The first game of Fight Night's fourth season pit Paladin extraordinaire Koyuki against long-time eSports figure Artosis. With DogeHouse ahead in the money count, Liquid Value were in for revenge.
Watch the series spoiler-free on its matchpage
[deck linked style=float:left;margin-left:-30px;margin-right:15px;margin-bottom:15px]72[/deck]Game 1: Shaman (Koyuki) vs Druid (Artosis)
This was an important night for Artosis. Having made some pretty big mistakes in Season 3 (like [card]Inner Rage[/card]-ing his [card]Sylvanas Windrunner[/card] thinking he can [card]Execute[/card] her to take board control) which almost cost Doge House the overall victory in the season, the outspoken caster and eSports figure had to make amends. As the Fight Night wheel pit him against Koyuki - a player who 3-0'd Savjz last week - this became the tallest of orders for DogeHouse's player.
Fight Night Season 4 further set some limitations to the players, forcing them to use different classes than they used in previous season. That meant Artosis couldn't enjoy the comfort of his Warrior control and Koyuki was barred from bringing his signature Paladin Giants on board.
The match started with a Shaman (Koyuki) vs Druid (Artosis), a late-game oriented match-up with no class being the big favorite overall. The early and mid game went to Artosis as his Druid established board control, erected a wall of [card]Sen'Jin Shieldmasta[/card]s and by the time the late-game turns came, Koyuki was down to just 11.
With all his card advantage in hand (eight to one in favor of Koyuki) the Shaman could not find the answers he needed to effectively clear the board and stabilize. Two [card]Hex[/card]es were burn to frog up the board and soften it somewhat but an [card]Ancient of Lore[/card] play by Artosis not only refilled his hand but positioned a threat that required an immediate answer. Hoping for a lucky RNG, Koyuki threw down a [card]Ragnaros the Firelord[/card] but to no avail: as his fireball missed the Ancient, Koyuki conceded.
Koyuki's Ragnaros doesn't quite hit the spot. Concede incoming.
[deck linked style=float:left;margin-left:-30px;margin-right:15px;margin-bottom:15px]73[/deck]Game 2: Warlock (Koyuki) vs Druid (Artosis)
The series continued to be a control fest as Koyuki pulled out a Handlock from his pocket, a deck known to be extremely strong against Druid for its better late-game and threats the Druid class can't deal with efficiently if it doesn't draw [card]Big Game Hunter[/card] or [card]Tinkmaster Overspark[/card].
Pushed into the beatdown role, Artosis had to find a way to kill Koyuki before the Giants hit the field but viewers knew he was on the back foot the entire game. Not running the [card]Force of Nature[/card] + [card]Savage Roar[/card] combo, Artosis' Druid lacked the burst damage necessary to bring down the Warlock from about 15 life, thus avoiding giving him free [card]Molten Giant[/card]s. Only able to chip away at Warlock's health was everything Koyuki needed.
Trouble found Artosis early in the game when a T4 [card]Mountain Giant[/card] forced an immediate [card]Tinkmaster Overspark[/card]. Getting the 1/1 Squirrel would make Artosis happy but just for a few turns - on T6 came another Mountain Giant alongside [card]Sunfury Protector[/card] which cost Artosis one [card]Wrath[/card], his [card]Earthen Ring Farseer[/card] and one [card]Keeper of the Grove[/card] trigger.
Having cleared the big taunt, Artosis pushed for five more damage to Koyuki's face which only made his Molten Giant cheaper. On T7, Koyuki Life Tapped, dropped [card]Molten Giant[/card] and taunted him and his Sunfury with a [card]Defender of Argus[/card]. Even if Artosis was not completely dead by the time, receiving an [card]Alexstrasza[/card] trigger tied the score for Liquid Value.
[deck linked style=float:left;margin-left:-30px;margin-right:15px;margin-bottom:15px]31[/deck]Game 3: Warlock (Koyuki) vs Shaman (Artosis)
Artosis pulled out Savjz's Shaman from Season 3 as counter to Koyuki's handlock and the game went perfectly for him.
Every single card that Koyuki dropped on the table received an immediate answer. A T5 Mountain Giant was removed by spellpowered [card]Lightning Storm[/card] and [card]Lightning Bolt[/card]. His T6 and T8 [card]Twilight Drake[/card]s received an [card]Earth Shock[/card]. The T7 Molten Giant was [card]Hex[/card]ed.
Despite all the hate Koyuki's Giants and Drake's received, Liquid Value's player managed to stabilize past T10 after a [card]Hellfire[/card] and [card]Shadowflame[/card] over two turns while Artosis was down to minimal resources: no minions on the board, and a hand of [card]Tinkmaster Overspark[/card], [card]Bloodmage Thalnos[/card], [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] and [card]Lightning Storm[/card]. It was only a lucky [card]Rockbiter Weapon[/card] draw that saved Artosis from turn-around and DogeHouse's lead was extended 2:1.
Game 4: Hunter (Koyuki) vs Shaman (Artosis)
Having lost its Warlock and Shaman controls, Koyuki was forced to pull out an aggro Hunter, a class that is known to really struggle against Shaman if the latter draws right.
A T3 [card]Feral Spirit[/card] slowed down Koyuki a little bit and he couldn't play a strong T4. T5, however, was another deal - a [card]Starving Buzzard[/card] + [card]Unleash the Hounds[/card] four four + [card]Timber Wolf[/card] managed to eat through Artosis' taunters and even bit his face, forcing an immediate [card]Lightning Storm[/card] the next turn.
Koyuki continued to hit Artosis in the face and even though he couldn't get the 4/2 Hoggers from [card]Animal Companion[/card], by T9 he had reduced Artosis to just 9 life. With [card]Leeroy Jenkins[/card] and [card]Eaglehorn Bow[/card] in hand, this would've been a done deal had it not been for Artosis' 4/4 taunter on the field.
Although Koyuki's hand held other instant damage dealers like [card]Arcane Golem[/card] and [card]Abusive Sergeant[/card] he found himself one mana short of finishing the game. And one turn more is all Artosis needed: he placed down a Ragnaros, praised for a lucky shot and jumped with joy as he got it.
Koyuki finds himself short one mana of finishing Artosis
