Aleksandr "Kolento" Malsh is back to the very top of the Hearthstone rankings as he snatched the $22,700 first place prize of the Europe vs China tournament in Hangzhou. This is Ukrainian's seventh gold medal of his career.
After coming in as a last minute replacement of Max "Max" Simpson, Kolento will fly home with a fat check and a nice trophy for a few days work. The Cloud 9 ace had to battle through two European and two Chinese players, his last opponent being the surprise of the tournament, Greek underdog Apostolos "Hawkeye" Karaikos.
It was a great start for the Greek as the grand final started. His Shaman and Druid put him up by a pair and Kolento had to walk a long, hard road to the comeback. Fortunately for him, he knew what he'd be facing - a face Hunter.
An easy queue of his Priest put Kolento on the scoreboard as he out-sustained Hunter's damage, staying just on the edge of lethal. A clutch [card]Ancient of Lore[/card] provided the necessary heal in game four and a final fifth game was looming.
The first few turns suggested that this could turn into one of the most speedy games of the tournament, as Hawkeye pressed for so much damage that by T5 Kolento was down to 14 health. A slightly premature [card]Leeroy Jenkins[/card] from the Greek, however, gave Kolento the needed Welp power to stabilize the board with a [card]Defender of Argus[/card]. Just as Hawkeye was about to deliver his final blow, he tripped as Kolento drew his saving grace - an [card]Antique Healbot[/card] off the top. With no fuel left in his hand, Hawkeye conceded the series.
With this win, Kolento reclaims his spot as the #1 player in Europe, outracing the hot streak of Adrian "Lifecoach" Koy. Slated to also play in the $25,000 HouseCup #2 next weekend, the 2014 player of the year has all the chances to be on top of the world once again.
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