Jan "Ek0p" Palys is among the first eliminated in the new season of the HearthStats League, marking the first upset of the tournament after losing to Dart and Phonetap.
The inaugural HearthStats league for the new year landed on streams on February 24th, offering Hearthstone its first tiered league. Players coming from the lower-tier Challenger League got mixed up with the big names who participated in the 2014 invitational to create a diverse bouillon of competitors. $5,000 were put on the line and with an entire week filled with matches, there were good opportunities for up-and-comers to make names for themselves.
Two of the underdog in Group A readily took the initiative and delivered results, unphased the presence by the reigning HSL champion Jan "Ekop" Palys. First out of the group was Hearthstone long-timer Matt "Dart" Orgel, whose career peak was in June last year when he was seen ruling the NESL King of the Hill series, wrestling with the likes of Chakki, DTwo and Firebat and, more recently, finishing third in Taven Takeover #3 in December. Dart only dropped a single game to Austrian player Stefan "FenTyrris" Trigler and was otherwise stellar in his other two series, winning them both 3-1.
First out of the group came Christopher "Phonetap" Huynh. The Vietnamese already had some minor competitive success behind his back, making its way through HSL's Challenger League and coming within inches of playing in the ESL Legendary Series match days but today was the actual first step towards his break-out moment.
These successes consequently mark the end of group favorite Ekop, who'll have to start the second season of HSL in the lower tiers.
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