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This was a stacked GosuCup. On the Sunday of April 13th, known pro names and former champions alike flocked to the seventh edition of the tournament to fight for ranking points and $100. Players like Forsen, Lothar and the rosters of vVv and MYM were seen competing which made it for a difficult to beat bracket.
In the end, however, the known names faced defeat as a young Brit made his way to the top. Modernleper dodged the big names, defeated the reigning GosuCup champion and had a bit of luck (his words, not ours) and deservedly stood GosuCup king, delivering the first championship for the UK.
Behind him came two Poles in C4varieL and the IEM Katowice participant Lothar who faced each other in the semis, a fight that saw Lothar's mid-range Hunter lose to C4varieL's Shaman thrice in a row to send the latter to the grand finals.
GosuCup #7 standings
1. 
Modernleper
2. 
C4varieL
3. Lothar
4. 
Thrullnar
5-8. 
Al3sh3k
5-8. 
Duck
5-8. 
FlashKicker
5-8. 
Fibeli3
Nations-wise, Germany continues to be on the top, being among the most consistent countries in GosuCup. Leading with good three points to the runner-up, Germany's leadership is safe as long as they keep sending players to final rounds and prevent the Dutchmen, Russians or Italians from winning future cups.
Speaking of runner-ups, Netherlands broke the 11-point tie with Russia and Italy this Sunday thanks to Duck and are now the sole country on the silver chair. Following Russia and Italy in the top five are Sweden and Greece, who have Thrullnar and Fibeli3 to thank for the points this weekend.
Nation standings (Top 10)
1. Germany - 15 points (-)
2. Netherlands - 12 points (-)
3. 
Russia - 11 points (-1)
3. 
Italy - 11 points (-1)
5. Greece - 10 points (-)
5. Sweden - 10 points (+1)
7. 
Norway- 8 points (-1)
7. Czech Republic - 8 points (+2)
7. 
Denmark - 8 points (-1)
10. 
Portugal - 7 points (-1)
It's rare that we see a Rogue player GosuCup so props to Modernleper for relying heavily on the mid-range Valeera to grab the $100. Of course, he was supported by cookie cutter classes like Chakki's rush Hunter and Reynad's Zoo but it's the Rogue that's important, OK?
| [deck linked]498[/deck] | [deck linked]500[/deck] | [deck linked]501[/deck] |
Runner-up C4varieL decided to go for some completely different decks, using a very affordable Windfury Shaman (with Leeroy as the only legendary card) and some Murlocs as the aggro option.
| [deck linked]496[/deck] | [deck linked]497[/deck] | |
We're continuing to add more data to our excel tables in order to generate more accurate representation of the constructed, non-Limited meta. Here are the stats after five normal GosuCups:
For two normal cup weekends, Druid is keeping himself on the top as the most used class in GosuCups with 20,3%. Which, at this point, starts to get weird as Druid is not really considered the top class at the moment with Warlock, Hunter and Warrior shooting for the top three. It seems, though, that Druid's multiple builds including the Watchers (great against Hunters), tokens and the recently rediscovered Savjz ramp (amazing in control match-ups), all of which make for a very diverse playstyle, are enough to keep the class alive.
Second in the popularity ranking is Hunter which climbed three spots since GosuCup #5. The Rush version is still the most used spec of Rexxar but builds like Lifecoach's Hunter and the mid-range build Lothar used in this GosuCup (see above) are also giving Hunter players more options to have a strong deck while still building relatively on the budget (most Hunter decks have only Leeroy as a legendary card).
The popularity contest between Lock and Warrior which after last cup was on Garrosh's favor is this time reversed and Warlock is ahead with 1,7%. Finally, we have Shaman, a class that is continuously losing popularity and is now on the bottom of the top 5, his place there only secured by the abyssmal pick rates of Mage, Rogue, Paladin and Priest.
Win-rate-wise, nothing ever changes it seems. Warlock is still on the top, followed by Hunter, just like after GosuCup #5. The next four classes are within 2% of each other and are making for the six-class group that's above the 50% win rate. Below that, unsurprisingly, are Paladin, Mage and Priest.
So, you continue the GosuCup tradition of up and coming players winning the tournament over known names. How does that feel?
It feels pretty good! The bracket definitely seemed pretty stacked with a lot of players I recognized. Honestly I think I got quite lucky to dodge all of the MYM roster as well as players like Lothar and Alesh, but I'm still really happy with my overall play.
You met the previous GosuCup champion in Round 2, though. Did you know he won the previous week? Were you nervous playing him if yes?
Haha, I actually had no idea. I only found out after I played him. His hunter deck was definitely unique, so I can see why it caught people by surprise last week. He was really good mannered too; I think he was the first to congratulate me when I won.
Yeah, that he is! Your player stats show that you played Rogue mostly, which is rare these days. Most players go for the cookie cutters like Warrior controls, or Zoo, or Hunter or Handlock.
The main reason I led with Tempo Rogue every game was because I was anticipating a lot of Warlock Aggro, which Rogue has a very favourable matchup against. The deck I also expected to see a lot of was Hunter - either the rush version or Lifecoach's mid-range list. I think the list I use has a fairly good matchup vs both variants. Beyond the inclusion of Tazdingos it wasn't really geared to counter these decks though - it was pretty similar to the list I used to get Legend this season.
So you prefer tempo over OTK miracle overall? Do you think the latter has any advantages over the former in the current meta?
I have pretty much zero experience with Miracle Rogue, so I'm probably not the best person to answer that question. I do think Miracle Rogue will experience a bit of a resurgence though, simply because the rush hunter decks that used to be everywhere are being replaced by the midrange version, which Miracle Rogue is pretty decent against.
Where would you rate Rogue overall on the power scale of classes?
The thing about Rogue is that the class is versatile enough to adapt to the meta, but rarely has the deck that defines the meta. Right now I believe Lifecoach's hunter is the meta-defining deck, and Tempo Rogue is actually considered one of the better counters to that deck. I don't think I can give the class an exact ranking, but Rogue is definitely near enough the top to be viable.
Is it its versatility and the resulting complexity of the class which makes it a somewhat unpopular choice overall in your opinion?
I just think it's a bit overlooked right now. In terms of complexity I really don't think Rogue's that hard to play at all - mostly it's just about using your mana efficiently and being aggressive at the right times. Maybe it isn't played so much because it lacks the obvious outright power of some other popular decks. Rogue doesn't really have a turn 1 Yeti or a Starving Buzzard/Unleash the Hounds combo, but in my opinion it will always get by simply by being really efficient and really adaptable.
I know some top players rate Rogue quite highly; the list I used is pretty similar to Savjz' Tempo Rogue.
It's interesting how the meta keeps changing - granted, in small steps - even though no new cards have been released. Do you think there's more to be seen from the current pool of cards before Naxxramas comes out?
Oh, definitely. Basically the meta will do what it always does and adapt to deal with the best deck, which is Lifecoach hunter right now. Shame I can't tell you what those changes will be, otherwise I'd be rank 1 EU by now!
Speaking of Naxx, did you see the cards that were teased? What do you think of them overall?
I did see them. Shade of Naxxramas was the one that leaped out at me, since it's essentially a 3/3 Stealth that gets bigger every turn. It seems like it would be strong in decks that ways of keeping control of the board even while essentially skipping a turn. The egg that makes a 4/4 looks like it could be very good in a deck that has multiple ways of making it die, so it may be a good fit for Warlock Aggro decks.
The legendary that triggers deathrattles twice looks like it could be ridiculous though, especially if they release a lot of strong new deathrattles, which wouldn't surprise me at all given that it seems to be a theme of the new cards.
Yes, that legendary draws a lot of discussion. Some think he'll be shit cuz his stats are not really impressive, other see combo potential in him, as in a card that won't stay long on the board, but one you'll play to extract great immediate effect (like Buzzard, for example).
Any card with the potential to make harvest golem more annoying than it already is definitely has something going for it.
Harvest Golem? You shoot small, most people cry about the possibility of double Cairne triggers.
That's also pretty disgusting.
When we spoke to Savjz about the new expansion, he said he'd rather have a new mechanic invented rather than focusing on an old one. Where do you stand on that?
I definitely agree. I can see why Blizzard are doing it - they want to keep the game stripped-down and accessible for new players. But if you look at a game like M:TG then a new mechanic is one of the defining features of any new set. It adds a lot of complexity and new combo possibilities to the game. I really hope Blizzard add new mechanics to the game in the future, even if they are not doing so in the new cards.
Another opinion that came out of the pros is that this is not really a nice tempo for releasing new cards, 30 every half a year or so. Should the process be faster in your opinion or, again, toning it down so the casual players can keep up is the better way to go.
It's entirely possible that there are logistical limitations to Hearthstone that don't necessarily apply to traditional CCGs. But yes, again I'd be inclined to agree. If Blizzard want to keep the game profitable they should be motivated to bring out new cards in a greater volume. It's difficult to predict the future, though - the game hasn't even been officially released for that long.
Alrighty! We're almost at the end, so I want to use the Naxx announcement and your Rogue-empowered victory to play a game of quickfire design questions, something I did with one of our previous champions. Five short questions about stuff, coming in 3, 2, 1:
1) Design a new combo cards for the Rogue.
Maybe some removal that cycles itself. 3 mana: Deal 4 damage Combo: Draw a Card.
2) Design a new mechanic for the Rogue.
If this creature takes damage, return it to your hand. Trying to think of a name for it. Let's go with Bounce, even though that’s bad.
3) Design the first Rogue secret.
Ambush: 1 mana. When an enemy minion attacks, deal 2 damage to it. Combo: Deal 4 damage.
Combo as in the other guy played a spell on his turn or you played a spell on the turn you cast it?
I was thinking on my turn. You'd have to have other one cost secrets though, to bamboozle them.
4) Design a new weapon enchant.
0 cost: Weapon deals double damage to undamaged enemies.
5) Give me another Rogue legendary.
Maybe a minion that can bounce an enemy minion. How about a 5/5 for 5 with Return any minion to its owner's hand. That might be crazy strong though. Let’s go with 4/3 for 5.
Alright, man, that was fun! I think we can bring it to a wrap, so if you have last words to say from the podium – shoot.
Thanks to Chakki for streaming his NESL Cup win because that taught me a lot about how to approach a Hearthstone tournament! Also thanks to Reynad, who actually created all of my decks.
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