Photo: ESGN TV
| Table of contents | |||
 Savjz |  Gnimsh |  Ek0p |  Artosis |
Written by: Nydra, Fantasy44 and Movelikejuaber
The Fight Night S2 and S3 champions pack their bags and get ready for a flight to Krefeld as Take calls them for the $15,000 SeatStory Cup. Led by captain Artosis, the doges are leaving Nyhx at home and are bringing their exact roster from seasons 3 and 4 to Take's appartment, ready to put their names on the fat cheques.
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Viewed as one of the best Hearthstone players in the current scene, Savjz comes to the battleground with decks mostly geared towards wearing his opponent down. The most famous of all might be his Shaman, that found several copycats and is one of the standard decks and go-to builds for the class.
Overall the player from the north of Europe is not only viewed and talked up to be one of the best Hearthstone players in the world, he also has the credentials to back up that talk. While never publically acknowledging or claiming to the be be all, end all in HS, the talk from competitors and teammates indicates a strong believe in Savjz’s abilities as the mastermind on the board. As the longest reigning IHearthU King of the Hill he sprung onto the scene, backing up those results with the Angry Chicken Invitational victory and lately the Deck Wars #2 win against acclaimed streaming sensation Reynad. All these accomplishments earned him a spot in the well-known Hearthstone team of DogeHouse, that brought him out to Fight Night for the third and fourth season.
Those events might be the only real dark spot on the resume of the Fin, since he is 0-2 in individual matches at the ESGN studio in Berlin thus far. Granted, he lost to some of the best from North America with Koyuki and the master himself StrifeCro, but people don’t usually associate the big name Savjz with a losing streak like that. One more loss at Fight Night and he will tie the negative record of Trump, who ironically has more cross references with the Finnish player than that. Trump was the one that kicked Savjz off the throne in the KotH #8, after he ruled over the land of Hearthstone for about a month - four straight victories. That is the kind of results that are usually associated with and he will look forward to Krefeld, turning it around on German soil.
Photo: Facebook
To reach that goal he will most likely go back to what made him famous - the Shaman deck. The mid-range variation of Thrall has become a staple in the world of Hearthstone, making it tough on control decks with board control like [card]Hex[/card] or [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] for heavy damage or disable, but also fairing good against aggressive versions of Hunter, Warrior, Warlock or Paladin. The Shaman is not his only trump card though, as he showcased an exceptional range in his two matches at Fight Night by playing six of the nine available classes. Factoring in the Deck Wars #2 appearance against Reynad, the Warrior gets added to this list, pushing it to seven of the nine classes. Only Rogue and Mage are missing in that mix, but whoever watched Savjz stream knows, that he by all means has a Mage deck in the back of his hand or at least in the back of his mind. This versatility makes him incredibly dangerous and tough to prepare for, giving him a great edge over the competition.
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Ek0p is not really a player associated with constructed tournaments. Usually beating opponents in arena, the German only leaves his comfort zone when DogeHouse is called to represent in televised tournaments. His competitive record further speaks of Ek0p’s scarce appearances: he’s played only five series overall for little more than 20 games in total.
Yet, strange as it is, Ek0p is an entity that just has to be there when his team is playing. Though lacking the constructed savviness of Savjz and Gnimsh or the recognized eSports personality of Artosis, he’s become synonymous with the Doge brand, establishing what’s considered one of the best Hearthstone teams in the world. He’s not the favorite coming into SeatStory Cup but people will be watching him nevertheless. People will be talking.
The thing with Ek0p is that his personality has made him both the hero and the villain of the Hearthstone community. His smack talk, cockiness and silly faces either anger or entertain but never leave anyone impartial. StarCraft 2 fans will see parallels between him and players like MC or PartinG and will love him (or hate him) immediately. Considering Take’s apartment has always incentivized frivolities in behavior, expect the community boards to explode.
Game-wise, Ek0p is known for playing Shaman, similar to his team-mate Savjz. Thrall helped the German win against Kripparrian and Trump (who is also Ek0p’s opponent in round 1) in ESGN Fight Night and is by far the build he’s most comfortable with so expect to see it used often in SeatStory Cup. Hunter also makes an appearance in Ek0p’s repertoire and with the class still viable in today’s metagame it’s almost certain it’ll be brought to Krefeld. Other control builds like Handlock or slow Warrior should also be expected coming from the German.
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For the longest time, Artosis was on the top of the Hearthstone world. A StarCraft caster of great renown and generally a man of eSports, Dan Stemkoski came to be crowned champion of the first bigger Hearthstone event – the Innkeeper Invitational at BlizzCon 2013.
Although Artosis’ love for Blizzard’s CCG dates before said Invitational having hosted IhearthU’s Turn 2 podcast and King of the Hill series, it was kissing the golden pint that baptized him into the world of professional Hearthstone. Riding a busy schedule commentating StarCraft 2 and creating Hearthstone content in the meantime, Artosis, like Ek0p, only comes out when DogeHouse is in need of his assistance. With his rich portfolio, Artosis is the link that connects the Hearthstone scene with other eSports disciplines and is among the best ambassadors the game can wish for.
Before January, Artosis managed to maintain a spotless record. His victory at BlizzCon was followed by a perfect performance in Husky’s Invitational and up until January, he was one of the few undefeated players in professional Hearthstone, as small as the scene might’ve been. While other players struggled to make names for themselves by climbing the ladder or plunging into one-day tournaments, Artosis allowed himself the luxury to sit back, relax and watch others try to achieve what he already did.
At the start of 2014, ESGN Fight Night came to deal Artosis’ first televised loss but it couldn’t tarnish his image as a player. Although Kripparrian was able to take revenge for the Innkeeper Invitational grand final, Artosis almost did the impossible recovery from being down 0-2 but losing a clutch fifth game in a Paladin mirror. Since then, his Elo graph went up and down like a pogo stick: he would win 3-2 against Trump, lose 0-3 to Monk in the next season after the embarrassing mistake of trying to [card]Execute[/card] his own [card]Sylvanas Windrunner[/card], and then win against the mighty Koyuki, a player who destroyed the constructed master Savjz in the previous season. If Artosis’ recent history is any indication of his upcoming performance, becoming a SeatStory Cup champion is as likely as elimination in round 1.
Though someone with extensive background in card games, Artosis’ role in DogeHouse is not one of a deck designer so much as the hand that wields the weapons crafted, tuned or perfected by his team-mates. He’s an avid control player so Savjz’s and Ek0p’s Shaman should be in his repertoire (not to mention Thrall is heavily regarded as one of the best classes in the entire game), as well as a control Warrior, a build he’s said he feels very comfortable playing. His record also shows preference towards the Paladin class and with Koyuki making the control spec viable again, it’s more than likely that we see [card]Tirion Fordring[/card] next to some [card]Molten Giant[/card]s on Artosis’ side of the board.
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Marcin "Gnimsh" Filipowicz is one of the most experienced players from Dogehouse when it comes to the card game genre. From Magic: The Gathering, to the World of Warcraft TCG, and finally to Hearthstone, he has accumulated over 20 years of knowledge when it comes to high-level CCG play. Once the Mage specialist, he has then ventured into various classes of different builds. His specialty, however, has and always been aggro, and has become an expert at hitting people directly to the face.
As for his tournament performances, Gnimsh has shown to be a man of extremes, either sweeping and getting swept by his opponent. This can be seen clearly by his results at ESGN's multiple seasons of Fight Night. He took out Trump, StrifeCro (twice), and monk 3-0. Funnily enough, aside from monk it was the same people who demolished the Pole. This makes him look like a coin flip when looking at how he will fare, although results shouldn't be the only basis.
Gnimsh loves his aggro decks, and his tendency to favor that archetype is what should be noted more when looking at his stats. From the old Aggro Mage with the Pyroblast finish, to the ever popular Face Hunter, he always turn up well when using these kinds of decks. On others, not much much. His latest bout with Trump leaves much to be desired, as his Control Paladin/Warrior and his Midrange Shaman weren't so hot, and was defeated 1-3.
For Gnimsh to get the championship, he would need to be in his comfort zone and go with the playstyle he is becoming known the most: all-out aggression. While this will make him somewhat predictable and opponents might be able to tweak their decks against him, one must not forget his deep game knowledge. Even if midrange and control aren't his specialties, he could easily add a least one of those in his set, or better yet, put it as his "secret deck" which is the unique aspect of the SeatStory Cup. Then again, he could always just build three solid aggro decks and wreck everybody, so we'll see.
Gnimsh (right) with Ek0p (left) and Athene (center). Photo: Facebook
