After a long day of cardslinging action, day one of the Hearthstone World Championships has wrapped up. Of the sixteen competitors, eight took to the most prestigious stage Blizzard has to offer. But what if you've missed (some of) the action due to being in a different timezone? Well for you, and for those who want to relive some of the finest moments, we've made a handy recap.

Action in A & B

Players from group A and group B kicked off the search for Hearthtsone's fifth world champion. Although on paper the very first match - held between German powerhouse Bunnyhoppor and hometown hero BloodTrail - should have been spectacular, both players didn't seem on top of their game. The shaky performances reached their peak when Bunnyhoppor tunnel visioned, and missed a fairly easy lethal. He managed to still close out the game however, and later the series as well. On the other side of group A's bracket an inevitable Chinese team-kill happened, as Jing took down XiaoT.

These eight players got the ball rolling on the first day of the Hearthstone World Championships.

Group B, consisting of three North American players, fell prey to an inevitable region team-kill too. Although he persisted, Languagehacker could simply not compete with the unique lineup killinallday had carried into the battlefield. After suffering an initial loss, killinallday recovered delivered the final blow with his Miracle Priest. He 3-0'd Languagehacker's Hunter deck, ending the match with a 3-1 score. The second match in group B went to a fifth game, but in the end YueYing's Mage trampled over muzzy's Shaman deck.

When all the initial matches had finished, both groups' Winner Matches went down, each sending one player to the top 8 on Sunday already. Largely having recovered from his questionable plays earlier, Bunnyhoppor made a great impression versus Jing. It still went the distance, but it was Bunnyhoppor who secured two days of rest and a top 8 spot. The Winner's Match in group B did go China's way. Although a sharp killinallday beautifully flaunted his Miracle Priest knowledge, YueYing's preparation triumphed.

Memorable moments

Of course, a couple of extra memorable moments are best relived when watched. We've gathered a couple of clips below!

Both Bunnyhoppor and the casters missed guaranteed lethal against BloodTrail: He could have played the Kobold Lackey to deal two damage to Misha. The Lackey would have been buffed  with "+1 attack and Rush" by the Magic Carpet, and could have killed off the Misha. Then Bunnyhoppor could attack BloodTrails face with the Carpet and the Belligerent Gnome, and finished off with a Soulfire.

Being the only one to have brought the list, killinallday knows his Miracle Priest like the back of his hand. Here's just a glimpse of the shenanigans it can pull off in the hands of a master.

Card games are all about risk assessment, and sometimes there's no other way for you to catch up but to take a risk. For muzzy, that GIANT gamble came back to bite him.

No matter how big your minions are, they cannot simply surpass a gigantic wall of frogs. That's when you need something a little bit more... explosive.

Up next, the 'Group of Death'

The Hearthstone World Championships are not even halfway done! Tomorrow, at 4 am CEST / 11 am KST (which is later today for Americans, at 9 pm PST), the other two groups will fight it out. In group C, touted as the 'Group of Death' because of the raw player power, Hunterace will take on Ike in the initial match, and A83650 fights for glory against Justsaiyan.

Group D kicks off with an Asian Pacific face-off, with Taiwan's Roger taking on Vietnam's Tyler. It's a clash of the West at the other side of group D's bracket, where Miracle Rogue specialist Viper will try to overcome Fall Championship runner-up bloodyface.

All of the action can be watched live on Hearthstone's Twitch channel.