way to show everyone who doubted her just because she is a girl.
Her victory proves that girls can be just as strong professional players as boys.
Quest Druid brings home the crown
How did she win? She had to win a total of 4 matches to become the world champion:
- In the group stage, she eliminated tom60229 and Fenomeno – she had extensively studied Fenomeno’s Mage deck after the EU Grandmaster Playoff.
- In the semifinals, the Chinese player defeated Kevin “Casie” Eberlein from Nuremberg, a German, 3:2 – he was proud of his performance.
- In the final, she was able to defeat the American Brian “Bloodyface” Eason 3:0.
She played a “Quest Druid” deck with legendary cards like Malygos and Kun. (via hearthpwn)
A guy told her: “You don’t belong here”
This is what she says after the victory: After the victory in Hearthstone, she recounted: Two years ago, she was in line for registration at a major tournament.
A guy told her she shouldn’t stand in line. The line wasn’t for girls.
But now she stands here with the support of the fans. If girls want to compete in eSports, they should just do it.
The Chinese woman wins $200,000 in prize money.
Who is VKLiooon? VKLiooon comes from a small town in northwestern China. Her parents divorced when she was 9. After that, she lived with her mother, a teacher. She studies political science and law in China. At university, she fell in love with Hearthstone.
She describes herself as a hard worker who plays a lot of ladder and simulates every possible scenario in advance.
Most of the time, she plays against her boyfriend, a Chinese professional at Invictus Gaming. She considers him the best player in China. Well, but she said that in August – probably the relationship hierarchy has now changed with her victory in the World Championship.
In recent months, Grandmasters in Hearthstone haven’t always been in the spotlight.
