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Two weeks ago, Blizzard announced the latest Balance Update for the game Hearthstone. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, a balance update is when Blizzard either strengthens or weakens cards in the game to make the current “meta” more balanced. The December Balance Update nerfed (weakened) cards of the most powerful decks. This included key cards of Shaman, Druid, and Paladin Decks. The previous Balance Update made changes to Warlock, Warrior, and Wizard deck types. And it seemed like the more recent update targeted everyone else. Well… almost everyone.

When the dust cleared and all the nerfs were implemented the only deck that was spared from the update was the Hunter archetype. The Hunter Decks were boosted by the latest expansion of Rastakhan, and the new build of Deathrattle Egg Hunter was very potent. It was doing okay against the previous meta, but this updated made them formidable. Earlier, Druids and Shamans could wait it out, but now that those decks were nerfed, Hunters had a better chance.

How the Balance Update Unleashed the Hunters of Hearthstone

Being spared from any nerfs also meant that all the builds from the Hunter Type retained its strengths. So builds such as the Secret Hunter and the Spell Hunter were still viable options. While neither decks were Tier 1 decks, they still had enough firepower to bring down the Druids and Shamans now that they were weakened. The beauty of the Hunter deck is that it can be used in almost all the tiers. There are also several builds that even the most noob of players can run a half decent Aggro Hunter Deck and win.

The Balance update did a lot in maintaining the balance of the Meta, but it unleashed all the Hunters of Hearthstone. Hunters from the previous meta overplayed their Hunter decks, while players that had their decks nerfed switched to their own Hunter decks. What this meant was that you were going to be seeing a lot of Hunters on your daily grinds. And I mean A LOT. Several players have already complained about how all they seem to face are Hunters all day. Until the next update, or until a new build is discovered, Hunters will rule the realm of Hearthstone.

According to extensive research, eSports is on its way to become a billion-dollar industry. The industry has completely transformed how the world looks at gamers. Here are 15 top highest earning esports players in multiple divisions of esports for 2018:

Highest Mortal Kombat Earner

Ryan “Dragon” Walker – $ 190,000

The Dragon is one of the revelations of the new generation of fighting games and became known in 2016 when he began to stand out in various majors and premiers of Mortal Kombat X. However, the young man’s career shined only last year when he started competing in Injustice 2 and became champion in the EVO tournament.

Even so, his most important achievement of 2017 was the top of the podium at the ELEAGUE World Cup where he earned $ 150,000. Dragon is currently the 70th most profitable eSPorts athlete in the United States.

Highest Pro Evolution Soccer Earner

Guilherme “GuiFera” Fonseca – $ 211 thousand

Hailing from Jaú, in the city of São Paulo, Guilherme “GuiFera” is the main representative of Brazil in Pro Evolution Soccer. The player, who had a reputation in the Brazilian community, became a renowned star a few years ago when he was runner-up of PES 2016.

The following year, he won a tricky match against Italian Ettore “Ettorito97” Giannuzzi, GuiFera becoming the best in the world and bringing home a check for $ 200,000.

Highest SSB Earner

Adam “Armada” Lindgren – $ 285 thousand

At just 25 years old, Armada is part of the Alliance team and is a true Smash Melee legend. Playing mainly with Princess Peach, the Swede won the first few admirations of his career in 2007 – when he finished 4th place in the biggest European tournament of the season and took about $ 35,000 home.

Over time, Adam began to attend even more competitions and his income grew exponentially: Last year, the player participated in at least 31 championships and earned almost $ 90,000.

Highest FIFA Earner

Spencer “HugeGorilla” Ealing – $ 288 thousand

A native of the UK, Spencer started earning money from FIFA in 2015. It was also at this time that the player came to stand out in European championships, becoming one of the main figures in the community of the continent.

The highest point in the history of HugeGorilla was the conquest of the World Cup last year. Playing at home, the athlete thrashed the German Kai “Deto” Wollin by 7 to 2 on the aggregate scoreboard. The win was rewarded with the title of best in the world and a prize of $ 200,000, making him the British pro player who won most money in competitions.

Highest Street Fighter V Earner

Du “NuckleDu” Dang – $ 303 thousand

Known for its fast and aggressive style of play, the American NuckleDu is one of the newer names of elite competitive Street Fighter V. Currently 21, the Team Liquid representative plays Guile and collects important titles around the world.

The best achievement of the professional was the Capcom Cup 2016, where he beat Ricki Ortiz’s Chun-Li and got the $ 230,000 prize. His success in the championship made him one of the most prestigious players. This was the highlight of the athlete’s career, which also drew attention in November last year – when he won DreamHack Montreal and donated the $ 10,000 prize for victims of Hurricane Irma.

Highest HotS Earner

Lee “sake” Jung Hyeog – $ 323 thousand

South Korean Lee “sake” has already been a known personality of Heroes of the Storm since 2015. In the same year, the player was hired as support and captain of MVP Black and led the group in striking results: gold at the World Cyber ​​Arena.

The team’s performance continued well in the following years and the team won most of the tournaments it played. The most important of them was last year’s World Cup, which had the Blizzcon 2017 final and awarded MVP $ 500,000. In addition, one day after winning the championship, the entire cast of the team was transferred to KSV Black – which underwent a remodeling and was renamed Gen.G Esports.

Highest Hearthstone Earner

Chen “tom60229” Wei Lin – $ 341 thousand

The most profitable player in the Hearthstone tournaments so far is Taiwan’s Chen “Tom” who signed with the Flash Wolves team and started competing in 2014. With good results coming almost instantly, it was a matter of time before Tom’s profit reached the top among card-playing professionals.

The final incentive came earlier this year when the Asian won the 2017 Hearthstone World Championship and was rewarded with $ 250,000.

Highest Dragon Ball FighterZ

Dominique “SonicFox” Mclean – $ 449 thousand

If you follow the competitive scenario of Dragon Ball FighterZ, you probably already know that SonicFox is one of the recent revelations of fighting games. The 20-year-old prodigy came into the spotlight only a short time ago when he competed for the first Injustice and became champion of Evolution 2014.

Even with the supreme title, the financial turnaround in American life only happened the following year when Mortal Kombat X was released and the most glorious period in the player’s career began. By the end of 2016, Dominique had already been a two-time EVO world champion and had won three straight seasons of the ESL Pro League, closing the year with earnings of approximately $ 191,000.

Highest Halo Earner

Tony “Lethul” Campbell – $ 582 thousand

Born in Michigan, American Tony “Lethul” has been a professional contender for Halo since 2010. In nearly eight years of shooting, the player has gone through virtually every game in the franchise and has won many valuable community titles.

The most profitable was the Halo 5 world championships in 2016 and 2017 – which earned a total of $ 375,000 for the athlete. He is currently the 7th highest-earning player in the US and has grossed $ 50,000 in prize money in the past three months.

Highest Starcraft Earner

Read “Jaedong” Jae-dong – $ 628 thousand

Jae-dong started playing professionally in 2006 when he was only 16 years old. In the control of the Zerg in Starcraft: Brood War, the South Korean won several championships in Asia and became a legend of the esports quickly.

One of the most outstanding titles in his early career was the first place in Ever Ongamenet StarLeague 200, a respected achievement of the sport and that earned about 42 thousand dollars for the professional starlet. It is also worth remembering that, two years later, in 2009, the player reached the three-time title at OSL and was the third man in the history to receive the trophy “Golden Mouse”. Currently, the pro player is the 5th in South Korea who has made more money playing.

Highest COD Earner

Damon “Karma” Barlow – $ 687 thousand

Currently representing OpTic Gaming, Canada’s Damon “Karma” entered the competition in 2011 and is the Call of Duty player with the highest revenue earned per tournament. The performance of the athlete in the first and throughout 2012 was reasonable, but the significant results only began to arrive a little later: Karma was signed with Fariko Impact and won the 2013 World Championship by playing Black Ops 2.

The player has already won two more world titles from there, with WLC 2017 being the last and most robust of them. In the decision, Damon defeated the EnVyUs team in Infinite Warfare and took $ 150,000 home.

Highest CSGO Earner

Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo – $ 749 thousand

In all, CS: GO already distributed approximately US $ 53 million in the championship awards. The talented star who pocketed a decent sum of the earnings is FalleN, AWPer from São Paulo, leader of MiBR, voted the second best player in the world in 2016 and fourth in 2017.

Gabriel’s most profitable phase came in the same period, with the win at ESL One: Cologne 2016. The title earned $ 100,000, for the athlete, who is now the most profitable Brazilian pro player in esports.

Highest LoL Earner

Lee “Faker” Sang Hyeok – $ 1.17 million

South Korea’s mid laner represents SK Telecom T1. Since 2013 when he was discovered, he started playing for the organization’s secondary team. It did not take long for the player to stand out and, in the same year, the team became League of Legends world champion.

Since then, the feat has already been repeated two more times and in the last one, which happened in 2016, the athlete was awarded US $ 338 thousand. It is noteworthy that even before turning 18, Faker had already received at least $ 255,000, in tournaments and is currently the South Korean pro player with the highest monetary gains.

Highest Dota 2 Earner

Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi – $4 million

Leading the ranking of the most profitable players on the planet, the German “KuroKy” Takhasomi is a living legend of Dota 2. The player started competing in the original DotA, representing mousesports in DreamHack 2008.

Dota 2 was launched back in 2011 and teams from across the globe were invited in the first International. However, even though he was in several editions of the millionaire tournament, the dream of winning the World Cup was only recently achieved: with the Team Liquid shirt, KuroKy led the team and was TI7 champion. In addition to hitting the missing goal in his career, the 25-year-old athlete was awarded more than $ 2.17 million and is now the richest eSports athlete in the world.