Congratulations to Fr0zen for achieving the rank of #1 Legend for the month of January! This achievement, along with his recent performances in open tournaments, has propelled him to the top of the Americas Hearthstone Championship Tour standings for the Winter Season. Fr0zen will be the #1 seed heading into the Americas Winter Preliminary taking place February 20–21.

Fr0zen recently joined team Hearthlytics and looks to be making a name for himself in the Hearthstone competitive scene this year. It’s our pleasure to help you get to know Fr0zen and showcase the decks and strategies that he used to climb to the top of the Ranked Play standings in January.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m a 19-year-old Engineering student from Michigan.

How long have you been playing Hearthstone, and how did you get started?

Late in 2014, I luckily obtained a beta invite and was sick of other games at the time. I remember first trying an Arena run and finishing 0-3. After that, I became determined to be good at the game by watching Trump and Kripp's streams until I was able to consistently average 7-8 wins. A couple of months later and with a decent collection, I began playing constructed and was able to hit Legend in the first season I played and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of climbing the Legend ladder ever since.

Does your BattleTag have any special meaning or significance? Why did you choose it?

I live in Michigan where everything is fr0zen! :D

How do you approach each season and what strategies do you use to climb your way to the top of the rankings?

Usually, I am able to get high-ranked by mid-season, but I get bored of camping and queue until I eventually tank my rankings. But last season, I focused on my Europe account so that while my Americas account was high-ranked, I was still able to play ranked on my Europe account. This allowed me to have a good position to go for rank #1 Legend on the Americas on the last day.

What style of decks do you prefer playing? What is your favorite class to play?

I prefer playing combo-oriented decks where I keep drawing cards until I am able to burst my opponent from full health. Thus, my favorite class to play is Mage.

What decks did you use for the January Ranked Play season? Do you tweak them often during the season to adjust to the meta or do you stick with the same decks throughout?

I used tempo Mage for most of the season and was able to reach rank #1 Legend mid-season with it. Later on, as people became desperate for ranks and switched to zoo decks, I switched to Malygos freeze Mage.

Do you plan on playing in any upcoming tournaments? Will you focus on playing in more tournaments this year?

Yes, after recently joining Hearthlytics, I’m happy to say that I will be able to attend many events in the US this year. I plan to attend Dreamhack Austin and the Winter Preliminaries.

How does your approach preparing for Ranked Play differ from playing in tournaments?

I believe Ranked Play is very similar to tournament play in that if you bring or play the best decks against the field, enough of the time you will reach or finish in the high ranks.

What are your goals for Hearthstone this year?

My goals are to win the Winter Preliminaries and BlizzCon.

Where can viewers find you?

I stream under www.twitch.tv/fr0zen5499 and my Twitter is @HL_fr0zen.

Do you have any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with your fans or other aspiring competitive players?

The best way to get better at this game is to learn from the best players of specific decks and watch those players’ streams, because it’s hard to learn the ins and outs of decks by yourself. Another way to improve is to play with other players watching you as it’s very easy for others to pick up on your misplays.

We’d like to thank Fr0zen for taking the time to speak with us. If you’re interested in watching him play, please toss him a follow on Twitter and Twitch and go say “Hi!” We wish Fr0zen the best of luck in the current season and the rest of the Hearthstone Championship Tour!