5 Miracle Moments from the HCT Summer Championship
There were some great moments from this past weekend's Hearthstone Summer Championship, and Blizzard's Kevin Hovdestad has clipped some of the best. What were your favourite moments from this weekend's event?
Quote from Kevin HovdestadThe Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) Summer Championship played out this past weekend at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, and fans in-studio and at home were treated to an incredible experience thanks to the talent and tenacity of some of the world’s best players.
In case you missed it—or want to relive a few of the highlight-reel moments—here are five of the plays that caught our eyes and dropped our jaws:
#5 – All Must Serve the One... True... King
Seven turns out from fatigue, and unable to establish a board presence, things were looking grim for Purple in game four of his match against tom60229. He needed a miracle—and he got it, rolling The Lich King off of a 6-cost Jade Golem with Thrall, Deathseer's Battlecry effect. On Purple's next turn, The Lich King generated an Anti-Magic Shell, which gave Purple an opening to play around tom60229's only remaining outs, and go on from there to win what had looked to be an unwinnable game.
#4 – P-P-P-Poker Face
Game three between Purple and tom60229 also had a memorable (and only-in-real-life) moment, as Purple went for an over-the-monitor read on tom60229’s poker face to try and surmise which Mage secret he had in play. Whether Purple saw it on tom's face or not, he correctly tested for the in-play Counterspell with his Swipe, protecting his Ultimate Infestation for later use.
#3 – Youuuu Dirty Rat
OldBoy snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in game five against Nalguidan. The two were locked in a tense Handlock mirror, with Nalguidan poised to finish off OldBoy and advance to playoff Sunday. Nalguidan had twice previously been punished—once in an earlier match, and once already against OldBoy—by Dirty Rat pulling out his Doomsayer. And here it happened again, as OldBoy played to his only out, successfully sniping Doomsayer, taking back the board, and eventually winning the match.
#2 – You Must Read the Name of This Card Out Loud Each Time You Play It
Surrender won all three of his games in the Group C winner’s match against OmegaZero’s Hunter deck, but it wasn’t easy. With deck lists being public knowledge, Surrender knew OmegaZero’s list by heart—and that plus the game state let him make a next-level read. One card had sat unplayed all game in OmegaZero’s hand: If it was a relevant minion or a direct-damage card, he’d had opportunities to play it already. The card had to be Unleash the Hounds. Surrender played around it by trading two minions into one of OmegaZero’s, which removed the possibility of lethal damage from Unleash the Hounds.
#1 – It's the Circle of Healing
Who would win the HCT Summer Championship trophy came down to an intense game-five mirror match between Surrender and Orange’s Highlander Priest decks. At one point, Orange spotted an opportunity to force Surrender to overdraw his hand by six cards, trading an otherwise weak combo card in Circle of Healing for a chance he could burn one of Surrender’s mandatory combo cards (ideally Raza). It was a real nail-biter for both players, and the casting desk, as each card was drawn, and lost:
Unfortunately for Orange, the six burned cards did not affect Surrender’s win condition. When it was all over, despite hitting fatigue, Surrender had become our HCT Summer champion!
Were there any other amazing plays or amusing interactions that you loved during the HCT Summer Championship? Which players were your favorites to watch? Let us know in the comments!
Thanks for article!
I really like watching those lucky moves on my tablets, computer, phone or TV. I think it's great entertainment event with random mechanics, not all random, but news mechanics like evolve. Usually, when you play a random move, it's more of a desperate defense move or a powerful attack. I like the suspense it make for the Show !
Have fun watching Hearthstone show must live long ! And if you took time writing your opinion about the game on this website, it's that you care a little about the game and let it be constructive.
How much were you paid to say that?
"watch now on tablet, computer, phone or TV!"
If in 2017 you're under the impression those are sale pitches it's about time to crawl away from under that rock.
Funny one ! But I wish I would be paid to play that game though :D It's more has a positive argument about the game instead of being so mad at it. I go on hearthpwn and play hearthstone because I have fun and you make me laugh.
Guys it's a card game. RNG happens in card games, it's what makes it so fun and interesting! If you don't like it don't watch or go play gwent. Pretty simple.
But Lightspoon, why don't you mention the poor archetype breakdown? To predict what? In all these mirror games? It's half skill and half card draw luck. If there was a diversity in deck archetypes, then indeed rng factors should be kept at low levels...
But be honest: do you like the discover mechanics? Because there's a lot of rng in it but it also allows skill to play it's role.
How many times you went mad with the inconsistency of your deck? And why rng factors are accepted in card draw, but not in other aspects of the game?
And I try to climb the ladder with a deck that isn't based on rng (apart from the lich king's card creation) and I'm not playing jade druids, or all this pirate stuff too.
The development of such a game is not an easy task and blizzard has proven us all these years (I play blizzard games since diablo 1) that they know what they're doing. Their games are not made for the pro's, but for the casual players... And believe me, the pro players know it too.
Top 5 reasons HS shouldn't be an e-sport
I don't think it will last long. Sooner or later the HS pros are going to get fed up with RNG deciding their income and career.
Why everyone is complaining about RNG?
#1: It is a game, which means that its basic purpose is to have fun. RNG is the number 1 factor for having fun, even if it is against you sometimes.
#2: The game is based on RNG, since you draw cards, thus you don't have full control of the game.
PS. Everyone who complains about RNG, please try to remember how many times you have won a game by RNG.
Dude just shut up... We're talking about people who try to make a profession out of this game.
Watching them win or lose $100.000 games because of a coin flip is in no way fun to me, which is why I stopped watching HS tournaments quite a while ago.
Still here you are
I still play the game because I think RNG is reasonable for casual play, although I'd prefer less of it. And I keep checking topics like these + YT videos for highlights, although those usually disappoint.
To reply to someone by saying "dude just shut up" means that either you are underaged so you haven't yet learned how to talk or that your education and maturity level is worse than that of a banana.
And now back to the topic:
Is poker an RNG card game too or not? Have you ever heard Poker pro's complaining about RNG?
Do, HS pro's complain about RNG?
The fact that they chose to play this game even in pro level means that they know about the RNG factor and tbh more than any of us who play HS casual.
If you don't like RNG go play pac-man (although i believe you've never played pac-man in your life).
Exactly!!! What’s that I hear?? Oh yea, that’s a mature & educational burn that I’m making s’mores off of at my Halloween party. Everyone knows what the mechanics of the game they are playing. As a matter of fact, every game has specific mechanics that peeps may like or dislike. However, whether they be playing for the Benjamins or playing for sh*ts & giggles, they accepted the game for how it was played, when they began playing it. Some of ya’ll be sounden like our damn dumbass president! Peace
WSP
The 9 downvotes on your post seems to imply that the 'dude just shut up' was justified. And comparing me to a banana doesn't make you look very mature either.
Anyway, the skill to luck ratio is way higher in Poker than in HS. If you're good at poker you can still win or minimize your losses when your opponent gets extremely lucky. If your opponent gets lucky in Hearthstone there's just nearly no way you're going to win.
Which is somewhat fine for casual play, but not for $100.000,- matches. And many people here seem to agree with that, which obviously costs them a lot of viewers.
Of course I'll get downvotes because everyone who writes in this thread is whining about rng.
Instead of whining about rng it is better to argue about this whole bunch of mirror games and the fail deck archetype breakdown of this tournament. 16/16 highlander Priest!!!
Have you ever tried to imagine HS without rng? Think of how many cards should be excluded... And how many deck archetypes will vanish... And we'll all be playing jade druids, pirate warriors, zoo locks and face hunters... Oh and mill rogues and mill warriors. And we're gonna be happy with even less deck archetypes... NOT!
But again... It's only a game. If you don't like, you can still play another game.
Ps. Please, stop writing about money and how the pro's earnings depending on rng, because as I said before, they know that the rng factor is basic in HS.
Ps2. And about the #1 video of this article, Orange was unfortunate by the card draw mechanic and not by Yogg's spells.
Your points are just, but:
1. You should learn to hear/read opinions opposite than yours and not reply aggressively by saying to shut up, because this is called facism!
2. Other players will take their places and this will go on and on, because blizzard games are focused on casual gamers, targeting the majority that find games amusing and not the few who seek for perfection.
4. Finally, if you and all the others , as you mention, that you don't like rng, why do you still play a card game, since all card games are based on rng (the he basic draw mechanism)?