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Hearthstone10 years agoRadoslav "Nydra" Kolev

Hyped to face Kolento for the VGVN gold


Cloud 9's Kolento will fight for Europe in the VGVN finals against USA's Hyped

George "Hyped" Maganzini is the second VGVN #2 grand finalist after a crushing 4-0 over Trump. Grand final against Kolento incoming.

Semi final #2: United States Hyped vs United States Trump

It’s a very slow start for Trump on his Shaman against Hyped’s Miracle and that’s exactly what Tempo Storm’s player needs. Despite Trump eventually getting a nice chunk of minions out, a Bladeflurry and a Sap clear everything. Two spellpowered Eviscerates hit Trump’s face next and an attack from Azure Drake finishes him off.

Trump puts his faith into his Warlock Zoo as a deck known for its consistent board pressure but Hyped Is so on point with his removals and heals that by T6 Trump has dealt just 6 points of damage. A bountiful Gadgetzan draw helps Hyped get the tools to clear the board (Thalnos, Preparation and double Fan of Knives) and set up a 10/10 Van Cleef the next turn who puts Hyped up by a pair.

For game three, Trump takes a completely different approach, trying to out-heal the Miracle by pulling out a Priest. This, too, gets him nowhere: an early 4/4 Van Cleef keeps the Priest board in check and once again Hyped’s life total is untouched. After T5, the Rogue starts building her own board, dropping a Gadgetzan and Loatheb and Concealing everything. Trump’s Sylvanas is almost comically useless as she pokes Valeera for 5, two turns before the Priest is dead.

For Trump, it all comes down to the deck he’s been avoiding all this time – control Warrior. In hopes to bring down Hyped before his Rogue can “get off”, Trump takes the beatdown role and starts whacking and for a sliver of a moment it seems he might just pull it off: Hyped is down to 13 and there’s a Sludge Belcher and Baron Geddon on Garrosh’s side.

This is where the tides turn. Geddon is Sapped away and Sludge Belcher is cleared by Deadly Poison/Blade Flurry. This opens the way to Warrior’s heart and Leeroy-Eviscerate eliminates Trump with a 4-0.

Semi final #1: Netherlands ThijsNL vs Ukraine Kolento

Having performed excellently on day one, it is no surprise to see Kolento’s Druid as the series opener against Thijs. The Dutchman has chosen the “Ban Hunter, pick Handlock” strategy that Rdu used to win the HyperX Invitational but here he isn’t that successful. The mid-range Malfurion peppers the board with minions and starts whacking, pocketing just enough removal spells to dispose of the first wave of taunters. Down in the single digits and without Molten Giants, Thijs surrenders the game without dealing Kolento a single point of damage.

Game two is a Druid mirror – at least class-wise – where Kolento’s mid-range meets Thijs’s controlling ramp. As it goes with this match-up, securing early tempo is almost always game-winning and it’s the Dutcham that gets it. A couple of Shielmasta’s fend off Kolento’s early punches, an unanswered Cairne secures the mid-game and a slicing Swipe spells the final hour of Kolento’s mid-range.

The next game becomes a battle for board presence as Druid faces Shaman to break the tie. Thijs is quick to get into trouble: the minion spam from the Ukrainian is almost overwhelming and the slow pace of Thijs’ deck is just what he wants to see. Having two Hexes in hand further helps Kolento as he banishes the Faceless’d Fire Elemental as well as Thijs’ fat Ancient of War and by that moment the game is decided. Kolento leads 2-1.

Up against the ropes, Thijs resorts to the miracles of Valeera but once again his draws are not what he needs to stop Kolento’s tempo machine. MYM’s star is forced to empty almost his entire hand to deal with Shaman’s board and by the time he gets Gadgetzan – a few turns too late – he’s out of steam. Thijs’ Warrior becomes his last chance for a series win.

Shaman has long been considered a bad match-up for control Warrior and Kolento gives a full lecture on why that is exactly. By T5, the board is so heavy on minions – including two Flametongue Totems – that Thijs is forced to Brawl. To his ill luck, Kolento’s Sludge Belcher survives and the Ukrainian keeps pushing for more damage, while unrelentingly playing more minions, know that the mass removal of Thijs is now out. With no Baron Geddon in his deck to deal with the threats, Thijs meets his end and helps Kolento secure his second tournament grand final after Millenium Cup.

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