Register for next GosuCups:
03.01 - GosuCup SEA #10 Budget
10.01 - GosuCup SEA #11
17.01 - GosuCup SEA #12 Budget
24.01 - GosuCup SEA #13
31.01 - GosuCup SEA #14 Budget
Malaysia has been struggling in GosuCup SEA. After taking the very first episode of the tournament, country's representatives failed to make another splash and swiftly they were overrun by players from Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
This Saturday, a veteran of the local scene put Malaysia back on the scoreboard. Aki "TrollTrollTroll" Sera triumphed over Andreas "NyikNyukNyek" Hermawan from Indonesia and joins compatriot Dennisgosu in the GosuCup grand finals. We caught with Aki on the very last day of 2014 to speak about his Hearthstone aspirations and dominion over the tournament.
Winners' decklists:
Troll's Hunter
Troll's Druid
Troll's Paladin
Troll's Warrior
Well, congratulations are in order I guess. How does it feel winning GosuCup, getting some cash and qualifying for the main event?
Thanks, it's great to be able to grab a second seat for my country, the community has high expectation of me.
You mention the community... How much does Malaysia follow GosuCup and has an active competitive scene?
In Malaysia, we have tons of local fireside gathering events and tournaments, most of the tournaments are sponsored by computer equipment manufacturers, local game companies, cybercafes or eSports enthusiasts.
Most of us are connected to each others with our own Hearthstone Malaysia Facebook page, there are many of us in it, sharing information about local and SEA tournaments and so on. I learned about the Gosucup SEA through the facebook page.
Tell me a bit about your GosuCup run. Were there any particular series that made this a memorable experience for you?
I did register for the tournament but because Saturdays are usually filled with LAN events, I had forgotten about it. It was my team member and friend ExonaTor who reminded me about the tournament. I wasn’t prepared for it.
I had a rushing last minute deck making and checking in an hour before the first match. I sat in front of my computer and only in the evening was I able to get a quick break and have a meal!
Other than that, another memorable experiences is I did get forfeited on my first match for my #1 GosuCup, where my opponent was in Asia server and I was disqualified because I wasn't able to contact him.
"I had to do a last-minute deckbuilding for the tournament as I had forgotten about it."
Tell me about your decks of choice? Why these four classes?
Warrior is consistent and can be used as "the first deck" in tournament, it has good counter measures against most of the popular agressive meta deck out there, with the exception of Shaman and fast Druid, which in this case, most players wouldn't start their game with (those decks had bad-matchups against Hunter and Zoolock). So alongside the option of side-decking, we can tweak warrior decks by deciding how greedy we want with the legendary and tech cards to fit in against an aggro, tempo or control opponent.
Paladin was chosen as the second deck, due to how good it is now being able to take control of the game with cards such as [card]Shielded Minibot[/card] and [card]Muster for Battle[/card], and later on with [card]Quartermaster[/card]. The hero power of Paladin summons a 1/1 token so Midrange Paladin token theme suits the class the most, it has been consistent against opponents who don't get to draw their AoE board clear and Paladin is such a premier competitive decks now.
Druid is here to counter-act other players who go for the Control Warrior or Control Priest route, it has huge advantage which threatens to kill both of those classes. [card]Force of Nature[/card] and [card]Savage Roar[/card] has been threatening and is really hard to play around while you are trying to remove Druid's minion.
Hunter is the 4th deck that used to counter Handlocks and Shamans. A hunter's good opening able to crush through Warlocks and Shamans easily, it has been a favoured matchups for Hunter.
How shifted do you think the GvG meta is in tournaments compared to what it was a month ago? I see you include Paladin which was rarely seen before but are there other decks/specs you consider?
There has been a rise of Paladins and Mages in the GvG meta, compared to a month ago which both of these classes are known for being low-tier and too technical to pull off. I think the meta will slowly shift down to a steady position where most of the decks other than Paladin and Mage, will be the old decks but minor card tweaks for improvement.
Paladin has been my favorite class, it was my first golden portrait hero too. I’ve wanted to use him so much in the past for tournaments but I couldn't do so due the weakness of his class cards. Some other decks that I considered are Handlock/Zoolock: Warlock remains the only class with access to multiple, distinct archetype and both Zoo and Handlock able to perform really well in tournaments. Even the Demonlock deck was tested and used in tournaments by some famous player!
"I’ve wanted to use Paladin so much in the past for tournaments but couldn't do so due the weakness of his class cards."
What do you use to beat Mage with? It does seem to be the new deck to beat post-GvG?
In my final match against NyikNyukNyek, I used my Paladin deck to beat his Mage, it can be found on the GosuGamers deck section. The game was all the way in my favor until the end. Paladin is really good now thanks to the new cards.
Tell me a bit about yourself. Who is TrollTrollTroll when he's not playing Hearthstone?
Hmm, a Dota 2 competitive player (or not).
My real name is Wong Zi Wen, 25 years old. I’ve been in some MMORPG in the past like Perfect World, Aion The Tower of Eternity, Ragnarok Online. I played Dota and Dota 2 competitively; also played Heroes of Newerth and alpha-tested HoN player even before the Garena beta test begun.
So you're quite the MMO and MOBA player... what drew you to Hearthstone?
Partly it being a card-game, I was playing this mobile game known as Tekken Card Tournament before that, and it brings back memories of Pokemon Trading Card and Yu-Gi-Oh which I played when I was much younger.
"I have been reigning champion in my own country back and forth, spending my free time coaching players to get more experience, and slowly spreading my wings."
Are there aspiration for you to turn HS into full time profession? Former GosuCup champions do strive towards that but others prefer it to keep it as hobby.
I do strive towards that. I have been reigning champion in my own country back and forth, spending my free time coaching players to get more experience, and slowly spreading my wings. There are friends and people who expect great things from me seeing my recent performance in terms of the game knowledge.
It will be awesome to be able to utilize one's interest and passion in generating income for himself. But for now, it will be kept as a hobby due to many circumstances blocking the path. I do look forward to something new in the future!
Wish you all the best, man! Any final words before we wrap this up?
A shoutout to fellow Malaysian Hearthstone player! ChaosHamtaro, ExonaTor, RevengeCCS, Sados, lalasong, ChongGer, iambiscuit, and those who I missed out their names!
So how does GosuCup SEA and the Asia rankings look after TrollTrollTroll's victory? 19 out of 32 players are already known!
 Dennisgosu |  Alexieishere |  Ferdzm |  DaPh |
 Crunchyboy | Mokochiro |  Jizzes | CrazyMageeee |
| Aaronkoh | Hovati16 | Keruya | WaningMoon |
| TrollTrollTroll | NyikNyukNyek | BibleThump | Wufflerman |
| IgnisSolus | Superpogi | Infernity |
And here are the Asia rankings.
