Xiaomeng “VKLiooon” Li started off her Global Finals run with a statement, sending 2017 World Champion Chen “tom60229” Wei Lin to the lower bracket with a 2-0 win. The 23 year old then bested European veteran Chris “Fenomeno” Tsakopoulos 2-0 to earn her spot in the semifinals. There she went blow for blow with Kevin “Casie” Eberlein, edging out a 3-2 win to earn her spot in the Finals.

In what seemed like fate, VKLiooon defeated Brian “bloodyface” Eason in a clean sweep to become the first ever Global Champion from China, also making history as the first woman to take home a trophy at BlizzCon. You can find the deck lists from the finals here. 

“I want to say to all the girls out there that have a dream for esports, for competition, for glory, if you want to do it and you believe in yourself, you should just forget your gender and go for it,” said VKLiooon.