Finalists f.l.t.r. RenieHouR, Surrender, TidesofTime

Drew "TidesofTime" Biessener wins the biggest Hearthstone event to date prize-wise and goes home $32,000 richer. The win came after a 3-2 series against Jung-Soo "Surrender" Kim.

TidesofTime has been on the rise for some time now. Starting with his WellPlayed Cup win over Rdu in late June, the Tempo Storm powerhouse proceeded to win the WEC NA qualifiers over Alchemixt, finish top four at Prismata Cup, destroy Firebat in the CoolerMaster Showmatch and, today, wins the biggest cheque awarded in Hearthstone history so far.

Tides' journey to the championship was a relatively effortless one. He started the tournament with a hard-fought series against Surrender but topped it by blanking Rdu and RenieHour in rounds two and three with his Zoo deck.

This qualified Tides for the grand final and eventually he was paired with the man who he beat in the first round - Korea's champion Surrender - who had to overcome his compatriot RenieHouR in the losers final. The final series started with back-to-back wins for Tides on the back of his Paladin which put him on a match point but Surrender's Handlock brought it back to a tie. In a final Handlock mirror battle, the draws were with the American, as he found both his [card]Mountain Giant[/card]s and [card]Twilight Drake[/card]s, parading them before Surrender's much weaker hand. With no board swingers like [card]Shadowflame[/card] in hand, the Korean was doomed - the $32,500 went to the Tempo Storm player.

Final WEC standings

1. United States TidesofTime - $32,500
2. Korea Surrender - $13,000
3. Korea RenieHouR - $8,125
4. China Fuoliver - $3,250
5-6. Romania Rdu - $1,625
5-6. China ChinaYLD - $1,625
7-8. Alchemixt - $1,625
7-8. Sweden Darkwonyx - $1,625

WEC interviews

Portugal Ignite - Where we talk about why the WEC format decreases the skill ceiling
Sweden Darkwonyx - Where the Swede discusses his rivalry with Rdu and the EU vs NA vs Asia topic
United States TidesofTime - Where he talks why WEC is the only tournament he ever practiced for and why a return to Dota is unlikely

TidesofTime wins the $32,000 of WEC 2014