Meet Your Asia-Pacific Hearthstone Grandmasters

• Hearthstone Grandmasters Announcement
• List of Grandmasters from Americas Region
• List of Grandmasters from Europe Region

Remember when Blizzard announced Hearthstone Grandmasters last week? At the time, we didn’t have anything more to share. Most importantly, we didn’t know who will actually play in the league (which, let’s be honest, is rather important). This is changing, as today we’ve learned which 16 players will be the season one Hearthstone Grandmasters. Keep in mind that there will be on eliminations during the first season, but starting with a second one, the roster can change (lowest ranked players at the end of the season might fall out).

The first season of Hearthstone Grandmasters starts on May 17, but we should get more information (such as participants from other regions) before HCT World Championship 2019 (April 25-28) concludes. Stay tuned!

Here’s a full list of invited APAC players:

• Alutemu
• Blitzchung
• BloodTrail
• che0nsu
• Dawn
• Flurry
• FroStee
• glory
• Pathra
• Ryvius
• SamuelTsao
• Shaxy
• Staz
• Surrender
• tom60229
• Tyler

In the leadup to the launch of Hearthstone Grandmasters on May 17, we’ll be introducing you to the players that will make up each region for the first two seasons. The following players have been invited to join Grandmasters based on criteria including lifetime earnings, points earned during HCT 2018, seasonal points leaders, contributions to the Hearthstone community, and more.

Here are your Asia-Pacific Hearthstone Grandmasters, including their all-time favorite decks, cards, and cardbacks!

Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung, Hong Kong – Top Points Earner

After picking up Hearthstone in the Spring of 2015, Blitzchung spent most of his days after school trying to hit Legend. Fast forward to 2019 and he’s has only missed placing in the top 100 in APAC once in the past three years. Blitzchung played on stage at BlizzCon 2018 with the Hong Kong Hearthstone Global Games team and made top 8 at multiple HCT Tour Stops.

Wu “BloodTrail” Zong-Chang, Taiwan – Top Points Earner

Growing up in Miaoli County, Bloodtrail has lived in Taiwan his entire life and it wasn’t until he was a senior in high school that he picked up Hearthstone. Bloodtrail’s notable wins include first place at the 2018 All-Star Invitational, first place in the Asia-Pacific Fall Playoffs, and third place at the HCT Fall Championship.

Kim “che0nsu” Cheon Su, South Korea – Top Prize Money Earner

Che0nsu lives by the beach in Incheon, South Korea, and can smell the sea on windy days. After picking up Hearthstone in 2015, it took him only one month to hit #2 Legend which led him to pursue a competitive career. He went on to place top four at the 2016 HCT World Championship, taking home a cool USD $100,000.

Jang “Dawn” Hyun Jae, South Korea – Top Prize Money Earner

Dawn, whose claim to fame is winning WCA 2015 (and over USD $100,000) after qualifying for the tournament as a wild card, is excited to work on his improving his stream with the new attention that being a Grandmaster will bring. He enjoys playing billiards, singing karaoke, and painting plastic models in his free time.

Cho “Flurry” Hyun Soo, South Korea – Legends Spot

Flurry is a pro gamer and streamer from South Korea who has been playing strategy and console games since he was young. Flurry has earned numerous notable placements, including top four at 2017’s Hearthstone Global Games. Flurry has been playing for the esports team Cloud9, along with his teammate Dawn, since December of 2018.

Dylan “FroStee” O’Mallon, Australia – Top Points Earner

Currently residing in Adelaide, Australia, 24-year-old FroStee is a martial arts instructor with a 3rd degree black belt. Grandmasters is the culmination of years of hard work for FroStee, who has fallen just short of exceptional placements a handful of times.

Kenta “glory” Sato, Japan – Top Points Earner

Glory, who was born and raised in Japan, started playing Hearthstone with a budget Mech Mage deck in January 2016. Glory has several impressive placements, including taking first place at the APAC Summer Playoffs. He loves anime and manga.

Yashima “Alutemu” Nozomi, Japan – Top Points Earner

Alutemu, formerly known as Machamp, was born and raised in Japan. After casually playing Hearthstone (mostly Arena) in 2015, it was only two years ago that Alutemu began playing competitively. Alutemu placed within the top 25 on the Asia-Pacific ladder for the better half of last year and earned respectable placements at Tour Stops and Playoffs as well.

Pathra “Pathra” Cadness, New Zealand – Legends Spot

Pathra was born a Disney-obsessed kid in the Philippines, which led her to secure a degree in Animation before becoming a fulltime streamer. Pathra placed third at the WSOE2, won the 2017 BlizzCon Invitational, and represented New Zealand in the Hearthstone Global Games in both 2017 and 2018.

Dasol “Ryvius” Sim, South Korea – Top Points Earner

Ryvius started playing Hearthstone during a hospital stay in February of 2016 because he needed something to pass the time. A natural introvert, Ryvius is looking forward to using Grandmasters as an opportunity to build his personal brand while playing some high-level Hearthstone with his longtime friends in the pro scene. Ryvius was the only Korean player to hit 1-Star Master and has earned several respectable placements at various major events over the past year.

Tsao “SamuelTsao” Tsu Lin, Taiwan – Top Prize Money Earner

Also born and raised in Taiwan, SamuelTsao’s proudest achievement is placing top eight at the HCT 2017 World Championship. He was introduced to Hearthstone by his college roommate in 2015 and quickly hit Legend with Aggro Shaman. He spends his free time playing basketball and hanging out with his dog, an adorable black Shiba Inu.

Liu “Shaxy” Wei-Chieh, Taiwan – Top Points Earner

Shaxy picked up Hearthstone almost immediately after the game was released and quickly became a ladder specialist. Constantly practicing, Shaxy prides himself on the long hours he puts into honing his skill and admits that he often dreams about playing Hearthstone after he goes to bed.

Euneil “Staz” Javiñas, Philippines – Top Prize Money Earner

Staz is the only Hearthstone Grandmaster from the Philippines, living near the town of Tagaytay. Staz found Hearthstone after growing frustrated with his slow internet when playing StarCraft II in 2014. He’s had multiple top tournament placements since, including first place at WESG 2016 where he took home a USD $150,000 prize pool.

Kim “Surrender” Jung-soo, South Korea – Top Points Earner

Hailing from Seoul, South Korea, Surrender is a scene veteran, having played Hearthstone competitively since beta. Surrender was the first player to hit Legend in Asia and has a number of high-profile tournament wins and placements under his belt. He tries to stream every day that he isn’t competing.

Chen “tom60229” Wei Lin, Taiwan –Top Prize Money Earner

In 2014, Tom60229 competed at the Hearthstone World Championship but went home without winning a match. In a redemption story for the ages, he came back to win the title in 2018 and became one of the scene’s most decorated professional players along the way.

Tyler ‘Tyler’ Hoang Nguyen, Vietnam – Top Points Earner

Tyler grew up in the Netherlands but moved to Vietnam last year with his parents. As the number one point-leader on the Asia-Pacific server, Tyler has been getting into yoga and calisthenics recently and would like the dating world to know that he is currently single and ready to mingle. Tyler qualified for both the Fall and Winter Championship and competed in the Hearthstone Global Games in both 2017 and 2018 on the Netherlands team.

After season two of Grandmasters, the player who finished last in each division will be at risk of relegation to the top cash prize-earners from the Masters Tour program. Who on this list will represent Asia-Pacific at the year-end finals? Check back right here at playhearthstone.com/esports next week for the reveal of our European Grandmasters players!