For all the great rivalries and fearsome competitors China has given us over the years, none of its players have managed to grab a title at a global Hearthstone Championship Tour event yet. In fact, the closest a Chinese player has ever gotten to such a title dates back to 2014, when TiddlerCelestial scooped up the second place at the very first Hearthstone World Championships.

Time to change that, according to Wu “XiaoT” Jiwei. The youngest of the four Chinese players at the HCT Summer Championships has been a big fan of card games for a long time, playing games like Yu-Gi-Oh! and the Chinese card game Legends of the Three Kingdoms. And not only XiaoT thinks he will do well this year. Similar to how Western pros support David “Killinallday” Acosta by saying it will be the Year of Killinallday, Chinese pros whisper that this will be the year of XiaoT. #YOXT anyone?

XiaoT took some time to talk to us about the Summer Championships, and gave his thoughts on the Chinese scene.

Why did you decide to become a competitive Hearthstone player?

I think of myself as a bit of a newcomer in the pro scene - this is my first time competing in a big HCT tournament. I started to play Hearthstone because all my friends liked it and recommended it to me. played it, and fell in love with it immediately.

Apparently, you love playing aggressive decks in Hearthstone, you even qualified playing Zoolock.

Yes, I used to play those decks a lot. I'm a player who likes the style of being aggressive. My favorite deck was probably Pirate Warrior.

Of the players in the Summer Championships, who do you fear the most?

Before I submitted my decks I didn't want to face off against Rase. I think he's not just lucky, but also a very skilled player. But after the decks were revealed I think I'm fine, because my line-up is on equal footing with his. Now I think Killinallday's line-up is very scary, because it counters my decks.

Are there any players you really want to beat?

I would like to face Bunnyhoppor. I think he's a very powerful player and I definitely would like to defeat him in the Summer Championships. I've never played against him before, but I watched his play in the European Playoffs for this event.

How did you end up with the line-up you were bringing to this tournament?

According to my analysis of the meta I thought there wouldn't be many Aggro decks brought to the tournament. I chose to bring four decks that are really good against some Midrange or slower decks such as Taunt Druid. I had a little hesitation with three of my decks - all except the Even Warlock. But in the end I thought it was wise to stick to my analysis and the strategy I set out in the beginning, so that's why I brought them in the end.

In Hearthstone we often see that regions have slight differences in their respective metas. Did you take that into account as well?

I definitely think there is a difference between a Western and Eastern meta, but I didn't do any particular targeting against like the Westerners. I tried to look at the tournament from an "overall" perspective. And I think my line-up will do well against that.

This is the first time in a very long time that we're not seeing anyone like JasonZhou, OmegaZero, XHope etc. at a global championship event. Is the new guard taking over?

Well I defeated both JasonZhou and OmegaZero in the Chinese Playoffs. But I don't think the other famous players aren't that good anymore. The new generation is just finally as good as them. So they are equally competitive, and anyone can make it through Playoffs and get to the Summer Championships.

Sinn Tann, who founded Team Celestial, recently tweeted that the Chinese Hearthstone scene was suffering because there weren't many tournaments. What's your take on that?

It's not necessarily true. Although it's true that there are fewer Gold Series tournaments in China this year, there are still a lot of opportunities in China to compete. I even think the competitive level of Chinese players is higher now than it was before, when we had more Gold Series tournaments. I think the scene is still growing.

China used to do its own thing when it comes to an HCT structure, but do you think eventually China will have to take part in the system the other three regions are competing in?

I think it's ok for China to be incorporated in that system, yes. I think it hasn't happened so far because we have our own server with the largest amount of Hearthstone players in the world. But it will be good for pro players to take part in the global system.

Good luck in the tournament, is there anything else you'd like to say?

Thank you! I want to give a shout-out to the fans I have, who are rooting for me at home. I will try my best to play well and get a satisfying result for China.

Image by Iyingdi.cn