BlizzCon crowns its first female esports champion

Xiaomeng ‘Liooon’ Li has become the first female winner of a BlizzCon title and a major Hearthstone tournament.

Liooon beat Brian ‘bloodyface’ Eason 3-0 in the best-of-five Hearthstone Grandmasters 2019 Global Finals at BlizzCon 2019 to also become the first Chinese player to win a Hearthstone world championship, ESPN reports.

“I want to say for all the girls out there who have a dream for esports competition, for glory, if you want to do it and you believe in yourself, you should just forget your gender and go for it,” she said following the final.

Liooon’s share of the $500,000 prize pool was $200,000, while bloodyface took home $100,000.

The latest Hearthstone expansion, Descent of Dragons, was announced during BlizzCon, which took place at the Anaheim Convention Center in California from November 1-2.

The Descent of Dragons expansion, which is detailed by Hearthstone game designer Alec Dawson in the video below, will introduce 135 new cards to the free-to-play game when it launches on December 10.

Blizzard president J. Allen Brack opened BlizzCon 2019 with an apology for the way the company handled October’s Hearthstone esports controversy, which saw it come under fire for banning several players who expressed support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement during tournaments.

The annual fan convention was also used to announce Diablo 4, the long-awaited isometric action RPG sequel, which returns the series to its “dark” origins.

Team shooter sequel Overwatch 2 and new World of Warcraft expansion Shadowlands were announced at BlizzCon 2019 too.