Hearthstone 2021 World Championship Happening This Saturday

The Hearthstone 2021 World Championship is almost here. On December 18, the world’s top eight Hearthstone players will go head-to-head in the latest Fractured in Alterac Valley expansion. The one standing on top claims the title of World Champion and brings home $200,000.

Here’s a rundown of the eight competitors:

• Kyle “McbanterFace” Spigelman (US)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 2
    • Hand–Reading: 4
    • Class Variation: 3
    • Flexibility: 4
    • Meta Knowledge: 5
  • At a Glance
    • Masters Tour Ironforge Top 16
    • 2021 Grandmasters Season 2 Americas Champion
• David Neila “Frenetic” Quiñones (Spain)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 5
    • Hand–Reading: 3
    • Class Variation: 3
    • Flexibility: 4
    • Meta Knowledge: 4
  • At a Glance
    • Masters Tour Montreal Champion
    • 2021 Grandmasters Season 1 Europe Champion
• Sato “Glory” Kenta (Japan)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 3
    • Hand–Reading: 4
    • Class Variation: 4
    • Flexibility: 3
    • Meta Knowledge: 5
  • At a Glance
    • 2020 World Champion
    • 2021 Grandmasters Season 2 Asia–Pacific Champion
• Facundo “Nalguida” Pruzzo (Argentina)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 3
    • Hand–Reading: 4
    • Class Variation: 5
    • Flexibility: 5
    • Meta Knowledge: 4
  • At a Glance
    • Top 4 finish at 2015 IEM Katowice
    • 2021 Grandmasters Season 1 Americas Champion
• Gabriel “Gaby” Jeanne (France)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 5
    • Hand–Reading: 5
    • Class Variation: 4
    • Flexibility: 3
    • Meta Knowledge: 5
  • At a Glance
    • Masters Tour Orgrimmar Champion
    • 2021 Grandmasters Season 2 Europe Champion
• Wataru “Posesi” Ishibashi (Japan)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 4
    • Hand–Reading: 3
    • Class Variation: 4
    • Flexibility: 5
    • Meta Knowledge: 3
  • At a Glance
    • Masters Tour Orgrimmar Champion
    • 2021 Grandmasters Season 2 Europe Champion
• Huang Dehui “Xiaobai” Dehui (China)
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 4
    • Hand–Reading: 3
    • Class Variation: 3
    • Flexibility: 3
    • Meta Knowledge: 3
  • At a Glance
    • Masters Tour Ironforge Champion
• Zhu “Tianming” Xinyu
  • Stats (out of five stars)
    • Speed of Play: 4
    • Hand–Reading: 4
    • Class Variation: 4
    • Flexibility: 4
    • Meta Knowledge: 3
  • At a Glance
    • Masters Tour Undercity Top 4
    • Masters Tour Orgrimmar Top 8

Tournament Format

The tournament is divided into two phases. The first is the Group Stage where the players are placed in two groups of four players each. It’s a Dual Tournament with all matches being in Bo5. The top two players of each group move to the Playoffs. The Playoffs follow a single-elimination format with all matches in Bo5.

The groupings are:

• Group A
  • Gaby
  • Nalguidan
  • Tianming
  • Posesi
• Group B
  • Frenetic
  • McBanterFace
  • glory
  • Xiaobai

So who do you think is claiming the title? Do you think Glory can defend his crown? Share your thoughts.

Hearthstone is available on PC, Android, and iOS.