Photo: TakeTV
The winds of change are blowing and the Hearthstone scene is being shaken up. Previously unknown or under-televised players are making waves against the established order of old.
In this article, we take a look at the ten players who you need to watch in 2015, as they can easily become the new faces of Hearthstone in the new year.
10. Hawkeye
To be fairly honest, Apostolos "Hawkeye" Karaiskos wasn’t in the list initially, as he placed just outside our combined top 10. However, the unexpected permaban of Naiman let to Kazakhstani’s immediate exclusion from the list so here Hawkeye is.
This doesn’t meant the Greek doesn’t deserve any words of praise. He performed excellently at EU vs CN Masters and gave Kolento more than a good fight in the finals. He was one game away from becoming a champion, too, and to come from the open qualifiers with no prior accomplishments – that’s big.
9. Alesh
Aleš “Alesh” Hemer is one of the “up and comers” of 2015, former member of eSuba and now part of MYinsanity. The Czech player was already seen in 2014 in some big events like Viagames House Cup and SeatStory Cup II but didn’t manage to do well, losing in the group phases.
Nowadays, he is trying to make up for his somewhat unconvincting results and has had some good finishes, placing top 4 in the Battle of the Best by taking out players like Ek0p, Karlis and Powder to finaly lose 3-1 against the World Champion. He was also invited to SeatStory Cup III where he had quite a good strike, losing only his first match in the group phase to Xixo and beating Dziany with the quickest 3-0 of the tournament (and maybe 2015) - only 12 minutes. He lost again versus Xixo on the playoffs with a close 4-3.
We have seen Alesh do his best plays in 2015 and if he continues to do so, it'll be a great year for the Czech.
Photo: Viagame
8. Hoej
It’s always hard to estimate one player’s potential based on just one tournament. Some have built upon their good start and have developed great storylines for themselves, becoming the pillars of today’s scene. Other have withered and waned following their brief moment in the spotlight.
As of today, Frederik “Hoej” Nielssen is very much a floating question mark. The young Dane made it to the Viagame HouseCup #2 from the qualifiers, was one of the only two qualified players in the playoffs and took the victory against the other such person, Sheng-Yuan “Roger” Yao. Along the way, he crushed the likes of Kolento, Firebat and ThijsNL, gunning them down with the power of aggro.
It’s OK if you’re not convinced in Hoej. To be honest, neither are we yet. He isn’t scheduled to play any tournament any time soon, so we won’t really know for sure until he makes it to the next event. As a champion of one of the biggest gatherings for the year so far, excluding him from the list is not really an option.
7. Inderen
Erik "Inderen" Kristenssen is a player from Denmark currently playing on H2K-gaming. He has been appearing at various online tournaments before but is pretty new in the Hearthstone premier tournament scene. Despite this he has made quite the impact.
He made his first steps by qualifying for ESL Katowice where he would later beat world champion James "Firebat" Kostesich in an incredibly close match. He then beat German player James "James" Lee before getting eliminated in the semifinals by Orange. His second appearance was at Viagame House Cup 2 where he once again managed to get through the qualifiers but this time he was eliminated in the group stage, losing to fellow Danish player Hoej.
In both of the tournaments we saw Inderen show high proficiency in a wide range of decks, supplemented by excellent play and decision making. The times he was eliminated, it was by the player who would go on to eventually win the tournament, which makes us believe that this may be a player with great potential who so far has managed to fly just under the radar.
6. Maverick
Mickaël “Maverick” Looze is one of the few international representative of the French and Belgian scene and a very consistant player overall. He had his first time in the spotlight in October 2014 by winning GamersOrigin Cup #2 in Paris, one the biggest offline event ever made in the West attendance-wise with no more than 500 people fighting for two days.
In early January, Maverich switched teams from Punchline ESC to Millenium and has been putting great results since, finishing top 20 every season (7th in January, 15th in February and 19th in March), as well as getting a top eight finish in Battle of the Best. Less than a week ago we saw him invited for the first time at a big event, the SeatStory Cup III, and he showed that he was worthy of it, beating Lifecoach 4-2 to climb to the semi-finals where he lost 4-2 to Orange.
2015 started really well for Maverick and there is no reason he can’t keep it that way. He is no longer an “underdog”.
Photo: ESL
5. Zalae
Paul "Zalae" Nemeth is a rather new force to be reckoned with in Hearthstone, be it in the competitive scene or his new team, Archon. After his Top 4 place in the ESL Legendary Series where he lost in a close 3-2 game against Keaton "Chakki" Gil, the runner-up, he won the BRM Release Invitational with a 3-0 against veteran player Dima "RDU" Rady. Before RDU another veteran player, Hyped, had to admit defeat after a 3-0 sweep by Zalae.
Even though he is pretty new to Hearthstone, he isn’t new to competitive gaming at all, as he's won a Chess State Championship before, as well as having the highest rating in Magic Online for a while, a game he played professionally. Giving his experience with competitive gaming and card games, he’s definitely one of the players to look out for and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he won another tournament soon.
4. Roger
The West has been pretty dominant in Hearthstone since the start of the scene, but it can't be argued that Asia is making its ascend. Chinese players like TiddlerCelestial, MagicWind and Lovelychook are now recognized powerhouses worldwide. But, you see, China is not the only Asian country that treasures Hearthstone.
Taiwan has been producing HS talent at a formidable rate. Last year, FrozenIce and Tom60229 represented their country at BlizzCon while Pinpingho was kicking ass in ESL Legendary series. But there's one more player to watch: Sheng-Yuan "Roger" Luo.
Roger's story is very similar to Hoej's - he came from the open qualifiers to reach the grand finals of HouseCup #2, where he lost to the upper mentioned Dane. He only recently came second in ESL Legengary Series #2 as well, only losing to the one and only Kolento. Roger is known as one of Taiwan's best, a mechanically extraordinary player that should be on everyone's to-watch list.
Photo: TakeTV
3. Ostkaka
Sebastian "Ostkaka" Engwall is a Swedish player who currently plays for Root Gaming. Ostkaka has been playing competitively in Hearthstone for quite some time, but has only recently come into the spotlight with his impressive second place finish at Seat Story Cup 3.
Ostkaka came out of his sure at the top of his group, beating fellow Swedish players Orange and Freakeh, while receiving praise from his peers who called him multiple times "one of the best players in the world". In the playoffs he exhibited a commanding performance, beating his practice partner and former teammate, Xixo, in the semifinals. Ostkaka commands an impressive grip on mechanics and is a force to be reckoned with. We expect great things from him in the weeks and months to come.
2. SilentStorm
Austin "Silentstorm" Li is a Canadian player and the first Champion of the ESL legendary series. He may bring a storm but it is anything but silent. During the tournament he had one of the toughest roads imaginable facing several high-profile players like ek0p, Dtwo, Darkwonyx and Savjz. Yet Silentstorm prevailed against them all and proceeded to win the tournament. He is also noted to be one of the fastest competitive players.
Deckwise he is most famous for his use of demon Warlock, a deck that netted him seven wins in the finals alone. It features an excellent balance of early game minions like [card]Voidwalker[/card] and [card]Mistress of Pain[/card] to stabilize the board before it follows up with later game minions like [card]Dr Boom[/card] and [card]Mal'Ganis[/card]. All supported by a healthy number of removal spells and of course the voidcaller that makes it all come together. A midrange deck through and through.
This style of warlock is already looking to receive significant support from Blackrock Mountain. It is a deck to look out for and Silentstorm is a master of it making him a player you should definitely look out for.
Photo: TakeTV
1. Orange
Jon “Orange” Westberg is a unique type of player.
It’s not because he wins a lot of Hearthstone. A lot of the established names in the game do that. It’s also not about thinking turns and turns in advance: names like Kolento, Lifecoach and Firebat have become synonymous with meticulous planning. It’s all about how Orange’s rise happened – sudden, rapid, unexpected.
Before 2015, Orange was really nobody. He appeared at M-House Cup late in 2014 but his swift elimination there didn’t put him in the spotlight. It was not until his back-to-back qualification for ESL Katowice and Viagame HouseCup #2 that Westberg’s name really made the headlines.
Instantly, Orange was drowned in attention. He got invited into the Kinguin PRO League where he would be on air weekly. He was reportedly courted by the biggest teams in Hearthstone, namely Liquid and Archon, the latter of which he would later join. In March, he went on to win ESL Katowice and a month later he raised the SeatStory Cup III as well, becoming the second player in game’s history after Kolento to win two majors.
In less than two months, Orange grew from zero to hero, an applaudable accomplishment considering the state of professional Hearthstone. Nobody before him has ever experienced such surge of power in such a short time and nobody has had to deal with high praises and even higher expectations as he has to do now.
In less than two months, Orange became the player to beat in 2015. What can he do in the remaining eight months?
Writers:
Nydra, Stothex, Sumadin, Snower and Lostk
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