The grand final in the Hearthstone European Grandmasters tournament ended dramatically when France’s Zakarya “xBlyzes” Hailintentionally disconnected from the match against Spain’s David “Frenetic” Neila.
With both players tied at two games in the best of three grand final, xBlyzes, at low health with no creatures in play, could not summon a last ditch defence against Frenetic’s onslaught. Instead of conceding the match or letting Frenetic finish him off as is typical in Hearthstone and other card games, xBlyzes chose to walk away, disconnecting from the game in what seems to be a ragequit.
xBlyzes is a 20-year-old professional Hearthstone player who won the Season 2 European Grandmasters Tournament in 2020.
On Twitter, xBlyzes took his loss hard and defended his behaviour as many said it was unsportsmanlike.
“Sry [sic] to be mad because I lost the most important match of my life,” he tweeted responding to a fan’s critique.
xBlyzes had a tough time during this eight-week long Grandmasters tournament. Earlier in the competition, he was fined and docked two points for arriving late to a match and was accused of win trading with his opponent Zhym. Win trading involves agreeing to lose a match in exchange for money or later wins and is against tournament rules.
In a Twitlonger, translated from French by Kotaku, xBlyzes denies the accusation saying, “I’m not so stupid to the point of voluntarily wintrading and to stay around.
“I have never cheated in my life, and I would never cheat,” the post continued.
A second place finish nets xBlyzes $2,000 USD ($2,565) in prize money, and he will be eligible to compete in Season 2 of the Grandmasters Tournament starting in August. No word yet if Blizzard will punish xBlyzes for his actions or if the accusations of win trading will lead to further investigation.
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