Blizzard hire Hearthstone pro to help design Hearthstone

If you're like me, your Hearthstone aspirations probably rest on making Legendary someday. (Currently feeling the rank 7 hype.) Beyond that, you might have vague hopes of becoming a successful streamer or even winning some tournaments and getting picked up by a team. But how about being so good at the game that you manage to snag a job at Blizzard? That's what's next for Ryan 'Realz' Masterson, who previously led the Mana Grind team before its recent disbandment . He tweeted:

Realz is one of the most respected pros on the scene, and a fantastic player to boot. We recently singled him out as one of the best streamers to learn from . In recent interviews , Team 5's Senior Game Designer, Ben Brode, has talked up the value of bringing in high-level Legend players to help with balancing, the benefit of which can surely be seen in the new Naxx cards, which for the most part have managed to be fun without seeming obviously overpowered.

His announcement that poacher will turn gameskeeper has been greeted positively by both players and his fellow pros. Speaking on the Hearthstone subreddit , an obviously excited Realz wrote:

“This is a truly exciting opportunity for me, and (to rephrase the words of someone I have long admired, who once entered a similar position) I hope my association with the continuing development of Hearthstone will serve to comfort fellow ladder grinders, competitors, and players at large that "one of us" is behind the scenes looking out for the interests of the player. I really can't wait to get started. #TheDream”

All the best Realz, and hopefully you'll keep on streaming. In the meantime, I'll just leave this Post-it saying 'Nerf Mad Scientist plz' on your desk...