Who says women can’t rival men in esports? Think again! In the recent Hearthstone Major Championship at Blizzcon 2019, a female player beat the best players in the world to lift the trophy and the grand prize of $200,000 (₹1.4 Crore).
Even more impressive, Xiaomeng “VKLiooon” Li came to the event through the open qualifier and made it past the Blizzcon group stage. Not just that, VKLiooon exceeded everyone’s expectations and swept her opponent 3-0 in the grand final.
An impressive journey
Her journey started at the Gold Open Tianjin Master Group season 1 playoffs where she topped the board. After winning the Chinese qualifier event, she earned her ticket to the Global Championship in Blizzcon 2019 this November. However, she still had to go through one more qualifier to enter the Global Championship. Against all the odds, the female Hearthstone player made it in.
Right after qualifying for the event, VKLiooon had a few encouraging words to the fans, especially for female gamers:
However, she made it much further than that, climbing all the way to the top. In the grand final, VKLiooon made a quick work of Brian ‘bloodyface’ Eason and swept the series 3-0 right on the big stage.
With this victory, VKLiooon has officially become the best Hearthstone player in the world. After earning a massive prize of $200,000 (₹1.4 Crore), she has become the second highest-earning female esports player, just below the Starcraft player Sasha ‘Scarlett ‘ Hostyn.
After her convincing victory, VKLiooon took to the world audience and said another inspirational line: “just forget gender and go for it.” This is indeed inspiring for female gamers worldwide.