by hsdecktech - 6 years ago     show comments

The Hearthstone Grandmasters Global Finals were packed. As the event wore on, more and more fans were drawn in by the prospect that Xiaomeng “Liooon” Li might become the first female player to ever win on Hearthstone’s biggest stage. She had already made history by being the first woman to ever qualify

for the event, but what started out as a story point in a lesser-known player’s bio quickly became the talk of the tournament.

Although newer to the competitive scene–especially in the West’s eyes–Liooon had already impressed. Chinese players do not have a Grandmasters system that feeds into the Global finals but, instead, have a grueling open tournament system. That means that to even get to Blizzcon, Liooon had to beat out thousands of other competitors. And she didn’t stop when she arrived at Blizzcon, either. She didn’t drop a match in the group stages, and only one player–Casie–had even been able to win a single game against her. By the time she got to the finals, the casters, including Justsaiyan and Hunterace, were comparing her winstreak to those of some of the greatest players of all time…  such as Justsaiyan and Hunterace.

And the long road after all that dominance ended with a best-of-five match against Bloodyface, in the Blizzcon finals. She took a swift 2-0 lead in the series off of first an insane Aggro Shaman Evolve turn versus Bloodyface’s Quest Druid (as is known to happen) and then taking advantage of Bloodyface’s less-than-optimal Evolve on the flip-side of that matchup in game 2 (as is also, sometimes, known to happen). When it came to the final match, it was Liooon’s Highlander Hunter versus Bloodyface’s Quest Druid. She aggressively smorc’d him down in hopes that she could close out the series before Quest Druid’s insane midgame won back too much traction. She expertly commanded her deck’s secret package throughout the tournament, but perhaps nowhere better than in this game wherein on one turn the casters decided that she had only irrelevant secrets active and then, on the very next turn, realized that those same two secrets had put Bloodyface into a checkmate position. As the secrets went off and Bloodyface passed his last turn back, it seemed Liooon still did not quite realize what she was on the precipice of doing–or, more likely, she dared not yet to believe. But Bloodyface did.

As Bloodyface ended his last turn, he glanced out into the crowd. He must have felt us through his noise-cancelling headphones, all on our feet and cheering, because he knew. And he wasn’t mad. Bloodyface was all smiles when he went to congratulate Liooon after her win, and he has been very supportive of her subsequent reemergence on twitter after her win. He, like all the other pros and casters at the event, respected that a high quality player had earned her spot at the top, and appreciated that it meant a lot that, this time, it was a woman at the top.

As the confetti fell, Frodan, Liooon’s interpreter, and an entire cadre of players, casters, and Blizzard employees met her on stage for a few remarks. And what she said was one of the most touching, heartfelt, and inspirational moments I have ever seen in esports

.

I want to say, for all the girls out there who have a dream of competing in esports competitions, if you want to do it, and you believe in yourself, you should just forget your gender and go for it!

It was at times too much for Liooon to bear, as she thanked her fans, practice partners, and supporters. We cheered her each time she faltered, urging her on in her moment of triumph. But there was not a dry eye in the venue when she recounted a tale of how she was signing up for a Hearthstone tournament a few years prior and a man told her she had no place there

. Here she was, the first female Global Champion in Hearthstone history, and one of few female champions in any esport ever. She showed the narrow-minded men in the sphere that she belongs and, more importantly, she showed all the other women and girls who love gaming that they belong as well.

As she put it, “I want to say, for all the girls out there who have a dream of competing in esports competitions, if you want to do it, and you believe in yourself, you should just forget your gender and go for it!”

Picture courtesy of Blizzard.

In the press conference after the ceremony, many of the questions focused on the greater impact of this victory. Liooon stated that the story she shared on stage was not the only time that she had been discriminated against in the esports scene, but that the infamous line-troll and those like him are actually in the minority. She has hopes that as people become more kind and inviting to women in esports, there will be more female competitors in the future.

If my victory can encourage all the women out there who want to compete, but are afraid to, that would be a huge honor to me.

Like second-place finisher, Bloodyface

, Liooon made her biggest push into professional Hearthstone when she graduated from University and decided to give herself one year to see how far she could go. In that time, she made many friends in the Hearthstone scene, including her current boyfriend (a Chinese pro player, Syf, who she assures us we will see on the Global stage one day soon), who helped her hone her skills.

As for the event itself, Liooon said that she did not expect to win going into it. She knew that she had less experience than most of the other players, particularly on the biggest stages, so she was honored just to be there. At the same time, she thought her underdog mentality was what gave her the edge in this competition.

I think the factor that made it happen for me here is the fact that I thought I was not good enough, compared to all the other players who were here competing, and that’s what motivated me to work harder than them.

How hard, you ask? In the weeks leading up to Blizzcon, she shared she took a more relaxed schedule, so as not to get too in her own head about the task in front of her. That “relaxed” schedule included five hours of practice every day, in addition watching Hearthstone tournaments with her boyfriend to relax and learn her opponents’ tendencies. The non-relaxed version of her schedule–that which she adhered to before she earned her spot at Blizzcon–was summed up as, “all I did was eat, sleep, and play Hearthstone.”

Liooon said she picked her Blizzcon lineup by studying a lot of stats on deck performances and just picking the best lineups according to the stats, regardless of playstyle or preferences. This is no doubt what helped her land on Highlander Hunter, a deck that has had consistently solid stats and yet been criminally underestimated by many the establishment professionals in the west (she was the only player in the whole tournament to bring it). The deck performed very well for her as it lined up well against the Combo Priest that literally every player brought, and was powerful enough in the right hands to take on the whole field. She also showed expertise in making the secret package–an aspect of the deck many professionals specifically look down upon–shine, by playing her secrets in unexpected ways, often turns ahead of when they would eventually trigger, causing players to play suboptimally in order to play around the wrong secrets.

As for what the future holds, Liooon shared that she planned to continue to participate in Hearthstone tournaments around the world, but that she also hoped to get into casting. Unsurprisingly, a major tournament immediately took her up on that offer! We look forward to seeing more of her in both capacities. Congrats again, champ!