Score some free Hearthstone card packs as part of the HCT Winter Championship

The HCT Winter Championship gets underway next week with 16 top Hearthstone players from around the world competing for a spot in the upcoming World Championship. As in previous years, Hearthstone fans can choose one of the contestants as their champion, and score some free card packs in the process. 

Everyone who chooses a champ will get a free card pack from the Rastakhan's Rumble expansion, easy peasy. But that's just the beginning, because the deeper your warrior makes it into the tournament, the more card packs you get: One pack for making it to the quarterfinals, another for the semis, and one more for making it all the way to the final match.   

Here are your fighters!

  • Bunnyhoppor (Germany)
  • LFcaimiao (China)
  • bobbyex (Canada)
  • bloodyface (US)
  • Definition (South Korea)
  • Roger (Taiwan)
  • SNJing (China)
  • LFYueying (China)
  • Tyler (Vietnam)
  • Viper (Germany)
  • GoeLionKing (China)
  • noblord (US)
  • ThunderUP (Turkey)
  • Tansoku (Japan)
  • Faeli (Czech Republic)
  • Ike (US)

Be aware that there are no do-overs once you've logged in and confirmed your champ, so choose wisely. I put all my marbles on noblord, because he's the only one in the bunch who looks like he's actually having fun. If you're in the market for a more useful recommendation, our resident Hearthstone head Tim thinks Bunnyhoppor is a strong choice, even though he picked Ike in tribute to our recent profile of a player who's had to overcome incredible pain to compete.

Believe it or not, these guys are playing the same game.

The HCT Winter Championship begins on February 28, and will be livestreamed on Twitch. The free card packs are slated to be delivered a week after the tournament ends.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.