Photo: GosuGamers.net
Quite a successful weekend for the Polish eSports nation, hosting the prestigious IEM World Championship and the finals of the EMS:One in CS:GO in Katowice. After the CS:GO team of Virtus.Pro already claimed the title on home soil, DogeHouse player and resident Polish icon Gnimsh let another shiny medal and a big check stay in the host nation.
The final drop of the big eSports festivities over this weekend in the Polish city of Katowice was the lethal damage of a [card]Pyroblast[/card] hitting Artosis' Warrior and shattering his dreams of claiming a second big Hearthstone title after his previous win at BlizzCon. The popular Starcraft 2 caster had the chance to follow the steps of Korean Starcraft 2 player s0s, who followed up his World Championship at BlizzCon with the big trophy in Katowice, solidifying his position as one of the top players in the world. Artosis came close to reaching the same accomplishment, but the magic of aggro master and Polish player Gnimsh proved to be too much.
Both star players first went through the semi finals of the four-man tournament, getting into battles with more unknown players from the community. Coming out of the Polish IEM qualifier was Lothar, who already made a brief impression on the competitive scene with an appearance in the IHearthU King of the Hill event. Back then he got ousted by reigning King Realz with a clean 4-0 sweep, something that happened to him in front of his crowd again. Artosis was able to tear through the Polish player only using his feared control Warrior deck, slamming, axing and charging his way to the Grand Finals.
Gnimsh had a bit of a rougher path to the Grand Finals against the youngster SineX from Germany. The German first stumbled over the overwhelming masses of Gnimsh's Zoo variation, then pulled himself back into the series with the conventional Druid deck. [card]Swipe[/card]ing his way through the hordes of Zoo, clawing past the magic of Jaina, only the brute strength and power of Garrosh was left for Gnimsh - one game away from being eliminated on his home stage. He could hold off on that against the Druid and then came back to his staple RNG fortune in the confrontation against Handlock. With only an [card]Defender of Argus[/card] on the board, the Polish TCG legend used [card]Brawl[/card] and won the 20 percent roll, wiping two [card]Molten Giant[/card], one [card]Earthen Ring Farseer[/card] and a [card]Sunfury Protector[/card] off the board. From there SineX lacked big bodies and taunt units, being vulnerable to [card]Grommash Hellscream[/card] and his angry charge.
The final was set, a SeatStory Cup rematch between two DogeHouse teammates. Once again Gnimsh opened up with his Zoo, while Artosis chose the more conservative and versatile approach of Shaman. Unfortunately for the BlizzCon Champion got caught up in the struggles of overload without really clearing the rows of Gnimsh effectively. The result of that is what usually happens on the ladder as well, Zoo gains the upper hand and wins the match before the Mana Crystals are even fully charged. [card]Leeroy Jenkins[/card] into [card]Soulfire[/card] were the nail to the coffin of Artosis' Thrall, leaving him with Warrior and Druid. He went with Druid, a deck that he himself described as "geared against aggression". Having a start with [card]Innervate[/card], [card]Harvest Golem[/card] and [card]Keeper of the Grove[/card] definitely did not hurt, but the [card]Mark of the Wild[/card] on an [card]Ancient Watcher[/card] also proved to be a massive obstacle for Gnimsh.
It was all indicating to be a tough and hard-fought battle between these two gladiators of the virtual card game, but the anti-climactic finish of Jaina utilizing strange cards like [card]Elite Tauren Chieftain[/card] were just too much for Artosis' two remaining decks. With Druid he even came within one damage of having lethal, before a loaded board of Gnimsh shattered every last hope. The clash of finesse magic against raw force was even more one-sided, mostly guided by huge value coming out of [card]Defender of Argus[/card] for the Polish player. On two separate occasions he could buff the board and trade overwhelmingly efficient. Artosis had no answers, didn't draw into [card]Brawl[/card] and had no answers for [card]Cairne Bloodhoof[/card] giving Gnimsh the edge and ultimately the win.
With this Gnimsh is cashing in on $2,000 USD, Artosis is pocketing the check for $1,000 USD, while SineX gets his end on $600 USD for winning the third place match against Lothar. Once again Lothar had to suffer through a sweep, but $400 USD will at least lessen the pain of consecutive smashes a little bit.
Final Standing IEM Hearthstone event Katowice 2014:
- 1. Place:
Gnimsh - $2,000 USD - 2. Place:
Artosis - $1,000 USD - 3. Place:
SineX - $600 USD - 4. Place: Lothar - $400 USD
