Cong "StrifeCro" Shu started the year as the highest placed GosuRankings player and he's determined to keep the title as he takes yet another tournament.
The January rankings report had the Cloud 9 ace standing on the competitive Hearthstone throne as king, but he wasn't really head and shoulders above the rest. World champion James "Firebat" Kostesich was just eight points behind StrifeCro, meaning one or two tournament wins could be the thing that promotes Archon's marquee to GosuRankings leader.
Hearthstone fans wouldn't wait for long before an opportunity for direct competition between the two appeared. Although with a minor prize pool of $1,000, the second Inven Invitational came as an isle of entertainment during a dry period for tournament Hearthstone. Aside from StrifeCro and Firebat, Janne "Savjz" Mikkonen and Hak-Jun "Kranich" Baek were also invited and yesterday the event was given start.
Kranich was the first to go out, losing to Firebat and Savjz with 1-3 in both series and soon thereafter the Finn followed him. This reduced the tournament to a two-man brawl between StrifeCro and Firebat, a continuance of their GosuRankings race. Firebad had already beaten StrifeCro in the winners final but by elimination Savjz, the SeatStory Cup champion managed to climb back and into the grand finals.
The grudge match started in the very same way: Firebat on his Paladin and StrifeCro on his mech Mage, but the series developed completely differently. Instead of becoming victim to Uther's light, StrifeCro crushed the opening game and continued to do so in the next two as well, ultimately scoreboarding a flawless 3-0 in his favor.
The $1,000 cheque that StrifeCro will take home is a nice payday but more importantly the American is shaping up as the best player of the GvG era. Since December, StrifeCro's record in tournaments is 15-4 or close to 79% win-rate and includes three gold medals - from Kinguin Invitational #1, The Pinnacle #2 and now Inven Invitational #2.
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