Esports News: Eight teams battled it out in China at the Beijing National Aquatics Center recently for an $80,000 first-place prize in the latest Hearthstone tournament. Team Celestial dominated the competition on their way to becoming champions of the Gold Club World Cup 2017.
Celestial went 5-2 in the group stage, only dropping series against Evolution and Planet Odd. Team Celestial showed quite a bit of diversity in the group stage, bringing out Hunter, a class rarely seen in the current state of the metagame.
Expansion not used
However, one key distinction for this event was the lack of Kobolds and Catacombs, the latest expansion to Hearthstone, as the entirety of the event was completed without any of the new cards being allowed. This meant that the meta to stay the same as it was prior to Kobolds and Catacombs, with Tempo Rogue, a deck based around high quality minions and combos, fighting for the board with both minions and the Rogue hero power, Aggro Druid, which is similar to Tempo Rogue, but utilizes buffs that increase the power of many small minions while trading successfully with the opponent, and Highlander Priest, a deck archetype based around having only one copy of each card in the deck when typically two are allowed, this allows for certain cards such as Kazakus to function, dominating the meta.
Celestial gains revenge
In the upper bracket, Team Celestial squared off against Evolution, one of the teams they lost to during the group stage. The initial matchup was Tempo Rogue for Celestial against Evolution’s heavy Control Mage, where Celestial found a stable footing quickly off the back of an early Keleseth. Team Celestial held a steady lead all game, never allowing Evolution the time they needed, eventually giving Celestial the win. Evolution bounced back with Jade Druid, this time successfully stopping Celestial’s early advances, yet Celestial rebounded nicely with a win with Murloc Paladin. Evolution’s final deck was Zoo Warlock, which fell behind in the mid-game. With constant pressure put on the board, Team Celestial found the win, putting them into the winner’s final against Royal Never Give Up.
The first match was eerily similar to the semifinals, as Team Celestial once again found victory with Tempo Rogue over a Mage deck; in this case, Tempo Secret Mage. This time around, Celestial claimed victory in the second match against the counter-pick of Jade Druid, putting Celestial in a commanding position 2-0 position. Celestial’s Rogue would finally fall to RNG’s Demon-based Zoo Warlock, allowing Celestial to pull out their secret weapon, Taunt Warrior. Typically a fringe deck that can do all right in tournament play, Warrior in general is viewed as the weakest class, along with Hunter, in the pre-Kobolds metagame. However, Celestial ran the stall-style Warrior to perfection, slowly grinding out RNG’s threats, and granting the 3-1 victory.
Rogue the key in the finals
The finals saw Team Celestial against Planet Odd, the other team to claim victory over Celestial during the group stage. Once again, Rogue were let through the ban phase for Celestial (each team bans two decks, with Priest and Druid being the common bans vs. Celestial), this time opening against Planet Odd’s Zoo Warlock. The key turn was turn eight, where Planet Odd had two chances to draw one damage to give them the win. Unfortunately for Planet Odd, no damage was found, and Team Celestial claimed victory on the next turn.
The next matchup for Celestial’s Tempo Rogue was the counter of Taunt Warrior, yet Planet Odd found limited success. Celestial had control of the game from the get-go, continually putting more and more pressure on the Taunt Warrior, which had a poor draw, until the eventual win for Celestial. The last match of Tempo Rogue versus Murloc Paladin was a complete stomp in favour of Celestial, as once again an early board state snowballed out of control. Tempo Rogue pulled off the sweep, with Celestial claiming the championship in a clean 3-0.
Ultimately, there’s little to be gleamed from the results in Beijing. The changes brought by Kobolds and Catacombs have shaken up overall play and everyone from Team Celestial must now learn how to take full advantage of the new cards.
