MTG Arena star escapes ban for Hong Kong support on stage Hearthstone pro Chung \u2018Blitzchung\u2019 Ng Wai was punished by Blizzard for appearing in a post-match interview wearing a gas mask, demanding liberation for Hong Kong. The MTG Hall of Famer spoke to Becca Scott following his qualification to the event\u2019s final eight bracket, and spoke out about the ongoing struggles in his home country. He also covered his eye while walking on-stage to replicate a key symbol of the resistance. After scoring an unlikely win with his hyper-aggro red deck against the most powerful green-and-blue strategy currently in the meta built around the Field of the Dead \u2014 which is expected to land on the ban list chopping block this week \u2014 a masked Tian took to the stage. In his emotion-fuelled interview, the MTGA star said that his achievements on the Championship stage had felt even better because he knew \u201clife has been very tough in my hometown in Hong Kong,\u201d and added that \u201cit feels so good to play as a free man!\u201d Many assumed Tian\u2019s public protest could lead to a competitive ban similar to Blitzchung\u2019s lock-out, or like the six-month punishment delivered to American University\u2019s collegiate team for holding up a \u201cBoycott Blizz\u201d sign, but Wizards has confirmed it will take no action. As well as confirmation that Tian would not face any penalties, a moderator of the tournament\u2019s Twitch chat also revealed that WotC had issued instructions to \u201callow and not touch any and all of those kinds of mentions of HK.\u201d Some inside baseball re chat: mods actually had instructions to *allow and not touch* any and all of those kinds of mentions of HK. \u2014 Ian D (@dixonij) October 20, 2019 Following Tian\u2019s defeat in the final eight at the hands of Gabriel Nassif, the Hong Kong star took to social media to thank Wizards and his fans for their support of his \u201cfreedom of speech.\u201d \u201cI saw the Twitch chat, and I heard it. It has been a tough period for me, but it also motivated me to shine brighter,\u201d the MTGA pro said, before adding that Wizard\u2019s stance on the Hong Kong protests should be supported by players and fans. \u201cI am thankful no one stop (sic) me wearing the mask for HK this weekend. I am sure WotC will receive pressure like the NBA. If you wanna protect me, reward them. Buy their products. Play MTG Arena, especially Hearthstone players.\u201d About if I worry about getting punished I am thankful no one stop me wearing mask for hk this weekend I am sure wotc will receive pressure like NBAIf you wanna protect me, reward them Buy their products Play mtgarena, esp HS players#BoycottBlizzard#FreeGaming#FreeHongKong\u2014 Lee Shi Tian (@leearson) October 21, 2019 Tian\u2019s on-stage support also comes days after several U.S. Representatives and members of Congress sent a bipartisan letter to Activision Blizzard, condemning the decision to ban Blitzchung and rescind his prize money. With Blizzard still caught at the center of the controversy, all eyes are now turning to the upcoming BlizzCon event on November 1, where players and fans may hold protests and boycotts against the game development company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MTG Arena star escapes ban for Hong Kong support on stage Hearthstone pro Chung \u2018Blitzchung\u2019 Ng Wai was punished by Blizzard for appearing in a post-match interview wearing a gas mask, demanding liberation for Hong Kong. The MTG Hall of Famer spoke to Becca Scott following his qualification to the event\u2019s final eight bracket, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}