Bunnyhoppor punched his ticket to BlizzCON after winning the Hearthstone HCT Summer Championship and now, Hunterace is one step closer to joining him. The road to the Hearthstone HCT Fall Championship had its first stop in Italy. Competitors for HCT Italy included Illness, Benene, Casie, AKAWonder, Muzzy, Swidz, Vardu, and, of course, Hunterace.
The finals came down to Hunterace vs Vardu. Vardu took an early 2-0 lead beating Hunterace in the first round. Vardu ran Priest against Hunterace’s Rogue deck which just couldn’t overcome an Alexstrasza on the board. While he did draw a Vilespine Slayer, it was too little too late to take the first round.
The second round saw Vardu take the 2-0 lead, beating Hunterace with Malygos Druid. Hunterace ran Tempo Mage and while he was able to deal with big threats, like The Lich King, early after Vardu’s perfect ramp, he ran out of steam and it allowed Vardu to draw his Malygos and with no way to get rid of his Twig of the World Tree, Vardu got the combo off and took a commanding lead in the series.
Round three saw Hunterace run Odd Paladin against Vardu’s Rogue deck. A couple of Stonehill Defenders and a Hungry Ettin protected Hunterace, allowing him to push enough damage to get a victory on the board.
Round four saw Hunterace return to Tempo Mage against Vardu’s Rogue deck. Hunterace was able to stall Vardu for two consecutive turns with back-to-back Doomsayers, allowing him to control the pace of the match. A couple of well-used meteors and a lucky Blizzard draw off a Raven Familiar caused Vardu to push through and tie the series up at 2 wins a piece.
The final round was a mirror match between both of their Odd Rogue decks. When I say mirror match, I mean exactly that as their plays up until turn five, while slightly different, we’re very similar in the fact that they were both holding the same cards in hand with minor differences. In the end, Hunterace had lethal in hand with Leeroy, and double Cold Bloods with a fresh 2/2 dagger equipped. He had to avoid a taunt, which he did and he pushed face for exact lethal, taking home the prize and a seat at the HCT Fall Championship tournament!
Hunterace, who is from Norway and plays for Nordavind, is quickly becoming (if he isn’t already) one of the best Hearthstone players in the world and his slow, methodical approach to each match here shows why he is the best. Even when playing Odd Paladin, he was faced with a decision between three one drops on turn one. He nearly used his entire rope to make a decision and while a turn one decision seems trivial to most, he proved that even at the start of a game, a simple one drop could end up swinging the tempo in your favor!
The next stop on the HCT Fall Tour is HCT Oakland. The event will take place from July 14 – July 16. Who will be the next to punch their ticket to the Fall Championship?
It should be worth noting that Vardu isn’t out of this yet. He has already qualified for HCT Fall’s final stop: HCT Tokyo which runs from July 27 – July 28.
You can view the finals of the match below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XlviIpIlTg
