Hearthstone PROfiles – Never Misplay: An Interview with Hearthstone’s Southeast Asian Champion Neilyo

It was a very impressive performance. Lan “Neilyo“ Tran just won $1,200 (Php 54,000~) and gained the title of being Hearthstone’s Southeast Asian region’s greatest this year.

The confetti was up in the air and everyone celebrated his win despite taking the title from, hometown favorite, Marvin “Chalk“ Zaldivar. I called out to him while he’s standing at the center of the stage posing for pictures.

“Congrats Neilyo! Good job!” I gave him a thumbs-up. I was expecting to be ignored but that wasn’t the case. He recognized me, gave a nod and even gave back a thumbs-up.

A new day came and I did not hesitate to reach out to him for an interview. Humble as he is, he agreed.

The Gamer

Ivan “Van“ Espineda: Can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Lan “Neilyo“ Tran: My name is Lan Tran. I’m 24 years old from Hanoi, Vietnam.

V: Since when did you start playing Hearthstone?

N: Since April 2014 (Season 1).

V: And did you hit legend immediately?

N: I hit legend after 25 days of learning this game.

V: Wow. Legend in less than 30 days. How about your collection? I won’t be surprised if you completed it with the same speed as you climbing to legend.

N: I played Zoo until Rank 1 because I didn’t have many cards. After that I disenchanted a lot of cards that I didn’t use to craft Miracle Rogue and hit legend immediately.

V: Ah, good ol’ Miracle Rogue deck. Is that your favorite deck?

N: Yes it will always have a spot in my heart.

Pre-nerf Gadgetzan Auctioneer: Miracle Rogue’s staple card for its powerful mechanic that draw cards and spells for the ability to deal huge damage in a single turn.

V: So, do you play any other games aside from Hearthstone?

N: I play FIFA and a little bit of Pokemon Alpha Sapphire. Don’t laugh. Pokemon is my childhood hobby

V: I won’t! I’m a player myself, just the first generation though. How excited are you about Pokemon GO?

N: Yes definitely can’t wait to play Pokemon GO.

V: Same here, I can’t wait to travel to the islands here or event to Volcanoes just to hunt for Moltres. That being said, did you like the Philippines? How was your stay?

N: The hotel is amazing. The traffic is a little bit crazy and it seems like Filipinos people never sleep. I hung out with a lot of guys from your Facebook community. They are very friendly.

V: Good to hear that. Have you tried any Filipino food?

N: I really like Sisig.

V: Good taste! Can you share how’s a normal day for Neilyo like?

N: I wake up at 10 a.m., have brunch and watch Twitch at the same time. Play a few Hearthstone games to complete daily quests. I then go to my student’s house to tutor them at 5 p.m. Then I just relax at home and watch Master Chef US or America’s Next Top Model. I might also play more Hearthstone at night if I want to finish at the top ranks of the ladder at the end of the season.

V: So you teach kids! Do they know you’re playing Hearthstone?

N: Nah they’re too young. They’re elementary students.

V: Gotta start early though.

N: I do provide private coaching service. My rate is quite expensive but customers are always satisfied.

*You can contact Neilyo for his coaching service at his Skype ID: yelly9x (Rate is at $30/hour)*

Manectric and Scizor: Neilyo’s favorite pokemons. Pokemon is his next main game after Hearthstone.

The Scene

V: How’s the eSports scene there in Vietnam? Is there a huge community for Hearthstone?

N: It’s not that huge but our Facebook group has over 5000 members. We also have some tournaments that award BlizzCon points to assist our players. I don’t participate much in those tourneys to avoid the “cancer” meta.

V: When you say “cancer”, you mean Patron Warriors and Face Hunters?

N: Pure aggro or RNG (Random Number Generator) decks. Fortunately, Patron doesn’t fall to any of those categories.

V: So you weren’t really playing and hunting tournaments to earn Hearthstone World Championship points then?

N: I just played a lot of ladder and Weekly GosuCup to secure the 2nd seed in this region.

V: Impressive, what can you say about the meta right now though? Did TGT really shook things up? Personally, I don’t think it did.

N: Me neither. I just spam Patron 24/7 on ladder if I want to get top 50 or top 100.

V: I recently made a patron deck and even crafted Shield Slams. Then when I tried it, the deck’s not that easy to play.

N: Yes it is. The skill ceiling is really high. It’s hard to play, but it rewards you when you master it.

The Champion

V: Apart from playing, are there any other things you do to improve?

N: I watch top streamers on twitch and discuss about decks with a lot of top players in the world.

V: Like who?

N: I like dog, Neirea and Thijs.

V: NA and EU then huh. How much do you think the other regions’ play differ from ours?

N: We play on NA server so our meta is just like NA and EU meta. Chinese meta might be a little bit different though.

V: You’ll be facing Japan and Korea’s meta on the upcoming Asia Pacific regionals which blends with Chinese. How much would that affect your preparation?

N: Well, Japanese players play on NA too. I face Kno (Japan’s representative) on ladder a lot of times. But he might switch to something else to trick me, you’ll never know.

V: You can do the same to trick him though!

N: Good idea.

V: What do you think it takes for a player to play at the highest levels of Hearthstone?

N: Never misplay. That’s what I can say. Which also means that you need to practice a lot.

V: What were your expectations coming in to the tournament? Taking second seed and coming from the winner’s bracket and all.

N: I want to compete in BlizzCon Hearthstone World Championships.

V: You’re one step away. How was it before your match with Chalk? Did you talk about anything before the grand finals?

N: I told Chalk he had no chance whatsoever.

V: What was your reaction when the Leper Gnome caused the draw? That was a real highlight!

N: I did know that was the tie. I could wrath for one to draw into savage roar to win, but the chance was tiny so I accepted the tie.

Chalk(left) takes a selfie with Neilyo(right) before the grand final match. ©Chalk

V: Anything you can share for all of Southeast Asia? How can things be improved?

N: Everyone can become a good player if they put enough effort into the game. Practice makes perfect. Try to know the meta inside and out.

V: Very well noted. Anything else you want to say? The floor is yours!

N: We need to develop our community so we can have more qualified players for Asia Championship next year.

There’s your Southeast Asia champion everyone. Make sure to support him as he fights for a top 4 spot in the coming Asia Pacific Qualifiers for him to continue his Road to BlizzCon journey.

Neilyo’s HWC SEA Top 8 Decklists: Mid-Range Druid, Handlock and Patron Warrior

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