As we move into the home stretch of the Hearthstone Championship Tour, it’s time we take a look at who leads in HCT points in HCT Season 3. Tournament winners take up the spotlight but those who are grinding for points don’t really get coverage. A few of these players we’ve come to know as household names, a couple others have been quietly having great years in Hearthstone.
The current points leader for the Americas Region is David “JustSaiyan” Shan. The American pro is probably one of the most hyped up players in Hearthstone, he makes the number one spot on a lot of analysts’ top ten lists.
Saiyan’s success is highlighted by all of his high placing tournament finishes and his recent qualifying for the upcoming World Championship. Prior to his tear he has always been a consistent ladder grinder. Saiyan has had the opportunity to go to every Tour Stop this year and has proved why he deserves to be considered one of the best.
Trailing right behind Saiyan is his Tempo Storm teammate Muzahidul “Muzzy” Islam. Before this year, Muzzy had the reputation of being one of the strongest players in Hearthstone. Even if he didn’t always win tournaments, he was the go-to man for deciding the best course of action in any single game.
So far this year he has been struggling to get good finishes at Tour Stops. He did finish top four in Buenos Aires, and finally got back into the top eight again in Singapore. Even with the struggles in tournament, he has been able to finish atop the ladder season after season to boost up his HCT Season 3 points.
Muzzy and JustSaiyan. Photo credit Muzzy’s twitter.
Tempo Storm’s third teammate, William “Amnesiac” Barton, also sits in fourth for HCT Season 3 points. This team is number one in the world currently so one of them placing well in a tournament is almost a given.
The current points leader for the APAC Region is actually reigning World Champion Chen “tom60229” Wei Lin. He hasn’t yet secured a spot at this year’s World Championship, but has been trying hard to gain points so he can defend his title.
Photo credit tom60229’s Facebook.
The champ has struggled heavily in tournament this year, as he only has one top eight finish. That on top of the recent disqualification of his team Taiwan from the Global Games has to be very discouraging for a player.
He has tried his best to not let that slow him down and he continues to grind ladder for his chance to qualify for World Champs. Look for him to have a breakout performance very soon, because he hasn’t been making too many errors in tournament play. The cards have just favored other very great players, like in his recent loss to the third place Europe points leader Kevin “Casie” Eberlein in Singapore.
Photo credit Kribo’s twitter.
Trailing tom by only a single point is Korean Hearthstone player Kim “kribo” Chi su. Kribo has seen a recent surge of success, finishing in the top four in Singapore. That placement tacked on another 10 points which is equal to more than 25 percent of his total for HCT Season 3.
Kribo had previously been consistently qualifying for APAC playoffs simply with strong ladder finishes. Now with him showcasing his ability at a tour stop, he can show how strong of a player he should be recognized as. Kribo will certainly be giving DacRyvius competition for best Korean Hearthstone player.
The HCT Season 3 points leader for the Europe Region is German player Linh “Seiko” Nguyen. He’s one of the players who has been quietly having a great year so far. He is on a team with a World Championship qualifier, and is likely to make a run for the title himself.
He hasn’t been the strongest tournament player this year, but he finished second in Taichung and won the German Nationals. Germany is a country with a lot of the best talent in the world so this definitely marks the strength of Seiko.
The place where he really earns his points though is the ladder. He’s able to get very high finishes across all of the servers which has led to him having the most points in the world for HCT Season 3.
Trailing not too far behind is the MVP of the first half of 2018, Casper “Hunterace” Notto. After finishing 2nd or 1st in four consecutive tour stops, Hunterace’s tear has slowed to top eight finishes.
Photo Credit Hunterace’s twitter.
Despite Saiyan taking over the spotlight as of recent, Hunterace is still probably having the best year in Hearthstone. As the first player to reach 3-star master, Hunterace has been a machine across ladder finishes and tournament placing. If there is a tournament stop, expect his name in the top 16. He hasn’t yet secured a seat at the World Championship, but he will be a favorite to win it all when he does.
Stay tuned for more competitive Hearthstone as we make our way down the home stretch of Season 3.
Header Image courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via the official Hearthstone website.
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