Hearthpwn

The Second Season of the Hearthstone Grandmasters 2020 went into its fifth week this weekend. 48 of the best players in the world began the eight week event with a total of $500,000 and a ticket to the World Championship on the line. The season saw the same format as last season which saw players start with Swiss Rounds and are now divided into groups and completing Round Robin stages.

This weekend saw the tried and true format of 4 Deck Conquest with 1 Ban. The way it works is that both players bring 4 decks, and both players ban 1 deck of their opponent. They then choose to play a deck of the remaining decks and every time they win with a deck it gets eliminated. Once either player wins with 3 decks, they win the match.

Video Recaps

Since we are posting our article close to the ending of Day 3, not all of the matches may have been put onto YouTube yet, so check the official Hearthstone Esports YT Channel for the uploads later here!

• Asia-Pacific Week 6 Feature: Bankyugi vs blitzchung.
• Europe Week 6 Feature: Rdu vs Bunnyhoppor.
• Americas Week 6 Feature: Eddie vs NoHandsGamer
• All The Recaps: All Regions.

Road to Playoffs

The Grandmasters started with 3 weeks of Swiss, where everyone scored points. Those points lead to players being divided into Groups A and Groups B. In every Region those Groups will fight in a Round Robin style over the next 4 weeks before the Playoffs and Relegation matches will be played. Who gets to go to the Playoffs and Relegations will be decided as shown in the graphic below.

Decklists & Recap

Americas

The Americas Region featured matchup between Eddie and NoHandsGamer did not quite live up to it's billing. It started off with Eddie on his Priest and NoHandsGamer on his Demon Hunter. NoHandsGamer got stuck with a hand full of his mid game cards while Eddie got a perfect curve (some of it by design, some of it randomly). Eddie used that curve to expertly block NoHandsGamer from the board and chip away at his health. It did not take long before NoHands was in trouble healthwise and had to start doing desperate things to stay alive. It did not work out, leaving Eddie up 1-0.

The second game saw both players swap decks. Eddie to his Pain Warrior and NoHandsGamer to his Druid. Yet again NoHands did not have an answer for Eddie's early pressure and never gained board control. Part of this was due to deck building choices (not including Lake Thresher for instance) but part of it was just due to Eddie maximizing his resources from the start and not letting NoHandsGamer stabilize. With Eddie up 2-0, NoHandsGamer needed to reverse sweep to be able to win.

For the next game NohandsGamer stayed on his Druid deck and Eddie swapped to his last remaining deck which was Libram Paladin, which due to the shifting meta in Tournament play is actually getting good matchups finally. And good match up it did get here too. Eddie again had early pressure, and even though NoHandsGamer was able to stabilize and make a board with Guardian Animals and Ysera, he lost it almost immediately again due to Libram of Justice. NoHands gave it a good try even in the late stages, but he was simply no match on this day for Eddie, whether through luck, deck building options or deck bringing strategy. Eddie wins this series 3-0.

Eddie's Americas Grandmasters Season 2 Decks:

NoHandsGamer's Americas Grandmasters Season 2 Decks:

Europe

This European featured match between Rdu and Bunnyhoppor was between the top 2 seeds in the Region at the start of the weekend and it turned into another titanic battle. Rdu started out on his Maly Druid and Bunnyhoppor went with his Bomb Warrior and both players started off with a great mulligan, but unfortunately for Rdu he started drawing beast after beast before he had the chance to play his Guardian Animals. It didn't seem to matter however as Rdu still pressured and pressured until Bunnyhoppor was so low on health that he needed a miracle that he couldn't quite make happen. With Rdu now up 1-0 he swapped to his Demon Hunter deck, while Bunnyhoppor stayed put on his Bomb Warrior. After a long back and forth, most of it with Bunnyhoppor on the defensive again, Rdu did finally find lethal for the 2-0 lead.

This is where Bunnyhoppor started to shine however, when he was on his last chance. Rdu switched to his last available deck, the Stealth Rogue, while Bunnyhoppor stubbornly stayed on his Bomb Warrior deck, convinced it would get him the win he needed. And it did. Rdu had a slow start, and Bunnyhoppor both put bombs in his deck and built some armor and soon enough Rdu was dead. For Game 4 Bunnyhoppor swapped to his own Rogue, his a Secret version, for a quality Rogue mirror. Things seemed to be going all Rdu's way until a clutch turn by Bunnyhoppor dealt with much of Rdu's board and brougth a 14/14 Edwin on board for him. Rdu basically had no answer and conceded.

With Bunnyhoppor having raced back to equalize the series and having all the momentum, it came down to the final game: Bunnyhoppor on his Priest deck, against Rdu still on his Rogue deck. If you have no time to watch anything else, watch this last game between the two, because it was an absolutely brilliantly played game from both sides, with back and forths and turning fortunes. In the end though, Rdu had brought Bunnyhoppor low on health, and had damage through his weapon for lethal, forcing Bunnyhoppor into desperation plays that he very, very nearly still pulled off. One Apotheosis would have made the difference in the end, but it was not to be and Rdu took this nailbiter series 3-2.

Rdu's Europe Grandmasters Season 2 Decks:

Bunnyhoppor's Europe Grandmasters Season 2 Decks:

Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific featured match between Bankyugi and blitzchung certainly lived up to expectations as it went down to the wire. It started with Bankyugi on his Priest and blitzchung on his Druid and it was a typical Priest shenanigans game, stealing blitzchung's minions and building a board Druid just had no answer for. Game 2 was equally one sided, except this time it went blitzchung's way. He played his Face Hunter against Bankyugi on his Druid deck and rolled from the start while Bankyugi never managed to stabilize.

With the series equalized, it continued with Bankyugi still on his Druid and blitzchung swapping to his Tempo Mage deck. This game was honestly must watch esports. It was an enormously tense back and forth with both players having chances and choices to swing the game, and it all came down to a last second stand by both players where Bankyugi just didn't quite have the juice left in his deck to prevent his own death, leaving blitzchung with the win. After what must have been a draining game for both players, they both still had to move on. Game 4 was a Druid mirror match, and it was an absolute clinic in Druid play and Druid draw luck by Bankyugi, who rolled from the start and gave blitzchung's Druid it's second loss.

That let the series come down to the final game, between Bankyugi on his Tempo Mage and blitzchung still on his Druid. Would blitzchung finally get his Druid win or would Bankyugi bring it home? The game started with Bankyugi developing board and blitzchung ramping up hard. What followed was again a master class by both players in how to play their decks and how to combine good draws and your opponent's (strong) plays into an advantage for yourself through clever use of your resources and a little luck. In the end though only one player can win, and it was blitzchung that ended up with the upper hand in the last few plays, giving him the 3-2 series win.

Bankyugi's Asia-Pacific Grandmasters Season 2 Decks:

blitzchung's Asia-Pacific Grandmasters Season 2 Decks: