Register for next GosuCups:
17.01 - GosuCup SEA #12 Budget
24.01 - GosuCup SEA #13
31.01 - GosuCup SEA #14 Budget
Vietnam is gaining an enormous momentum in GosuCup SEA. The country has been on the top of the list since the beginning of the circuit but three days ago, Nguyê?n "Charge" Thanh took it to a new level. He won a fourth championship for his homeland.
On the Monday morning of January 12th, I catch up with Charge for the traditional winners interview. The aspiring competitor talks about his team of Vietnam powerhouses, building and bringing Shaman to the tournament, and what he thinks the Vietnam scene needs to grow even bigger.
Winners' decklists:
Charge: Shaman • Handlock • Hunter
Havatite: Handlock • Frost Mage • Mill Mage • Druid • Mill Druid • Zoo
Well, first it's all about congratulations for winning the cup! How did you prepare for the tournament and what are you spending the $100 on?
First of all thank you very much. I am very delighted to be able to win this week's cup and even more so when I'm the second player in the team winning it following the success of CrazyMageee. I prepared myself by playing in ranked, team training and watching many pro players' streams. Currently, I have no plan for the 100$ but most likely I will give it back to my family since it's quite a decent amount in Vietnam.
?h, I didn't realize CrazyMageee was your teammate! Tell us about your team then? How many of you are there, how do you practice? Are you like a top tier team in Vietnam?
My team An Phat Ultimate currently consists of four members: Nexxgen, Crazymageee, Kurenai and myself. It is the first Hearthstone team in Vietnam sponsored by a computer retail company so we can be considered the pioneers of the HS scene here.
We often train during the weekend or before any major tournament by playing each other, discussing strategy and how to deal with the current meta game.
"The HS community in Vietnam is developing very fast."
Vietnam is shaping as one of the best countries in the region. You took four GosuCup titles so far - more than anybody else - and you're competing with Philippines for the top nations spot. Is this just a GosuCup phenomenon or Vietnam is indeed that strong within the SEA region?
I think Vietnam is really strong at the moment. As you know, many of our players have achieved results such as Crazymagee who won GosuCup, got into the playoff of ESL Challenge #2 and participated in IeSF LAN championship in Baiku; or Infernity who won Zotac Cup (and GosuCup #8 - editor's note). Moreover, recently we had a very strong player coming back from Singapore to play under our Vietnam flag - zGGLeoz. Besides, the HS community in Vietnam is developing very fast. There are more and more small tournaments and showmatches hosted attracting many players in the country. I hope the scene will grow even more and more sponsors will step in to make HS a prominent eSports title in Vietnam.
I know there are scarce opportunities for SEA and Vietnam to compete against the other regions but where do you think you stand compared to the rest of the world? Could we see a SEA grand finalist in the world championship by the end of the year?
My dream is always to be able to achieve the highest results and to play on a bigger stage. Last year, Staz and Chalk from the Philippines qualified for Blizzcon playoff and players like WaningMoon, zGGLeoz and adyb have achieved a lot in the region. Therefore I believe anything can happen by the end of the year, this is Hearthstone isn't it?
True, true. Walks us through your GosuCup #11 run? Any tough opponents, unusual decks, weird situations?
I think the semi final against Hovati was really challenging. He is a solid player and had a good history in many of the previous GosuCups. Most of the games I just played my best and hoped the RNG was in my favour.
"The unpredictability of my Shaman helped me win."
I want to bring up the decklists you used, and particulalry the Shaman. Nowadays, barely anyone uses the class in competitive games anymore. In GvG tournaments, it's actually the least used class of all. Why choose Shaman for GosuCup?
According to my personal experience, Shaman is indeed a weaker class in GvG. However, in GosuCup, there are many Warrior, Druid and Handlock players so my Shaman list was used to counter them. In a tournament setting, each deck is tuned to serve a purpose and I can get away with a not so all rounded deck, unlike on ladder. My Shaman list has the good old [card]Reincarnate[/card] plus deathrattle combo and I think this unpredictability helped me to achieve victory. Once in this tournament, I stole a Ragnaros by reincarnating my Sylvanas: This move turned the game upside down in my favor and I managed to beat this Warrior opponent.
What do you think Shamans should have gotten in GvG? Not many players are fans of the new additions, in fact new school Shaman decks barely use any GvG cards at all.
I think [card]Crackle[/card]s and [card]Neptulon[/card] are fine for Shaman. GvG also introduced [card]Antique Healbot[/card] as an alternative life gain for Shaman. I know many top players who played Shaman in top rank legendary so the class isn't dead. Maybe it's just not as favoured since not many streamers play it. HS is always a hype train of what popular streamers/#1 players using.
You're going to the finals in February now, where only the best of the best will play. How do you think you will do?
I can't say anything for sure but detailed preparation is a must for a shot at victory. I think everyone who qualified already proved themselves to be a serious contender for the title so it will be a tough tournament. Personally I will be well prepared for it and play my best to bring glory back for Vietnam.
"Having weekly/monthly tournaments is very important to keep the interest up high."
?? my knowledge GosuCup is one of the few open tournaments that encompass the entire SEA region and overall the scene there is still developing. What should be next on the tournament itinerary of SEA is to grow, both in terms of numbers and in strength?
I think tournaments are vital part of developing a scene. Having weekly or monthly tournaments is very important to keep the interest up high. Hence I hope that after the conclusion of GosuCup, there would be similar tournaments in time to come or a major LAN tournament for players to showoff their skills.
I sure hope we can continue the tradition in 2015 as well! What about a separate circuit for SEA for BlizzCon? Last year, you had to compete in NA and that can be quite overwhelming.
Haha, yeah we wish. Anyway the main problem is still visa issue for the USA. But we could do our best to achieve it
Alright! I think we can bring this to a wrap! Any closing words to the camera?
I would like to thanks my teammates and my mentor zGGLeoz for helping me with deckbuilding. I will do my best in the future.
So how does GosuCup SEA and the Asia rankings look after Charge's victory? 23 out of 32 players are already known!
And here are the Asia rankings.
More on GosuGamers Hearthstone:
