'Hearthstone' Streamer Forsen Forfeits Global Games Spot Because Of P4nyh0f [UPDATE]

UPDATE: 'Hearthstone' P4nyh0f Banned From Global Games, Nothing To Do With Forsen

Forsen will not participate in the Hearthstone Global Games, after forfeiting his spot. If you haven’t been keeping up on all the drama in a children’s card game, let me catch you up to speed. Forsen, Hearthstone’s biggest streamer, promised on Twitter that he would not compete in this tournament if P4nyh0f was voted in.

P4nyh0f has a bit of a dramatic history in the game, with many believing he cheated in a tournament he ran in 2014, called the Gentleman’s Cup. His team, Planetkey Dynamics, advanced in the tournament after he “miscalculated” points, eliminating vVv, which had the soon-to-be 2015 World Champion, Ostkaka.

This led to the community of streamers and personalities branding him a cheater and refusing to allow him to play in other player-run tournaments. The drama reached a boiling point earlier this year when an interview with GosuGamers revealed he had known about the point discrepancy and just chose to ignore it. He’s also been accused of viewbotting on Twitch stream and banning anyone on Twitch that speaks poorly of him.

Forsen says in his Twitlonger that: “blizzard couldn't take back p4wny's nomination even if they wanted to after finding out about all the shady shit, but if I keep playing this tournament and feed the drama, blizzard might just invite him to whatever other event in the future. Which is of course horrible.” Blizzard couldn’t take back their nomination, but it would have been nice if they did “a bit more research,” Forsen wrote.

I met Forsen for the first time at the HCT Bahamas this weekend and even did a shot with him (#humblebrag). His decision to forfeit his spot is a big deal. Players want competitive Hearthstone to be as fair as possible, even if the actual game is an RNG fiesta.

We will update this post when P4nyh0f or Blizzard releases a statement.