Photo: Helena Kristiansson
Three first places in three months - this is the tournament record for Dima "Rdu" Radu, as MYM's ace took the gold at this weekend's WellPlayed HyperX Invitational. Rdu goes home with half of the $3,000 prize pool as he leaves Innovation's Tim "Theude" Bergmann second.
Day one live blog
Day two live blog
It wasn't the best tournament starts for the young Romanian as HyperX kicked off on Saturday. Paired with open qualifier winner Wuaschtsemme, the then #2 in the GosuRankings Rdu was regarded as the heavy favorite but ended up losing 1-3 and getting sent to the losers bracket, meaning one more loss would end his tournament life.
Up against the ropes, Rdu showcased a stellar performance in day two. His run began with the elimination of reigning WellPlayed champion TidesofTime 3-1 on the back of great Miracle draws and continued with a dominant Handlock performance which ousted Reynad and Trump with 3-0 each. The DreamHack Summer champion also took this chance to respond to his conflict with Reynad from the recent months, blowing salt at his camera after the third and final game in their series.
This put Rdu in the losers final against Wuaschtsemme - a chance to redeem himself for the round 1 loss earlier in the tournament. The game went set for set but in the end Rdu's Handlock once again came to save the day, putting itself to a 8-1 score on day two.
A grand final match-up against Theude was thus inbound. The German play of team Innovation had just demolished the winners bracket and had all the day to study Rdu's decks and playstyles and with the Romanian having to win two Bo5's to be crowned champion, Theude did enjoy a nice advantage over his opponent.
That mattered not. The first series ended up a 3-1 in Rdu's favor who started with his control Warrior but, after losing it in a Warrior mirror, continued on his Handlock which once again performed excellently, becoming Rdu's strongest ally. The playing field was now leveled and each of the grand finalists was one Bo5 win away from being crowned champion.
A tense control Warrior mirror opened the final series. Alexstrasza came for Theude on T1 to severaly wound Rdu, followed by an unanswered Ragnaros who finished the game. Garrosh had to say goodbye to Theude, however, as Rdu's Miracle made short work of it without much pressure from the opposing side.
Theude chooses death at the sight of Leeroy
The players continued to hard counter each other and Handlock came out of Theude to stop Valeera's advance. With Hunter banned on Rdu's side, Theude knew what was coming next - the dreaded Handlock of the Romanian which had ended so many tournament runs that day.
In one of the most tense games of the entire tournament, Handlock went against Handlock in a match with so many swings it is difficult to put to words. Shadowflames and Siphon Souls were the heroes for both players as they were the most efficient ways to clear the monstrous threats and there was no clear winner of the match until a Leeroy topdeck came for Rdu just in the right time, pushing it to a final fifth game.
Game five was even crazier. It started slow but escalated very quickly with a T4 Ragnaros from Theude's Druid. In the direst of straits, Rdu double Soulfire'd the firelord, discarding half his hand, but Theude just copied it with Faceless and continued to apply fiery pressure, leaving Rdu down to 2.
This was, however, a free Molten Giant for Rdu alongside a Sludge Belcher. With his Ragnaros sniping the enemy's, the Romanian was suddenly stable. In a classic "so close yet so far" situation, Theude couldn't find a way to reach for the final points of damage. The ending was even more dramatic as Rdu Siphon Soul'd Theude's Sunwalker, getting up to 5 health, just in time to avoid a lethal from a topdecked Swipe.
The monstrous T5 from Theude
This is the third win for Rdu in the last three months after the success at DreamHack Summer in June and the win at the WEC EU Qualifiers in July. It also restores the MYM ace to the top of the GosuRankings with a 75% all-time win-rate.
