Pavel “Pavel Beltukov could be called an underdog. He qualified for the Hearthstone World Championship at the last minute and has next to no time to prepare. He was the underdog going into the world championship. But he ended up taking the crown.
Go back one month and ask Pavel Beltukov how he was feeling about his Hearthstone career, and the last thing you’ll hear is that he was expecting to win the Hearthstone World Championship.
But on October 8th he entered the HCT European Last Call, the final opportunity to make it to the grand stage. Beltukov won the European Last Call, qualifying him for the World Championship.
Amongst the hype of Blizzcon, where every wall is lit with trailer for upcoming titles and DLC, and where the Overwatch guys are currently going nuts over Sombra, it seemed that Beltukov wouldn’t last long. He had his back against the ropes from the very start, losing to Edwin “hotMEOWHT” Cook in the first round of the Group Stage. But he secured victories against Korean DDaHyoNi and Chinese player OmegaZero, making it into the top 8.
Things didn’t get any easier for Pavel going into the top 8. In the quarterfinals he played clear favourite Malygos Druid. At first he was getting battered. He went down 3-0. And against the favourite it seems there was no hope for Pavel. But he peeled himself off the floor and fought back, eventually winning the match 4-3.
Next up was Chinese player Jason “Jasonzhou” Zhou in the semi-finals. Pavel took it 4-2, meaning he would face his fellow Slavic player, Ukrainian DrHippi in the Grand Final. After a gruelling battle, Pavel took it 4-2, becoming Heartstone World Champion.
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