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Hearthstone HCT Fall Championship: Day 1 – Elimination Rounds

We're back at the Blizzard Arena this month for the Hearthstone HCT Fall Championship, whittling down the top 16 to crown a new champion of the season. We're here for the first of two days open to the public to watch the matches as we cover them live here in the arena. Here are the results for the elimination rounds as we lead into the quarterfinals.

Elimination Match: GeoLionKing vs. DacRyvius

The opening match was pretty quick from an aesthetic perspective as Dac came out the gate swinging with some powerful combos that left LionKing with little answers. Literally, I look at my laptop for a moment midway through the match and when I looked back up, LionKing was on the ropes and quickly down 0-1 shortly thereafter.

The second match felt a little more even-handed with both players feeling each other out. Dac passed up on some key chances to take LionKing out early, while LionKing just couldn't get his hand moving to crank out what he was holding onto. It got to the point where LionKing reached the bottom of his deck and had few options left but to take the L, giving Dac a 2-0 lead with his Druid deck. The third match came and went just as quickly as LionKing rolled in with a Shaman deck that just conquered in short order and did exactly what he needed to get him back into the match.

The last match felt like a cluster as both men made mistakes where they could have taken each other out long before the match actually ended, and you could see it on both their faces as they spent half the match with their faces in their hands. The worst poker faces you'll ever see in Hearthstone, even the commentary team was confused as to what these guys were doing to each other. Almost like the entire match eas bad luck for them both. After what felt like one of the longest wars of attrition we've seen in a while, Dac finally stacked his side of the table with his Rogue deck and dealt 15 damage at the end for the perfect sweep.

Winner: DacRyvius (3-1)

Elimination Match: Akumaker vs. Caimiao

Akumaker started strong bringing in a Shaman deck against Caimiao's Rogue deck, both men playing to the metas currently working well this tournament, but Shaman had a bit of an advantage as he managed to conquer in short order for a 1-0 lead. Caimiao answered back swiftly in one of the quickest matches of the day as he damn near steamrolled his way over Akumaker with his Rogue deck to make it 1-1, but that played more into the idea that Akumaker didn't get what he needed to fend it off.

The third match saw a Warlock v. Warlock fight, but it was, at best, uneventful. In fact, the match ended abruptly with little buildup and even caught the broadcasters off guard as Caimiao went up 2-1. Akumaker made short order of the fourth match as his Rogue deck returned the favor against a Druid deck and evened it our 2-2. The final match was a lot of feeling each other out and slowly taking each other down in points, but Caimiao pulled out a win and became the last hope for China to have a championship as he moved onto the quarterfinals.

Winner: Caimiao (3-2)

Elimination Match: lnguagehackr vs. LPTrunks

The opening volley between LH and Trunks became a stacking game as both their druid decks faced off against each other, but LH managed to squeak out the opening victory to go up 1-0. The second match was much of the first as they basically took ticks off each other with a Hunter deck facing off against a Druid deck, but LH eventually overcame and punished Trunks for the 2-0 victory. The third match wasn't even a challenge as LH took in a Shaman deck and marched all over Trunks as he could do nothing but swallow his pride and conceded the end of the third match, as LH moves on with a complete sweep.

Winner: lnguagehackr (3-0)

Elimination Match: Islandcat vs. Tincho

The first match started off as a slow chess match, as a Druid deck faced off against a Rogue. A lot of stacking leading to a lot of board clearing, but not that much in terms of life being taken. Eventually, Tincho was able to mount an offense that took out the last of Islandcat's life for the 1-0 lead. Islandcat doubled-down on his Rogue deck, taking it into the second match against Tincho's Warlock deck. While he did fend of Tincho for most of the match, the result was much the same as Tincho took a 2-0 lead. Going into the third game, there was a visible sign that Islandcat knew his Mage deck wasn't going to compete against another Mage deck, as Tincho took the third match point with little issue for the clean sweep.

Winner: Tincho (3-0)

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