The Hearthstone World Championships are halfway done already. After groups A and B kicked off the action yesterday, it was up to groups C and D to trump the excitement. And boy, did they trump it. For those who missed the action, and for those who just want to enjoy the best Hearthstone moments once more: here's what went down in Taipei today.

C & D enter with a bang

Whereas the action was relatively mellow on day 1, groups C and group D were all heated up and ready to go. Nordavind's hunterace and Omnislash' Ike launched the day, which went rather unfortunate for Ike. After seizing a quick victory in game one, Ike got swept by hunterace's Rogue, Shaman and Mage. The other side of the bracket was much closer. A84650 and justsaiyan went toe to toe after a butt-clenching first game. When the players had both won with their respective Shaman and Warlock decks, a Rogue mirror sealed the deal in Justsaiyan's favor.

These eight cardslingers fought for a ticket to the top 8 today.

Whereas the initial match of Group A at least saw some resistance from the losing side, group B started with a full-on stomp. With a lineup specifically made to counter that of Tyler, Roger put the first clean sweep on the board: 3-0. Just when the dust had settled, Viper and Bloodyface stirred up the arena once more. What started off with a nailbiter of a Shaman vs. Shaman match did not lose any of the tensity later on. Until the very last draw of the very last game it could've gone either way, but bloodyface's spot-on resource management bailed him out, and sent him to the Winner's Match of group D.

Back in group C, the clash of the 2018 titans was awaiting: hunterace versus justsaiyan. The two most-talked-about players set up for a legendary battle, but it didn't live up to the hype. Haunted by technical issues, both players were not on their A-game. The first game went to hunterace, but it was justsaiyan who secured a ticket to the top 8 with a 3-1 victory in the end.

Group D's Winner's Match between bloodyface and Roger did go the distance. When he took a quick 2-0 lead, bloodyface seemed to cruise to the quarter finals. However, it was his Control Warrior that struggled for several games - not a huge surprise, given Roger's anti Control Warrior lineup. Three time was the charm though for bloodyface, sending his Taiwanese opponent to the lower bracket by the skin of his teeth.

You have to see it to believe it

Once more, there were plenty of moments you just have to witness first-hand. Of course, watching the full matches puts all the excitement better into context (we recommend A83650 vs justsaiyan and bloodyface vs Viper). But who are we to judge? Enjoy the clips!

Stop it, he's already dead

When RNG favors both, but one more than the other

This is just part 1...

There we go.

We're not sure the audience has nails left

Next up, it's do or die

On the third day of the Hearthstone World Championships, all groups will host their last two matches. The three players left in the lower bracket of their group determine who will grab the last ticket to the playoff stage, and still have a chance at becoming the Hearthstone world champion. It's going to be a long day. There are eight matches in the agenda, as opposed to the six matches per day on the first two days.

In the table below you can see which players first face off in an elimination match. The winner of that match advances, and faces off against the player listed in the bottom row for a spot in the top eight.

The matches start at 4 am CEST / 11 am KST (which is later today for Americans, at 9 pm PST), and can be watched live on Hearthstone's Twitch channel.