It was an intense final matchup, but in the end Jacinta “Jia” Dee overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat notable caster Cora “Songbird” Georgiou and claim the best-of-five series and the title of first ever World Showdown of Esports (WSOE) Hearthstone Champion.
With the victory, Jia also claimed the $15,000 main prize, an additional $2,000 in WSOE “Bout Bounties,” and the coveted WSOE Champion’s Medallion.
Jia claimed victory in the final round thanks to a stunning game 4 comeback. After Songbird played to what seemed like an insurmountable position, Jia waited her out and, after a series of draws that had fans chatting “feelsbadman” in sympathy with Songbird, came back for the win. Jia then jumped out to a quick lead in a furiously played game 5 and dispatched a still-stunned Songbird, whose stellar play throughout the tournament had brought her to the brink of victory.
The final game was an exciting conclusion to an exceptional tournament. WSOE 2: The Hearthstone Showdown featured 16 of the world’s most notable women Hearthstone players competing for over $30,000 in prizes. Played over three days, December 19-21, 2018, WSOE produced and presented the event live from the OGN Studios in Manhattan Beach, CA. Competing players included Hafu, Pathra, Alliestrasza, Slysssa, and more. The event was streamed live at twitch.tv/WSOE.
WSOE 2: The Hearthstone Showdown, the second-ever event in the new WSOE tournament series, was highlighted by several notable firsts for WSOE, including: the first 1v1 competition, the largest individual payout awarded to date, and the first CCG featured in the series. The event was also notable in the broader world of Hearthstone competition, being both one of the first competitions held following the launch of the Rastakhan’s Rumble Hearthstone expansion and coming only a day after a major “nerf” to several key Hearthstone cards.
In addition to an exceptional player lineup, WSOE 2: The Hearthstone Showdown featured leading Hearthstone personality TJ Sanders as host, joined by a top crew of analysts, commentators, and reporters including Brian Kibler, Dan “Frodan” Chou, Nathan “Admirable” Zamora, Paul “Zalae” Nemeth, Lisa “Lucy Mae” Malambri, and Lauren Jbara.
“Collectible card games are an exciting addition to the WSOE series and we couldn’t be more excited to bring a fast-paced strategy game like Hearthstone to the WSOE audience,” said Jeff Liboon, President of ESP Gaming. “We can’t wait for The Hearthstone Showdown to light up the arena and showcase some of the fiercest players in competitive gaming.”
Jia played her way to an exciting final matchup on the strength of dominating early round performances. She swept two of her four matchups en route to a tense 3-2 semi-final victory over Alyssa “Slysssa” Ritter. In what may have been a foreshadowing of Songbird’s later Game 4 play, Slysssa avoided a Game 4 elimination after overcoming what many viewers considered a misplay. Jia finally claimed victory over Slysssa to set up the final-round matchup with Songbird.
That final round matchup, Jia vs. Songbird, was an epic contest that truly delivered on the WSOE’s promise to bring the most compelling esports competition to its fans.
The World Showdown of Esports returns with WSOE 3 on December 30, 2018. Like / follow WSOE on social media for breaking updates.
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