Jia Defends Hearthstone Title at World Series of Esports 5

In the final day of the World Series of Esports 5: The Return of Jia event, contenders fought tooth and nail to earn the shot at WSOE Hearthstone champion Jia. 

Take a look at our video introduction to #WSOE 5: Hearthstone - The Return of Jia.

"The Medallion" ? pic.twitter.com/SCygmmF1Qz

— WSOE (@WSOE) March 31, 2019

Contending Path

Jia’s championship defending bout would take place against Pathra, who had a heck of a time reaching the big match today. After taking her head-to-head in the first round, Pathra would be swept in the winner’s final by SongBird. But, after defeating Slysssa in the losers’ final, Pathra would earn another shot. 

In their second head-to-head Pathra was able to pull out the upset, beating SongBird 3-2 in the contender's grand finals. With that, she would face the defending WSOE champion in Jia for the whole shebang. 

A Messy, But Definitive Win

Stacked in a lean expecting Pathra’s Rogue deck, Jia entered Game 1 in the finals with her Paladin. She would lose that first game against the Pathra Priest deck without putting up much of a fight and admitted later that she drafted the wrong deck in Game 1. “I think I lost the pick and ban phase,” Jia would add in a post-game interview.  

Coming out swinging with her own Priest deck in Game 2, Jia would even up the series at 1-win apiece. Calling out the Rogue deck from Pathra that everyone has come to fear, she would lose her Priest in Game 3. 

The fourth game in the series came down to Jia’s Druid against Pathra’s Rogue, and for a few moments, there was a glimmer of hope that Pathra had fought through it all to beat the reigning champion. But, thanks to some unlucky draws on her side, and some fortune in Jia’s deck, it wasn’t meant to be. Yet. 

During the fifth and final game of the series, Jia’s token Druid wound up being too reliable for Pathra to handle with the Warlock. It looked like a mistake, but a last-second throw down expecting a taunt on a creature card wound up without one, and Jia took the series with an uncontested attack on the enemy hero. 

And STILL ... 

“Treespeaker is the best!” said Jia jokingly after the gigantic winning check was presented to her. 

Jia, a notable Hearthstone caster, has now proven twice that she is just as capable at playing the game as she is on the broadcast desk. Hopefully, Pathra finds herself an invitation to the next WSOE Hearthstone event and get another shot at the title. 

Now the two-time, back-to-back champion of WSOE: Hearthstone, Jia made mention that the community has been bugging her to start streaming her ranked matches more often. With her winnings, we just may see that become a reality. 

The next World Series of Esports event will take place on April 13th and 14th, in Las Vegas’ PokerGO Studio at the ARIA Resort. WSOE6 will feature Dota 2.