Day 2 of the Viagame House Cup is over, and Kolento, TidesofTime, Amaz and Forsen are your final four competing for $8000 tomorrow. Full recaps from Day 1, and Groups A-C, can be found here, and recaps of Group D and the quarter finals are below.
(All times CET)
2245 - Forsen and Rdu put on a show, Forsen advances
Training partners collided in the final quarter final and the final match of day two, as Forsen defeated World #1 Rdu 4-1 to advance to the semi finals of the House Cup.
Forsen took an early lead with excellent draws from his Handlock deck besting Rdu's Shaman. Despite a strong board for Rdu, Forsen got both Twlight Drakes and a Mountain Giant down that Rdu could not answer. From there Forsen opted for Freeze Mage, and the entertainment began. Rdu was running Malygos Miracle and managed to push out an early Van Cleef and SI7, but a fireball saw off Edwin. Rdu managed to amass great damage in his hand with double Deadly Poison and Sinister Strikes, and was able to pop the Ice Block very early. Forsen had a Belcher in hand but, playing around Sap, he opted to play Thalnos, ping it, draw a Mad Scientist, Frostbolt it and get his second Ice Block! This stall allowed Forsen to play Alexstraza next turn for the instant Rdu concede.
Rdu decided to go for the Freeze Mage mirror, and took the relatively early iniative with his Alexstraza and Ice Block to which Forsen had little answer. Eventually Forsen was able to use a Flamestrike and push out his own Alex which was dealt with easily. The two went back and forward with Forsen getting himself back up from one health with Alexstraza, but Rdu could not draw his second Ice Block in 29 out of 30 draws and lost out. Rdu was eventually able to pull a game back and beat the Mage with Zoo, flooding the board and piling in the damage.
Rdu's Zoo looked on course to pull the series back to 3-2 with a turn five Doomguard and getting the Warrior of Forsen down to six health, but Forsen cleared the second Doomguard with Grommash and setting up an unlikely lethal to take the series.
2111 - Hunter dominates as Amaz beats Mlasic 4-3
Hunter proved once and for all that it was still one of the most dominant decks in competitive Hearthstone, as five of the seven games in the series were won by Hunter as Amaz came back from 2-0 down to progress to the semi finals.
Mlasic opted to open on Hunter against Amaz' Paladin, and drew into a perfect start of Undertaker, Leper Gnome and Mad Scientist by turn 2. Adding a Huffer allowed Mlasic to rain in the damage before a Pyromancer Equality clear, but Mlasic had an unexpected Black Knight to kill Amaz' Tirion and take the game. In game two the famed Amaz Priest had nothing to offer the Hunter in one of the shortest games so far, leaving Amaz little option but the Hunter mirror. The slowest of the three games so far, Amaz drew well and pulled ahead. Managing to get a Highmane on board, Amaz cleared efficiently before a Kill Command pulled Amaz back into the series.
Mlasic tried to counter Hunter with his Control Warrior in game four and got both Firey War Axes early enough to deal with most early threats, but a combination of Snake Trap, Unleash and a Timber Wolf saw Amaz romp home to tie the series at 2-2. Another perfect Hunter draw, for Amaz this time, saw him sweep aside Mlasic's Priest in game five, before Mlasic was finally able to kill off the Hunter with his Shaman deck. Amaz did not draw what he needed to establish his board, and when he did get his Unleash and Timber Wolf he opted to play safe and trade which ultimately cost him the game.
In the deciding game Amaz also plumped for Shaman, and the mirror match was on. Mlasic did well in the early game establishing his Nerubians and using his Argus to make them hard to get rid of, but a Fire Elemental and bold Al Akir play saw Amaz streak ahead. Mlasic did not roll high on his Lightning Storm when he needed it most, and Amaz was able to push out big minions and pack in the damage to seal the match.
2001 - TidesofTime advances to day 3 over Seloko 4-2
TidesofTime made his experience count as he advanced to the semi finals over open qualifier Seloko with a series of smart decisions.
Opening on Paladin, Tides managed to amass an impressive hand full of answers to everything that Seloko's Shaman could throw at him. Withstanding a strong early Unbound Elemental and a board of double Azure Drake, Tides outlasted the Shaman and left him unable to finish off the Paladin. In game two, opting to stay with Paladin, Tides ran into Seloko's extra-aggressive Hunter deck which runs Wolfriders and Arcane Golems. After two Leper Gnomes and a lot of early pressure, the Hunter managed to finish off the Paladin in just five turns. As Seloko opted to pull back his Hunter and switch to Control Warrior, Tides responded with Handlock in game three. Despite not getting any Giants out in the entire game and only one Twilight Drake which did very little work, Tides' decision to coin out an Ancient Watcher on turn one proved to be ultra important - the Watcher which was later silenced survived an incredible nine turns. Between that and a taunted up Farseer, the pressure from the board of Tides was just too much even as the Warrior was able to push out Ragnaros and Ysera. Tides' moved on to Druid and Seloko reverted to his Hunter for game four, and it was another quick stomp for the Hunter - this time taking just four turns! A turn 1 Undertaker and three turns of deathrattle minions were just too much to handle.
Not to be outdone Tides then moved to his Priest and opted for a bold double Cleric play early to fill up his hand, and Seloko was kind enough to kill one Cleric just at the point Tides wanted to play his Blademaster/Circle combo. The Hunter began to build up a strong board, but a Holy Nova cleared the board and left the Hunter hanging out to dry and Tides went to 3-2 up. Tides closed out the series on Priest, arguably thanks to a series of questionable decisions by Seloko on Druid. By coining out Wild Growth with no turn three, and innervating an Ancient of Lore straight into Shadow Word Death, Seloko put himself too far behind to win and ended up using the combo just to clear. Two Thoughtstolen Druid of the Claws gave Tides exact lethal to take the series.
1830 - ek0p defeats himself, Kolento advances to top four
In the first BO7 quarter final match it was a Cloud9 team kill as Kolento advanced 4-2 over ek0p - leaving ek0p to rue missed opportunities.
Ek0p gave himself the advantage by knocking out Kolento's Hunter with his Druid in game one in relatively easy fashion, but Kolento was able to bounce back with Paladin in game two. The Druid curved well with an early Shade and Yeti, but some clever plays with an Equality and Pyromancer get Kolento out of trouble. A combination of Tirion, a Belcher and a Senjin on board was too much for the Druid to deal with, and Kolento went to 2-1. Kolento opted to change his deck to the Cloud9 Miracle Rogue build that ek0p knows well, while ek0p went to his Freeze Mage - a deck he admitted he was not entirely experienced with. Well, this lack of experience perhaps showed in this game - with two fireballs in hand giving him lethal, Kolento's Loatheb seemingly saved him. However if ek0p had used just one Fireball and allowed Kolento to take fatigue instead of using his hero power, ek0p would have taken the game. This missed lethal let Kolento win the very next turn, and turned ek0p into a tilting salty mess for the next two games. Still complaining about his misplays in the previous game ek0p was clearly not focused on game four, a Rogue mirror, and with the pair taking big damage ek0p opted to use an SI agent rather than conceal his minions leaving the door open for Kolento to win again.
The fifth game was a battle of atrition between Kolento's Priest and ek0p's Paladin. Kolento ran out of answers as he hit the bottom of his deck and had run out of AoE clears that he needed to stop ek0p's minions, despite managing to thoughtsteal equality. At 3-2 Kolento switched back to his Rogue and a series of overly safe plays saw Kolento use his 6/6 Edwin to confound ek0p and take victory.
1525 - Gnimsh goes home as Seloko qualifies
Gnimsh became just the second invited player to crash out of the group stage as we was upset 3-0 by Seloko's powerful Zoo deck.
Gnimsh also opted to start on Zoo in a mirror match, but Gnimsh was unable to draw into his early drops and only stayed in the game thanks to some poor juggles from the Juggler of Seloko. However Seloko was able to establish a strong enough board that even though he drew poorly in the midgame, Seloko closed it out. Opting to go on to his Priest, Seloko's Zoo had another excellent opening and drew exceptionally to bring home his second victory. Up against a two game deficit, Gnimsh picked his Control Warrior that served him reasonably well early on. He dealt well with the early threats, but when Seloko had two sticky Voidwalers Gnimsh was forced to use several pieces of his removal in a very inefficient trade. As the Zoo board was flooded, filling up entirely, Gnimsh was unable to find the Brawl within his deck to clear it out and despite holding on and using his armour to survive, Seloko was able to keep his board and wear down the tough Warrior.
After Mlasic advanced yesterday over Reynad, Seloko becomes the second and final of the open qualifier players to make it to quarter finals. Gnimsh joins Reynad in being eliminated at the first stage, and will be left to rue his missed opportunities.
1425 - Rdu advances as Group D winner
In a thrilling five game series Gnimsh was bested by Rdu in five games, meaning the Romanian prodigy advances to today's quarter finals.
Opening on Rogue, Rdu ran into a big problem with Gnimsh's Mage. Gnimsh was able to use Counterspell to gain tempo early and collect his burst damage in hand, leading to a turn six kill. Rdu opted to switch to Hunter, with Gnimsh moving on to Druid. A strong start for the Hunter with Undertaker and Leper Gnome, later replaced by a Leock and a series of spiders, the Hunter was able to keep a strong board presence throughout that the Druid could not answer allowing Rdu to level the series. In game three Gnimsh attempted to match the Hunter aggro with a Zoo, but a series of terrible hands and terrible draws lft Gnimsh unable to get his strong early drops out and was topdecking with an empty board. Things only got worse from there, as Gnimsh ended up with two Doomguards in hand.
Gnimsh's trusty control Warrior was able to best the Hunter in game four, though an all in play from the Hunter put the Warriro under serious pressure before a series of plays involving Grommash, Alexstraza and two Sylvannases saw Gnimsh level the series at 2-2. Gnimsh decided to go back to his opening Mage, but this proved to be the decision that sealed his fate as Rdu had brought Zoo instead of Handlock. With no Flamestrike and no answers to a strong Warlock board, Rdu sealed the series.
Gnimsh now meets Seloko in the Group D final.
1355 - Seloko knocks out Alesh in Druid romp
Seloko rebounded from his 3-0 loss to Rdu to similarly dominate fellow open qualifier Alesh in something of an upset, sending Alesh out of the competition.
Alesh opened with Mage in the first game, while Seloko's Druid had a late game heavy hand. The game was very slow in the opening turns until the Druid started to establish board, and Seloko was forced to use a Force of Nature to clear a Doomsayer and keep his board. The Mage was forced to use the burst damage to clear threats, exhausting the win condition and letting the Druid bring it home. In the second game against Alesh's Priest, the Druid made excellent use of its four attack minions to evade the Priest's defences, before quickly bursting the Priest down for a 30-0 whitewash.
Alesh attempted to counter the Druid with a slightly unusual Shaman deck with some different minion choices, but the Druid established a strong board in the midgame and the Shaman could not clear the threats. With three four attack minions on board, the Druid was able to use the combo for a huge amount of burst damage for the win. Seloko advances to face the loser of Rdu vs Gnimsh, while Alesh bows out of the competiton.
1259 - Gnimsh bests Alesh in 3-2 thriller
In the second game of Group D Alesh, one of the better known players to make it through the open qualifiers, gave Cloud 9 captain Gnimsh a real scare, taking the initiative and pushing Gnimsh all the way to game five.
Gnimsh opened with Zoo while Alesh opened with Hunter, and it was the Hunter that established the board control early on and left the Zoo top decking with an empty board while Alesh collected exact lethal to win the game in swift fashion. Gnimsh brought out his Shaman in response, but ended up with a very clunky hand early on. Managing to withstand the early pressure of the Hunter, a double Fire Elemental and double Lightning Bolt saw Gnimsh see off the Hunter. Alesh then turned to his Miracle Rogue and was able to conceal his Gadgetzan but failed to draw significantly. A double Azure Drake and spell power totem gave Gnimsh a lot of spell power punch, but an Arcane Golem top deck saw Alesh take the third game and a 2-1 lead.
Gnimsh then turned to his Control Warrior, which saw him romp through round one of the Deck Wars S2 finals, and once again the Warrior streaked ahead with a significant amount of armour and keep the Druid of Alesh on the backfoot to secure the win. Alesh then brought out his Shaman in the decider, and Alesh also suffered from an opening hand bereft of early options. The two players emptied their hands to no effect, but it was an Alexstraza that Gnimsh held on to for a long time to secure the 3-2 victory.
1250 - Rdu sweeps Seloko 3-0 in the opening match
Rdu, fresh off his 4th place finish at WCA 2014, swept Seloko 3-0 in his opening game of the House Cup with a burst-orientated Mage deck sweeping aside Seloko.
In the opening game Seloko's Shaman managed to establish a strongly early board while Rdu failed to draw into his freeze or Doomsayers. However, thanks to the low attack of the Shaman's totems meant Rdu was able to comfortably hold on until turn six so he could coin out a Flamestrike, and take the game from there. In game two Seloko's Druid established a similarly strong board which was able to deal with Rdu's first Doomsayer - but a Duplicate allowed to drop down two Doomsayers at once and clear the board. From there Seloko rebuilt his board to a point where the Druid combo gave him lethal, but an Ice Block saved Rdu and allowed him to throw down a Fireball and two Ice Lances for the victory.
In the final game of the series, Seloko must have been getting deja vu as he established a strong early board with his Priest, but Rdu was able to deal with the threats well. It came down to a battle of the dragons, Rdu's Alexstraza vs Seloko's Ysera, and Ysera won the day. Despite Ysera staying put, another Ice Block, Fireball, double Ice Lance combination punch took out the plucky Spaniard.
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