Overwatch may be the cynosure of all eyes what with events[1] and new heroes[2], but Hearthstone[3] has quietly become one of Blizzard’s biggest games. The free-to-play online collectible card game has amassed more than 70 million players the world over. One of them is India’s Tirth ‘gcttirth' Mehta.

Hailing from Bhuj and currently completing his Masters in Information Technology, Mehta has qualified to play in the 2017 Hearthstone World Championship APAC play-offs to be held this month, with the top four from each region (Europe, America, and Asia-Pacific) headed to Shanghai for Hearthstone’s Seasonal Championship. Seasonal Champions will earn a spot at the Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon.

IPL, a $100,000 Prize Pool, and Data: How ESL Wants to Make E-Sports in India Mainstream[4]

hearthstone tourney gamescom2015 ndtv

Only the top 64 players qualify for this and Mehta ended up at number 52 with 19 points earned in three months through Blizzard’s various tournaments and Hearthstone’s Ranked Play.

“Last year I missed by a single win. I guess I got lucky this time,” says Mehta.

In a country where Counter-Strike: Global Offensive[5], Dota 2[6], and even Clash Royale[7] have a wider audience, we had to ask Mehta why he chose to focus on Hearthstone.

“I used to play Dota 1 in local tourneys, but lag meant I couldn’t play tournaments online. I was looking for a single-player game but found Hearthstone instead. I like playing competitive games and tournaments and lag is not an issue in Hearthstone so I’d compete regularly,” he explains.

League of Legends Creator Riot Games to Set Up Shop in India[8]

hearthstone

And while Dota’s loss is Hearthstone’s gain,...

Read more from our friends at NDTV/Gadgets