ManaGrind Tournament Wrap-up: 10/14/13

by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Another week, another North American ManaGrind Hearthstone tournament in the books. Last week, we saw Moon’s Mage Aggro deck take the top slot, seemingly out of nowhere. He brought the same deck to this week’s tournament, but would the result be the same? Let’s take a look!

This week’s top eight:

1. Holysnowva – Paladin Weapon Midrange

2. Aimlessgun – Warlock Aggro

3. IMB Moon – Mage Aggro

4. Spacewizard – Warlock Control

5. PurpleTaste – Shaman  Midrange

6. Eromezis – Warrior Enrage

7. Sar7 – Midgame Priest

8. Kisstafer – Priest Midrange

Talking Results

There were some familiar faces in the top eight this week, along with some decks that we don’t tend to see a lot of. Jotto makes a point in the video above that it’s honestly been some time since we saw a Warrior Enrage or Warlock Control deck. Both made an appearance and held their own, with Spacewizard‘s Warlock Control deck managing to finish top four. This is especially impressive considering that, in the most recent patch, Warlock Control received essentially no love. Spacewizard has been an innovator on the scene for quite some time and did not disappoint.

I’m a huge fan of Warrior enrage and messed with it prior to the most recent patch. I feel like with the upgrade to Cruel Taskmaster and the unholy strength of new Battle Rage, there’s definite potential here. Warrior decks running weapons as more of a complement than a focal point should see a lot of success. I’ll definitely be looking to build something in the coming weeks for the ManaGrind tournaments.

Priest also made two appearances, but that’s not the surprising part. What’s surprising to me is that they didn’t finish higher and that there weren’t more of them. Priest is incredibly strong right now, featuring crushing spells all throughout the match. I mentioned it last week, but Northshire Cleric’s reduction in mana cost makes it a brutal turn one minion to deal with, unless you’re running a deck that features the ability to do three damage with one or two mana. What’s more, combined with cards like Cabal Shadowpriest and Stampeding Kodo, it’d be very difficult to put low might minions down on the board, and would allow for some brutal card advantage.

I know your face

There’s a scene in the second Lord of the Rings movie where Theoden, King of Rohan looks up and utters in a daze, “I know your face”. That’s how I feel with Faerie Dragon. I’ve been proclaiming the merit of this minion since I first ran it in a hyper aggro Rogue deck a couple months back in an earlier ManaGrind tournament. It seems like the entire competitive scene got wise to the value of the elusive two drop this week, and to make a Starcraft 2 reference, hell, it’s about time.

Faerie Dragon is 100% the strongest two drop in the game right now, hands down, no questions asked. It features a stat spread identical to minions such as Bloodfen Raptor and Knife Juggler, but what makes it shine is its absurd ability to evade being targetted by hero powers and spells. Other minions (in example, Stormpike Commando, Keeper of the Grove and Fire Elemental) can cause the pint-sized dragon pain, but it otherwise makes a living beating the crap out of opposing heroes in the early game. If played one turn one in conjunction with The Coin, there is a really short list of solutions to that particular issue, especially if the individual playing it has taunts or direct damage spells to block for tiny terror.

Gone Huntin’

Okay, that’s a terrible pun, but seriously. Has anyone seen Rexxar lately? Paging mythical Hunter Rexxar, please show up to a tournament at some point. There doesn’t seem to be a reason to avoid playing the deck. Despite the nerf to Scavenging Hyena (It no longer gains bonuses based on the deaths of enemy minions) the card set shows a lot of promise in control and aggro scenarios. It might be time for someone to step up and be the hero Rexxar deserves. Maybe this upcoming weekend it’ll be you?

If you’re looking for more content about the competitive scene, be sure to check out ManaGrind’s Youtube channel here, and keep an eye on their Twitter account for more information about weekly tournaments. Are you a bad enough dude or dudette to come hang out and have a good time this Saturday? If so, consider signing up for ManaGrind’s weekly North American tournament this Saturday!