Marius “xTracKyStyLe” Nistor claimed the title of champion of the PGL Spring Tavern Tales 2016 Hearthstone tournament held in Bucharest over the weekend.

32 qualified card-slingers arrived in PGL’s studios on Friday to compete against each other in the first stage of the tournament: the Swiss Round. 16 of them moved on for the 2-day playoffs which featured a single elimination bracket.

xTracKyStyLe, a 19 year old Romanian newcomer, surprised the competition with his very aggressive strategy and although it was his first big tournament he managed to overcome the odds and defeat, in sequence, Vincent “Vinz” Ralambomiadana, Arne “Arneej” Huysegoms and Mateusz “DzianyDruid” Karwat. In the grand finals on Sunday evening he faced a compatriot: Stefan “Moody” Marinescu (22).

Moody presented the toughest challenge. The two finalists knew each other personally, and Moody’s classic competitive decks (Secret Paladin, Zoolock and Combo Druid) allowed him to defeat higher ranked players in the previous 3 days. In the end, it was xTracKyStyLe’s agrodecks (Midrange Hunter, Agro Shaman and Agro Paladin) and fast-paced play style which brought him the victory, the match ending 3-2 in favor of the younger player.

For his performance, xTracKyStyLe will receive a cash prize of $8.000 and 15 Hearthstone Championship Points. Moody also won $4.000 and 10 HCT points, which will help him on the way to Blizzcon, a goal he has set for himself this year, according to the pre-final interview. As a newcomer to the professional scene, xTracKyStyLe declared in his post-match interview that this victory will motivate him to grow a name for himself and compete in future editions of PGL Tavern Tales.

Over the course of the weekend, thousands of Hearthstone fans from around the world enjoyed the PGL Spring Tavern Tales 2016 English broadcast on twitch.tv/pgl_hs, which included surprises, upsets, insightful commentary (from the casting couch populated by Gnmish, Lothar and Raven), showmatches and games of Hearthstone Hangman.