Hearthstone

Four More Finalists from the HCT Fall Championship

Four More Finalists from the HCT Fall Championship

In addition to the four winners of their respective groups, four more Hearthstone fighters have stepped out of the ring victorious after emerging from the decider matches at the Hearthstone Championship Tour (HCT) Fall Championship—which means we now know all eight players competing in the playoff bracket on Sunday for a chance to advance to the World Championship.

Here’s a quick glimpse at who emerged on top during day three of the Fall Championship, and what to expect as we move into the single elimination finale of this epic tournament.

Sintolol

After a close five-game series in the winner’s match didn’t go his way, Thomas “Sintolol” Zimmer fought back in an equally close decider match to advance out of Group A in second place. It wouldn’t be a Sintolol match without one of these moments, though…

Despite yet another Shudderwock being burned, Sintolol navigated this game—and another full-length five-game series—to a successful conclusion, and advances to the quarterfinals looking to win one more match and make back-to-back HCT World Championship appearances.

Caimiao

The only representative from China to advance, Zhao “Caimiao” Haixiao narrowly lost his initial match to Jan “Moyen” Moy 2-3, then battled his way back from elimination in another two hard-fought five-game series. Caimiao’s reverse sweep of Moyen’s Even Warlock demonstrated some of the potential weaknesses of the archetype, which had also cost Moyen’s practice partner Sintolol several games over the course of the tournament.

Caimiao making it through to the quarterfinals using the aggressive lineup fielded by three of the Chinese players demonstrates its potential strength in the Fall Championship, but with how hard-fought every match has been, his chances in the single elimination bracket could be slim.

lnguagehackr

After an inauspicious start, Mihai “lnguagehackr” Dragalin threw down the gauntlet against his elimination and decider match opponents, defeating both in decisive 3-0 sweeps. The Canadian masterminded these authoritative wins on the back of his fascinating combination of an anti-control Shudderwock Shaman, anti-aggro Taunt Druid, combo-style Deathrattle Hunter, and aggressive Odd Rogue—an exceptionally diverse lineup that his lower bracket adversaries clearly struggled against.

The Americas region was looking especially dominant early in this tournament, and lnguagehackr also making it to the quarterfinals after his victory Saturday afternoon only served to further the appearance that this is the Americas’ tournament to lose.

Tyler

An epic rematch between Tyler Hoang Nguyen and Martin “Tincho” Mazza did not disappoint. Although Tyler took the first series 3-0 in decisive fashion (and we know how much Tyler loves fashion!), Roman “RENMEN” Kudriavstev sent him to the decider match in their fifth game. The second series between Tyler and Tincho went the distance, but Tyler came back from the 2-1 deficit his Malygos Druid left him at in nail-biting games to close it out 3-2.

As Saturday wound to a close, Tyler’s victory left the eight player single elimination playoff field comprised of three representatives from the Americas, two from Europe, two from Asia-Pacific, and a lone Chinese contender.

standardFormat_divider_LW_600x100.png

What a rumble! Don’t look away now, though—the fourth and final day of competition is just getting started. You can catch all of the action over on the official Hearthstone Twitch channel, and then get in on the excitement of the live event with us on social media using #HCTFall.

Next Article

Featured News