VLiooon is the first woman to win a Hearthstone Major Championship

Xiaomeng "VKLiooon" Li made history at BlizzCon 2019 where she became the first woman to win both a Blizzcon Championship and a Hearthstone Major. The Hearthstone pro took home $200,000 and the Hearthstone Global Championship trophy.

VKLiooon worked her way to the top by qualifying through open tournaments. As the China Hearthstone Circuit is a bit different from the Grandmaster system available to other regions, VKLiooon had to earn her spot through an open qualifier. She won the Gold Open Tianjin Master Group season 1 playoff to qualify for the BlizzCon event.

VKLiooon spoke to Blizzard regarding her gender and the naysayers that feel women don’t stand a chance on the big stage. 

“This is my first time to be able to get global attention as a representative of China. This is the best way to strike back at those people who doubted me only because I am a girl. It proves that girls can be strong pro players, just as guys do.”

VKLiooon worked her way through the tournament lineup to defeat Brian "bloodyface" Eason 3-0 in the Finals. The 23-year-old player had a brief inspiring message for her fellow female esports pros, “just forget your gender and go for it.”