[deck linked style=float:right;margin-left:15px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-right30px;]647[/deck]The curse of the NESL King of the Hill throne continues to spread, as Gaara is the next victim - failing to defend his title at least once. Now Realz has the opportunity to break the spell.
Gaara's title reign in the National ESL King of the Hill series was short, but historic. As the first European to be on the throne, he brought the crown to the continent, capping off an historically good week for him including the DreamHack title. The domination of the Gaara appearance with two back-to-back sweep was also material for record books, seeing the famous Ramp Druid of the German tearing apart Chonqi and Amaz with ease.
This time the king only had to overcome one foe, either the invited Realz or the winner of NESL Cup #27, Celerity. Both represented the United States of America in the attempt to bring the title back home. To be in a position to do that, both had to slug it out first - a match that should become the absolute highlight of the day. Both players gave it their all, bringing the standard meta decks to the table. Especially Realz stuck very close to the ladder decks currently dominating the casual play, bursting out the Miracle Rogue, a Watcher Druid and a heavy control Warrior. Celerity on the other side tried to mix things up with an interesting take of a Shaman, while boasting the back-end of his deck choices with the standard Handlock and a Miracle Rogue of his own.
In the end it was Realz taking over with the initial win of his Druid and back-to-back successes with his Miracle Rogue, although having a weird moment in Game 4, playing a [card]Preparation[/card], not realizing the Auctioneer on the field had taken an Earthshock to the face the turn before. The mistake amused the chat, amused Dart and Amaz casting the series, but didn't amount to much more as the sudden burst of the Rogue was enough to finish Thrall and Gul'dan in the process.
Now it was the matchup for the throne, the match of the matches, determining the NESL king and the recipient for $500 USD. As a surprise to a lot of people, Gaara didn't open up with his staple Druid deck that helped him reach the throne, but rather opted to bring Handlock to the mix. What was a nice idea in theory, given the relative strength of the Giant Warlock against Druid, backfired with Realz having the answers to everything. Big Game Hunter and Black Knight reigned on the kings parade, letting Realz strike first in the series.
Gaara reacted with the Druid after this, a matchup that theoretically favored him once more, but suffered the same fate as his first attempt. Once more Realz had all the answers already sitting in his hand, while Gaara didn't quite get the desired draws in the contest. His back to the wall, down by two, the last straw of hope was the power of Thrall - something Gaara became known for. After all his twitch-ID identifies him as the best Shaman, a reputation he redeemed in the first game. A good opening of the Shaman and a lack of AoE clear on the Druid's side set the tone and left all Gaara fans hoping for the comeback.
It was only a small glimmer that was crushed by raw physicality one match later with Realz going for the Control Warrior. Adding insult to injury was a successful Harrison Jones against a Stormforged Axe, hammering the final nail in the coffin of the old King Gaara.
Now Realz takes a seat, presiding over the NESL land. He is only the second player in the world to hold both prestigious KotH titles - with Chakki beating him to the punch on that one. This is also the fifth US reign as the fourth overall player from the United States to climb on the throne - Reynad having that seat twice. The first scheduled title defense will be next Tuesday against one invited star and the winner of the 29th edition of the NESL Cups, a tournament for which you can sign up right here.
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