

Photo: Helena Kristiansson, esportphoto.com

As every new eSports, competitive Hearthstone began as a tiny "old boys club". The few televised tournaments that were held at the start of 2014 reached out to the same handful of names, eager to lure as many viewers as possible. Qualifiers for big tournaments were rare at best and this vicious circle created the false impression that beyond the Fight Nights and the SeatStory Cups, there were no good players are competing.

This in turn made it extremely difficult for the weekly cup winners to break out on the scene and get recognition. This is a harsh but understandable reality – stories are only forged if there’s someone to witness them so the bulk of the Hearthstone players who were competing in the dark remained unknown and uninteresting to the wide public.

Nevertheless, the scene soon found out that it’s not immune to “anomalies” and hours before DreamHack Summer I sat for a lengthy talk with one such dark horse - Thijs “ThijsNL” Molendijk. Nowadays, the Dutchman has almost finished his rocky road to stardom as he holds multiple records and is widely regarded as MYM’s ace player but as we rewind his story a few months back, one can see just how difficult breaking out on the scene actually is.

From baby steps to breaking records

ThijsNL’s professional career starts in early February 2014. At this point of time, the Hearthstone scene is split in two between ESGN’s Fight Nights and everything else and the gap between the two is humongous. MLG’s Managrind tournaments stand as the yardstick by which all unstreamed players are measured and are the only way for contestants to be recognized by the readers of the few websites that cover weekly competition. Driven by his competitive spirit and love for “the challenge and strategic part of the game”, Thijs grasps the opportunity and by the end of February he manages to take two second and one third place at the Managrind circuit. The baby steps have been taken.

As he signs for more and more open tournaments, ThijsNL gradually “solves” them. He learns what decks to play, when to play them and what does he need in order to survive the gruesome single elimination format with brackets usually containing upwards of 200 players. By the end of April, this knowledge of his allows him to do the unprecedented: five ZOTAC cup wins, including two championships in one weekend and back-to-back Europe triumphs in episodes #12 and #13.

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To start with, tournament play is way different from ladder. The ZOTAC cups and GosuCups both have a single elimination Bo3 setup. I invested a lot of time in reading the meta, and tried to make counter decks for it. Also, winning the first game in this format is really important. When you are 1-0, you can counter your opponent if you lost the second game. Also, I try to do research about my opponents for their favorite decks. This strategy had success and I'm still doing it. Maybe a bit luck is important too in these big community tournaments, but with five ZOTAC wins and some top 4/8 places in ZOTAC and GosuCup, it can't be luck anymore.

Thijs’ reign at ZOTAC earns him the unanimous respect among the pro players. The Dutch flag starts climbing the GosuRankings and by middle of April, the talented Hearthstone lands in the top five of all European players. Compared to the other names in the higher echelons of the competitive scene like Gnimsh or Savjz who regularly compete for four figures every month, Thijs’ break-out on the back of $100 cups alone is worthy of the utmost admiration.

On April 11th, Thijs receives additional recognition as he is picked up by long-time eSports organization Meet Your Makers. MYM’s new roster consists mostly of weekly cup powerhouses like Ignite, Kunzi, Skip and Semijew and the Dutchman fits right in. It’s the golden opportunity for any up and coming player.

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I think this step was really important in my professional career. Meet Your Makers is one of the most known European esports organizations and I think this was a perfect step for me. I can take my total focus at Hearthstone now while they do background stuff for me.

Thijs continues to climb up the esteem ladder and in Ma, he’s extended an invitation to compete in IHearthU’s King of the Hill series. Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious KOTH showmatches on the scene, this is Thijs’ first televised test and his chance to disprove whatever sceptics are left.

As it becomes the brand, the KOTH crew throws the best they have Thijs’ way. His baptism is a 4-2 against reigning king Twisted. A week later, the Dutchman takes the head of StrifeCro – ranked #2 worldwide – on the back of an unbelievable comeback from 0-3 which leaves the Twitch chat aghast. MYM’s star player continues to fight tooth and nail every week as he faces Spo, then Gnimsh and then Alesh – established players all – and on June 13th Thijs is on top of everyone else once again, beating Savjz’s and Alchemixt’s records to take five straight King of the Hill titles.

During these series, it is Thijs’ unparalleled mastery with Malfurion that captivates the audience. As we talk about the topic, I remind Thijs of what he said to me a few days before he played StrifeCro. “We’ll see who’s the better Druid” were his words and I ask him if he feels he’s proved that now. Thijs garnishes his answer with a short run-down of what makes his Druid build unique.

[redquote1 The comeback I had against StrifeCro was probably one I won't forget. I was 0-3 behind and only had my Druid left. StrifeCro is known for all his Druid builds and decks, so it feels really good to have beaten him with my own Druid. I think i proved that my Druid deck is one of the best at the moment, and is almost impossible to counter.

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[My deck] has some different cards from normal midrange druids. StrifeCro never uses Wild Growth in his Druid version, and I really like the card. It can give you a lead in the start, and if you draw it late, you cycle it for two mana for another card. Other differences are some midrange cards. I really like Stampeding Kodo in Druid as well as Ragnaros. Kodo has insane value in some matchups that makes some matchups better, and I rate Ragnaros higher than Cenarius, although it is close. For me, Cenarius can't win you games, it is always too late for him and he only works when you are already ahead. Ragnaros can be a gamechanger, something I like for the Druid. My strategy is really similar to normal Druid decks. It has a bit more value probably, but it is really close. ”



Photo: GosuGamers.net

"I don't think people see me as an underdog anymore"

By the end of May, Thijs’ expertise in Hearthstone is undeniable. Without any major tournament appearances whatsoever, the Dutchman climbs to #2 in Europe and #4 worldwide, leaving popular streamers and esteemed champions like Amaz, Savjz, Ek0p and Gnimsh behind. Naturally, he also becomes MYM’s ace player within the borders of Gentlemen Cup: he’s called as often as possible and is one of the sharpest weapons of the European squad. When I ask him if this is extra pressure from his teammates, however, Thijs confesses that the only person who judges his performance is himself.

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Most of the times it’s me who puts pressure on myself. We [at MYM] always try to help each other, with doing practice games and talking about new and interesting decks. I don't feel any pressure from my teammates.

When DreamHack Summer is announced with its $25,000 in May, nobody is surprised to see Thijs Molendijk among the twelve invites. Although put in the same pool of players as the top dogs of Hearthstone, the young MYM spearhead is confident. His professional history has shown he can beat the best on stream or otherwise and he’s not that far behind the renown of the DreamHack troupe.

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I don't think players see me as a real underdog anymore. I showed I can win against the best players in King of the Hill as well as in Gentlemen Cup. It will be the community that will probably see me as an underdog, which I actually like. It doesn't give you the pressure that other seeded players got.

I am also an underdog exposure-wise. I haven't been invited for the big events except KOTH, everything is new for me. I don't give myself high targets, if I survive the group stage I would be really happy. The experience that I gain are really important for me too. ”

And happy Thijs should be. His DreamHack run saw him prevail over Gnimsh and Kaldi to take the first place in Group C, which covered his aspirations for the tournament – to survive the group stage. Although his playoffs life was short and a 0-2 loss to Reynad ended it in the quarter finals, Thijs has nothing to be sorry about.

Fast forward to today, Thijs is one of the strongest players on the continent, holding records which nobody is even close to beating. This Friday, the Dutchman returns to King of the Hill to fight for a sixth title in a row against DKMR's Hosty and if he wins, he will tie Amaz’s record at NESL KOTH. He still leads the ZOTAC rankings with five victories on both servers, two championships ahead of three-times NA winner zRusher. He is still second in Europe and fourth in the world according to the GosuRankings with 78% all-time win-rate over 80 recorded games and is MYM’s deadliest killer. Since he started competing, there's never been a single month where he's shown weakness.

One can only imagine where he’ll be after he goes to his second big tournaments.