HCT Buenos Aires was played out over the last four days. As the Boomsday Meta has unfolded, so too have we seen which kinds of decks are the most viable. In this tournament, a handful of Boomsday cards have been making a big impact. The decks that stood atop the last meta only got better with the addition of some new tools from the latest set.
Jim “Lii” Liu showed his strength by winning at HCT Buenos Aires. He struggled at times, and had one of the most difficult runs to get to the final. He isn’t the most well known player, but winning this tour stop will keep many viewers’ eyes peeled moving forward.
North America Ready for Action
Of the six players from North America, five made it to top eight. The only one who missed the cut was William “Amnesiac” Barton, who lost to fellow US player Lii.
Once in the top eight, the NA players continued to plow through the competition. Muzahidul “Muzzy” Islam knocked off Peter “TeamAmerica” Matteucci 3-1. Canadian player Jerome “Monsanto” Faucher eliminated Brazil’s arguably best player in Lucas “Rase” Guerra in a swift 3-1 set.
The final four saw Muzzy make his exit due to uncharacteristic misplays, which he blamed on getting sick the day before his match. Because of that, Lii advanced over him to the final to face off against Monsanto.
A Long Final for Lii
A very interesting final set between Lii and Monsanto took place. Lii was definitely very nervous throughout, and showed a lot of emotion on the stream. However, he held strong and won in a close 3-2 set.
After navigating his way to a 2-1 lead, Lii started to make some poor reads. As Control Warlock versus the Malygos Druid of Monsanto, he jumped the gun with his Demonic Project. The card transformed nothing on Monsanto’s side as he had no minions in hand. Monsanto finished that game with an Ultimate Infestation to the face, buffed up by a Malygos that avoided Siphon Soul and Demonic Project.
In the final game, Lii managed to slow down and navigate his way with the Control Warlock properly versus Even Warlock. Monsanto opted to not silence the Rin, the First Disciple of Lii on the principle that he could silence a Voidlord later for lethal. However, the Voidlord did not come for a long while and the Rin generated plenty of value for Lii’s Bloodreaver Guldan turn.
In what could be considered a relatively poor draw for both players, Lii found his Bloodreaver Guldan first, and won the match. In Lii’s post game interview, he mentions that he will continue to participate in tournaments semi-professionally. He is happy working towards his current job and has no plans to go full-time in Hearthstone. He certainly showed that he has the potential to go pro if he chooses.
Best Cards, New and Old
As expected, Druid was the most represented class at HCT Buenos Aires, with the most common form being Malygos Druid with the inclusion of Flobbidinous Floop. Another not so surprising fact was that The Lich King was the most commonly used Legendary. He finds his way into all sorts of decks because of the powerful cards he produces on top of being a large taunt.
Whether it be due to her newness, her ability to annoy, or her genuine quality, Giggling Inventor is now the most played card by far. Being played in over 55 percent of the decks, the card seems to have unlimited uses.
She could possibly be in any deck if there weren’t even and odd cost specific archetypes, or that she can break combo synergy with cards such as Shudderwock. Outside of these instances, she is just one of the most solid plays for defense or protecting a board state.
Because of the popularity of Giggling Inventor, a card from the Witchwood that wasn’t so often played before is now seeing quite a lot of play. That card is Mossy Horror, a direct answer to a Giggling Inventor turn. He kills off all three minions produced, and provides a great tempo swing. He also has his uses with killing off other board states and Deathrattles, making him useful beyond being Annoy-o-Tron slayer.
Class Diversity and The Big Four
For the first time in a long while, all nine classes were represented at HCT Buenos Aires. The representation was still slightly skewed, but even Mage managed to see one deck in the tournament. This is a great sign for the Boomsday meta, as the goal of any competitive system should be that any class can be a viable option.
The clear favorites in terms of classes are Druid, Hunter, Warlock, and Rogue. Each of these four were represented by at least 75 percent of the field. However, a positive aspect of their high representation is that each of these classes has at least three different deck variations. It’s actually the classes with low representation that struggle with variety, such as Shaman only having a Shudderwock variant in play.
A few deck achetypes new and exclusive to Boomsday got to see some play and success. Dr. Boom, Mad Genius has created the new Control Warrior deck. The new Aggro Mage takes advantage of all the new spell damage tools. Deathrattle Rogue is a deck built entirely around the new Deathrattle cards from Boomsday. Even Paladin saw some variety with a new Even and Midrange form thanks to the new set.
This tournament was great in terms of class diversity, card variety, and gameplay. Hopefully this trend continues going into the Hearthstone Global Games in the coming weeks and HCT Montreal at the start of next month.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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