Stanislav Cifka

Stanislav Cifka is a Czech chess, poker, Magic: the Gathering, Hearthstone, and Artifact player. He is also a FIDE master in chess.^[6] His esports alias is simply StanCifka, a contraction or anglicization of his name.

Stanislav Cifka
Cifka in 2017
Born	1987 (age 37–38)[1]
Residence	Český Krumlov, Czech Republic[2]
Nationality	Czech
Pro Tour debut	Pro Tour Prague 2006
Winnings	US$126,450[3]
Pro Tour wins (Top 8)	1 (2)[4]
Grand Prix wins (Top 8)	0 (3)[5]
Lifetime Pro Points	203
Esports career information
Games	Hearthstone Artifact
Playing career	2014–present
Handle	StanCifka
Team history
2015	Luminosity Gaming
2015–2017	Misfits
2018–2019	Omnislash
Chess career
Title	FIDE Master (2006)
FIDE rating	2407 (February 2025)
Peak rating	2439 (July 2008)

Career

Magic: the Gathering

He was formerly active in Magic: the Gathering before Hearthstone was released. He is best known for winning Pro Tour Return to Ravnica in 2012, which is one of the top-tier tournaments of the game. He lost only one match.^[7] He was given a special invitation by Wizards of the Coast to play in an exhibition match in Pro Tour 25th Anniversary due to his achievement outside Magic.^[8]

Hearthstone

Cifka started playing the PC collectible card game Hearthstone when it was released.^[9] StanCifka was part of Luminosity Gaming for part of 2015.^[10] In October 2015 Cifka broke Thijs "ThijsNL" Molendijk's winning streak by winning the StarLadder finals.^[11] As of May 2018 he is ranked 1st by gosugamers.net, a site that ranks players worldwide.^[12]

In 2017, Cifka led the Czech National Team to a first-place finish in the 2017 Hearthstone Global Games.^{[citation needed]} In January 2018, he joined team Omnislash.^[13] He was crowned winner of the event after beating Jason Chan (Amaz) in a "Hearthstone-Players-Finals" in August 2018.^[14]

Artifact

In November 2018, Cifka posted a video to YouTube announcing that he would be retiring from Hearthstone to pursue a career in Artifact.^[15] Cifka announced in February 2019 that he left team Omnislash, due to the team's focus on Hearthstone over Artifact.^[16]

Magic: The Gathering achievements

Season	Event type	Location	Format	Date	Rank
2012–13	Grand Prix	San Jose	Team Limited	13–14 October 2012	4
2012–13	Pro Tour	Seattle	Modern and Booster Draft	19–21 October 2012	1
2012–13	Grand Prix	Sydney	Sealed and Booster Draft	19–20 January 2013	7
2013–14	World Magic Cup	Amsterdam	National team	2–4 August 2013	3
2013–14	Grand Prix	Vienna	Standard	30 November–1 December 2013	5
2013–14	Pro Tour	Atlanta	Block Constructed and Booster Draft	16–18 May 2013	7

Last updated: 5 November 2014
Source: Event Coverage at Wizards.com

References

1. "Cifka, Stanislav".
2. "Pro Tour Journey into Nyx: Top 8 Profiles". Wizards of the Coast. 17 May 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
3. "Lifetime Winnings Leaders". Wizards of the Coast. 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
4. "Lifetime Pro Tour Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
5. "Lifetime Grand Prix Top 8s". Wizards of the Coast. 6 October 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
6. "Stanislav Cifka - FIDE Chess Profile". World Chess Federation. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
7. "Stanislav Cifka turns to Magic, wins US$40,000". ChessVibes. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
8. Mike, Rosenberg (28 June 2018). "Introducing the Silver Showcase". Magic: The Gathering. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
9. Kolev, Radoslav "Nydra" (12 November 2014). "MtG champion Stanislav Cifka says Hearthstone is more exciting and complex and less RNG than Magic". Gosu Gamers. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
10. Leslie, Callum (12 November 2015). "Luminosity signs Darkwonyx as StanCifka and Ignite depart". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
11. Callum, Leslie (19 October 2015). "Thijs' winning streak ends as Cifka takes StarLadder title". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
12. "Rankings". Retrieved 6 May 2018.
13. Stanislav Cifka [@StanCifka] (19 January 2018). "What a nice stream today with even greater news to end it" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 May 2021 – via Twitter.
14. Ray, Walkinshaw (5 August 2018). "SILVER SHOWCASE FINALS". Magic: The Gathering. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
15. Czech Magic House (18 November 2018). Goodbye HearthStone. Retrieved 13 May 2021 – via Youtube.
16. Stanislav Cifka [@StanCifka] (11 February 2019). "It was an amazing and life enriching experience to work with such open minded professionals as Omnislash" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 May 2021 – via Twitter.

External links

• Stanislav Cifka rating card at FIDE

Preceded by Martin Jůza	Magic Czech National Champion 2013–2014	Succeeded by Ondrej Stráský