Hearthstone’s Summer Championships: How journalism and ultimate Frisbee drove two players

Blizzard’s third and final season of competitive Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft for 2016 is coming to a close this month. A mixture of new names and known pros have already qualified to compete at the Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon in November, and the Summer Championships and upcoming Last Call tournaments will round that list out.

One of the tremendous successes of Blizzard’s Hearthstone Championship Tour this year has been its accessibility. The new HCT format for 2016 ensured a diverse range of players could participate in each of the new seasonal events in every region, and the flexible ways in which players could earn their right to compete in those tournaments meant we were bound to see some new faces throughout the year.