This past Saturday, Magic: The Gathering hall-of-famer Lee Shi Tian used his post-match interview after his emotional win against Carlos Romao to support the protesters in Hong Kong while wearing a mask, and now he has revealed who inspired him to show his support: the Hong Kong-based Hearthstone pro Ng Wai "Blitzchung" Chung.
Speaking to Polygon, Tian talked about how Blitzchung's action inspired him: "As a professional gamer, this is the place for me to show my support to him, Hong Kong, freedom of speech, and democracy," Lee told Polygon. "Blitzchung's action inspired me a lot — and show the world that the universal value was at risk. This is happening in the world right now."
Earlier this month, Ng Wai "Blitzchung" Chung was banned from Hearthstone tournament play and had his winnings revoked after he shouted "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" while wearing a mask to show his support for the Hong Kong protesters. Although Blizzard changed their decision give Blitzchung a six-month ban instead of a year and allow him to get his prize money, Hearthstone and MTG fans have criticized the company's decision on social media.
What Tian did was similar to how Blitzchung showed his support on camera but unlike the Hearthstone pro, the MTG pro and Tian's Twitch chat supporters were not censored from showing their support for Hong Kong during Mythic Championship V this past weekend.
"They did not stop me five years ago, and they did not stop me this time," Tian told Polygon. Tian is likely referring to the time when he named his Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir deck "Umbrella Revolution" in honor of Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement protests in 2014, CoolStuff Inc reported. Although Wizards of the Coast did not use the deck name during the coverage of the MTG event, Lee did not get banned or had his winnings revoked.
Tian also took it to Twitter to express his gratitude for Wizards of the Coast, saying to support WoTC and buy their Magic products while including the #BoycottBlizzard, #FreeHongKong, and #FreeGaming hashtags on his tweet.
While Wizards of the Coast is getting praise for not taking the same path Blizzard took, Blizzard continues to face criticisms from players.
Related: MTG Introduces New Pioneer Format and It's Coming To MagicFests Next Year
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