Previewing GosuAwards 2016: The best stories of the year

The GosuAwards preview series are in no way definitive representation of the upcoming official ceremony. They merely express this author's personal thoughts and opinions for each respective category.

The end of the year is a magical time for GosuGamers. December is the month of our oldest tradition: The GosuAwards. Every year, we celebrate the best players, teams, community members, tournaments and storylines and give our humble nod of appreciation. It’s the one time of the year we get to look back at everything that happened, good and bad, and hope for an even better year to come.

But wait, it’s not December yet, you will say. Right you are, dear reader, and the nominations for the GosuAwards are indeed a couple of weeks down the line, but with most of the year having gone by already, we felt a small preview of the ceremony is in order.

In a series of five articles called “Previewing GosuAwards 2016”, we’ll look at the best stories, tournaments, teams, players and break-out players of the year. Keep in mind, that these articles are not the definitive representation of what the final nominations will be, and simply represent the opinions and thoughts of this particular author. The GosuAwards nominees themselves will be determined by a large crew of panelists through multiple rounds of independent voting.

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The first category in preview is for “Best story” and what a year has it been for positive storytelling in Hearthstone. In fact, that might be the first time where drama has taken a step back in favor of the more up-beat narratives.

Picking my personal top five for “Best story” has been a daunting task. Looking back the entire year, I saw dozens of events that I wanted to highlight and because of that I had to leave many on the bench. The restructuring of HCT was a multi-layered storyline that deserves an honorable mention, for example, because it ultimately served as an overarching narrative for many other sub-stories, which were more focused and enthralling as a whole. The dynamic arrival and departure of big brands was another one that did not make the cut, although it sparked several discussions throughout the year.

With that in mind, in no particular order, my personal top five list begins.

Handsomeguy’s triple grand finals

“By beating all the odds and all records, Handsomeguy did something few have achieved in the past: he brought attention to the otherwise under-televised Asia-Pacific region,” I wrote in my profile piece on Il-Mook “Handsomeguy” Kang leading up to his participation in the World Championship. Despite his eventual flop on the biggest stage, leaving out his story would be a travesty.

Handsomeguy’s achievement of three consecutive grand finals was not only the game’s first and a thundering roar from the Asia-Pacific region, but also one that raised awareness of a potential flaw in the HCT system: the inconsistency of its qualifiers. Handsomeguy’s runs owe a lot to the seeding process of APAC, where the top points earner of the season got automatically invited to the respective championship, creating a snowball effect. Though what Handsomeguy achieved must never be dismissed as it still involved beating the region’s best, it was a multi-faced narrative of celebration but also concern.

China finally beats the West

China versus the World has been Hearthstone’s oldest rivalry. It has persisted through all three years of competitive play and has outlived every other story with ease. Not even the ongoing Europe vs. North America tops this one.

Yet event after event, China struggled to find victory. Every year, it would organize at least two challenge events to try and prove its worth. At one point, even a Ferrari was used as competitive stimulus. Nothing worked. China kept losing and it wasn’t even close.

The macabre tradition was finally broken at CN vs. EU Season 3 by the hands of Bohan “Lovelychook” Zhang. In a face-off against reigning challenge champion Aleksandr “Kolento” Malsh, the Chinese triumphed for the first time in the history of this rivalry.

This was a crucial win not just for the pride of the Chinese players, but also for the sake of the rivalry. No competition where one party gets constantly demolished is intriguing. China fighting back means more than a Ferrari and some money in the bank. It’s the perpetuation of Hearthstone’s oldest storyline.

The rise of new talent

This is one of the aforementioned sub-stories of the HCT restructuring, a product which benefited two parties: players and casters.

The benefits for the players came in the form of a fully-open competition. Invitationals as we knew them were gone from the circuit. Everyone was given a chance to achieve the dream of being a Hearthstone champion. It was a daring move from Blizzard – new names mean low viewership and low viewership can be detrimental for the future of the game.

But the move paid off. William “Amnesiac” Barton, George “Georgec” Connoly, Artem “DrHippi” Kravets and the reigning world champion Pavel “Pavel” Beltukov all rose through the virtue of the new system and are part of the Hearthstone elite. Behind the desk, the talents of Simon “Sottle” Welch, Alex “Raven” Baguley, TJ “Azumo” Sanders and others were given a platform thanks to the “You think you can cast” initiative.

Hearthstone took big steps towards revamping the old status quo and it’s safe to say it did it successfully.

Redemptions at Blizzcon

If there’s one word that sums up the better part of competitive storylines at the World Championship it’s “redemption”.

It’s uncanny how many parties had that goal in common. Ole “Naiman” Batyrbekov had come from his one-year ban and wanted to prove he’s not a cheater but a strong contender for the trophy. Pavel wanted to forget the misplay that cost him his spot at Worlds last year. North America needed a strong showing this time around, after getting only one player through to the playoffs in 2015. ThijsNL was about reminding the esports fans that he’s not just a popular streamer nowadays but a good player still and that the last year or underwhelming results can still have a happy ending.

This is also the first time that the majority of a tournament fit a single theme and wasn’t just a random collection of stories scattered throughout the regions, which is a gold mine for storytelling. Also, “The championship of absolution” has a great ring to it, doesn’t it?



WINNER: Xixo’s consistency

In all my years covering competitive Hearthstone never have I seen a player more unanimously recognised for their consistency than Xixo. At the time of writing, the ex-NaVi player is entering his 14th consecutive week as the undisputed #1 in the GosuRankings, an unprecedented achievement.

Xixo’s storyline has deep roots and tragic twists. Whether he focused on playing ladder, small-time cups or major LANs, Xixo excelled beyond all expectations. 2016 has been his ultimate peak and he’s looked near perfect in every tournament and every series he’s played. Not even the juggernaut that was ThijsNL in 2015 could challenge what Xixo has accomplished his year.

Yet strangely, for all his success, Xixo missed on the biggest challenge of them all: The World Championship. As if cursed, the German conquered everything else but failed every single HCT preliminary and missed the Last Call Invitational by an inch. His is the story of the best player of the year that never even got close to a Blizzard trophy.

Which is your favorite story of 2016? Tell us in the poll below.