JUNE 28, 2016

Napoleon: Freeze Mage costs him series

Name: Jason "Napoleon" Li

Update: Napoleon played a great series and tournament overall, but lost 4-3 to Cydonia in the semifinals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Out of the remaining four players, Napoleon came in with the momentum as he was the most dominant Day 1. He started out the series with a win on his Tempo Warrior but quickly dropped the next two games to Cydonia. Napoleon bounced back well, taking the next two games with his Aggro Shaman and C'Thun Druid, leaving his Freeze Mage as the only deck left to win with. Freeze Mage is a deck that is not as strong as it used to be, and that was on display as Cydonia took two straight games against it to win the series. Napoleon had an amazing tournament run and should feel great about his performance.

joster: Succumbs to aggressive opponent

Name: Joey "joster" Preziosi

Update: joster was overwhelmed by Rosty's aggression within his 4-1 series loss in the semifinals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: After squeaking out a win in Day 1, joster was openly pessimistic about his chances on Day 2 to win it all. He admitted that his decks were stronger against control decks, which would cost him as Rosty brought the most aggressive lineup in the field. Rosty pushed that aggression to the max as he made quick work of joster in the series, 4-1. joster didn't stand a chance in this series, but that was due to how the decks matched up and not any lack of skill by joster.

Rosty: Amazing tournament run falls short

Name: Rosty "Rosty" Elkun

Update: Rosty's tournament run fell just short as he lost to Cydonia 4-3 in the Finals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Rosty had the most aggressive list in the field, and it was working very well for him. His one weakness was his Freeze Mage deck as he struggled to find many wins with the deck. The series with Cydonia was extremely close as the two alternated wins all the way up to Game 7. Rosty grabbed an early win with his Freeze Mage thanks to a clutch Fireball topdeck, leaving his Hybrid Hunter deck as the lone missing victory. After dropping Game 6, a Hunter mirror matchup was left to decide the championship. Each player played great and Rosty was in control for the majority of the game, setting up a turn where he was one point off of lethal. Cydonia answered that turn with a friendly Deadly Shot landing to find lethal of his own to win the championship. Rosty should be very proud of his tournament run, and likely could make more tournament runs in the future.

Cydonia: Crowned Americas Spring Champion

Name: Julien "Cydonia" Perrault-Harvey

Update: Cydonia completed his dominant tournament run as champion, defeating Rosty 4-3 in the Finals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: The finals matchup was as close as possible. Through the first six games, Cydonia and Rosty alternated wins with plenty of highlights going on. Rosty took Game 1 behind his massive Tunnel Troggs and then was able to grab Game 3 on his Freeze Mage, the deck that was seen as his biggest weakness. Cydonia had highlights of his own, the biggest coming in his Game 6 Zoo Warlock victory where he grabbed a Young Dragonhawk off of a Dark Peddler and then used two Power Overwhelmings on it to inflict 18 damage and kill Rosty on turn 5 to force Game 7. It was a battle of the Hunters in Game 7 as Cydonia was playing from behind throughout. After Rosty was just one point off of lethal, Cydnoia used some friendly RNG to turn the board around and find lethal himself, claiming the Americas Spring Championship crown.

JUNE 25, 2016

Cydonia: Earns a hard fought victory to move to Semifinals

Name: Julien "Cydonia" Perrault-Harvey

Update: Cydonia edges out Deerjason 4-3 in a very competitive seven game series to advance to the Semifinals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: The series had a rough start for Cydonia, as a Harrison Jones stole a Game 1 victory away from his Aggro Shaman. He bounced back well, however, winning the next game with his C'Thun Druid and then exploiting Deerjason's Aggro Shaman for two more victories. All Cydonia needed was a win on his Midrange Hunter to close the series. He lost his first game to Aggro Shaman to force Game 7, where Deerjason put his faith into his Yogg-Saron Druid deck. Unfortunately, Yogg was never played, but Cydonia didn't care as he rushed his way to a Game 7 win. Cydonia looks to be one of the favorites to win it all as he moves on to Day 2.

Napoleon: Dominated his matchup to advance to Semifinals

Name: Jason "Napoleon" Li

Update: Napoleon dominates Duane in a quick 4-1 series win to advance to the Semifinals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Easily the most animated played in the group, Napoleon was fist pumping a lot this series as everything seemed to go his way. Coming into the day, he said that he would not make a single mistake the entire tournament and definitely did not as he crushed Duane 4-1. The only game he dropped was on his Freeze Mage against an Aggro Shaman. Freeze Mage is his only deck that is not one of the top meta decks, and could possibly be exploited in the Semifinals. Overall, this was a very strong showing from Napoleon as he looks to carry that momentum into Day 2.

duane: Didn't stand a chance in rough loss

Name: Rui "duane" Yang

Update: duane was completely overwhelmed by Napoleon, as he lost 4-1 to end his run in the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: duane did not make any big misplays in the series, but just seemed to always be a step behind Napoleon, who dominated the series. We only saw two of duane's decks, his Midrange Hunter and his Aggro Shaman, with his lone win coming with his Shaman against a Freeze Mage. His Hunter deck went 0-3, as Duane's tournament run came to an abrupt end.

PNC: Eliminated in a heartbreaking series

Name: Francisco "PNC" Fraga Leimontas

Team: Isurus Gaming

Update: PNC played great, but fell short at the hands of Joster 4-3 in Day 1 of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: In the closest series of the day, PNC and Joster were evenly matched the whole time. The two alternated wins the first four games until PNC's heart was crushed in Game 5. On his aggressive Dragon Warrior deck, PNC rushed down Joster's Reno Warlock to just 10 health on turn 4, only to watch Joster barely live to turn 6 before throwing down a Reno Jackson to reset the game. PNC seemed to be crushed by the loss as he made a couple of key misplays on the way, but bounced back well, as he took the next game against Joster's Rogue to set up a decisive Game 7. PNC's tournament hopes were on the line with his Midrange Hunter deck, but fell short as Joster's Rogue Cold Blood combos were just too much damage to handle. PNC is happy with how far he came and rightfully should be, as we can expect to see his name more going forward.

Rosty: Strong showing in win to advance to Day 2

Name: Rosty "Rosty" Elkun

Update: Rosty played a very confident and skilled series to defeat Bradfordlee 4-2 and advance to the Semifinals of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Rosty was pushing for face against Bradfordlee all series with the most aggressive lineup in the group. Rosty started with his Hybrid Hunter deck, which is a more aggressive variation of the standard Midrange Hunter. He lost Game 1, but won the next two games with his Hunter and Aggro Shaman decks. He then turned to his Warlock Zoo deck, which dropped a game to a tough Rogue topdeck lethal, but grabbed the next game to put himself up 3-2 and on series point. Rosty's last deck was Freeze Mage, a complete contrast from the rest of his lineup. Thanks to a couple key misplays from Bradfordlee on his Aggro Shaman, Rosty found the win to close the series and advance to the Semifinals.

Bradfordlee: Inconsistent play leads to a series loss

Name: Bradford "Bradfordlee" Grant

Update: Bradfordlee played well, but made a few key errors as he fell 4-2 to Rosty and is eliminated from the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Bradfordlee start the series with fireworks as C'Thun himself clinched Game 1 for him on his C'Thun Druid deck. Unfortunately, he then dropped two straight games with his Miracle Rogue decks against two Aggro decks from Rosty, Hybrid Hunter and Aggro Shaman. After finally getting a win on his Rogue against a Warlock Zoo deck, he dropped the next to put Rosty on series point. Bradfordlee turned to his Aggro Shaman deck to defeat Rosty's Freeze Mage, but made some key mistakes when it came to using his direct damage that led to a tough defeat. It was a great tournament run for Bradfordlee, but he is now eliminated.

JUNE 23, 2016

pinpingho: Has a disappointing series

Name: Kwo-Ping "pinpingho" Ho

Team: Wayi Spider

Update: pinpingho was outplayed by EdwardElric in the 4-2 series loss in Day 1 of the Asia-Pacific Spring Championship.

Analysis: As the most notable player in the field, pinpingho was revered as a favorite to return to Blizzcon again this year out of the Asia-Pacific region. pinpingho looked like the repeat was possible after a Brann Bronzebeard and C'Thun 28 damage combo put him up 2-1 in the series. pinpingho, self titled as "The Shaman," turned to his Midrange Shaman deck, but dropped two straight games with it, as EdwardElric was now on series point with his Dragon Warrior deck. pinpingho turned to his C'Thun RenoLock deck, but did not play it for long as EdwardElric won the game on turn 5 to close the series.

Hoej: Plays very well in tough loss

Name: Frederik "Hoej" Nielsen

Team: Natus Vincere

Update: Hoej played great throughout the tournament, but his run ended 3-2 to Rdu in the semifinals of the DreamHack Hearthstone Grand Prix.

Analysis: Hoej was praying to the Old Gods throughout this whole tournament, as he had both a N'Zoth and C'Thun deck in the Last Hero Standing format. In the series against Rdu, those two decks each found a win, but it took him awhile to find a win with his Aggro Shaman deck, costing him the series. He lost two straight games against Rdu's Aggro Shaman, but he did finally find a win on it to set up a C'Thun Druid against Zoo matchup for the series, which eventually went in favor of Rdu's Zoo. Hoej and Rdu seemed to be the two favorites for this event, making this matchup feel like the real championship. The overall great play from Hoej during his run did not disappoint one bit.

heisnotaxel: Weak lineup exposed in loss

Name: Axel "heisnotaxel" Ler

Update: Heisnotaxel fell victim to his own decks in the 4-2 loss to KillerHero in Day 1 of the Asia-Pacific Spring Championship.

Analysis: As the only player to bring Priest, it was a question whether he would even be able to take one win with the deck. heisnotaxel, however, played the deck to perfection, and took an early lead with a win in Game 1. He followed up that win with a win on his Midrange Hunter to grab a 2-0 lead. This Midrange Hunter has been very popular of late, and heisnotaxel showed off the strengths of the deck with his easy win. heisnotaxel was then down to his Control Warrior and Murloc Paladin decks, but failed to capture a win with either, as KillerHero won four straight games to take the series. The final three wins all came against heisnotaxel's Murloc Paladin, showing exactly why that deck is not in the Hearthstone meta anymore.

Slugg: Couldn't handle the Aggro Shaman in series loss

Name: Emil "Slugg" Jelager

Update: Slugg played great, but couldn't take down Fr0zen, who beat him 3-1 in the semifinals of the DreamHack Hearthstone Grand Prix.

Analysis: After dropping Game 1 to Fr0zen's Rogue, Slugg turned to his Aggro Shaman to take his first win. With the Last Hero Standing format, Slugg stayed on his Aggro Shaman, but failed to find a win in the mirror matchup. Fr0zen then closed out Game 4 with his own Aggro Shaman to take the series. Fr0zen really dominated this series, but Slugg should be thrilled with the final four finish. Slugg is certainly one to look out for in future tournaments.

fr0zen: Great tournament run comes up just short with 2nd place finish

Name: Frank "fr0zen" Z

Team: Hearthlytics

Update: fr0zen put together an amazing tournament run, but finished as the runner-up, as Rdu defeated him 3-1 in the championship of the DreamHack Hearthstone Grand Prix.

Analysis: fr0zen became a fan favorite for his use of the Yogg-Saron Druid deck, but he failed the get a win with the deck in the last two rounds of the Grand Prix. Instead, it was the aggro decks that decided the matchups. fr0zen won Game 2 against Rdu on his Aggro Shaman, evening the series 1-1. Rdu then turned to his Zoo Warlock deck, as one of the most experience Zoo players in the world, as he took two straight game to close out the series and claim the championship. fr0zen was clearly outmatched, but he played great all tournament and should be very happy with the runner-up finish. This was a great audition for future teams since fr0zen's old team, Hearthlytics, recently disbanded and he is surely looking to land with a powerhouse.

Rdu: Repeats as DreamHack Grand Prix champion

Name: Dima "Rdu" Radu

Team: G2 Esports

Update: Rdu played great all tournament and finished as champion when he defeated fr0zen 3-1 in the finals of the DreamHack Hearthstone Grand Prix.

Analysis: The real championship matchup was his Semifinal match against Hoej, but Rdu finished his tourney run off with a dominant win over fr0zen in the finals. Rdu's Zoo Warlock deck proved to be his most trusted deck, as he claimed the final two wins to clinch the series with the deck. With the level of competition continually growing in the Hearthstone world, it is a very impressive accomplishment to defend a title at the professional level. This was a great tournament for Rdu and he shows that he still has what it takes to win high-profile tournaments.

JUNE 22, 2016

handsomeguy: Earns first place at the 2016 HCT - Asia-Pacific Spring Championship

Name: IlMook "handsomeguy" Kang

Team: ECCA SunBi

Update: After defeating EdwardElric in the finals, Handsomeguy was crowned the HCT - Asia-Pacific Spring champion.

Analysis: Handsomeguy had an extremely strong showing in the tournament to earn first place. Moving into the quarterfinals of the event, he found himself down 3-1 after a disappointing couple of games against Caster. Nearly being eliminated from the tournament, he rallied to take down Caster's Reno Warlock three games in a row, winning Game 7 with his C'Thun Druid to secure his spot in the semifinals. He had an extremely similar semifinal, once again falling behind and ending up just one game away from being eliminated. Able to turn it around, he won the next two games, bringing the series score from 2-3 to 4-3 to earn his spot in the finals. Handsomeguy banned Mage in the finals, and EdwardElric banned Warrior in response. The first game didn't go the way of Handsomeguy's way, as his Druid fell to a Dragon Warrior. He responded quickly in Game 2 to win the mirror Zoo matchup and tie the series 1-1. The series continued to go back in forth, but he finally took the lead after a Game 5 victory, bringing the series to 3-2. With victory in his eyes, he decimated EdwardElric's Zoo with his Shaman in Game 6 to close out the series. With the victory, he claimed the tournament title for himself and punched his ticket to BlizzCon.

JUNE 17, 2016

Crane333: Bows out of Europe Spring Championship on Day 1

Name: Simon "Crane333" Raunholst

Update: Crane333 fought hard but lost 4-3 to INER on Day 1 of the Europe Spring Championship.

Analysis: Crane333 came into the competition as one of the more well known players, with a wealth of new names surfacing in the competitive Hearthstone EU scene. He matched up against INER, competing in a fierce battle that took the full seven games to decide the winner. The series was close throughout as neither player led by more than a game. INER was playing fast and furious, making small mistakes along the way, including summoning Leeroy Jenkins before clearing Crane333's Knife Juggler. Crane333 was up in the series 3-2 at one point, but ended up losing two straight games with his Zoo deck to lose the series. Crane333's name will continue to come up in tournaments like this.

AKAWonder: Loses on Day 1 of HTC - Europe Spring Championship

Name: Esteban "AKAWonder" Serrano

Team: SK Gaming

Update: C'Thun could not save AKAWonder as he lost the series 4-2 to Casie on Day 1 of the HTC - Europe Spring Championship.

Analysis: AKAWonder is known as the C'Thun king, a name he easily lived up to during the qualifiers, where he used three C'thun decks. On this day, C'thun and his other decks faltered as he fell 4-2 to Casie. AKA took Game 1 with his Midrange Hunter deck, but lost the next two games with his Midrange Shaman. After finally grabbing a win with the Shaman, AKA turned to the Old God himself, C'thun to save the series. His C'thun RenoLock ended up losing the final two games of the series, the last being against the standard RenoLock list. AKAWonder may be eliminated, but he and SK Gaming should be happy with the performance.

Thijs: Advances to semifinals of HTC - Europe

Name: Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk

Team: G2 Esports

Update: Thijs ends Turna's magical tournament run with a 4-2 series win. He advances to the Semifinals on Day 2 of the Europe Spring Championship.

Analysis: Turna was the supposed 'giant killer', as he took down Ostkaka earlier in the tournament, but Thijs did not fall to the same fate. Even though Thijs dropped two games, each came in very unfavorable matchups, with Aggro Shaman losing to Zoo and Tempo Warrior. Overall, Thijs played a perfect series en route to the 4-2 win. Thijs continues to punish those players who bring N'Zoth Paladin in their lineup, a deck that was initially one of the most feared at the start of Standard mode. As expected, Thijs moves on the the semifinals and is the favorite to win the whole tournament.

Thijs: Takes home Spring Championship

Name: Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk

Team: G2 Esports

Update: Thijs became the 2016 HTC - Europe Spring Champion by defeating INER 4-3.

Analysis: Thijs came into the day as the favorite, as he already held the title for Hearthstone European Champion, but his path to victory was not easy. The championship series with INER was as close as a series could get. Thijs grabbed Game 1 in the Warlock versus Warlock matchup as his RenoLock defeated the Zoo archetype. Quickly though, Thijs was in a 2-1 hole as INER went on to take Games 2 and 3 with his Zoo and Tempo Warrior decks respectively. Now queuing up against INER's Freeze Mage, Thijs found a win with his Aggro Shaman and then followed it up with a win on his Midrange Hunter to move on to Championship point. Game 6 found Thijs' Rogue up against INER's Freeze Mage, a very difficult matchup for the Rogue. In expected fashion, Thijs fell, setting up a winner-take-all Rogue mirror match to decide the HTC - European Spring Champion. Thijs put all of his faith into a turn three 6/6 Van Cleef to lock up the complicated matchup and INER was not able to find an answer. With no Sap in sight, Thijs took the game and the series to earn the European Spring Champion crown. This type of near-flawless performance is becoming somewhat of an expectation, as Thijs continues his reign on European soil.

MAY 26, 2016

Cydonia: Advances to top eight of Americas Spring Championship

Name: Julien "Cydonia" Perrault-Harvey

Update: Cydonia completed the reverse sweep 3-2 on Joster to advance to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: The series could not have started any better for Joster. He was able to get the perfect matchup for each of his first two decks, leading to a quick 2-0 series lead. Joster took Game 1 with his ZooLock deck against Cydonia's Miracle Rogue and then took Game 2 with his Tempo Warrior deck against Cydonia's Aggro Shaman. Now all Joster needed was one win on his Freeze Mage to close the series. One of the themes of the tournament as a whole has been the fact that Freeze Mage is not as strong as it used to be. This was very prevalent as Cydonia was able to defeat it with every deck of his for the reverse sweep, lining up his Miracle Rogue, Aggro Shaman and Reno Warlock decks. Cydnoia is out to keep his surprise run going in the championship.

Napoleon: Claims victory and top eight spot

Name: Jason "Napoleon" Li

Update: Napoleon fought hard to avoid the reverse sweep, defeating Deerjason 3-2 to advance to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Napoleon came out of this series on fire and played perfectly his first two games. In Game 1, Napoleon was able to make Hunter look like it is still as strong as it used to be, decimating Deerjason's ZooLock deck. In Game 2, Napoleon's Rogue was able to get the best of a Tempo Warrior deck to put Napoleon on game point. With only his totem-heavy Midrange Shaman deck, Napoleon needed just one win to book his ticket to the top eight. However, he made it very interesting by dropping two straight games against the ZooLock and Tempo Warrior to set up a decisive Game 5. In Game 5, Napoleon was finally able to get an explosive, Bloodlust-fueled win against the Freeze Mage of Deerjason and advance to the top eight.

Rosty: Surprise run continues into top eight

Name: Rosty "Rosty" Elkun

Update: Rosty played a solid series as he defeated Duane 3-1 to advance to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Rosty dropped Game 1 on his Freeze Mage to Duane's N'Zoth Paladin, adding another tournament loss to the Freeze Mage record. After that game, Duance turned to his Aggro Shaman and stuck to it. Rosty was able to take three straight games against Duane's Shaman deck, closing the series 3-1. Rosty won with his Tempo Warrior, Aggro Shaman and Freeze Mage decks to win the series and continue his surprising run. He will have to show that he can get wins against all deck types if he wants to make more noise.

PNC: Survives tough series to advance to top eight

Name: Francisco "PNC" Fraga Leimontas

Team: Isurus Gaming

Update: PNC squeaked through a tough 3-2 series against Gallon213 to advance to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: This was the closest series of the day, as the tough battle didn't seem to give any indication as to who would claim victory early on. Game 1 started with another appearance of the rarely seen Hunter class, being played by PNC. The Hunter dropped Game 1 to Gallon213's Rogue but found revenge in Game 2 as it took down a Reno Lock. For Game 3, PNC played his Tempo Warrior and found a win against the very innovative Worgen Combo Warrior where the goal is to win the game with a 32-damage combo. The combo came out in Game 4 against PNC's Rogue to get the one-turn kill and force Game 5. In Game 5, PNC played his Rogue perfectly and used a very smart concealed attack to win the series against Gallon213's Reno Warlock. PNC showed strength with all his decks and should feel great about being in the top eight.

joster: Closes out win to advance to top eight

Name: Joey "joster" Preziosi

Update: joster was able to make quick work of Saturos 3-1 to advance to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship on Sunday.

Analysis: Finding himself knocked down from the winner's bracket, this series was joster's second chance to get his spot in the top eight. He was able to grab Game 1 with his trusty Tempo Warrior deck, the deck that has been the biggest revelation of the tournament. Game 2 went in favor of Saturos and his Aggro Shaman deck, a deck that can be unbeatable if the draws come in the right order. joster was then able to win the final two games in demanding fashion to close the series. Game 2, joster knocked out a rarely seen Hunter deck with his Freeze Mage and then knocked out a Warlock Zoo deck with his Aggro Shaman to close the series. joster made the most of his second chance to make the top eight in dominating fashion.

Bradfordlee: Secures route to Americas Spring Championship

Name: Bradford "Bradfordlee" Grant

Update: Bradfordlee defeated Gallon213 3-2 to advance to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship on Sunday, continuing the trend of little-known players making the finals.

Analysis: This was Gallon213's second chance to make the top eight after being knocked down from the winner's bracket earlier in the day. Gallon213 became known for his innovative Worgen Combo Warrior One-Turn-Kill deck, although it fell to Bradfordlee's Tempo Warrior deck in Game 1. Game 2 was a Rogue mirror that fell in favor of Bradfordlee to put him up 2-0 and on game point. Gallon213 needed a reverse sweep to win the series now and came extremely close, taking both Games 3 and 4 with his Worgen Warrior and Rogue decks as Bradfordlee struggled with his Reno Warlock deck. Game 5, Bradfordlee won the Reno Warlock mirror matchup to clinch his spot in the top eight.

Deerjason: Claims a spot in top eight Americas Spring Championship

Name: Jason "Deerjason" Niu

Update: Deerjason rode his ultra-aggressive lineup through APXVoid 3-2 and on to the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: Deerjason was knocked down from the winner's bracket to face APXVoid for a second chance of making top eight. Deerjason started with his one slow deck, Freeze Mage, to try to get his first win. He dropped Game 1 to the Tempo Mage of APXVoid, who is known as an amazing Tempo Mage player in the community, but took Game 2 against a Warlock Zoo. The final three games of the series all flew by as each player played either a Warlock Zoo or Aggro Shaman. Deerjason won Game 3 over Shaman but dropped Game 4 with his Aggro Shaman to APXVoid's Zoo, setting up a Aggro Shaman mirror matchup to decide the series. Deerjason's Aggro Shaman was built to be even more aggressive than the average list, and that ended up pushing him over the edge to grab Game 5 and clinch the series.

duane: Claims a spot in the top eight

Name: Rui "duane" Yang

Update: duane completed the reverse sweep of Nostam 3-2 to clinch his spot in the top eight of the Americas Spring Championship.

Analysis: In the final series of the day, duane squared off against Nostam, a former top eight participant, as the upstart looked to take advantage of his second chance. Nostam showed why he was a top eight player last season as he jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, taking advantage of duane's Ramp Druid, beating it with both his Aggro Pirate Warrior and his Midrange Shaman decks. Nostam then only needed a win with his Druid deck, an innovative Beast Aggro Druid. Nostam's Druid ending up falling flat as duane took three straight games on it with his Ramp Druid, N'Zoth Paladin and Reno Warlock decks respectively. duane was able to exploit a lackluster deck choice by Nostam and move on to the top eight to complete the set of under-the-radar players.

MAY 16, 2016

Chakki: Earns DreamHack title

Name: Keaton "Chakki" Gil

Team: Team Dignitas

Update: Chakki defeated TerranceM 3-2 on Monday to become DreamHack Austin Grand Prix Champion.

Analysis: Chakki was finally able to break his personal curse of always getting second place and finally captured his first Hearthstone Major victory. This tournament ultimately came down to who could adapt to the new post-Old Gods meta the quickest, and Chakki showed both stellar preparation and skill throughout the whole tournament. Against TerranceM, Chakki started with a Game 1 win with his trusted N'Zoth Paladin over TerranceM's patron warrior. Game 2 however, Chakki's trusted Paladin deck was defeated by an aggro Shaman list that was widely regarded as the most powerful deck in the meta. In Game 3, Chakki's control Priest fell just as early to the aggro Shaman, setting TerranceM up with game point. Game 4, Chakki queued up his Warlock zoo deck, his only non-control deck, to out board control the aggro Shaman. Thanks to a lot of early juggles and tentacles, Chakki knocked off the feared aggro Shaman to set up match point. In Game 5, it was Chakki's Warlock Zoo against TerranceM's RenoLock. The zoo came out fast and furious, with TerranceM not being able to find his Doomsayer or any other key early game card. TerranceM was dead by turn five and Chakki was champion. Chakki has always had this type of talent, continually landing himself in top eight of competition. However, this was the first time he was able to capture that elusive first place prize.

AKAWonder: Advances to top eight in Europe Spring Championship

Name: Esteban "AKAWonder" Serrano

Team: SK Gaming

Update: AKAWonder, using three C'thun decks, was able to defeat Turna 3-2 to advance on to the top eight of the Europe Spring Championship.

Analysis: AKAWonder put all of his faith into C'thun this series with three different C'thun decks. Game 1 started with a battle of Warriors, C'thun against Turna's Tempo Warrior. With Ancient Sheildbearer as the MVP gaining over 30 total armor, AKAWonder closed it out. Game 2, Turna was able to take the ZooLock vs C'Thun RenoLock matchup by chasing face. Game 3, C'Thun himself finally hit the board as a 16/16 to hit Turna's Tempo Warrior for a win. Game 4, C'Thun Druid lost a tough battle against Tempo Warrior thanks to a huge Varian Wyrnn play pulling out an extra 14 mana worth of minions. Finally, AKAWonder was able to close out the series with his C'Thun Druid against Turna's N'Zoth Pally. A Black Knight top deck sealed lethal and AKAWonder and as a result, was able to make it into the top eight to compete for the Europe Spring Championship. Great showing for him with the use of unique deck lists. It will be interesting to see if he brings those same lists to the championship.

Thijs: Advances to the top eight of the Europe Spring Championship

Name: Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk

Team: G2 Esports

Update: ThijsNL defeated Devou 3-2 to advance to the top eight of the Europe Spring Championship.

Analysis: ThijsNL started out the series strong by capturing a win with his Tempo Warrior deck that has been tearing through the tournament. In the warrior mirror matchup, Tempo Warrior looked dominant over Devou's Control Warrior archtype. In another mirror matchup for Game 2, ThijsNL won the battle of the Miracle Rogues as he moved to match point. ThijsNL needed to finish with his Reno Warlock, but struggled to do so as he dropped Game 3 against Devou's innovative Best Druid. In Game 4, ThijsNL's RenoLock faltered again as Devou was able to close the game out on turn 6 with some insane Rogue damage. Finally in Game 5, ThijsNL was finally able to capture a win with his RenoLock to close the series, thanks to having a double Ragnaros on board. ThijsNL is known as one of the best players in the world and will continue to carry that title as he looks to defend his crown as the European Hearthstone Champion.

Crane333: Wins hard fought match to advance to top eight

Name: Simon "Crane333" Raunholst

Update: Crane333 played a strong series to defeat INER 3-2 to earn a spot in top eight of the Europe Spring Championship.

Analysis: Coming into the tournament, Crane333 was one of the more well known and respected players of the group. His Midrange Shaman dominated the rival archetype Aggro Shaman for a Game 1 win. He then ran into some trouble as his Freeze Mage dropped two games in a row, to a Control Warrior and then an Aggro Shaman. This put INER at match point and forced Crane333 to have to take two straight games off of INER's Warlock Zoo. Crane333 was able to do just that with some stellar play on both his Freeze Mage and his Miracle Rogue decks. He advances to the top eight Championship where he should feel confident over the lesser known players.

APRIL 25, 2016

Naiman: Joins Virtus.Pro's new Hearthstone team

Name: Olzhas "Naiman" Batyrbekov

Team: Virtus.Pro

Update: Naiman has joined Virtus.Pro's brand new Hearthstone team, Callum Leslie of the Daily Dot reports.

Analysis: Virtus.Pro has decided to jump into the Hearthstone scene, and have picked up one of the hottest commodities in the Hearthstone world. Naiman is fresh off a win at the Europe Winter Championship and is certainly looking to make even more of a name for himself with Virtus.Pro. This is just another stop on the Naiman comeback tour after he was released from Team Dignitas in 2015 following a ban for win-trading from last year's Hearthstone World Championship season. He did not let that ban get him down and is now on a positive trajectory going into BlizzCon this fall with his new team.

DrHippi: Joins Virtus.Pro's Hearthstone venture

Name: Artem "DrHippi" Kravets

Team: Virtus.Pro

Update: DrHippi has joined Virtus.Pro's new Hearthstone team, Callum Leslie of the Daily Dot reports.

Analysis: Virtus.Pro is starting off their Hearthstone team with some heavy hitters, picking up three of the top four players from the Europe Winter Championship. DrHippi made it all the way to the finals of that tournament where he lost to new teammate Naiman. Joining this upstart team will only help him get to the next level of his Hearthstone career, as he will now have some terrific teammates to practice with. He should have an even better chance at making it to BlizzCon by way of the Spring Championships since the only person who beat him was Naiman, who won't be in that tournament as he already earned his qualification.

BunnyHoppor: Joins Virtus.Pro's new Hearthstone team

Name: Raphael "BunnyHoppor" Peltzer

Team: Virtus.Pro

Update: BunnyHoppor will join Virtus.Pro's new venture into Hearthstone, Callum Leslie of the Daily Dot reports.

Analysis: BunnyHoppor joins Naiman and DrHippi on Virtus.Pro's brand new Hearthstone team that looks pretty strong at first glance. All three of these players finished in the top four at the Europe Winter Championship this past March. BunnyHoppor made it to the semifinals before being taken down in a close 3-2 match against new teammate Naiman. BunnyHoppor can only go up from here and will certainly use his new team to his advantage on his quest to BlizzCon this fall.

Faramir: Continues Hearthstone comeback by joining Virtus.Pro

Name: Jan "Faramir" Engelmann

Team: Virtus.Pro

Update: Faramir has joined Virtus.Pro's new Hearthstone team, Callum Leslie of the Daily Dot reports.

Analysis: Faramir has had a pretty rough journey to his current spot with Virtus.Pro. He won a couple minor tournaments back in 2014, but was never able to make much of a name for himself in 2015. He ended 2015 by retiring from Hearthstone, only to come back with Vexed Gaming in January 2016. That team ceased to exist by the time March rolled around. Faramir is certainly hoping that Virtus.Pro will provide him with what his previous teams have failed to provide, as he looks to qualify for BlizzCon in the Spring and Summer seasons.

SuperJJ: Finishes third/fourth at ONOG PAX East Major tournament

Name: Jan "SuperJJ" Janssen

Team: compLexity Gaming

Update: SuperJJ made it all the way to the semifinals of the One Nation of Gamers PAX East Major before falling to Duhcodda in a lopsided 3-0 series.

Analysis: SuperJJ started off this 148-player, single-elimination bracket tournament with a bye in the round of 256 before winning a close 3-2 match against Anthony in the round of 128. Moving on to the round of 64, SuperJJ was paired against Hotaruz, who he swept 3-0. In the round of 32, he prevailed in a close 3-2 match over train. Things didn't get much easier for him in the round of 16 where he faced Nostam. He did manage to come out on top in a tightly contested 3-2 match, though. In the quarterfinals, he won yet again when he faced Ultima, whose Hunter deck was his downfall. All three games that SuperJJ won were against Ultima's Hunter. His tournament ended in the semifinals, where he was swept 3-0 by Duhcodda, who ended up winning the entire tournament. SuperJJ didn't leave empty-handed, as he took home $700 and five HCT points for coming in third/fourth.

Astrogation: Finishes second at ONOG PAX East Major tournament

Name: Ray "Astrogation" Zhou

Update: Astrogation made it all the way to the finals of the One Nation of Gamers PAX East Major before falling to Duhcodda in a close 3-2 series that came down to the wire.

Analysis: Astrogation began this 148-player, single-elimination bracket tournament with a bye before facing Imnothammer, who he beat in a close 3-2 series. He then took on klutchmuffin in another close 3-2 series in the round of 64. His path to the finals was pretty breezy from that point on, as he swept frazerpowers, lannik and IV before he came across Rayc in the semifinals. He defeated Rayc 3-2 with his Patron Warrior, Freeze Mage and Druid decks. Astrogation then went up against Duhcodda in the finals, where things went all the way to a decisive Game Five. In that final game, Duhcodda's Tempo Mage proved to be too much for the Freeze Mage of Astrogation. For coming in second, Astrogation will bring home $2,000 and, more importantly, 10 HCT points.

Rayc: Finishes third/fourth in ONOG PAX East Major tournament

Name: Raymond "Rayc" Cipoletti

Team: Vicious Syndicate Gaming

Update: Rayc made his way to the semifinals of the One Nation of Gamers PAX East Major before falling to Astrogation in a close 3-2 series.

Analysis: Rayc started off this 148-player, single-elimination bracket tournament witha bye round, then proceeded to sweep both Spoonce and everlark in the rounds of 128 and 64. He then took on Skepsys in the round of 32 and was still not tested as much since he won 3-1. Rayc then went back to dominating in the round of 16 and quarterfinals where he swept both Kesjo and Orange, respectively. His run ended when he faced Astrogation in the semifinals, though. He was able to pick up wins with his Druid and Paladin, but his Zoo could not overcome the Freeze Mage of Astrogation. For finishing third/fourth, Rayc will walk away with $700 and five HCT points.

APRIL 11, 2016

Breath: Wins Gold Series 2016 - Spring with thrilling victory over NightWalk

Name: Chen "Breath" Yuxiang

Team: Team Celestial

Update: Breath completed the reverse sweep for the second time in the playoffs to take the top spot at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Breath started off this series in a quick 2-0 hole, but he was able to get himself together in the last few games to pull out the win. Game One was a mirror match of Reno Warlocks for the two players, and he was a very close match until one very gutsy decision by NightWalk. He used Mind Control Tech on a board of four minions to steal the one minion that kept him alive, and it was that play that ultimately won him the game. He went with his Patron Warrior in Game Two against the Murloc Paladin of NightWalk.

NightWalk used his Murlocs to control the board and eventually set off a big Anyfin Can Happen combo in the late-game to take the win. Nightwalk was now left with his Priest deck, and Breath was able to capitalize on that to start his comeback. Games Four and Five were almost never in doubt, as his Priest and Patron Warrior decks were played to perfection to pick up the final two wins he needed to win this tournament. With the win, Breath has won about $15,500 and, most importantly, has earned himself a trip to Blizzcon this fall for the Hearthstone World Championships.

NightWalk: Falls just short of trip to Blizzcon with loss to Breath in finals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Yu "NightWalk" Shanpeng

Team: World Elite

Update: NightWalk lost a heartbreaker of a 3-2 series to Breath in the finals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: NightWalk started out hot in this series with a quick 2-0 lead, but he was unable to get the last win he needed to take the tournament. He won Game One, which was a Reno Warlock mirror, after he made a gutsy play to use a Mind Control Tech to steal the one minion out of Four that would keep him alive. That play is what ultimately gave him the win in this series. Game Two saw his Murloc Paladin face the Patron Warrior of Breath. He controlled the board for just long enough to get off his Anyfin Can Happen combo to take the 2-0 lead in this series. NightWalk was now forced to rely on his Priest deck to get the last win he needed to earn his trip to Blizzcon.

He almost did just that in Game Three when he had Breath within two damage of winning the game before Reno Jackson was played to heal Breath back up to 30 health and effectively prevent NightWalk from winning this game. Turns out that the Reno Jackson play closed NightWalk's window to win this series, as Games Four and Five were not even that close whatsoever. Breath played the last two games extremely well and was able to grind out the reverse sweep to take down NightWalk. Even though he did not earn a trip to Blizzcon, NightWalk won't go home empty-handed, as he will receive about $7,700 for finishing in second place.

APRIL 10, 2016

Breath: Advances to finals with win over LoveCX

Name: Chen "Breath" Yuxiang

Team: Team Celestial

Update: Breath won a close 3-2 series to move on to the finals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Breath started off with a quick 2-0 lead in this series, and he almost let LoveCX come all the back in this series. In Game One, he brought out his Patron Warrior against the Tempo Mage of LoveCX. This was a pretty straightforward win, as the minute he brought out the Grim Patrons, LoveCX had no answer at all and was overrun. He defeated LoveCX's Tempo Mage again in Game Two with his Control Priest, as he completely disrupted the Mage with big taunts the whole game. Once he was left with his Freeze Mage, things started to get away from him. LoveCX took out the Mage with his Patron and Zoo decks in two very well played games to navigate normally bad matchups for his decks. In the final game, though, Breath finally got the elusive win with his Freeze Mage to take the series. He will now face NightWalk in the finals.

LoveCX: Loses tough series to Breath in semifinals

Name: Zhongkai "LoveCX" Guo

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: LoveCX lost a close 3-2 series to Breath and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: LoveCX started out this series in a 2-0 hole, and he got very close to completely the reverse sweep. He went with his Tempo Mage in the first two games and was easily downed by the Patron Warrior and Control Priest of Breath. In both games, he was never able to get much tempo and was just overrun. He flipped his fortunes in Game Three and Four, though, when he picked up wins with his Patron and Zoo decks against the Freeze Mage from Breath. These are typically bad matchups for his decks, but he expertly navigated both games to tie up the series. His luck ran out in Game Five with his Tempo Mage, as Breath controlled things with his Freeze Mage to win the series. LoveCX will now face ZhangBo in the third place match of the tournament.

ZhangBo: Taken out in semifinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Zhang "ZhangBo" Bo

Update: ZhangBo lost a lopsided 3-1 series against NightWalk and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: ZhangBo had a rough time in this series, as he was overwhelmed from the start and was never able to gain any traction. He opened with his Secret Paladin against the Control Priest of NightWalk in Game One. The Priest was so much better at controlling the board from the get-go and ZhangBo never did anything in this game. He went with his Patron Warrior in Game Two against the Control Warrior from NightWalk and almost was able to grind out the win, but he missed on a 1/4 chance to hit for lethal with a flashy Boom Bot play and lost control of the game. He finally picked up a win in Game Three when his Zoo deck overwhelmed the Murloc Paladin. Game Four was a Paladin mirror between his Midrange version against the Murloc variant of NightWalk. The Murloc was just better matched in this game and controlled things up until the very end when he let off a big Anyfin Can Happen combo to win the game. ZhangBo will now face LoveCX in the third place match of this tournament.

NightWalk: Moves on to finals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring with win over ZhangBo

Name:Yu "NightWalk" Shanpeng

Team: World Elite

Update: NightWalk won a fairly breezy 3-1 series over ZhangBo and will now compete in the finals at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: NightWalk had the upper hand in this series from the very start and never looked back. He picked up easy wins in Games One and Two with his Priest and Control Warrior decks. He took out the Secret Paladin of ZhangBo in Game One with superior board control throughout the whole game. ZhangBo almost tied things up in Game Two with his Patron Warrior when he went for a 1/4 chance with a Boom Bot shot that would have won him the game. The Boom Bot missed, though, and NightWalk continued on to get the win. Now left with his Murloc Paladin, NightWalk faced the Zoo of ZhangBo in Game Three and was completely overrun by the pressure that the Zoo deck put out. He recovered in Game Four when his Murloc Paladin faced the Secret Paladin of ZhangBo. He controlled the board long enough to get off a big Anyfin Can Happen combo on turn 10 to take the game and the series. He now moves on to finals where he will face Breath for a shot at Blizzcon.

ZhangBo: Earns third place finish at Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Zhang "ZhangBo" Bo

Update: ZhangBo defeated LoveCX in a hard-fought 3-2 series to finish in third place at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: ZhangBo found himself down 2-1 halfway through this series, but he recovered late to pick up the win against LoveCX. Game One was a Druid mirror that saw LoveCX get a superior draw to ramp into the late game a bit better than ZhangBo and take the win. ZhangBo tied it up in Game Two with his Druid taking out the Zoo of LoveCX with superior board presence throughout this one. Game Three was another mirror match between LoveCX's Zoo against the Midrange Hybrid Warlock from ZhangBo. The Zoo was just better than the Hybrid in this match, with LoveCX getting an easy victory. ZhangBo was able to take out LoveCX's Tempo Mage in the last two games to get the victory in this series. In Game Four, ZhangBo went with his Hybrid Warlock, which put out too much pressure for the Mage to deal with. ZhangBo then used a gigantic, 14-attack Frothing Berserker to put away LoveCX for good. With the third place finish, ZhangBo will take home roughly $4,600. He will still need to try his luck at the next Gold Series to try and snag that guaranteed spot at Blizzcon this fall.

LoveCX: Unable to overcome ZhangBo in third place match at Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Zhongkai "LoveCX" Guo

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: LoveCX lost a close 3-2 series against ZhangBo in the third place match of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: LoveCX got himself out to a 2-1 lead in this series, but he just could not finish strongly enough; ZhangBo took him out. He opened in a Druid mirror where he was able to get the upper hand on ZhangBo on the back of a Druid hand that ramped up quickly to take control of the board early on. In Game Two, his Zoo was unable to overcome the might of ZhangBo's Druid. In Game Three, he went with his Zoo deck again and was able to get his second win over the Hybrid Warlock from ZhangBo.

In Games Four and Five, he was left with his Tempo Mage and just could not get the elusive third win. He was taken out by ZhagBo's Hybrid Warlock in Game Four and then his Patron Warrior in Game Five. A questionable decision to let a Frothing Berserker live in that final game proved to be his undoing since that Berserker ended up getting buffed up to 14 damage and being the difference in the series.

APRIL 9, 2016

SleepyShaman: Rode favorable matchups to the quarterfinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Ma "SleepyShaman" Mingyang

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: SleepyShaman won a breezy 3-1 series against bingxuan to advance to the quarterfinals at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: SleepyShaman simply had the better matchups in this series and capitalized on those matchups to take an easy series win. His Reno Warlock forced bingxuan's Control Warrior into using his weapons to clear the board early on, which allowed SleepyShaman to chip down on his health enough to get an easy 1-0 lead. Game Two was a battle of the midrange decks with bingxuan's Midrange Paladin facing the Midrange Druid of SleepyShaman. This matchup showcased Druid as the better midrange deck as SleepyShaman pushed his lead up to 2-0. He was two points of damage away from completing the sweep when his Control Warrior just could not draw into a weapon to finish off the Paladin of bingxuan.

This prolonged the series to a fourth game where both players brought out their Control Warrior decks. It was a pretty even match for the most part, that is until SleepyShaman played his Golden Monkey with a full hand to overwhelm bingxuan with legendary minions. With the win, SleepyShaman will now face ZhangBo in the quarterfinals of this tournament.

bingxuan: Eliminated after string of bad matchups does him in

Name: Zhou "bingxuan" Dongze

Team: Edward Gaming

Update: bingxuan lost a lopsided 3-1 series against SleepyShaman and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: bingxuan did not matchup well with the lineup of SleepyShaman in this series and was swiftly taken out. Game One saw his Control Warrior matched up against the Reno Warlock of SleepyShaman and was at a disadvantage from the start. He was forced to use his weapon a lot early on, which chipped off a lot of his health to allow SleepyShaman to get a fairly easy win. Game Two was a bit closer when bingxuan used his Midrange Paladin against the Druid of SleepyShaman. The Druid would be the superior midrange deck, though, and took down the Paladin.

bingxuan chose his Midrange Paladin again in Game Three against the Control Warrior of SleepyShaman and was almost swept, but SleepyShaman drew into his Death's Bite a turn too late and could not deal the final two points of damage needed to complete the sweep. Game Four was a long mirror match between the Warrior decks of both players. Things were pretty even in this game until SleepyShaman used his Golden Monkey with a full hand to start flooding the board with legendary minions. That was the difference as bingxuan took his second loss of the tournament and was eliminated from competition.

RayAllen: Comeback attempt falls just short as he is eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Miao "RayAllen" Junmin

Team: TongFu

Update: RayAllen lost a hard-fought 3-2 match against NightWalk and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: RayAllen quickly found himself with his back against the wall in this series, as he fell into an early 2-0 hole. In Game One, his Reno Warlock was completely overwhelmed by the might of the Control Priest from NightWalk. He switched to his Mill Rogue in Game Two and was once against overrun with power, this time by the Reno Warlock of NightWalk. Game Three was when the comeback attempt started for RayAllen, as he hot a favorable matchup for his Mill Rogue against the Control Warrior of NightWalk. It got to the point where NightWalk just conceded rather than drag things out too much in this game.

Game Four was a typical matchup between his Druid and the Control Warrior from NightWalk. This is always a hard matchup for the Warrior, and that stayed true here as he tied the series up to force a Game Five. He got a typically very favorable matchup for his Reno Warlock against the Control Warrior of NightWalk, but he was unable to do anything to chip away at the health of the Warrior in this game. The Warrior simply armored up every turn to amass a large amount of armor that put him out of reach of the damage from the Warlock. RayAllen was eliminated from the series with this loss and will now be forced to find a different route to Blizzcon.

NightWalk: To face Pegy in the quarterfinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Yu "NightWalk" Shanpeng

Team: World Elite

Update: NightWalk defeated RayAllen in a close 3-2 series to advanced to the quarterfinals at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: NightWalk got off a fast start in this match on the back of his Control Priest and Reno Warlock decks. He used his expert Priest play in Game One to take down the Reno Warlock of RayAllen and then his Reno Warlock made short work of RayAllen's Mill Rogue in Game Two. Things started to get away from him in Games Three and Four, though, when he was left with just his Control Warrior. He simply conceded in Game Three against the Mill Rogue of RayAllen rather than bang his head against a wall for an entire game.

He stuck with it in Game Four against RayAllen's Druid, but just couldn't overcome the power midrange deck. In Game Five, he was forced into a typically unfavorable matchup against RayAllen's Reno Warlock. Despite this normally being a tough one for the Warrior, NightWalk kept on using his hero power every turn to amass a ton of armor, which made the Warlock unable to do enough damage to get the win. NightWalk will now move on to the quarterfinals where he will face Pegy.

Pegy: Eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring with loss to NightWalk

Name: Qui "Pegy" Songling

Team: Vici Gaming

Update: Pegy was overwhelmed by NightWalk in a 3-1 series that resulted in his elimination from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Pegy started this series off with a couple of bad matchups that put him in a 2-0 hole early on. Game One saw his Tempo Mage facing the Reno Warlock from NightWalk. Pegy was able to get out a good amount of damage in the early going, but a Molten Giant and Reno Jackson came out on turn six which turned the tides in favor of NightWalk. Pegy switched over to his Zoo deck for Game Two and was matched against the Control Priest of NightWalk in what is a poor matchup for the Zoo. NightWalk played the Priest perfectly to get the 2-0 lead.

Pegy stuck with his Zoo against the Murloc Paladin of NightWalk and really dominated from the start. NightWalk was forced into awkward, partial board clears that allowed Pegy to keep the tempo and get his first win. Pegy then went with his Tempo Mage in Game Four to try and take down the Murloc Paladin and force a Game Five. He almost did just that when he got out to an early lead, but then stalled as the game drew on. Pegy simply ran out of steam and was take out by a parade of Murlocs from NightWalk.

NightWalk: Advances to semifinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Yu "NightWalk" Shanpeng

Team: World Elite

Update: NightWalk defeated Pegy in a fairly easy 3-1 series to advance to the semifinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: NightWalk used favorable matchups to take a quick 2-0 lead in this series that ultimately proved to be the difference. His Reno Warlock went up against the Tempo Mage of Pegy in Game One, and while the Mage got out to an early lead, NightWalk's Reno Jackson came out right on curve on turn six to turn the tides in his favor. Game Two was a lopsided matchup between the Control Priest of NightWalk and the Zoo from Pegy. The Zoo was never able to build up any sort of board presence and was handily taken down by the Priest.

NightWalk was left with his Murloc Paladin in Game Three to face the Zoo of Pegy. This time the Zoo was able to put out on a ton of pressure on the Paladin, and picked up the win to make the series 2-1 in favor of NightWalk. Game Four was a matchup between the Murloc Paladin of NightWalk against the Tempo Mage of Pegy. Once again, the Tempo Mage got out to an early lead, but stalled in the later stages of the game. NightWalk stabilized and used his Murlocs to run over Pegy and advance to the semifinals of this tournament.

ZhangBo: Moves on to semifinals with win over Sleepyshaman

Name: Zhang "ZhangBo" Bo

Update: ZhangBo defeated SleepyShaman in a 3-1 series to advance to the semifinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: ZhangBo go out to a quick 2-0 lead in this series and never looked back. His Secret Paladin was too much for SleepyShaman's Patron Warrior to handle in Game One, with the secrets really being the big difference in this game. Game Two was a bit close with SleepyShaman's Secret Paladin facing the Druid of ZhangBo. SleepyShaman did what he could to hang around in this one, but was ultimately undone by a Savage Roar combo that took him out.

ZhangBo faltered a bit in Game Three with his Zoo/Malygos Warlock hybrid when he was overwhelmed by the superior board presence from SleepyShaman's Secret Paladin. He got his revenge in Game Four with his Warlock hybrid taking on the Druid of SleepyShaman. ZhangBo really just put out way too much pressure on SleepyShaman and quickly took the game and the series. ZhangBo will now face NightWalk in the semifinals of this tournament.

SleepyShaman: Eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring

Name: Ma "SleepyShaman" Mingyang

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: SleepyShaman fell to ZhangBo in a 3-1 series that eliminated him from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: SleepyShaman fell into an early hole against ZhangBo in this series and was never able to recover. He brought out his Patron Warrior in Game One against the Secret Paladin of ZhangBo and was not able to overcome the secrets whatsoever. Game Two was no different, as his own Secret Paladin could not match the pressure put out by the Druid of ZhangBo. The Druid just chipped away at the health of SleepyShaman and was able to do the final points of a damage with a nice Savage Roar combo. SleepyShaman stuck with his Secret Paladin in Game Three and got his first win of the series against ZhangBo's Zoo/Malygos hybrid Warlock deck. That Warlock deck matched up very well against SleepyShaman's Druid in Game Four that won the series for ZhangBo. SleepyShaman will now be forced to watch the remainder of this tournament with the rest of the fans in the crowd.

LoveCX: Moves on to semifinals to face Breath

Name: Zhongkai "LoveCX" Guo

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: LoveCX continued his breezy road to this point of Gold Series 2016 - Spring with a 3-1 victory over XingSu.

Analysis: LoveCX wasted no time getting himself going in this series, as he jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. He went with Druid in Game One against the Patron Warrior of XingSu, and while things started out pretty even, his Druid prevailed once the power turns came. From turn five on, he slapped down large minion after large minion and XingSu was never able to recover. He switched to his Zoo deck for Game Two against XingSu's Patron Warrior again. While this is normally a poor matchup for the Zoo player, LoveCX put a ton of pressure on XingSu from the start. That pressure was never matched and he took a 2-0 lead.

Left with his Tempo Mage deck, he faced the Patron Warrior for a third straight time. This time XingSu amassed a board full of Grim Patrons that LoveCX was not able to overcome, and he ended up conceding pretty early on to the pressure. Game Four was almost never in doubt, though, as LoveCX's Tempo Mage was too much for the Secret Paladin of XingSu. LoveCX just chipped off the health of XingSu turn after turn until he finally drew into the Fireball he needed to do those final points of damage. LoveCX now moves on to the semifinals where he will face Breath for a shot at the finals.

XingSu: Knocked out of Gold Series 2016 - Spring with loss to LoveCX

Name: Liu "XingSu" Xing

Team: Invictus Gaming

Update: XingSu lost a lopsided 3-1 series and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: XingSu found himself down from the start in this series against LoveCX and was just never able to fully recover. While his Game One with his Patron Warrior deck against the Druid of LoveCX was kind of close, Game Two against the Zoo of LoveCX was not close at all. He did manage to stick around in Game One until the Druid just overpowered him.

In Game Two, though, the Zoo controlled things from the start and XingSu never got a handle on the board state one bit. He picked up a win in Game Three with his Patron Warrior against the Tempo Mage from LoveCX when he amassed a board full of Grim Patrons that the Mage could not handle. His Secret Paladin was no match for the Tempo Mage, though, as LoveCX basically ran him out of the building in Game Four.

Breath: Makes his way to the semifinals after comeback win over lovelychook

Name: Chen "Breath" Yuxiang

Team: Team Celestial

Update: Breath completed the 3-2 reverse sweep against lovelychook to move on to the semifinals of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Games One and Two were largely forgettable affairs for Breath in this series. In both games, his Control Priest was just completely overrun by whatever lovelychook was throwing at him. First it was the Zoo deck in Game One and then the Secret Paladin in Game Two. Both times there wasn't much that Breath could do to stop the bleeding. He buckled down and really turn things around in the last three games, though. He stuck with his Control Priest for Game Three and really dealt with everything that the Patron put out to get his first win of the series.

In Game Four, he went to his Reno Warlock to take on the Patron Warrior from lovelychook. His deck was really well suited to deal with all of the threats that the Patron puts out, and Breath just calmly dealt with each threat as it came down to eventually bleed the Patron out of cards to tie up the series. For the final game, it was lovelychook's remaining Patron Warrior against the Freeze Mage of Breath. Breath did a good job of keeping the armor total of lovelychook down enough to eventually burst the Warrior down from 24 health with direct damage from his hand. With the huge win, Breath will now take on LoveCX in the first semifinal match on Sunday.

lovelychook: Eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring after tough loss to Breath

Name: Zhang "lovelychook" Bohan

Update: lovelychook lost an extremely close 3-2 series against Breath and has been eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: lovelychook came out the gates clicking on all cylinders in this series, but wasn't able to hold on for the win. He opened up with his Zoo to take on the Control Priest of Breath, which is normally a great matchup for the Priest due to its large number of board clears. lovelychook put a ton of pressure on Breath, though, who simply could not keep up with the boards that he was building up each turn. The same exact thing happened in Game Two, except it was now the Secret Paladin that was beating down on Breath. Now up 2-0, lovelychook was left with his Patron Warrior deck and this is where he began to falter. Breath bounced back from back-to-back beatings to get the upper hand on the Patron deck with his Priest.

For Game Four, Breath then went with his Reno Warlock against lovelychook's Patron deck. Things were a bit closer in this one, but eventually Breath got the upper hand once he dealt with all the big threats from lovelychook. With the series now tied, it was time for the Freeze Mage of Breath to take on lovelychook's Patron Warrior. This is normally a match that heavilt favors the Warrior since they are usually able to build up a large amount of armor to outlast the Mage. lovelychook's Patron variant doesn't have as many ways to build up armor, though, and that proved to be his downfall when Breath dealt 24 points of damage worth of direct damage from his hand to take the game and the series. lovelychook is now out of this tournament and will have to rely on Gold Series Summer for his next shot at a seat at Blizzcon.

APRIL 8, 2016

Jasonzhou: Falls to lower bracket of Group 2A after choice to bring his Rogue deck haunts him

Name: Jason "Jasonzhou" Zhu

Team: Team Celestial

Update: Jasonzhou was defeated by lovelychook in a close 3-2 series and fell to the lower bracket of Group 2A.

Analysis: Jasonzhou's decision to bring Rogue to this tournament proved to be his downfall in this series. While he did open up with two quick wins to take a 2-0 lead, once he was forced to rely on his Rogue deck, he faltered completely and was taken out. He won the first two games with his Secret Paladin and Zoo decks against the Murloc Paladin and Reno Warlock decks of lovelychook. In Game Three, he was matched up against the Reno Warlock once again. He was able to get pretty far into this game, but a late Loatheb from lovelychook locked Jasonzhou out of the game for good. Game Four saw Jasonzhou almost pick up the win on the back of a huge board, but lovelychook had the perfect answer in the form of an Equality/Consecrate combo that turned the game back in his favor to tie up the series. Game Five was an extremely poor matchup up against the Druid of lovelychook. As a result, he was unable to gain any momentum and was dispatched easily. With the loss, Jasonzhou fell to the lower bracket to face SleepyShaman.

lovelychook: Uses Jasonzhou's choice of Rogue to execute a reverse sweep in tight series

Name: Zhang "lovelychook" Bohan

Update: lovelychook completed a reverse sweep against Jasonzhou to move on to semifinals of Group 2A of Gold Series 2016 - Spring. p>

Analysis: lovelychook started off this series in a 2-0 hole, but was able to dust himself off in the later half of the series to get the win. Game One was a Paladin mirror, with lovelychook using the Murloc variant against the Secret version of Jasonzhou. lovelychook had no answer for any of the secrets from Jasonzhou and he fell quite easily in the first game. Game Two was another mirror match, this time with lovelychook's Reno Warlock facing off against the Zoo from Jasonzhou. Once again, lovelychook was not able to get much going in this game, which put him in the early 2-0 hole. With his back against the wall, lovelychook was able to capitalize on three straight favorable matchups, beating Jasonzhou's Rogue deck three straight games. Jasonzhou did manage to get a bit of a lead in both Games Three and Four against lovelychook's Reno Warlock and Murloc Paladin, respectively, but the strength of those matchups in lovelychook's favor won out. In Game Three, it was a timely Loatheb that locked Jasonzhou out of the game. In Game Four, it was a Equality/Consecrate combo that cleared a big board from Jasonzhou. Game Five wound up a cakewalk, as a Druid deck normally can handle a Rogue deck quite easily -- which lovelychook was able to exploit en route to a series win. He will now face RayAllen in the semifinals of Group 2A.

RayAllen: Grinds out series win over SleepyShaman in grueling series

Name: Miao "RayAllen" Junmin

Team: TongFu

Update: RayAllen won a close 3-2 series against SleepyShaman to advanced to semifinals of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: RayAllen was strong in a couple mirror matches during this series to gain an advantage over SleepyShaman. He started off with a pretty tough Murloc Paladin matchup, wherein he survived long enough to pull off a big Anyfin Can Happen combo on turn 10 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Game Two saw his Reno Warlock face off against the Murloc Paladin of SleepyShaman. RayAllen was able to control things for a good portion of the game, even getting Lord Jaraxxus out towards the end, but he was ultimately undone by an Anyfin Can Happen from SleepyShaman. Game Three was another mirror match, this time between Reno Warlocks. This game went down to the wire, with RayAllen picking up the win after baiting out a Jaraxxus from SleepyShaman. That opened the door for him to use a Sacrificial Pact to kill Jaraxxus and take a 2-1 lead. SleepyShaman was able to push the series to a five games, thanks to his Control Warrior, but in the pivotal final matchup RayAllen's Mill Rogue was on full effect, discarding a large number of a Reno Warlocks threats, which in turn forced SleepyShaman to concede to the series win. RayAllen will now face lovelychook in the semifinals of Group 2A.

NightWalk: Falters with Reno Warlock in lopsided loss to LoveCX

Name: Yu "NightWalk" Shanpeng

Team: World Elite

Update: NightWalk was defeated 3-1 by LoveCX and now falls to the lower bracket of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: NightWalk started this series off on the right foot in Game One, which was a Warrior mirror match between the two players. NightWalk utilized a heavily favored matchup for his Control Warrior against the Patron of LoveCX to take an early 1-0 lead in the series. Things fell apart for NightWalk at that point, though, when he was not able to draw the titular card, Reno Jackson, of his Reno Warlock deck in Games Two and Three. He had typically great matchups against the Patron Warrior and Zoo of LoveCX, but not drawing Reno Jackson just turned his deck into a run-of-the-mill Warlock deck without enough power to control the games. In Game Four, he was finally able to draw into his Reno Jackson, but he played it into a huge board of LoveCx's Mech Mage, which essentially nullified Jackson's effect. With the loss, NightWalk will now face BaiZe in the first round of the lower bracket of Group 2A.

LoveCX: Advances to semifinals of Group 2A with easy win over NightWalk

Name: Qui "Pegy" Songling

Team: Vici Gaming

Update: LoveCX started off the series in an early 1-0 hole after having to face one of the Patron Warrior's worse nightmares, the Control Warrior. From that point on, though, things went swimmingly for LoveCX. In Games Two and Three, the initial matchups seemed unfavorable for LoveCX, but he was able to prevail nonetheless when NightWalk was unable to draw the Reno Jackson in both games to win. LoveCX took the 2-1 lead on the back of his Patron Warrior and Zoo decks. In Game Five, LoveCX continued his dominance with a Mech Mage win that saw him put a ton of pressure on the board to pick up the final win needed to take the series. LoveCX will now move on to face bingxuan in the semifinals of Group 2A.

bingxuan: Uses breezy series win over BaiZe to make his way to semifinals of Group 2A

Name: Zhou "bingxuan" Dongze

Team: Edward Gaming

Update: bingxuan defeated BaiZe in a fairly easy 3-1 series to move further into the winners' bracket of Group 2A of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: bingxuan found himself in a 1-0 hole when his Midrange Paladin wasn't able to take down the Zoo from BaiZe. She made all the right trades early on to propel herself to victory in the first game. Game Two was a much closer affair in which BaiZe lost a 50/50 coin flip with her Ragnaros that would have won the game. bingxuan was able to flood the board after that to push BaiZe's Ragnaros shots to a 1-out-of-6 chance, which she lost two turns in a row to finally lose this game. bingxuan then used his Control Warrior to take out the Secret Paladin of BaiZe. Game Five saw him use a great tech choice, Ancient of War, in his Druid deck to give him just enough time draw into the Force of Nature/Savage Roar combo he needed to get the series win.

SleepyShaman: Not able to close out tough series against RayAllen

Name: Ma "SleepyShaman" Mingyang

Team: Vici Gaming

Update: SleepyShaman was defeated by RayAllen in a close 3-2 match and fell to the losers' bracket of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: SleepyShaman went with his Murloc Paladin in the first two games of this series, and came with a respectable 1-1 record. In both games, a late Anyfin Can Happen combo won the game for the player, with RayAllen getting it in Game One and SleepyShaman hitting the maneuver in Game Two against the Reno Warlock of RayAllen. Game Three was another mirror match between the players, with this one between Reno Warlocks. Things went back and forth, but RayAllen eventually got the win after waiting for SleepyShaman to play Lord Jaraxxus then immediately countered with Sacrificial Pact to win the game. SleepyShaman tied the series after a smooth Game Four win with his Control Warrior over the Mill Rogue of RayAllen. However, his Game Five Reno Warlock was simply no match for the Mill Rogue, as RayAllen was able to bleed SleepyShaman of all its main threats to pick up the series win. SleepyShaman now falls to the lower bracket to face Jasonzhou.

Pegy: Advances to winners' finals of Group 2B

Name: Qui "Pegy" Songling

Team: Vici Gaming

Update: Pegy won a close 3-2 series over Educated Cow to move on to the winners' finals of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Luck was certainly on Pegy's side in this series, as Educated Cow was never able to draw the cards he needed to win. Pegy capitalize on Educated Cow's use of Shaman to start off with a 2-0 lead in this series. Game One saw Pegy win with his Secret Paladin, and in Game Two Pegy defeated Educated Cow in a Shaman mirror match.

Pegy's luck wasn't nearly as good in Games Three and Four when his Druid was not able to top the Druid or Shaman of Educated Cow. The luck returned in a big way for Game Five when Educated Cow had a pretty bad hand, which spells certain doom for any Zoo Warlock deck. Pegy controlled the board the whole game and picked up the win. Pegy will now face ZhangBo in the winners' finals of Group 2B.

Jasonzhou: Eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring with loss to SleepyShaman

Name: Jason "Jasonzhou" Zhu

Team: Vici Gaming

Update: Jasonzhou was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring after a lopsided 3-1 contest against SleepyShaman.

Analysis: Jasonzhou looked poised to make a run in this series after picking up a win with his Secret Paladin in the opening match. He forced SleepyShaman to use Reno Jackson early on in the match, which put SleepyShaman behind by quite a bit and lost him the game. Jasonzhou went with his Oil Rogue in Game Two to face the Reno Warlock from SleepyShaman for the second game in a row. This time the Reno Warlock didn't even need his Reno Jackson to pick up the win, as he used a big Power Overwhelming/Arcane Golem/Faceless Manipulator combo to win the game. Jasonzhou switched to his Zoo deck for Game Three and almost took a 2-1 lead when he got SleepyShaman down to one health. SleepyShaman had the Lay on Hands ready, though, and stabilized his health enough to take a 2-1 lead. Jasonzhou stuck with his Zoo for Game Four and was completely overwhelmed by the Druid from SleepyShaman. The tough series loss eliminated Jasonzhou from the tournament, and he will now have to look to the next major tournament to make his way to Blizzcon.

SleepyShaman: Rides favorable matchups further into the losers' bracket of Group 2A

Name: Ma "SleepyShaman" Mingyang

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: SleepyShaman defeated Jasonzhou in a 3-1 series to make his way to the second round of the lower bracket of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: SleepyShaman didn't come out of the gate with the best matchup for his Reno Warlock, as he was forced to use Reno Jackson early against Jasonzhou's Secret Paladin. The Paladin put out too much pressure throughout the game and ran the Reno Warlock out of the building. SleepyShaman's luck changed in the next three games, though, as he rattled off three wins to take the series. Things looked a little shaky in Game Two when the Oil Rogue from Jasonzhou amassed a pretty large board, but SleepyShaman was able to clear the board and get the win a couple turns later. Once again, SleepyShaman was put in a pretty bad spot in Game Three when Jasonzhou used his Zoo to get SleepyShaman all the way down to one health. SleepyShaman had the Lay on Hands ready on the following turn, though, and was able to heal up and stabilize enough to take a 2-1 lead in the series. He rode a favorable Druid matchup against JasonZhou's Zoo deck to take the game and the series. He will now face bingxuan in the second round of the lower bracket of Group 2A.

NightWalk: Wins big over BaiZe to move further into the lower bracket of Group 2A

Name: Yu "NightWalk" Shanpeng

Team: World Elite

Update: NightWalk defeated BaiZe in a fairly straightforward 3-1 match to advance to the second round of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: NightWalk started off Game One with a very tactical decision to not kill a Lorewalker Cho that came out of BaiZe's Piloted Shredder, which turned the game in his favor. BaiZe's Tempo Mage used so many spells that it flipped the tempo in favor of NightWalk's Control Warrior to give him the win. BaiZe was able to use her Tempo Mage to perfectly control the tempo in Game Two, though, to even things up at one game apiece. NightWalk's Reno Warlock was simply too much for the Secret Paladin of BaiZe in Game Three, as he used both Reno Jackson and Lord Jaraxxus to heal himself just enough to take the win and a 2-1 lead in the series. Game Four was a mirror match between Paladins, as NightWalk utilized his Murloc Paladin against the Secret Paladin of BaiZe. NightWalk demonstrated his expert control of this matchup to bring BaiZe to a complete halt and get the final win needed to win the series. He will now face RayAllen in the second round of the lower bracket of Group 2A.

lovelychook: advances to winners' final on the back of superior mirror matchup play

Name: Zhang "lovelychook" Bohan

Update: lovelychook was the master of mirror matches to gain an advantage over RayAllen in this series. The first mirror match came in Game One when both players brought out their Murloc Paladin decks. The contest was contested to the very end until lovelychook took RayAllen down with an Anyfin Can Happen combo. Game Two saw lovelychook switch over to his Reno Warlock to face the Murloc Paladin of RayAllen again. RayAllen basically played this game like a Control Paladin and just kept the board under control throughout before getting the win in the later stages of the game. Game Three was the second mirror match, with this one becoming a matchup of opposing Reno Warlocks. Neither player needed to used Reno Jackson here, and lovelychook played the matchup just slightly better to take a 2-1 lead in the series. In Game Four, lovelychook was left with his Control Warrior to face-off against the Reno Warlock of RayAllen. This is normally a favorable matchup for the Warlock, which was perfectly demonstrated when he played both Reno Jackson and Lord Jaraxxus throughout the course of this game. lovelychook recognized early on that he would need to rack up the armor in the matchup, though, and prioritized using his hero power. This expert decision allowed him to amass enough health to stay ahead of RayAllen and take the series. He will now face LoveCX in the winners' final of Group 2A.

RayAllen: Falls to lower bracket of Group 2A with loss to lovelychook

Name: Miao "RayAllen" Junmin

Team: TongFu

Update: RayAllen was unable to overcome lovelychook in a 3-1 loss that sends him to the losers' bracket of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: RayAllen came out of the gates with a loss to lovelychook in a mirror match that saw both players bring out their Murloc Paladin decks. He bounced back in Game Two, taking down the Reno Warlock of lovelychook with his Murloc Paladin takes in part to a big Anyfin Can Happen combo late in the game. RayAllen faltered a bit in Game Three, though, when he could not pilot the Reno Warlock mirror to the level of perfection that lovelychook did. He stuck with the Reno Warlock deck for Game Four against lovelychook's Control Warrior, which is normally a good matchup for the Warlock. RayAllen even got out his Reno Jackson and Lord Jaraxxus in this game, but that was not enough to overcome the Warrior. He now falls to the lower bracket of Group 2A where he will face NightWalk.

LoveCX: Blitzes bingxuan to make his way to winners' final of Group 2A

Name: Qui "Pegy" Songling

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: LoveCX swept bingxuan 3-0 and will move on to the winners' final of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: LoveCX won this series with fast starts in all three games on his way to what ended up being an incredibly quick and easy series win. He used his Zoo in Game One to completely overwhelm the Control Warrior from bingxuan right from the get go. bingxuan wasn't able to do much to stop the bleeding in this game, and was swiftly defeated. LoveCX brought out his Mech Mage in Game Two against the Midrange Paladin of bingxuan. He was aided by a great starting hand and rode that all the way to victory in this match for the quick 2-0 lead. LoveCX refused to take his foot off the gas in Game Three, as he came out of the gates hot once more, using his Patro Warrior to dismantle bingxuan's Patron Warrior. LoveCX will now face lovelychook in the winners' final of Group 2A.

bingxuan: Overwhelmed by LoveCX and drops down to lower bracket of Group 2A

Name: Zhou "bingxuan" Dongze

Team: Edward Gaming

Update: bingxuan was swept by LoveCX in a quick 3-0 series and will now fight for his tournament life in the lower bracket of Group 2A at Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: bingxuan started off horribly in each game which caused him to constantly play from behind. He went with his Control Warrior in Game One against the Zoo of LoveCX. This is normally a pretty good matchup for the Warrior due to its plethora of removal, but LoveCX simply put far too much pressure on bingxuan from the jump and he was never able to recover. Game Two was much of the same, with the Mech Mage of LoveCX riding a solid curve to hurl a ton of damage at the Midrange Paladin of bingxuan and take a 2-0 lead. bingxuan stuck with his Paladin deck, but was unable to match the pressure of LoveCX's Patron Warrior. The loss now sends bingxuan to the lower bracket where he will face SleepyShaman.

APRIL 7, 2016

Breath: Advances further in loser's bracket with win over Zihao

Name: Chen "Breath" Yuxiang

Team: Team Celestial

Update: Breath pulled out the win in a close 3-2 series against Zihao to move the second round of the loser's bracket of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Breath started off shaky in this series, but was steadfast in the final few games to pick up the win against Zihao. For Game One, he went with his Control Priest, but was not able to do much to ever control the board state against the Patron Warrior of Zihao. He made a great decision to bring out his Freeze Mage in Game Two since it matched up extremely well with the remaining decks of Zihao. He made a questionable decision early on where he played a Doomsayer into a board that only consisted of one Zombie Chow from Zihao, but that decision proved not to matter much, as he stalled long enough to amass a hand full of fireballs to win Game Two.

Game Three was a heartbreaker for Breath since he was able to get the Malygos Warlock from Zihao very low on health with his Druid, but Zihao drew back-to-back Antique Healbots to preserve his life and eventually win the game. At this point, Breath buckled down to bring the series home. Breath used his Control Priest in Game Four and forced the Game Five on the back of a favored matchup against the Midrange Paladin of Zihao. In that final game, Breath's Druid was just too much for the Paladin from Zihao, as Breath controlled the board the entire time and eliminated Zihao from the tournament with the series win. Breath will now face Educated Cow in the second match of the Group 2B loser's bracket.

Zihao: Eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring with loss to Breath

Name: Guo "Zihao" Zihao

Team: TongFu

Update: Zihao lost a close 3-2 series against Breath and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: The first game went swimmingly for Zihao, as he was able to get out to an early 1-0 lead on the back of his Patron Warrior deck. Breath's Control Priest was never able to gain any control on the board and was taken down easily. Game Two was a different story, though. Zihao's Midrange Paladin was not able to kill the Freeze Mage of Breath fast enough, which meant that Breath eventually drew into the burst damage he needed to pick up the win and tie up the series.

Zihao took Game Three with a win against Breath's Druid that saw Zihao topdeck an Antique Healbot two turns in a row, once with a Brann Bronzebeard on board for a double heal, to prolong the game long enough to take a 2-1 lead. Despite the 2-1 lead, Zihao faltered majorly in Games Four and Five when he was left with just his Paladin deck against the Priest and Druid of Breath. In both games, Zihao was not able to get much of a board lead and was taken down fairly easily. Zihao has been eliminated with the loss and will now have to rely on Gold Series Summer in order to make his way to Blizzcon this fall.

Pegy: Advances to winners' finals of Group 2B

Name: Qui "Pegy" Songling

Team: Vici Gaming

Update: Pegy won a close 3-2 series over Educated Cow to move on to the winners' finals of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Luck was certainly on Pegy's side in this series, as Educated Cow was never able to draw the cards he needed to win. Pegy capitalize on Educated Cow's use of Shaman to start off with a 2-0 lead in this series. Game One saw Pegy win with his Secret Paladin, and in Game Two Pegy defeated Educated Cow in a Shaman mirror match.

Pegy's luck wasn't nearly as good in Games Three and Four when his Druid was not able to top the Druid or Shaman of Educated Cow. The luck returned in a big way for Game Five when Educated Cow had a pretty bad hand, which spells certain doom for any Zoo Warlock deck. Pegy controlled the board the whole game and picked up the win. Pegy will now face ZhangBo in the winners' finals of Group 2B.

Fuoliver: Falls to loser's bracket of Group 2B with loss to ZhangBo

Name: Fu "Fuoliver" Liang

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: Fuoliver lost his semifinal match against ZhangBo by a score of 3-1 and now will fight for his tournament life in the loser's bracket of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Fuoliver went with his Priest deck in all three losses of this series, showing that Priest is still a pretty weak class overall, especially if they are unable to draw into all the answers neeed to control the board. In both Games One and Two, ZhangBo put out a ton of pressure with his Druid and Secret Paladin decks to take a quick 2-0 lead in the series.

Fuoliver bounced back a bit in Game Three in the Zoo Warlock mirror, as he stayed ahead on the board the entire game to pick up his first win of the series. He went back to his Priest in Game Four to face the Zoo of ZhangBo, which is typically a matchup that heavily favors the Priest due to its immense amount of board clears. Fuoliver simply wasn't able to stave off the number of threats that ZhangBo put out, though, and he was taken out. He will now face XingSu in the second round of the loser's bracket in Group 2B.

ZhangBo: Wins again to advance to winners' final of Group 2B

Name: Zhang "ZhangBo" Bo

Update: ZhangBo defeated Fuoliver in a fairly easy 3-1 series to move on to the winners' final of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: ZhangBo made short work of Fuoliver, as Fuoliver chose to keep going to his Priest deck in this series, which proved to be his downfall. He took a quick 2-0 lead thanks to his Druid and Secret Paladin decks. In both games, he put on way too much pressure and Fuoliver simply did not have enough answers to all of the minions that ZhangBo was pumping out.

He wasn't able to complete the sweep, though, as Fuoliver used the Zoo Warlock mirror to get his first win of the series. ZhangBo got the final win he needed to take the series when he bucked the statistics and took down the Priest of Fuoliver in a matchup that normally doesn't favor the Zoo. ZhangBo will now face Pegy in the winners' final of Group 2B.

Fuoliver: Eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring with loss to XingSu

Name: Fu "Fuoliver" Liang

Team: Yolo Miracle

Update: Fuoliver lost a close 3-2 series to XingSu and was eliminated from Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Fuoliver went back and forth with XingSu the entire series, but just could not pull out the last win to take the series. Game One was a good old fashioned Secret Paladin mirror between the two players. Fuoliver had the better start, but stalled out as the game continued and XingSu was able to score the first victory. Fuoliver went back to his Priest deck for Game Two, and was finally able to pick up a win with the deck against the Zoo Warlock of XingSu. Game Three was a Zoo mirror, where XingSu took the upper hand in this game since his Zoo was more of a midrange version.

Fuoliver used his Zoo once again in Game Four to face the Druid of XingSu. He poured on a ton of pressure in this game and the Druid was never able to overcome the board control of Fuoliver. Game Five saw Fuoliver left with his Secret Paladin against the Druid of XingSu. The Druid controlled the board state the entire game until lethal was drawn into on turn 10 to take the game and the series. With the loss, Fuoliver is now eliminated from the tournament and will have to rely on Gold Series Summer in order to earn a trip to Blizzcon.

XingSu: Advances further in loser's bracket of Group 2B with win over Fuoliver

Name: Liu "XingSu" Xing

Team: Invictus Gaming

Update: XingSu defeated Fuoliver in a hard-fought 3-2 series to move further in the loser's bracket of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: XingSu traded blows with Fuoliver the entire series, but came out on top in the end. His ability to pilot the Secret Paladin mirror gave him an early edge in this series with a win in Game One. He went with his Zoo Warlock deck in Game Two against the Control Priest of Fuoliver. This matchup is typically a pretty poor one for the Zoo, and it showed in this game, as Fuoliver had all the answers to pick up the win. The Zoo mirror in Game Three went in favor of XingSu since his deck was more focused on the midrange, which was enough to get him a 2-1 lead in the series.

Things got all tied up in Game Four when XingSu's Druid was not able to match the intensity of Fuoliver's Zoo. In the decisive Game Five, XingSu used his Druid deck to control the game from the start against the Secret Paladin of Fuoliver. While the game did go on to turn 10, things were almost never in doubt for XingSu and he got the win to take the series 3-2. XingSu will now face Breath in the third round of the loser's bracket.

Breath: Moves on to third round of loser's bracket in Group 2B with win over Educated Cow

Name: Chen "Breath" Yuxiang

Team: Team Celestial

Update: Breath won a lopsided 3-1 series against Educated Cow to move further into the loser's bracket of Group 2B of Gold Series 2016 - Spring.

Analysis: Breath really made Educated Cow pay for his reliance on the Shaman to easily pick up the series win here. His Reno Jackson Warlock was too much for the Aggro Shaman to deal with in Game One. In Game Two, Breath had just one health left when he made a pretty risky play to draw a bunch of cards knowing that he had one Flash Heal left in his deck. The play could have cost him the game potentially if he didn't draw that one card. He did draw the card, though, and was able to heal up and out of range for the Shaman to kill him.

He was not able to complete the sweep, however, as his Druid did not have enough removal to deal with the Mech Mage from Educated Cow. Breath picked up the final win he needed in Game Four when Educated Cow went back to his Shaman, which proved to once again be his downfall. Breath eliminated Educated Cow with the win and will now face XingSu in the third round of the loser's bracket of Group 2B.