Hearthstone Esports: Quarterfinalists Emerge From Opening Week

Sixteen players came into the Hearthstone World Championship’s Opening Week, and eight worthy competitors have moved on to the main stage at BlizzCon. There were plenty of upsets and dramatic surprises en route to the quarterfinals. Let’s go over the events of the past five days. The Americas Reign Supreme The representative players from the Americas had a strong showing during Opening Week. Americas Winter Champion Amnesiac is the most well-known of the four players, but the other three players have been consistently strong in cups and in Ranked Play throughout the year. These players have shown the strength and depth of the region based on their performance in the group stage. Congratulations to Amnesiac and DrHippi, who made it through to the quarterfinals at the expense of their Group C opponents, Breath and Yulsic. Americas players started off strong, winning all of their respective matches in the first two days of opening week. This was particularly impressive given that they were going against more decorated opponents such as Korea’s handsomeguy, Russia’s Pavel, and Kazakhstan’s Naiman. handsomeguy’s loss to Cydonia was surprising; as the only player who qualified for all three of their region’s Season Championships, handsomeguy was a fan favorite to make it all the way to the finals. Cydonia swept him 4-0 in their first matchup on the group stage, and in their rematch on Sunday, handsomeguy started off strong by quickly destroying Cydonia’s Druid with his Hunter deck. But Cydonia rebounded the next game with his mid-range Hunter deck, chipping away at handsomeguy’s health each turn with minion push after minion push. He didn’t look back from there, winning the next three games and securing a spot in the quarterfinals. Frodan's Game of Opening Week: The best-dressed caster in North America, Frodan, selected this clash between Hamster's priest and Naiman's warrior. He described Naiman's performance in this unfavorable matchup as a "brilliant display of innovative thinking". Amnesiac’s streak was less surprising, but no less triumphant. The 16-year old Hearthstone prodigy, nicknamed “Young Savage” by his fans, emerged victorious against Ukraine’s DrHippi. He was later joined by HotMEOWTH, who delighted fans by going 4-1 against Pavel before winning a tense 4-3 matchup against China’s OmegaZero. Challenging Times for Europe Considered by many to be the strongest region heading into the World Championship, Europe struggled to live up to expectations in the group stage. ThijsNL, Naiman, and Pavel all found themselves playing catch-up after losing their starting matchups. DrHippi managed to scrape by with a close 4-3 matchup against China’s Breath, but suffered a resounding loss at the hands of Amnesiac in a 1-4 series. He recovered in his final group match by going 4-2 against Yulsic, one of the groups underdogs, and was the first European player to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Hamster, the only player with Priest and Paladin decks in his lineup, successfully made it through to the quarterfinals. ThijsNL’s loss was the biggest surprise of the group. As the only returning Hearthstone player from last year’s World Championship, fans expected him to take another shot at the title. Despite holding his own in two nail-biting 4-3 series, he couldn’t secure a win against handsomeguy or China’s Jasonzhou. Meanwhile, Pavel rebounded into the quarterfinals after one of the most thrilling series of the tournament. After losing three short matches against OmegaZero on Sunday, Pavel bounced back in the fourth game when he drew Justicar Trueheart early. This allowed him to tank up his C’Thun Warrior quickly against OmegaZero’s Token Druid, ultimately outlasting his competition. Pavel went on to win the next three games in a spectacular reverse sweep. Now he faces off against Amnesiac in the quarterfinals in what’s sure to be a tense series come Friday. Don't Count Out The Hamster China’s Hamster stood out as the only player to include both Priest and Paladin decks in his lineup. After losing 2-4 to Korea’s che0nsu in his first series, Hamster rebounded in a 4-3 elimination match against Naiman. On Sunday, he startled everyone when he steamrolled his American competitor and former coach Bbgungun. Even Bbgungun didn’t see it coming, joking before the match that if Hamster won, he’d go on to win the entire championship. But Hamster’s N’Zoth Priest and Anyfin Paladin decks both proved too much for Bbgungun to handle, each recovering so much health that the opposing decks just couldn’t muster enough damage. Hamster’s humble approach and focus on entertaining his fans is starting to gain him a larger following and the nickname “Champster”. Could Hamster’s lineup continue to surprise his competitors? The remaining eight contenders still have a chance to revise their decks before the competition gets underway again on Friday. Hamster said he originally planned to switch out his Paladin and Priest decks. But now that he’s staring down a quarterfinals matchup against Jasonzhou, who might struggle against Priest and Paladin, he’s not so sure. We’ll have to wait and see what additional surprises are in store for us at BlizzCon. Be sure to catch all of the action starting Friday at BlizzCon!