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Savjz entered the SeatStory Cup as one of the biggest favorites to win the coveted trophy, now he is eliminated from contention at the hands of his teammate Artosis. For the second time, the leader of DogeHouse had to team kill, just hours later after obliterating ek0p 4-0.
It was one of the more epic matches in this SeatStory Cup as the favorite Savjz had to take on the reigning BlizzCon champion and leader of team DogeHouse Artosis. The Finnish player came in with the reputation of being one of the best Hearthstone players in the entire world, making the Shaman deck everyone is using on the ladder right now. On the other hand was Artosis, who hadn't made a huge impact in the scene after his BlizzCon finals victory over Kripparian - now he turned that around.
At first it didn't even look that good for the most popular Starcraft 2 caster, who lost pretty decisively with his ek0p slaying Murloc deck. Savjz had all the counters with his Druid deck and defended the fishy invasion with ease. Now the mirror duel started again with Artosis also bringing out his Druid deck, both using pretty similar build ups. The decisive factor in the end was the start of Savjz, who didn't really get any early units and was forced to straight up hero power twice in a row. On the other hand was Artosis with a better start, snowballing throughout the contest. [card]Tinkmaster Overspark[/card] RNG, the great [card]Ancient Watcher[/card] wall and the hurting hits of a [card]Ancient of Lore[/card] sealed the deal and tied up the series.
So it was Savjz turn to pick his counter deck and as expected he went for his staple Shaman deck. The casters around StrifeCro, the master of Druid, agreed with that choice and with two early [card]Feral Spirit[/card]s securing [card]Nat Pagle[/card] the game quickly got out of hand for the American. The answer of Artosis came in the next match with him bringing out the secret deck - the dreaded rush Hunter. The version of Artosis had a little twist though with the inclusion of [card]Deadly Shot[/card] for tricky situations. At first Savjz held his own pretty good, but once Artosis got the dreaded combination of [card]Starving Buzzard[/card], [card]Unleash the Hounds[/card] and [card]Timber Wolf[/card] the card advantage got just out of control and the battlecry of [card]Leeroy Jenkins[/card] calling for blood and not for chicken this time was the last noise Savjz' Thrall heard that day.
The natural counter for the aggressive version of Hunter was Savjz' Warrior and the fairly one-sided match proved why. Not only was the Fin able to clear the board, hold his hit points at a very healthy amount and Armor up, he also was able to put up legitimate threats like [card]Frothing Berserker[/card] on the board to draw the attention of Artosis' charge units. In the end Artosis was down to measly seven HP, but a [card]Misdirection[/card] bought him two more turns, until a swing of [card]Gorehowl[/card] put Rexxar to rest.
With that victory Savjz was just one game away from eliminating his team captain and going through to the third round of the Lower Bracket, securing him a spot within the top four. On that quest it looked pretty shiny right away with Artosis falling behind against the control Warrior while at least doing a perfect job of limiting the card draw of the [card]Acolyte of Pain[/card] with two [card]Earth Shock[/card]s. Still Savjz drove home a lot of damage and Artosis was forced to not only empty his hand, but also his board getting rid of an enraged [card]Grommash Hellscream[/card]. The saving grace and comeback igniter for Artosis and his Shaman was a protected [card]Mana Tide Totem[/card] and taunts. Just like in the series against Gnimsh, Artosis' Thrall was able to hang in there and turn the game, despite being very low on HP.
So it was Shaman against Savjz' last deck, the Murlocs that crushed Lucifer hard in the Upper Bracket one day earlier. What the Fin didn't know was the perfect starting hand for Artosis getting two [card]Lightning Storm[/card] and [card]Wild Pyromancer[/card] straight away. It actually was the second of the storms that crushed the dreams of the Finnish Hearthstone star, clearing the entire board and buffing the [card]Unbound Elemental[/card]. From that moment, everything was lost and Artosis survived by the skin of his teeth.
Artosis now moves on to face the winner of Trump verses monk, bringing him into a unique position of not having to team kill someone. For Savjz the weekend ends with a disappointing 5th/6th place finish, far away from the podium and the cash.
