#RoadtoBlizzCon Europe day two full recap with VODs and Thefishou's aggro mage

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Note: VODs are in the process of uploading. 

It was an insane Friday at the Ericsson Globe. With twelve matches to be played, the broadcast for the second day of the BlizzCon European finals went on for close to 20 hours, ending just before sunrise. 

Despite the exhausting schedule, the viewers were given one of the most memorable tournaments in Hearthstone history. Fan favorites were knocked out and underdogs fought tooth and nail for their spot in the top 8. There were nail-biting coin flips, lucky top decks, reckless aggression going against the composure of controls and lots and lots of five-star series. 

You fill find full recap of the played games in the spoiler tags below as well as group stage standings and bracket pairings in case you don't have a whole day to spare just to watch Hearthstone (though we strongly encourage you do that). We've also compiled one of the most unexpected decks for this tournament - Thefishou's aggro Mage - which went 5-1 during the group stages.

Note: Only 28/30 cards from Thefishou's Mage deck were shown on stream. We've assumed the last two cards are second [card]Arcane Intellect[/card] and second [card]Water Elemental[/card]. 

Group D recap

 

Group C recap

In another five game thriller, MrYagut edges out Cupcake to top Group C

After overcoming Tempo Storm team captain Reynad on Thursday, Miracle Rogue specialist and former Warcraft III pro Mr Yagut took another victory to claim the easier path to the round of eight. Despite being considered by some the weakest of the four players in his group, Yagut has proved them wrong and now leaves his three opponents to fight it out between them for the remaining berth. 

In a back and forth series, Yagut claimed the advantage in game one with his Warrior deck, but Cupcake's Druid levelled the score. Yagut's Miracle and Cupcake's Handlock took games three and four, before Yagut was able to close it out on Shaman in the deciding game. Yagut, who was slightly favoured by GosuGamers users, will advance to the round of eight on Saturday on the main DreamHack stage and is now just one win away from the World Championships. While regarded as an expert in Miracle Rogue, Yagut only managed two wins with his signature class this tournament and showed his versatility to take most of his wins with other classes. Cupcake will face the winner of Frezzar vs Reynad for second place in their group, with only one of those three players now capable of advancing any further.  
 

Group B recap

After a tight series in his first game of the day and being upset by Greensheep in the first game, Thijs looked far more worthy of his favourite tag in the Group B decider. 

Thijs opened on Priest and swept aside the Warrior, Priest and Shaman decks of Lowelo in relatively easy fashion to advance to the final day of the EU qualifiers for the Hearthstone World Championships. Thijs had been considered one of the heavy favourites coming in the tournament, but was made to work for it thanks to his loss to Greensheep on Day 1. While Greensheep then overcame Lowelo earlier today to qualify undefeated, Thijs had to come through an extremely close series against much improved Matthew before jumping straight into a series with Lowelo with little time to prepare.

Thijs survives a five-game nailbiter against Matthew

Matthew opened the series aggressively on his Mage but stumbled upon a hard match-up, facing Thijs’ Priest. The Dutchman effortlessly weathered the storm by out-healing and out-boarding Jaina and entered game two, challenging Spaniard’s Handlock.

Commanded by Eredar Lord Jaraxxus, Matthew’s Warlock pressured Thijs hard. The Priest aggression was held off and bombarded back with 2-mana Infernals to tie the series. This scenario was repeated in game three, as Thijs’ bad draws and low Lightning Storm rolls put him one loss away from elimination.

Thijs still had his Paladin left and he brought it out for a nail-biting fourth game. Considered favored against the Handlock, the Paladin was in dominant position for the majority of the game, dwarfing the giant threats and pushing for damage. On T9, Thijs even had a coin-flip chance to win the game, but had his [card]Stampeding Kodo[/card] not failed him. The game became very difficult next turn as [card]Lord Jaraxxus[/card] was cast to heal up Matthew but deciding not to clear Thijs’ board and instead go for face was the mistake that retired the Warlock.

It is only in game five that Thijs got some actual luck. Staying a few points of lethal for several turns, the Dutchman was eventually able to half-clear the board with [card]Wild Pyromancer[/card], trade away his [card]Sylvanas Windrunner[/card] and steal Matthew’s [card]Cairne Bloodhoof[/card]. Consecutive taunters on the next stabilize the board for Thijs and shut out Spaniard’s dreams for a playoffs spot. Thijs survived for the time being, not drawing a single [card]Equality[/card] for the two games on his Paladin.

The Kodo will hit the Sunfury Protector, making Thijs work extra for his victory

In a series that went back and forth for the full five games, Team Dignitas' Greensheep managed to edge out Lowelo to top Group B. In the final game Lowelo missed the second attack of his Al'akir, before Greensheep was able to use his Faceless Manipulator on that Al'akir, combined with a Power Owerwhelming, to get exact lethal using Siphon Soul on the Shaman's taunt totem. 

Lowelo took games one and three with Greensheep drawing level both times in games two and four before taking the series in game five. Lowelo's Warrior saw him through the first game despite Greensheep managing to keep himself just out of the lethal burst range for a number of turns in a very close game. If Greensheep had edged out the Warrior with his Paladin in game one, it could have been a very different series. Greensheep, who was a last minute substitution after being eliminated in the online Swiss qualifier by ThijsNL, avenged his loss to Thijs on Thursday. By making it to the next round, Greensheep can arguably claim the best performance ever by a British player in a major tournament.

Group A recap

Having just 3-0'd Neirea with his Paladin, it was no surprise seeing Max open with Uther again, and facing Priest in the first game coloured him the favorite. The Italian managed to edge out his opponent, however, before the game could enter a heavy late-game scenario and Max had to choose another deck. 

An aggressive Druid came out for the Brit to tie the series and force a Druid mirror for the third game and this is where misplays galore started happening. Missed lethals, lost card advantage and wasted value defined not just the Malfurion face-off but many turns in the subsequent games as well. Fighting to continue onto the playoffs, Max and Kaor continued going back and forth until the Italian got a perfect start on his Paladin against Max's Zoo, exhausted his recourced, healed and taunted up and extorted a concede.

The top two seed from Europe, Innovation's Neirea, is out of the run for the BlizzCon title. The Ukrainian, who just recently finished second at VGVN #3 behind Savjz and top four at Prismata Cup 2, found no answer to the control Paladin of British player Max and is the first player out of the tournament.

Max started the series strong, his [card]Kel'Thuzad[/card] doing miracle work against Neirea's Druid which almost 3-0'd Numberguy yesterday. Once Neirea's strongest deck was out, Max entered a favorable fatigue war against Ukrainian's Priest and once he survived that as well, out-healing the damage of the aggro Hunter was a piece of cake. 

Max is still not out in the light, however, as he will be playing Kaor in the Group A decider. Winner joins Numberguy in the playofs. 

Max showing the power of [card]Kel'Thuzad[/card] in Paladin

The Dane came into the winners match riding a huge momentum wave. The Innovation player was able to beat his team-mate and group favorite Neirea last night, coming back from a 0-2 deficit all thanks to Neirea's own Priest deck. Having overcome arguably the bigger threat, Italian player Kaor looked like an easier target.

Numberguy soon found out that was not the case. Opening with a ramp Druid, Kaor was able to eliminate Numberguy's killer Priest in game one and win the Druid mirror in game two, topdecking a critical [card]The Black Knight[/card] to kill a fat [card]Ancient of War[/card] in the latter. Reduced to his last deck, a Handlock, Numberguy seemed doomed, especially given the fact that Kaor was running double [card]Big Game Hunter[/card].

Numberguy edged out the Druid nonetheless and extended his tournament life for another series. He did it again against Kaor's control Paladin, carefully playing against Uther's [card]Equality[/card]es, eventually tying the series. 

Game five had Kaor bring out his Priest and finally Numberguy was about to play a favorable match-up. Even though the Italian got some nice board clears with [card]Auchenai Soulpries[/card] and [card]Circle of Healing[/card], the late-game power of Gul'dan could not be overcome and the Dane snatched another reverse all-kill for a deserved top seed in Group A. 

Photo: Abraham Engelmark / DreamHack

Front page photo: DreamHack