GosuCup #8 is in the books and a new champion was crowned. This is what he and the other top 4 finalists played.
AaronKoh has been a regular GosuCup contender since the very inception of the tournament. A strong ladder as well, Aaron is someone who defines himself as a pragmatic player, preferring to stick to tried and tested archetypes instead of going for wild strategies.
His line-up for GosuCup #8 made no exception. Hybrid Hunters and Zoo decks have been the terror of ladder as well as in tournaments for the last couple of weeks so it’s no surprise seeing them in Aaron’s line-up. For his third deck, the Singaporean went for a Ramp Druid with double [card]Ancient of War[/card] and a [card]Kel'Thuzad[/card] – an incredibly defensive deck that drops the [card]Force of Nature[/card] combo and instead relies strictly on fat minions to achieve victory.
What runner-up Staz shares with Aaron is their love for Zoo as they run almost identical lists. Both also played Druid, though Staz leans towards the more classic “fast” build, with double [card]Force of Nature[/card] and double [card]Savage Roar[/card]. There’s even a [card]The Black Knight[/card] tech to help the deck against Handlocks and annoying [card]Sludge Belcher[/card]s, clearing the way for the big damage combo.
Finally, there’s Staz’s favorite Control Warrior, a deck that screams “classic”. There’s neither Patron nor Dragon shenanigans with his Garrosh as the Filipino relies on all the cards that made the good old “wallet Warrior” so great – lots of heals, lots of removal and lots of big, fat finishers.
Out of all semi finalists, Vietnamese player Candycane is the only one with enough balls to bring Priest to an open tournament. The class has been on the bottom of the win-rate charts since the release of Blackrock Mountain but it was apparently good enough for Candycane to carry him to a chunk of the prize money in GosuCup #8. The love for control decks also shows in his Handlock – a standard quad-Giant set-up with [card]Lord Jaraxxus[/card].
Handlock was also a choice for former GosuCup champion Wespogi. Compared to Candycane’s more standard and “tight” build, however, Wespogi’s features a lot of one-of’s, including a single [card]Molten Giant[/card] and a [card]Dread Infernal[/card]. It’s his take on the build that players like Lifecoach have been seen using in various tournaments, a mix of Giants, Demons and utility cards that’s extremely strong in the late game and has the potential for a mid-range power spike if [card]Voidcaller[/card] summons something like [card]Mal'Ganis[/card] or [card]Lord Jaraxxus[/card].
Wespogi’s one-of deckbuilding style also shows in his mech Mage where he’s chosen to put in a singleton [card]Unstable Portal[/card] and one [card]Harvest Golem[/card] to replace one of his [card]Spider Tank[/card]s.
If you want your names, decks and strategies to be featured on our site, make sure to register for upcoming GosuCups. The tournament is absolutely free for anyone from the SEA region and is held every Saturday at 13:00 SGT.
Register for GosuCup #9 here.
Register for GosuCup #10 here.
