Mind Sport South Africa (MSSA) recently released their national Hearthstone esports rankings and it was Krugersdorp High School’s 17-year-old Aiden Vorster who came out on top.

MSSA is the South African national federation for mind sports such as board games, card games, esports, robotics and war games. Hearthstone is an online collectible card game and one of the games played in esports.

“ESports (electronic sports) is when video games are played competitively by an individual or in a team, and can also be viewed by spectators,” Aiden explained.

He said there is a variety of games that can be played on many electronic platforms such as personal computers, consoles or mobile devices.

“By competing in the game titles that are announced annually by Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) as accredited national sports, I’ve earned my Provincial colours and South African High School National Federation colours for Hearthstone,” he commented.

This is Aiden’s second year competing in Hearthstone and he participates in provincial, national and school championships to maintain his ranking.

Aiden always dreamed of playing on stage at one of the matches, and when his school started offering esports as an extramural activity he decided to join. Although he wanted to play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive he was still too young as the game had an age restriction of 16.

He then decided to join the school’s League of Legends team and qualified for the national squad selections in 2019 before moving on to Hearthstone.

I enjoy the challenge and the interaction with like-minded players around the world.

“There is no difference between esports athletes and those competing in traditional sports like soccer, swimming and tennis,” he said.

He explained that you still have to work hard, stick to practice schedules, participate in tournaments, play in front of spectators and gain sponsors. But unlike seasonal sports you can play this year round.

“It helps to understand the mechanics of the game, such as the abilities, strengths and weaknesses of the characters you play, and to be aware of possible tactics your opponents may deploy. You can do this by staying well informed of any new developments published about the game, and sharing and learning from your gamers in the gaming community.

I believe that if we could get potential sponsors to recognise and consider the value of Hearthstone for bursaries as they have already done for some of the other gaming titles, it will definitely attract more players,” he added.

Aiden does not spend his whole day in front of a computer, and said that he stays fit by running and doing sports like athletics and soccer, and he plays the guitar.

He encouraged others to take up the sport and said there are many career opportunities available in esports. It also teaches you skills you will require for programming and artificial intelligence.

“My advice to anyone who wants to start out, is to find a recognised competitive game title that you really enjoy, and have fun doing what you love!”