DreamHack Austin trophy remains in NA, as Shoop takes first major gold (decklists inside)

The long-time open cup competitor prevailed over tough opposition in the playoffs to defeat Australian MrLEGO in the finals.

Three days into DreamHack Austin—the first stop in the 2017 circuit for the grand prix—it looked like it was going to be an all-Tempo Storm affair. The team led by Andrey “Reynad” Yanyuk hasn’t had the best tournament results in the past couple of years after being one of the very top teams in 2014, but DreamHack Austin saw them tear apart the opposition.

Tempo Storm entered with five players, of which four made it to the top sixteen, three to the top eight and two to the semi-finals. After the eliminations of Hayun “Eloise” Tang and David “JustSaiyan” Shan, fans were excited about the prospect about a grand final between Reynad and the newly signed Jeffrey “Trump” Shih, both poster boys Hearthstone.

Two upsets ended the Tempo Storm final dream. Australian Kelson “MrLEGO” Barber became the Tempo Storm slayer, elimination all of Eloise, JustSaiyan and Reynad in three consecutive rounds to win himself DreamHack fame. In the top half of the bracket, David “Shoop” Steinberg dealt not just with Trump but also David “Dog” Caero, who had a perfect tournament up until that point, including a 9-0 record in the swiss and a decisive victory in the highlight quarter final against Will “Amnesiac” Barton.

DreamHack Austin was also a complete flop for Europe. Although no less than a dozen notable European players flew to Austin to compete, none made it past the swiss stage.

A four-game final decided the tournament in Shoop’s favor, keeping the trophy in the United States after Keaton “Chakki” Gil won the inaugural Austin stop in 2016. Control was the theme of the weekend for the champion, piloting a Control Paladin, Quest Rogue, Control Mage and Quest Warrior, all available below.

Shoop