The Europe region is one that gets to hold the Hearthstone competitive spotlight. The players from this region almost have an unfair advantage. Top level players from the different countries can speak English, allowing them to consult each other for tips and tricks. The region has produced two of the four World Champions.
Here is a breakdown of the four Europeans featured in the HCT Summer Championship.
Marco “Turna” Castiglioni
First up is Turna from Italy. He represents Exeed Esports and has made multiple premier tournament appearances. Turna won at HCT Oslo, the 6th tour stop of the 2018 season.
Turna played against Viper in the qualifier for the Summer Championship and beat him 3-1. He played Viper again at the recent Dreamhack Summer and again won 3-1. Should both Turna and Viper advance from the group stage at the Summer Championship, maybe Turna knows the secret to beating Viper.
Turna brought a mixed lineup to the Europe qualifier but has decided to go full aggro for the coming tournament. Let’s see what Turna can do in his second time qualifying for a Seasonal Championship. He plays from group C versus David “Dog” Caero, Jinsoo “Jinsoo” Park, and Qu “Rugal” Yixian.
Decks for HCT Summer: Token Druid, Odd Paladin, Even Shaman, Even Warlock
Torben “Viper” Wahl
Next up is Viper from Germany who represents Team Genji. Also not his first rodeo with a Premier level tournament, he played in the 2016 Summer Championship.
As mentioned before, Viper seemingly struggles against Turna in recent history. Viper is looking to get revenge as he called out Turna as being one of the weaker players to qualify. Viper brought a control lineup to the qualifier where he lost to Turna, but what is important is that he made it to the Summer Championship. Not wanting to stray from his success Viper has brought an equally as controlling lineup to the tournament.
Whether or not Viper and Bunnyhoppor collaborated on what decks to bring to the Summer Championship is not entirely clear. However, Viper’s lineup is card-for-card the same as the other European player. Viper is seated in Group A alongside Lucas “Rase” Romano, Wu “XiaoT” Jiwei, and Shuhei “Tansoku” Omura.
Decks for HCT Summer: Control Mage, Miracle Rogue, Shudderwock Shaman, Even Warlock
Kacper “A83650” Kwieciński
The Polish representative of Illuminar Gaming, A83650’s name isn’t the only interesting thing about him. Another player from Europe who isn’t new to Premier tournaments, he played at Dreamhack Winter 2016.
In the qualifier tournament, A8 was able to defeat Bunnyhoppor 3-1. They faced off with similar decks showing the strength of A8 as a strategist. If both A8 and Bunnyhoppor advance from their respective groups, A8 hopes to keep the wins rolling if he faces the fellow European. The only player he fears is Viper.
A8’s mixed lineup from the qualifier featured decks that contained a lot of now nerfed cards. As such he has shifted gears with his lineup for the Summer Championship. He opts to bring a very control oriented lineup looking to beat aggressive lineups and hoping to out-value other control decks. Starting in Group B, A8 will hope to beat Wu “BloodTrail” Zong-Chang, Facundo “Nalguidan” Pruzzo, and Li “YuYi” Daixiong.
Decks for HCT Summer: Taunt Druid, Control Priest, Miracle Rogue, Cube Warlock
Raphael “Bunnyhoppor” Peltzer
Bunnyhoppor, who is originally from Germany but currently living in Norway, is the final competitor from Europe. The PhD student has the most Premier tournament experience out of all the Europeans in the tournament. He represents the team SK Gaming.
With his tenured stay in the Hearthstone competitive scene, many are choosing Bunnyhoppor to win it all at the HCT Summer Championship. He has beaten Dog in a team tournament, who he is fairly likely to face off against in the playoff rounds. Bunnyhoppor has also previously beaten current American HCT Point leaders Paul “Zalae” Nemeth and Muzahidul “Muzzy” Islam in team tournaments.
He brought very aggressive decks to the qualifier, but does a complete 180 with his control oriented lineup for the Summer Championship. Bunnyhoppor has an identical deck lineup to fellow European Viper. He charges into Group D versus Gao “Leaoh” Yang, Kenta “Glory” Sato, and David “killinallday” Acosta.
Decks for HCT Summer: Control Mage, Miracle Rogue, Shudderwock Shaman, Even Warlock
Good luck to all the players from the Europe region in the HCT Summer Championship.The final article will go over the players from the region of the Americas.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via their official website.
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