A 16-man invitational was held yesterday on the North American server. $175 total prize pool was handed out to the top three finishers, whose decks we examine below.
With household names like StrifeCro, Puffin, Luigezz and Zoombuh attending, the invitational was won by a somewhat unlikely winner - Kitkatz, who ran a Hunter/Warrior/Druid set-up.
Of all Kitkatz' games, only his grand final match was streamed. Matched against Zoombuh, Kitkatz opened with back-to-back victories with his Hunter against Paladin and Warrior. He had to switch to his Driud deck once the Hunter zerg rush was stopped by Zoombuh's Priest - his opening deck of choice for the previous rounds - which ultimately sealed the deal for him.
Kitkatz' builds can be seen below. The Warrior deck is a standard control centered around removal spells and cantrips in the early rounds, drawing cards through Gadgetzan Auctioneer and armoring up so it can survive till the end-game turns. Once there, the deck employs a myriad of expensive finishers: from a Gorehowl/Alexstrasza combo, to Grommash, Ragnaros and Ysera.
His Hunter deck is more or less the standard zerg rush aggro which we analyzed in depth in this guide. The only real difference is the one-of Hunter's Mark, included to soften up Druid's high-health taunts and make them killable.
The Druid is a variation of the new-school style of Druids that came after the 1/13 patch. It implements the standard board control cards like Swipe, Claw, Wrath and draw mechanics like Nat Pagle and Ancient of Lore but has a few new additions. Double Chillwind Yetis can be innervated out on early turns, becoming a serious threat to the opponent. 2x Azure Drake is there for extra card draw and extra spell damage. Cenarius and Sylvanas are out, replaced by the explosive Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo.
Tournament's runner-up Zoombuh ran a Priest/Paladin/Warrior set-up of decks, of which the first was his opening choice for the rounds before the grand final. An unorthodox class and deck for the constructed ladder but extremely effective in the tournament, this Priest deck is a standard hard control, aiming to survive until Ysera and Ragnaros can finish the game. The early turns consist of removing threats through Shadow Words or stealing/drawing cards through Loot Hoarder, Nat Pagle and Thoughtsteal. The middle part of the curve has Chillwind Yeti, Defenders of Argus and Azure Drake who add meat to the board.
Zoombuh's Paladin is another control deck with a lot of healing and a lot of board control cards. Wild Pyromancer/Equality serves as the definitive board clear, Aldor Peacekeeper pacifies the big threats and Truesilver Champion and Concecration work as extra removals. The goal is the same as with the Priest deck: survive the early and mid game, play the big bodies at the end of the curve and beat down the opponent.
The third place finisher, ReD, played a Rogue/Shaman/Druid composition of decks, all of which are pretty much according to the meta cookie-cutters. The Rogue is a standard mid-range tempo that relies on lots of card draw, buffing creatures and cheap removals to maintain control of the board. It can finish the opponent either through fat bodies like Cairne, Sylvanas or combo'd van Cleef or surprising chargers like Leeroy Jenkins or Argent Commander.
The Shaman deck is different than the pre-1/13 pure board control variations. Although it does feature all the good Shaman removal, it most often kills through a windfury combo. Rockbiter Weapon and Flametongue Totem are there to make the combo trigger off bigger and when all the pieces are in place, the Shaman can deal upwards of 20 damage if no taunters are on the field (a Flametongue'd, Rockbitten Leeroy with windfury swings for 22 damage!)
Decklists courtesy of Chatlethal.net
