BlizzCon 2016 is just around the corner! The most exciting time of the year has come for Blizzard and eSports fans all over the world. The best players from every region will soon gather in Anaheim to decide who’s number one in a variety of Blizzard titles, including StarCraft 2, WoW, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone.
Inven had a chance to hear from the three Korean Hearthstone players representing the Asia-Pacific region before they headed off to California.
Hello, it's great to see you all! Send your greetings to Inven readers!
Kim 'Cheonsu' Cheonsu: Hi, this is happy Cheonsu. I just joined BlizzCon through the Last Call lately.
Kang 'Handsomeguy' Il-mook: Hi, this is Kang 'Handsomeguy' Il-mook, BlizzCon APAC representative.
Baek 'DDaHyoNi' Sang-hyun: Hello, this is Baek 'DDaHyoNi' Sang-hyun.
Congratulations to all of you for making it to BlizzCon. The big event is coming close, how do you feel these days?
Handsomeguy: We leave Korea next week (scheduled departure date is Oct. 22nd). I'm little nervous because I'm not ready yet. Well, I get nervous in every tournament, but this one is huge.
DDaHyoNi: I'm quite confused with the latest patch myself. I'm glad that Yogg-Saron did get nerfed, but it made it even more difficult for me to prepare decks for BlizzCon. I'm like, “should I bring it or what?” It feels kind of silly not to bring it.
You must be really excited about the Last Call result, Cheonsu. The Last Call was a tournament with the latest patch applied, so I think you could give a little piece of advice to Handsomeguy and DDaHyoNi?
Cheonsu: Well, nothing really has changed. The recent patch didn't affect the overall game experience that much. Yogg-Saron is still a good card. And even with the Last Call win, everything around me is just about the same. Maybe in America next week, it will feel different.
Handsomeguy, you are now a back-to-back APAC champion. This is a very unique and impressive accomplishment in the competitive Hearthstone scene. Can you tell us how you feel about such an achievement?
Handsomeguy: Well, I was just as happy as winning any other tournament, but winning HCT back-to-back felt a little different. It would be impossible to set such an achievement in the future, even for myself [laugh].
DDaHyoNi, you're the first one to advance to 2016 BlizzCon from the APAC region and the only professional Hearthstone player among Korean representatives. What is it like to be a Hearthstone pro and a member of Cloud9?
DDaHyoNi: Nothing has changed, literally [laugh]. One little thing that has changed is communication with C9 members. But Kolento and StrifeCro said different things, and other teammates just can't understand the beauty of my deck compositions.
You're the only C9 member at BlizzCon this year. Don't you feel a little burdened by expectations from the team?
DDaHyoNi: No, I don't feel any pressure from either the fans or C9—they basically have no expectation from me [laugh]. Though, I feel it's important to show decent performances at a time like this, but I'm lighthearted because all the expectations are focused on somebody else.
The latest patch had a big impact on the Hearthstone community. What do you think about the meta now?
DDaHyoNi: I think tempo decks are still more favored than control decks. The overall meta has slowed a little but has not come to a control-friendly environment yet.
Handsomeguy: They did make some card changes, but existing top tier decks are still strong. So basically nothing much has changed.
Cheonsu: This patch was a nerf from "unstoppable" strong to "irritating" strong.
Yogg-Saron was the center of RNG controversy among communities, and people are still arguing after the latest balance patch. Do you think this patch was legitimate?
Handsomeguy: Yogg-Saron sure needed a change, but it feels like Blizzard added more of a dramatic sense to it. There is no betwixt and between; it's either jackpot or broke. I still think it's a powerful card, though.
Cheonsu: I have a different thought on that. The patch was done at just about the right level. In someone's point of view, Yogg-Saron is a fun card to watch. Now there is a risk for those who choose to play this card, so I think it's well balanced.
DDaHyoNi: Back then, I played Yogg-Saron and prayed to it. "God of Death, please take care of everything." But now, the only thing that has changed was my prayer time [laugh].
Handsomeguy: I guess it would have been better to change Yogg-Saron's number of spells played by half. For example, if when a player used 10 spells in a game, Yogg plays 5. Then I wouldn't feel the changes were too drastic.
Shaman and Warrior are considered to be top-tier classes even after the balance patch. What can you tell us about these two classes?
DDaHyoNi: To be accurate, both Aggro and Mid Shaman were powerful decks before the patch applied, but only Aggro Shaman has weakened while Mid Shaman stood still. Mid Shaman didn't necessarily depend on Rockbiter Weapon or Doomhammer from the beginning. Shaman can easily replace nerfed Tuskarr Totemic with Feral Spirits or any other card. They still have Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem.
Handsomeguy: That goes quite similarly with Warrior. Dragon Warrior is not as strong as it used to be following the Execute nerf, but Control Warrior still stands in the meta.
DDaHyoNi: In other hands, Hunter got a big hit from this patch. Beast Hunter is now broken. Savannah-Call of the Wild combo was a huge threat to any deck, but now there is a big gap between Savannah and CotW.
Paladin and Priest are still having a hard time. What do they need to improve?
Handsomeguy: It's not the only problem for them. Control decks are lacking early stage neutral minions such as Zombie Chow or Deathlord. Even control decks need some low-cost minions to play against aggressive decks, but Doomsayer is probably the only option for now. Paladin and Priest control decks are composed of many heal cards, and that causes them to have even weaker early stage board control.
DDaHyoNi: Priest cards and the Hero power are too passive in most cases.
Handsomeguy: I actually had a conversation with the Blizzard development team regarding Priest at APAC, but they seem to have no notion of changing anything because they believe the passive characteristic is just the nature of Priest. Their thought is that Priest's win condition corresponds to creating unexpecting results through Thoughtsteal and Mind Vision and [outlasting] its opponent.
DDaHyoNi: Then Priest's counter decks should be powerful against their targeted decks, but it doesn't work that way.
Handsomeguy: I think Hearthstone developers kept trying to give Priest good cards for those reasons. But I personally worry that Priest will someday turn into another Shaman.
What do you think about this matter Cheonsu?
Cheonsu: I hesitated to join this conversation because I believe Priest is in pretty good shape now. I'll bring Priest to BlizzCon for sure.
Now it seems the gap between different servers has narrowed. Can you tell us about each region's meta?
Handsomeguy: I think there's still a gap between the domestic and foreign servers in terms of meta. Just looking back at Last Call, Asia preferred Rogue and Malygos Druid rather than Token Druid. But EU and NA players used Token Druid more often.
Cheonsu: European players tend to be more control-oriented than Asian players. We rarely saw Rogue or Freeze Mage in APAC Last Call, but more than six EU players brought those decks to the tournament.
What kind of decks do you expect to see in BlizzCon?
DDaHyoNi: Half of them will bring tier 1 ranked decks, and rest will bring decks to counter them. Do you remember the Paladin deck that countered Warrior in the recent HCC? The latest patch has weakened tier 1 decks a little, and that might encourage the appearance of such counter decks. Or they might bring totally aggressive decks like Lojom did at HCT Last Call.
Handsomeguy: I guess many of them will bring control decks, but Chinese players might bring aggressive decks. I have no idea what the Chinese will do… [laughs] - well, it's just when I sometimes watch Chinese tournaments, they often play aggressive decks.
DDaHyoNi: Little differences will decide the winner. I doubt there will be new decks out of nowhere, so most players will probably bring existing decks with one to two different card choices?
Cheonsu: I agree. I don't think we will see totally fresh concept decks at BlizzCon. Resurrect Priest might be a good surprise, though.
DDaHyoNi, you're well known as a distinctive deck maker. Any deck you're interested in lately? Or any deck that members of C9 have recommended?
DDaHyoNi: First of all, no recommendation from C9 [laugh]. Honestly, I haven't prepared any BlizzCon decks. Due to the recent patch and everything, it’s been a chaotic time. Once, I thought about bringing a Control Warrior counter deck or a bunch aggressive decks.
I'm paying attention to C'Thun decks lately. I think C'Thun Druid is decent. Overall, spell Druids using Yogg-Saron have weaknesses in the four-to-six mana period while Shaman has the strongest board at that moment and can threaten Druid. C'Thun Druid is pretty strong if opponents don’t do crazy stuff. But we have too many crazy decks these days, and I'm little worried that C'Thun Druid is too inflexible for the current meta.
According to Blizzard's Hearthstone calendar, they are likely to reveal their newest expansion at BlizzCon. Any wishes for the upcoming content?
Handsomeguy: I just want them to release many cards. Some cards will go to Wild soon, and we'll need larger card pools to fill the hole and to make new deck concepts.
DDaHyoNi: I'm concerned about a lack of card pools too. It's almost end of the year now, and that means Black Rock Mountain and League of Explorers will be going to Wild. This will have a huge effect on the current meta, and we'll need many cards to fill this blank space.
Cheonsu: I wish they'd release more key cards to build a new concept decks. For example, the old Grim Patron. Every deck will eventually become part of a circular food chain. Thus, more deck concepts will prevent a stale meta.
Any last words for your fans before heading to Anaheim?
Cheonsu: I'm a little nervous to have such a huge event as my major tournament debut. I feel a little pressure on my shoulders. I'll try to have good results.
Handsomeguy: I want to survive long enough to show good performances for my fans. I want to avoid elimination from the first round, but even if I can’t make it out of the group stage, I'll still try to perform well and not let you down. I'll do my best to face DDaHyoNi in finals [laugh].
DDaHyoNi: I don't know how others think of me, but as for the tournament, I'll do my best as a progamer. I hope you keep giving me ongoing support. I'll prove Korean players’ superiority in Hearthstone by playing against world class players. I'll aim for a good result so that Korea has more seeds next time. Please give me your cheers!
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