Last Saturday, Thailand got its first breakthrough as Crunchyboy demolished his opponents and went undeafeated in seven rounds, defeating players from five different countries. Aside from the first place prize of $100 thanks to his victory over Indonesian player Mokochiro, Crunchyboy will also go to the grand finals in February, being the only Thai there thus far.
As we catch up with Crunchyboy today, we learn interesting details about who the GosuCup #3 winner is!
Well, congratulations winning the third GosuCup SEA and making your way to the grand finals in February! Is this your first Hearthstone tournament victory?
Thanks! Yes, this was my first time I won a Hearthstone tournament and my second tournament overall, the first being GosuCup #2.
How long did you play Hearthstone before you entered tournaments? And why didn't you do it earlier?
I have been playing for five months. I never thought of playing competitively until a friend of mine suggested I sign up for GosuCup.
Are you not competitive by nature? I guess Hearthstone was just a hobby for you then?
Yes, I’m not competitve. Hearthstone is just my favorite hobby and I love it!
How much time did you spend preparing for GosuCup #3. You said you started competing in GC #2 but that was a budget tournament while GC #3 was a regular one, and with actual money on the line.
There might’ve been just one week between GosuCup #2 and #3 but I was playing my main deck for three weeks before that.
What's the deck you played primarily?
Handlock.
Oh, that's interesting. I guess the tendency nowadays it to go for Zoo, even pro players admit that it's one of the strongest deecks right now. Why choose Handlock over Zoo?
Zoo is also cool but I think handlock is more stable than zoo. Even though I faced a lot of hunters, they are just running one [card]Hunter's Mark[/card] and I think that made handlock stronger.
"I think handlock is more stable than zoo. Even though I faced a lot of hunters, they are just running one [card]Hunter's Mark[/card] and I think that made handlock stronger."
What did you prepare for backup decks? Did you want to go for more control decks or spice it up with aggro?
Mostly aggro decks. It depends on what my opponents played but I love aggro more than control.
So what do you play usually in this case? Are you using something other than the go-to Zoo and Hunter for the aggro decks?
I’ve been trying aggro rogue but that isn’t doing too well.
I guess it's too risky, isn't it? I've seen pro players attempt it but it either really kills early or just flat out dies.
Yes, it's too risky and zoo and hunter are generally more strong and push aggro rogue out of the meta.
Tell me a bit about your GosuCup experience and games? What was the best and most tense game you played? Who gave you most trouble, etc?
GosuCup was a good experience and a lot of fun. The best game, I think, was the final as it was like my final boss! I think in round 6 it was Sohigh666 who gave me the most trouble because we both started with handlock, I lost the mirror and had trouble deciding how to proceed.
You already said you're not a tournament veteran but how about watching? Do you enjoy competitive Hearthstone on stream?
Yes, I really love watching Amaz, Dog Xixo and Kolento. I think I watch steams more than I play Hearthstone, haha.
What did you learn about HS watching them? Are you improving more than watching streams rather than playing the game?
Yes, I definitely improved more by watching streams than actually playing.
"I improved more by watching streams than actually playing."
Being someone who already has some success in competitive HS, will you start competing more actively or do you still want to keep it as your hobby mostly?
I think I’ll keep it as my hobby, since I’m still in university.
Oh, what do you study?
I'm medical student in Thailand.
Good stuff! I guess being a doctor is more profitable than a HS professional!
How popular is HS in Thailand? I know other SEA countries like Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore being very active but not sure about Thailand.
I think it’s fairly popular .We have a Heartstone Thailand group on facebook which hosts some very good players.
Do you think Thailand can overcome the other countries in the nation standings by the end of the GosuCups? Right now, Vietnam and Indonesia seem like the powerhouses!
Sure I think we have a lot of good players in Thailand that can win Gosucup but Vietnam and Indonesia also strong!
OK man, thanks for your time! Any final words you want to share?
I love Hearthstone!
GosuCup #3
1st - Crunchyboy: Handlock • Hunter • Shaman
3rd - Jizzes: Warrior • Zoo
4th - Sohigh666: Hunter • Zoo • Handlock • Druid
GosuCup #4 Budget
1st - Coundauco: Priest • Hunter
2nd - KepsID: Shaman • Mage • Priest
3rd - Kaizeen_3: Shaman • Priest • Druid • Hunter
