There is no two without three, and the four comes by itself. Italian popular saying comes to our aid to celebrate the umpteenth qualification of a QLASH player at the Masters Tour, the most important competitive circuit, dedicated to Blizzard's collectible card game.
In fact, there are two members, because last weekend both Matteo ‘DevilMat’ Alba and Federica ‘MaeveDonovan’ Campana qualified for the Hearthstone Masters Tour Arlington, the fourth since the Masters Tour was introduced.
From the Road to QLASH House to the Hearthstone Masters: DevilMat
Matteo Alba has been part of the QLASH Academy Team since last June, when he won the second edition of the Road to QLASH House, a Hearthstone tournament open to the Italian community that was giving away a one-year contract to join us. ‘DevilMat’ won the live finals in Treviso, demonstrating a level of playmanship worthy of a seasoned professional.
"The Road to QLASH House was a wonderful experience, which ended with the icing on the cake: the chance to join the QLASH Team for a year. In QLASH I found two very strong players like Jolanda ‘Yocto94’ Murra and the same ‘MaeveDonovan’, as well as an attentive and trained professional and coach like Luca ‘Bertels’ Bertelli”, ‘DevilMat’ said.
Since joining QLASH, Matteo - who also took part in the very first Masters in Las Vegas - has achieved the qualification for both the Bucharest and Arlington Masters, thanks to an enviable continuity: 'DevilMat' got 5 Top 8 in the Qualifiers, a result that allowed him to qualify even without actually winning a Qualifier.
"In a game like Hearthstone having consistency is the biggest challenge," he explained. "But working daily with a team of professionals and excellent players like in QLASH, makes everything easier."
The Unstoppable MaeveDonovan
For Federica Campana, a member of the Hearthstone Pro Team since the founding of QLASH, this is the third consecutive qualification for a Masters Tour. After missing the Las Vegas event, 'MaeveDonovan' qualified for Seoul and Bucharest. After winning the Qualifier #103, among 512 players, she also qualified for Arlington.
"At the beginning of the year I had some problems that didn't allow me to play continuously," Federica explained. "After the disappointment of Las Vegas, however, I was able to start playing again with diligence and concentration, and the three successive qualifications are the result of the hard work that me, and the rest of the Team put in”.
‘MaeveDonovan’ is one of the few globally recognized female Hearthstone players, but this does not scare her: "The beauty of eSports is that there are no gender barriers. Just think about Xiaomeng "VKLiooon" Li, who recently was the first woman to win the Hearthstone Global Finals. I hope that her result will prompt more and more girls to approach the world of competitive video games".
Arlington, Here we Come!
The Hearthstone Masters Tour Arlington will be held from January 31st to February 3rd 2020 at Esport Stadium Arlington, which is part of the Dallas urban area. The event is expected to have a field of more than 300 players, who will fight for a $250,000 prize pool.
And QLASH, as always, will be there.