The 2018 Hearthstone Championship Tour is in its final moments. No more Tour Stops, just the Winter Playoffs, its subsequent Championship, and the climax of a year filled with intense competition: the World Championship. With twelve of the sixteen players having secured a ticket to the final stage, the pressure is higher than ever for players to do well. It’s now or never. Plenty of reason to take a look at each region’s list of competitors for their respective Winter Playoffs, and highlight some standout names.
After China and Europe, it’s the Americas players’ turn to prove their worth. Throughout the year, the HCT format and the accompanying Master Tier System have shed light on many new names - especially Latin America has received much more acknowledgement. The four players below have had a killer year, but have not made a seasonal championship yet. Be sure to keep an eye on them this weekend!
For seohyun, the year has been a top 16 galore so far. From February until November, he kept making it through the Swiss stages, but just fell short a bit in the end. That is, until HCT Atlanta. Finally his victory came, after he defeated Sintolol in the finals. A top 16 won’t be enough this weekend - seohyun has to keep fighting until he’s in the top 4.
Three of seohyun’s decks are quite well-represented in the Americas Winter Playoffs. Cube Hunter, Shirvallah OTK Paladin and Cloning Priest are all among their respective class’ most popular archetypes. The standout deck is Mecha’thun Warlock, which only eight other players are bringing.
With Muzzy and Justsaiyan by his side, Amnesiac’s flame of competition burned bright again in 2018. And it delivered: Tempo Storm won the first Team Standings competition, and Amnesiac became the HCT Austin champion. The pressure to make it to the Winter Championships and the World Championships is high, as both Muzzy and Justsaiyan have their tickets to the largest stage secured.
Amnesiac’s line-up doesn’t contain any abnormal decks. Hybrid Hunter, Shirvallah OTK Paladin, Control Priest and Odd Rogue are in the top 5 most popular decks for the Winter Playoffs. He is the only one to bring this combination, however.
As said before, it’s not far-fetched to say Latin America as a whole had kind of a breakthrough this year, and the rest of the world saw its strength. Somewhat ironically, the region’s most prolific player was not amongst those who made it to the highest stage. But that doesn’t mean PNC has been staniding still at all. By finishing top 16 in several Tour Stops and doing well on ladder, the Argentinian has raked in 136 HCT points - sixth highest in all of the Americas, highest of Latin America.
In PNC’s line-up, the most standout deck is undeniably Quest Rogue. After three nerfs - two direct and one indirect - the deck still stands strong, at least in tournament line-ups. It’s a niche deck however, and whereas it first could sneak in wins against all archetypes, Quest Rogue is exclusively a control killer. His other decks reflect that strategy: PNC is bringing Deathrattle Hunter, Shirvallah OTK Paladin and Cloning Priest.
Truth be told, when it comes to tournament results, Monsanto hasn’t had a standout performance this year. Two Tour Stop top 16’s and a silver medal at HCT Buenos Aires are good results, but there are other players from the Americas who surpass that record. Yet he’s third in the region’s HCT standings with 161 points accumulated. The reason? The Canadian is an insanely strong ladder player. Four top 10’s and three top 25’s are incredibly impressive finishes in the eleven eligible ladder months.
Trying to convert those numbers into a tournament victory, Monsanto is bringing the four most popular classes’ most popular archetypes to the table: Hybrid Hunter, Shirvallah OTK Paladin, Control Priest and Even Warlock.
The Americas HCT Winter Playoffs are played on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th of January, starting at 8 am PT. You can follow the action on Hearthstone's Twitch channel.
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Storyteller by heart. If something is competitive, I am interested in it.
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