He waved at her in this Hearthstone championship, received major backlash
Last week’s summer Hearthstone championship at the Blizzard arena in Los Angeles held many kinds of moments that can shape a competitive esports scene. However, the only thing that was taken from it was the raised questions about the thin line between playful body language and outright rudeness when playing Hearthstone in person, all came to a head in a single match.
Saturday’s series between Korean pro Chang-Hyun “Cocosasa” Kim and his Chinese female opponent Wang “BaiZe” XinYu unfolded as you might expect, with some comedic moments from Cocosasa, who’s known to be an animated player. But toward the end of one Priest vs. Shaman matchup, something weird happened: after summoning a powerful Prophet Velen card, Cocosasa lifted up his hand and waved.
“Did he just wave goodbye?” shoutcaster TJ Sanders asks, and it looks like he might have. At that point, Cocosasa had taken a hold on the game and for the entire match so far he had reacted as if his opponent wasn’t even there, sitting right across from him. It might seem like an innocuous gesture, but immediately after the match, the Hearthstone community erupted in controversy about Cocosasa’s wave. Some players saw his behavior as unsportsmanlike conduct, while others thought it might discourage women like BaiZe from wanting to compete in future tournaments.
In response to the backlash, other pro players like Brian Kibler, Sottle, and Lothar came out to defend Cocosasa, saying the move was all in good fun and that Hearthstone benefits from having players who are animated and even a bit over-the-top. “If you guys think cocosasa has a malicious bone in his body you’ve got it twisted. Come on guys it was harmless fun.” said Sottle in his Twitter account statement.
Earlier this week, Cocosasa apologized to both BaiZe and HCT spectators for his behavior and attempted to explain some of it, saying that his reactions to Hearthstone are naturally very expressive.. Regarding the hand wave, he explained that the gesture wasn’t meant as a “goodbye” for BaiZe, but as a “hello” to the Prophet Velen card he’d just summoned.
The response toward Cocosasa’s behavior was a first step toward figuring out the difference between live-arena Hearthstone from its online counterpart. In a game like this, where luck plays a big role in who wins or loses a game, one of the few tools that players have at their disposal is their ability to read an opponent’s expressions. Players should take strategic cues from more established games like poker, and while there’s definitely a paper-thin line between good clean fun and outright disrespect, professional Hearthstone can use all the extra excitement it can get.
