P4wnyhof and Sintolol removed from Hearthstone Global Games

Blizzard has removed two players from the Hearthstone Global Games (HGG) following contentious voting results for Team Germany. Controversial streamer Mats “P4wnyhof” Karthage and his fiercest critic Thomas “Sintolol” Zimmer, who were both scheduled to be part of the German team, have been booted from the event following weeks of back-and-forth bickering between the two. The pair have been removed from the nation-based team tournament, which kicks off on April 10, due to “recent, inappropriate, and unsportsmanlike comments,” Blizzard said in a Hearthstone forum post—though no further information was given. For P4wnyhof, it could well relate to Discord channel screenshots of him making homophobic jabs at Sintolol, which were made public over the weekend. Sintolol, meanwhile, made comments on his stream about people who voted for P4wnyhof being “mentally handicapped” and that the results made him “see why people like Hitler exist.” In the wake of the announcement, P4wnyhof tweeted that he and Sintolol “bantered too much,” while Sintolol said he “took one for the team.” The removal is a cruel twist for Sebastian “Forsen” Fors, who earlier this week followed through on his promise to withdraw from the tournament if P4wnyhof was allowed to take a spot in Team Germany. Forsen has now officially been replaced on Team Sweden by Jeffrey “Sjow” Brusi, and it seems unlikely the change will be reversed. P4wnyhof’s inclusion in the process caused controversy, largely due to the way he ran a tournament in 2014, which tarnished his reputation. As both an admin and participant in the team-based Gentlemen Cup, P4wnyhof skewed things in favor of his team advancing to the playoffs. He has also faced accusations of viewbotting his stream, though this has never been proven. The announcement gave no details on the potential replacement players for Team Germany. Top pros like Sebastian “Xixo” Bentert, Jan “SuperJJ” Janssen, and Raphael “BunnyHoppor” Peltzer would be prime candidates, however Sintolol was the team’s “anchor”—meaning he was in by virtue of being the top HCT points earner from Germany. If that criteria is used for his replacement, it would likely be Torben “Viper” Wahl or “Kycoo” who take the spot. The new team will have 11 days to get ready.