21:00 CET - StrifeCro bests Powder to take the fourth spot in top eight
StrifeCro joined his Cloud9 team mate Kolento in the playoffs of DreamHack Winter after a 3-1 win over IHEARTHU's Powder, coming through the loser's bracket after dropping his first game to Firebat earlier in the day.
Game one gave us our first look at StrifeCro's mid-range Mage deck as it managed to control the board and eliminate the threats of Powder's Zoo despite some good plays from the underdog. With his Zoo deck out of options the topdecks didn't come for Powder, and the strong minions of the Mage made the difference. In game two Powder was able to muscle out the Mage deck with his Druid, drawing into the right minions and trading very efficiently. By the time Powder was able to get his Ragnaros out, there was no messing about as Rag found the right targets to take the game.
StrifeCro regained the advantage with his Zoo deck in game three, putting on a lot of early pressure to get the Druid's live dangerously low. The Zoo did run out of steam with the Druid still on five health, but a Doomguard top deck was able to help StrifeCro to a 2-1 lead. It was more of the same in the match against Powder's Teacher Rogue, as the Zoo did what it does so well and closed out the series.
StrifeCro now has a day off before playing in the top eight on Saturday.
19:45 CET - Kolento in top eight, Xixo joins list of exits
Former world #1 Kolento took a dominant victory in the loser's bracket of Group B to advance to the playoffs of DreamHack Winter, taking a 3-0 victory over Maverick with Druid - avenging his loss to the Belgian player in the winner's bracket.
After first eliminating the Warrior deck of Maverick, Kolento took another dominant performance against the Shaman deck in game two. An early Spectral Knight really pressed the advantage for Kolento and did so much work without the Shaman being able to answer it, while Kolento was able to deal with both Fire Elementals. With the Shaman down to eight life Kolento kept up the pressure and took a 2-0 lead. Maverick defeated Kolento with Miracle Rogue in the winner's bracket but the Rogue couldn't save him in this match, as the Druid established early board presence. Maverick went all in with a Farseer and Deckhand, which he armed with double Cold Bloods before concealing. Unable to push the final damage in and deal with the taunts, the Druid was able to bite back.
The final game of the day will be the Group A loser's final between StrifeCro and Powder, the latter having eliminated Xixo.
18:45 CET - Firebat goes to playoffs 3-1 over StrifeCro, ek0p & Rdu out
Firebat continued his march to the top eight of DreamHack Winter on the back of his Zoo deck against Cloud9's StrifeCro with a 3-1 victory, and secured himself a berth in the play offs.
Firebat opened with Rogue and, after a 3-0 win with Druid in the last round, saw a Druid deck defeat him in game one. StrifeCro went with an agressive strategy and emptied his hand early, but Firebat's hand was too full of situational cards and the minions came too late. With the Rogue unable to get anything going, StrifeCro was able to take game one.
From there, Firebat went to his Zoo deck (in a tournament where the majority of players seem to be playing Handlock) and blew the Druid out of the water with a double Undertaker and early deathrattles to take game two and level up the series. StrifeCro switched to his aggro decks and brought out the Hunter though the two players both started slow in game three. StrifeCro drew into his big minions and the Zoo couldn't respond until Firebat was able to activate his Nerubians - but instead of getting damage in Firebat had to trade while his health dwindled. Firebat was eventually able to clear the Hunter and slowly chip away at StrifeCro's health, until StrifeCro top decked a Kill Command that would have been lethal if he had a beast to play. By the narrowest of margins, Firebat takes game three. StrifeCro was left with his Zoo deck, and Firebat was able to get a life advantage and close out the series 3-1.
Off stream, ek0p was eliminated by Rdu in the loser's bracket before Rdu was sent home by Kolento in the next match.
17:50 CET - Faramir in top eight, Forsen goes home, Firebat vs StrifeCro next
Faramir's Hunter steamrolled Maverick in the Group B winner's bracket final as the IHEARTHU player became the first to qualify for the top eight.
After coming through the open qualifier to make it into the tournament, Faramir took out Amaz and Rdu on his way to the final of the Group B winner's bracket where he faced Gamers Origin champion Maverick. Opening on Warrior, Maverick was able to take the first game with Handlock after working hard to establish board presence. Faramir dealt with the threats well to begin with, but after Maverick used his Sylvannas to steal Faramir's Ragnaros the pressure became too much to handle.
That was the end of the success for Maverick however, as Faramir switched to Hunter and brushed aside all three of Maverick's decks. After a top decked Kill Command helped Faramir defeat the Handlock in five turns, in game three Faramir drew almost perfectly for the first six turns through his Undertaker, Deathrattles and Savannah Highmane. The final game saw Maverick's Violet Teacher Rogue run the Hunter down to four health, but the hero power and pressure of Hunter was just too much as Faramir took a 3-1 lead.
Elsewhere Kolento defeated Forsen in the loser's bracket to send him out of DreamHack, and Greensheep lost a close series to 3-2 in the loser's bracket of the other group.
16:40 CET - Firebat takes second 3-0, Amaz first eliminated
The Hearthstone World Champion Firebat is pulling no punches so far in his European tournament debut and his first tournament since winning the World title, advancing to the winner's bracket final in Group A beating Greensheep 3-0 to maintain his perfect record.
Much like his World Championship final performance Firebat managed a 3-0 victory with Druid beating Handlock in the final game, but this time he did it with a completely new Druid build. Greensheep picked his Shaman deck first, a deck which served him very well in the Blizzcon qualifiers, but the Druid board presence was just too much to handle. Establishing two taunted Druid fo the Claws, Greensheep rolled low on double Lightning Storm and was unable to clear the board. With a Belcher and Yeti joining the remaining Claw, a Savage Roar gave Firebat the turn ten kill.
After a disappointing misplay on Rogue in game two by Greensheep with a Conceal the Force of Nature + Savage Roar put Firebat two games ahead, and he was able to close out the series in a close final game against Handlock. Firebat was able to silence the early Twilight Drake, but Greensheep established good board presence with two Mountain Giants that he used his Earthen Rings to heal up. However a Big Game Hunter and Youthful Brewmaster combination got rid of the two big threats, and Firebat managed to keep the Warlock board clear and set himself up for a double Savage Roar win - crucially, Firebat avoided going face to deny the Molten Giants, showing excellent awareness and tactical skill.
Firebat will play Xixo or StrifeCro in the winner's bracket final, while Greensheep drops down to the loser's bracket.
Elsewhere, Amaz was the shock first elimination from the tournament as he lost to Forsen in the loser's bracket. Amaz was considered one of the stronger players in his group, but the Archon founder is clearly still struggling for tournament form.
15:33 CET - Rdu edges out Forsen, Amaz & ek0p lose in upsets
In the first streamed game of the tournament Rdu avenged his loss to training partner Forsen from the Viagame House Cup, taking the victory in a 3-2 series that could have swung either way.
Rdu took game one with his Rogue deck thanks to an Arcane Golem, Shadowstep & Cold Blood combo, after establishing board presence with Gadgetzan and Loatheb out by turn seven. Both were down to low health very early and Forsen threatened to come back with a Death's Bite and Ragnaros, but a Sap pushed Rag back to the hand. Forsen moved on to the Hunter in game two and was able to eliminate the Rogue deck, as Rdu found himself just one damage off lethal with his Arcane Golem in hand. A pair of Freezing Traps that appeared at just the right time kept Forsen in it, and the Hunter pressure was just too much.
Rdu was able to take game three with his Warrior in an almighty swing back after a good Hunter start from Forsen faded too quickly. Forsen was too eager to empty his hand, allowing a Ysera and Alexstraza dragon combo to regain the lead for Rdu. Forsen hit back with his fast Druid deck, and a Wild Growth & Shade set Forsen up to pressure his opponent early and use the Force of Nature + Savage Roar combo for the win. Rdu's Warrior was just too slow, but that wasn't an issue for his Hunter deck in the deciding game. After pumping out early small minions to increase the pressure a Savannah Highmane came down on turn six, and with the added pressure of The Beast (off a Webspinner of course) Rdu was able to hold on even as the Druid started to curve into cards like Cenarius. Forsen looked to be mounting a comeback, but a top decked Kill Command gave Rdu the exact five damage he needed.
Rdu advances to play Faramir, while Forsen will play Amaz in the loser's bracket later.
Elsewhere, open qualifier king Faramir took out Amaz 3-1, while ek0p was defeated by Gamers Origin champ Maverick. Favourite Firebat, Kolento and StrifeCro all swept their opponents 3-0, while Greensheep also took a flawless victory against darkwonyx.
