Amaz (gamer)
Amaz | |
---|---|
Current team | |
Team | Team NRG |
Games | Hearthstone Magic: The Gathering Teamfight Tactics |
Status | Active |
Personal information | |
Name | Jason Chan |
Nickname(s) | Amaz AmazHS PepegAmaz Zama Scamaz |
Born | April 12, 1991 |
Nationality | Chinese-Canadian |
Team history | |
2014 | Team Liquid |
2014–2016 | Team Archon |
2016–present | NRG Esports |
Jason "Amaz" Chan (born April 12, 1991) is a Chinese-Canadian professional video game player best known for streaming Hearthstone on Twitch. Chan now plays for NRG, having left the Hearthstone team he created, Team Archon. He was Team Liquid's first Hearthstone streamer as well as a commentator for the Hearthstone World Championship.
Early life
Chan was born in Hong Kong on April 12, 1991. He later moved to Vancouver with his mother when he was in fourth grade, leaving his father behind. There he quickly learned English in his English as a second language (ESL) classes and was introduced to computer games by his cousin. After playing Warcraft III and World of Warcraft, he became a self-described "Blizzard fanboy".[1]
During high school, Chan and his mother moved back to Hong Kong to live with his father. He had to attend international school due to losing most of his Chinese language knowledge during his time in Canada. He later attended University of Waterloo where he studied mathematics. In 2011, his mother died from intestinal cancer, after which he put his studies on hold to move back with his family.[1]
Career
In 2013, Chan started an office job his uncle introduced him to in Hong Kong. After deeming it "boring," he earned his diploma and soon after tutored children in saxophone. He also worked on the board game Scribe's Arena, which he conceptualized in high school.[2][unreliable source]
Chan started to stream on Twitch in late 2013 after a friend suggested him to. He considers himself lucky to have queued many of his games into fellow Hearthstone streamer, Artosis. This drew Chan a high of 20,000 concurring viewers. He streams for about four hours Monday through Friday.[citation needed]
Hearthstone
Chan was the first member of Team Liquid's Hearthstone division.[3] In the Blizzard 2014 Stream Awards, Chan won the "Best Hearthstone Streamer in 2014" award in the poll categories. He came in second place for "Most Active Chat" and fifth place for "Highest Mean Viewership" for overall Blizzard games on Twitch.[4] In November 2014, Chan formed Team Archon after leaving Team Liquid. He immediately signed the Blizzcon 2014 November Hearthstone world champion James "Firebat" Kostesich.[5]
Amaz commentated the 2015 Hearthstone World Championship along with his colleagues Kripparrian and Frodan.[6]
Chan voice acted some of the Blackrock Mountain expansion cards for Hearthstone's Cantonese and Taiwanese languages.[7][unreliable source] On September 6, 2016 Amaz left Team Archon, which he created, and joined NRG eSports.[8][9]
Amaz produced the Amaz Team League Championships (ATLC), later called "the most successful third-party tournament in Hearthstone."[10] On October 31, 2016, Amaz started a Kickstarter for ATLC 2, but cancelled it after two weeks due to insufficient funding.[10][11]
Magic: The Gathering
Other than Hearthstone, he is also an occasional player and streamer of Magic: The Gathering (and its digital counterparts Magic: The Gathering Online and Magic: The Gathering Arena).
On June, 2016, he was given a special invitation by Wizards of the Coast to play in Pro Tour Kyoto 2017.[12] A year later, he was again invited to Pro Tour Minneapolis 2018, also being invited playing an exhibition match celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the game. His team achieved Top 32 finish in main event. While he managed to get into the finals of the exhibition match, only losing to 2017 Hearthstone Global Games winning member Stanislav Cifka (who is the also the winner of Pro Tour Seattle 2012)[13]
After the two special invitations in 2017 and 2018, he had been actively participating on both paper and digital Magic events,[14] including two Grand Prix top 8 finishes in the 2018–19 season (as of May 1, 2019).[15][16]
Currently, he is sponsored by ChannelFireball as a regular streamer and video producer for Magic: The Gathering Arena.[14]
Magic: The Gathering tournament results
Season | Event type | Location | Format | Date | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 | Grand Prix | Mexico City | Limited | 6–7 October 2018 | 3 |
2018–19 | Grand Prix | London | Limited | 27-28 April 2019 | 7 |
Last updated: April 28, 2019
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com
Other games
Amaz was invited by tournament host Pokimane to "TFT Thursday", a Teamfight Tactics tournament held on July 4, 2019.[17]
References
- ^ a b Chan, Jason (June 4, 2014). KnowNothingNerd (ed.). "Amaz Draw My Life" – via YouTube.
- ^ Weinzierl, Garrett (February 22, 2015). "TAC Talks with Amaz!". Amove.tv. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
- ^ Conners, Cody (June 12, 2014). "Jason 'Amaz' Chan becomes Team Liquid's first 'Hearthstone' pro". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- ^ Entertainment, Blizzard (March 18, 2015). "And the Winners Are … >". Battlenet. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- ^ Leslie, Callum (December 16, 2014). "The 10 people who made Hearthstone matter in 2014". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
- ^ Leslie, Callum (October 20, 2015). "Kripp, Amaz, and Frodan expected to headline Hearthstone World Championship cast". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 2015-11-26. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- ^ Amaz Hearthstone (April 7, 2015). "Amaz Voices Blackrock Mountain Cards! (Chinese/Taiwan)". Retrieved October 14, 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Amaz signs with NRG, future of Archon unclear". 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ "Amaz Leaves Archon for NRG, Puts Archon's Future Further into Question". September 7, 2016. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
- ^ a b "ATLC 2 kickstarter cancelled, Amaz to look for sponsorship funding moving forward". 11 November 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- ^ "Hearthstone caster, streamer Amaz turns to Kickstarter for 2nd season of Team League". VentureBeat.
- ^ Mike, Rosenberg (June 28, 2018). "Introducing the Silver Showcase". Magic: The Gathering. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ Ray, Walkinshaw (Aug 5, 2018). "SILVER SHOWCASE FINALS". Magic: The Gathering. Retrieved Aug 8, 2018.
- ^ a b Marc, Calderaro (Dec 30, 2018). "Day 1 Highlights of Grand Prix Vancouver 2018". Magic: The Gathering. Retrieved Jan 4, 2019.
- ^ Marc, Calderaro (Oct 8, 2018). "TOP MOMENTS OF GRAND PRIX MEXICO CITY 2018". Magic: The Gathering. Retrieved Oct 13, 2018.
- ^ "Alexandre Habert is your Grand Prix London Champion!". ChannelFireball Events. Apr 28, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- ^ Viana, Bhernardo (July 3, 2019). "Pokimane reveals TFT Thursday, a Teamfight Tactics streamer tournament". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
External links
- Living people
- Canadian people of Hong Kong descent
- Canadian people of Chinese descent
- University of Waterloo alumni
- Sportspeople from Vancouver
- Hearthstone players
- Canadian esports players
- Hong Kong esports players
- Internet celebrities
- Chinese YouTubers
- 1991 births
- Team Liquid players
- NRG Esports players
- Canadian YouTubers
- Twitch (service) streamers
- LGBT people from Hong Kong
- LGBT sportspeople from Canada